Round 10 of the Superbike World Championship will be held at the latest version of the classic Silverstone circuit this weekend, with British-based Aussie hotshot Josh Brookes set to join compatriots Troy Corser and Broc Parkes on the startline.

Brookes, from Bringelly on the outskirts of Sydney, is currently running a close second in this year’s British Superbike Championship on a factory Honda, and will compete at Silverstone as a wildcard alongside team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari.

Just last month, Brookes completed the ideal warm-up for the world superbike cameo when he clean swept the British superstock title round at Silverstone.

The inclusion of Brookes will provide a short-term boost in quality Aussie stocks, especially now that Queenslander Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki) will be sitting out the rest of the year with injury. Vermeulen recently underwent surgery on his damaged right knee in Barcelona.

As for Corser (BMW), he slipped back to seventh in the championship in the last round at Brno after a big qualifying crash saw him sit out the rest of the meeting with heavy bruising.

Since then, he’s been working hard on his fitness, and a test at Mugello yesterday confirmed he’ll be ready for action at Silverstone.

“I’m looking forward to Silverstone. I spend a fair amount of the year in Great Britain and expect to see a lot of family friends at the track, so it will be something of a second home race for me,” said Corser.

“I’ve already had a chance to take a look around the new track. The new layout looks very good and surface grip seems pretty consistent. There are a few bumps, especially where the new asphalt has been laid.

“I’m expecting us to do a good job here with our bike; we’ve done a lot of work on chassis set-up and the bumps shouldn’t be a particularly big problem. Engine power is a major factor at Silverstone, as the circuit has several long straights.

“There are also a handful of long, sweeping corners, which load up the tyres on one side, so it’s important to have a good throttle connection.”

The WSBK title has been to Silverstone on six previous occasions, the most recent in 2007 when only one race took place (won by Australia’s Troy Bayliss) due to relentless rain that flooded the track before race two could get underway.

This year’s Silverstone is a very different venue from previous versions, with massive investment in both a heavily modified circuit layout and infrastructure improvements resulting in a 5.902km circuit where speed is a key element.

The revised circuit has an average speed just a fraction slower than Phillip Island, something that championship leader Max Biaggi will relish on his ultra fast Aprilia.

Biaggi has a massive 68pt lead with four rounds remaining, and Briton Leon Haslam (Suzuki) also holds a huge cushion over third-placed Jonathan Rea (Honda).

If Biaggi maintains his searing form, he may wrap up the championship in round 11 at Nurburgring on September 5.

Haslam and Rea are but two of the seven British riders in this year’s championship, and they’ll be pushing hard to win in front of a partisan home crowd alongside the likes of Yamaha pair Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland and Leon Camier (Aprilia).

Other potential race winners include Ducati duo Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio and Spain’s Carlos Checa (Ducati).

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Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) moved an impressive 68 points clear of his nearest challenger after two 20-lap races held in hot and steamy conditions in front of 64,000 fans at Brno. Max has now won ten races at Brno in all classes of competition, but today he had to share top billing with race one winner Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda). The British rider added to his Assen double with a virtual flag-to-flag win, to take his victory tally for 2010 to three. Biaggi could not do his usual double today but was peerless in race two, after changing his set-up between races and capitalizing when the track temperature jumped up by almost ten degrees.

The other podium places were shared by Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda) and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox), but in the championship fight itself, the fate of Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) in each race had the most effect. Eighth in race one and tenth in race two for Leon put him on 284 points to Biaggi’s class-leading 352. Rea is now third on 203, Checa (Althea Ducati) is fourth on 189, after finishing ninth and sixth today.

Race 1

Rea ground out a great win, by 2.5 seconds from Biaggi’s Aprilia, putting himself back into the spotlight after some tough races in the past few weeks. His last podium before this had been at Kyalami, back in May. Rea had been third on the grid, with Biaggi second and pole man Crutchlow rode hard and well to take third place. Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare) equalled his best race finish of fourth, while Ruben Xaus (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) had his best result yet on his German machine, fifth. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), fast in early qualifying but 15th after Superpole, recovered well to go sixth, holding off James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda) who has been suffering from a chest infection at this race.

Jonathan Rea: “At the start I didn’t really know what was going on but I ended up going to the front. This race win I’d like to dedicate to my team boss, Ronald ten Kate, who is not here with us this weekend. Today it was like out there on the bike I could do nothing wrong, now I’ll go back to the guys and prepare a better bike for race 2 and see what we can do. I just had to capitalize on Max’s weaknesses in some corners, it was a really difficult race out there and very hot.

Max Biaggi: “We came here on Friday and we didn’t really have the same feeling as I had last year so we tried to set up the bike as close as last year’s machine. Basically we improved, but my feeling was not great. Unfortunately this weekend has been like this, but we will make some modifications for race 2 and hopefully there will be some surprises.”

Cal Crutchlow: “To say I’m disappointed is probably an understatement. I went into the race with high hopes, the grip yesterday was really good for us and in the heat but as you saw we were struggling with rear grip from the start. Johnny rode fantastic and rode away from me, and also Max. I tried my best and that’s all I can do.”

Race 2

Biaggi found the last one percent of speed he was missing in race one to record his ninth win of the season, giving him a 50% win ratio so far. Rea was an early leader but finally finished a clear second, 4.6 seconds behind the Italian, after Max eased past, with Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) third, the only Ducati podium spot of the day. Two-times champion Toseland made a great recovery from 12th on lap one to fourth, catching and passing Haga with one lap to go.

Checa was sixth, Guintoli seventh and Biaggi’s team-mate Leon Camier eighth. Shane Byrne (Althea Ducati) got ninth, one place up on the luckless Haslam, who now goes to his home race of Silverstone to try and claw back points from Biaggi. Cal Crutchlow pitted to change a rear tyre in race two, and when he went back out he set a new lap record in race conditions, with a 1′59.291.

Max Biaggi: “Knowing the track quite well here and the passion of the fans in the Czech Republic, we tried something really special and made some changes on the bike, weight distribution and gearbox and the result was very good so I’m happy. For me it’s the tenth victory here, and this is my second home country. I love this place!”

Jonathan Rea: “Max did an unbelievable pace, I know how hard it was to hold on to second and he was going away from us, but anyway it’s been a good weekend with a 1-2 today. Thanks for all my team for digging deep this weekend and giving me a package that I could race with.”

Michel Fabrizio: “I hope I can continue this way for the rest of the season, we did a very good result in race 2 especially after the problem I had in the first race. I had to defend my position of course in the battle with Xaus but I’m pleased to be back on the podium again.”

Results next page.

Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda) saved his best for last to take a new track best and head up Superpole qualifying, his fourth pre-race ‘win’ of the 2010 season. Crutchlow was over 0.7 seconