WSBK – WSBK: Baz, Cluzel and Guintoli, three golden French! –

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WSBK: Baz, Cluzel and Guintoli, three golden French !

WSBK - WSBK: Baz, Cluzel and Guintoli, three golden French! -

Baz, Cluzel and Guintoli: our three drivers took turns on the top step of the podium at Silverstone in Great Britain! A historic, almost Olympic performance, performed in funny weather conditions…

Baz, Cluzel and Guintoli: our three drivers took turns on the top step of the podium at Silverstone in Great Britain! A historic, almost Olympic performance, performed in funny weather conditions…

Contested on a sometimes dry and sometimes soggy track, the first English round of Superbike was even crazier than that of Brno two weeks ago. In these ultra tricky conditions, our young driver Loris Baz shines again: after his first Czech podium, n ° 76 wins his first race in the WSBK !

A few hours after Loris Baz, Jules Cluzel sounded a second Marseillaise in England! # 16 Honda rider overtakes stage local Sam Lowes on the wire and relaunches himself at the Supersport World Championship.

Finally, Sylvain Guintoli – back in WSBK within the Ducati Pata team – managed the second race wonderfully well: under increasingly heavy rain, the n ° 50 was incisive and then attentive, winning his second victory in Superbike, in front of Loris Baz, again him ! 

First Superbike race

Leon Haslam takes the best start and posts his BMW n ° 91 in front of the Ducati of Jakub Smrz, the Kawasaki of Tom Sykes, the Ducati of Sylvain Guintoli, the BMW of Melandri, the Ducatis of Carlos Checa and Davide Giugliano, the Honda of Jonathan Rea and the Suzuki of Leon Camier.

Melandri quickly climbs to third position, while his teammate Haslam must be wary of very sharp Sykes at the start of the race! Before the end of the 1st loop unfortunately, two pilots fall in the chicane: Johnson dives into a puddle and clashes with Brignola.

The red flag is hoisted just as we discover two other pilots on the ground: Maxime Berger has just mowed down his Ducati Liberty teammate, Jakub Smrz! Davide Giugliano is hit but stays on his two-wheelers…

The drivers hardly have time to return to the pits when the rain falls on the English track … The downpour loses intensity during the 20-minute break but does not stop completely: the race is declared "Wet "however, most riders keep slick tires on the rear !

Only Smrz and Davies start with rain tires, and Guintoli dares to put on an intermediate at the front … While doing the warm-up lap, Jakub, Chaz and Sylvain discover an almost dry track, but a downpour could make them smile !

Second start: the riders set off on a dry straight line and Guintoli took the lead in the first corner, but Checa took the lead at the exit. Sykes and Biaggi follow the world champion, but it is young Loris Baz quickly steals 3rd place.

From the first lap, Baz takes the lead in the race! Camier and Haslam reach the very first ranks … Sykes takes the lead, but Haslam, Baz, Laverty, Biaggi, Berger, Checa, Camier and Canepa provide the show behind !

The ranking keeps changing as you turn! We have to wait until the end of this first loop to see a leading trio form: Haslam, Baz and Sykes isolate themselves slightly in front of Biaggi, Checa, Berger, Laverty, Camier, Fabrizio and Rea who tries to make up for a small blunder at the start of course.

Haslam tries to look pretty but Bazooka carefully keeps him in his sights! Tom Sykes only dropped a few lengths and was still ahead of Biaggi, Checa, Laverty and Camier. Berger gradually loses ground and gets eaten by Fabrizio, Rea and Melandri! Guintoli him, spades in 20th position and prays for the rain to appear.

Behind the two outsiders Haslam and Baz, the reigning world champion is gaining momentum: Checa overtakes Sykes in the 4th lap, then Baz in the next loop! The leader of the Biaggi championship is less spirited: he gives up his fourth place to Camier…

The n ° 2 of the championship, Marco Melandri, is in eighth position two seconds behind his teammate in the lead since the lights went out. The Ravenna Hedgehog must imperatively uninhibit himself to get back on Biaggi on the track, as in the championship !

Carlos Checa seized the reins of the race on the 6th lap by braking well on Haslam. Very confident, the Toro raises the pace all at once so that the Ducati n ° 7 is granted a second and a half ahead of the S1000RR n ° 91 in less than a lap. !

The pursuers are quick to react: Haslam and Camier accelerate in their turn but are followed by Sykes! The fight between the three British benefits Checa who wins another second in advance. Baz is in sixth place just behind Biaggi: Loris has a lot to learn from Max … like how to overtake Camier for example !

The fight also intensifies behind: Melandri picks up the hunting party and in his wake brings Rea, Laverty, Badovini, Fabrizio, Giugliano and Zanetti! In front, Baz is heckled by his comrades but the rookie has the answer and clings to the seventh place.

Last of the race, Smrz was overtaken by Checa then Sykes, Camier, Haslam, Biaggi, Melandri, Baz, Rea, Badovini, Fabrizio, etc. A few drops are falling on the track again, but it’s too late for the Czech rider and his Ducati mounted on wet tires…

Eight laps to go, Checa is three seconds ahead of Sykes, Camier and Haslam. Behind the three Englishmen, Melandri takes the measure of the track and his opponents: the n ° 33 overtakes Baz and Biaggi one after the other! Rea and Badovini continue to elbow behind the Roman Emperor, under the eyes of Fabrizio.

In the next loop, Haslam infiltrates under Ninja # 66 and climbs to the second step of the podium. Camier imitates him a few turns later and momentarily drives Tom off the podium. But Sykes is a tough guy and quickly recovers third place. Just behind the BMW, the Kawa ‘and the Suz’ in question, Melandri and Baz are now fighting for fifth place.

Suddenly, Carlos Checa loses confidence and is swallowed up by the horde of pursuers: Haslam then tries to take advantage of it to distort company to the two official Kawasaki and Suzuki n ° 2! Fabrizio passes in front of Checa now closely followed by Rea and Biaggi.

The rain redoubled in intensity and the track began to saturate with water … The stalls increased and some pilots desperately raised their hands to try to stop the race. Declared "Wet", this first round can no longer be interrupted. !

Leon Camier – who seemed to want to stop the round precisely – fell four laps from the end … Loris Baz inherited second place behind Leon Haslam. The two men have widened a slight gap on the rest of the peloton where the outsiders shine: Badovini in particular drives much faster than his opponents and goes back to Bazooka !

Michel Fabrizio and Carlos Checa compete for fourth place, ahead of Jonathan Rea, Max Biaggi and Marco Melandri. Tom Sykes let it go: he occupies ninth place, 6 seconds behind Leon Haslam. Davide Giugliano is tenth, 10 seconds behind Sykes !

Loris Baz takes the lead at the start of the penultimate lap, but the first eight riders together can claim victory! Thus, Haslam slips from first to last place in this leading group, illustrating the extreme uncertainty that hangs over the result of this first round. !

Michel Fabrizio starts the last lap in the lead and tries to escape, leaving Baz to fight with Badovini and Rea. Biaggi died the dust in this final loop by biting the vibrator. The RSV4 and the pilot slide before Melandri’s eyes … Marco can do an excellent operation !

Fabrizio and voiced by Baz in the last section! The young Frenchman plays wonderfully with the precarious grip of the English track and keeps the lead until the end! The young recruit Kawa ‘wins in front of Fabrizio and Badovini who crosses the finish line with all four irons in the air and brings down Jonathan Rea !

Loris dedicates his first World Superbike victory to Joan Lascorz to his descent from his motorcycle. A new Marseillaise sounds a few minutes later on English soil … and there are still two races to go this afternoon !

Supersport Race

Sam Lowes got off to a better start than poleman Jules Cluzel. Leonov took third place but fell in the first lap. Sofuoglu therefore found himself on the podium ahead of Ronan Quarmby, Alex Baldolini, Imre Toth, Alexander Lundh, Romain Lanusse, Broc Parkes and Rafaele De Rosa.

Lowes and Cluzel exchange their positions but seem to be surprised, even worried, by a few drops of rain … Their comfortable lead is suddenly reduced to nothing and Kenan is eyeing the lead when the race of Supersport is in turn interrupted by the red flags !

Second start: the track may be dry, but the race is declared "wet" and cannot be stopped … Cluzel takes advantage of his pole to get ahead of Toth, Lowes, Leonov, Sofuoglu, Baldolini, Quarmby, Parkes, etc. Starting off very well from his tenth place on the grid, Kenan lost his way on the first lap and pulled straight, reaching the track in a distant 17th place….

While Jules Cluzel sets his pace, Fabien Foret is in tenth place, just ahead of Florian Marino. The latter is unfortunately penalized with a pit stop for a stolen start … Romain Lanusse is thirteenth, Valentin Debise for his part is forced to look at the pit lane, victim of a mechanical problem.

Lowes made his way through the peloton at the start of the race and took the lead in the 3rd loop. The public is naturally delighted to see its national No. 11 ahead of French Cluzel, South African Quarmby, Australian Parkes and Hungarian Talmacsi…

Behind the five Honda’s, Baldolini’s Triumph tries to resist Morais’s Kawasaki. But it is the Ninja n ° 54 that impresses the most: Sofuoglu makes a spectacular comeback. Turkish ZX-6R leads the fighter squad in less time than it takes to type on a computer keyboard !

Right in the middle of the 5th lap, Cluzel lost his focus for a moment and got off the track. Fortunately, the Coq supersportif joined the English track smoothly and lost only two places. Jules does not stay behind Broc for long and overtakes Ronan in the process! The n ° 16 finds its second place, phew…

Kenan Sofuoglu continues to whip his official Kawa ‘and still has ten laps to erase his five second delay over Lowes. However, his Pirelli – arguably tired from five gasping laps – don’t seem to allow the Turk to grab more ground..

In front, the three Honda prepared by Simon Buckmaster’s teams parade in front of Parkes’ Ten Kate. Sofuoglu and his Kawasaki still circulate at five seconds, while Foret is in 6th place, more than 11 seconds behind the leaders…

A third Kawasaki, that of Morais, is in seventh position but is closely followed by the Triumph of Baldolini and the Honda of Talmacsi. Romain Lanusse fights with Antonelli and De Rosa for the Top 10. Passed by the pits, Florian Marino is only 22nd.

Right in front, Lowes and Cluzel do not let go of an inch. Parkes gets a second wind and double Quarmby. The n ° 23 is quickly placed under the pot of n ° 16, itself housed in the suction of n ° 11 … However, five loops remain to be covered !

Quarmby dives inside Parkes in a closed left and apologizes for his somewhat muscular maneuver. The two men lose contact with the leading duo and allow Sofuoglu to return to three seconds from the podium.

Lowes and Cluzel, who know the circuit perfectly (read), are still going wheel to wheel three laps from the end. The French pretended to shift in the stretches, then got a little scare just before starting the penultimate lap but remained glued to the rear wheel of his teammate…

The last lap launched, Jules takes different paths from Sam in order to look for an opening, in vain. Broc Parkes let go of Ronan Quarmby for good but could not join the leading duo … Housed in Lowes’ aspi, Cluzel dislocated the Honda n ° 11 at the end of the straight line !

At the cost of heavy braking, the French remain ahead of the English. The touchdown between the two leading men in the final double right is fortunately of no consequence: Cluzel tumbles in the lead under the checkered flag ahead of Lowes and Parkes !

A second Marseillaise invades the Silverstone circuit. With 25 points, Jules Cluzel stings Fabien Foret his fourth place in the provisional classification and finds himself 14 points behind Sam Lowes, himself 14 lengths behind Kenan Sofuoglu! cock-a-doodle Doo !

Second Superbike race

The English skies are still roaring and the drivers set off with a little delay: the second race will have one lap less than initially planned, ie 17 in all. The track is wet in places, dry in others … The dark clouds, however, persuade the pilots to select rain tires. Even Tom Sykes prefers to leave the pits to change the footwear of his Ninja…

Giugliano got off to a great start but remained behind three men: Guintoli, Smrz and Laverty! The rookie Davide loses his footing in the first sequences, ceding Melandri his fourth place. Marco is then followed by Leon Haslam, Chaz Davies, Loris Baz, Leon Camier, Max Biaggi and Davide Giugliano so.

From the first lap, Sylvain Guintoli imposed a hellish pace that only Jakub Smrz managed to follow, a few lengths. The pace of Ducati n ° 50 and n ° 34 is such that at the end of the first lap, Laverty is more than five seconds behind the two 1198 !

Within the peloton, Loris Baz stood out again: the winner of the first round climbed back to sixth place. Maxime Berger is not left out as he teases Leon Haslam and Davide Giugliano and reaches the Top 10. Meanwhile, Sylvain Guintoli widens the gap…

The n ° 50 has a good half second ahead of Smrz and more than nine seconds over a certain Loris Baz! The # 76 Ninja has just dispossessed Laverty of his third place and is gradually moving away from the Irishman, overwhelmed by Davies and Giugliano in the 3rd loop.

The poor "Youdjin" cannot breathe: he is immediately put under pressure by Marco Melandri and Maxime Berger! Leon Camier and John Hopkins complete the Top 10 at the controls of their Suzuki … until the engine of the n ° 2 gives up the ghost in the 5th lap and gives Haslam the tenth place.

Still in the lead, "Guinters" is watching out of the corner of his eye his former teammate Jakub Smrz. Loris Baz and his Ninja are spinning faster than the leading 1198, so Bazooka is only 5.5 seconds behind at the end of the 6th lap..

The fastest motorcycle in the rain – now abundant – is Ducati n ° 34: Davide is only two seconds behind Loris! The Italian attacked hard but the Frenchman responded in the next loop and posted the fastest time in the race, just three seconds behind Guintoli…

Overdoing it, Giugliano loses the front in a quick right and has to retire. Fourth place goes to Laverty, posted almost 20 seconds behind the leading trio! Aprilia No.58 official fights against Maxime Berger, Chaz Davies, Carlos Checa, Marco Melandri, John Hopkins and Leon Haslam…

Ten laps before the end of the race, Baz takes second place! Loris is now in the wake – strictly speaking! – by Sylvain. After Davide Giugliano – but also Haslam and Rea! -, Jakub Smrz falls and gives way on the podium to Eugene Laverty, Maxime Berger inheriting fourth place !

The halfway mark is crossed under a downpour: Carlos Checa is trapped, then Maxime Berger in his turn! In the lead, Loris Baz overtakes Sylvain Guintoli but also finds himself on the ground! Tom Sykes also falls and rushes towards the marshals … It is too much: the red flags are finally raised.

Guintoli and Laverty meet at the parc ferme, Baz takes a little longer to join them following his fall. But the results are slow to be formalized … Finally, the classification of this second round is drawn up at the end of the 8th round.

Sylvain Guintoli thus wins in front of Loris Baz and … Jakub Smrz! Eugene Laverty must finally settle for fourth place. Maxime Berger will be satisfied with fifth place, his best result in the World Superbike !

Carlos Checa, Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea are reinstated in the standings, respectively in 6th, 9th and 12th place. Marco Melandri and Max Biaggi finished in 8th and 11th places. But beware, only half of the points are awarded at the end of this "half-race"…

In the provisional classification therefore, Max Biaggi lost "only" 1.5 points in this second round against his enemy n ° 33 Marco Melandri. In total, the 2010 champion is 10.5 points ahead of the 2011 runner-up. Tom Sykes is 51.5 units behind Biaggi, Checa at 53.5.

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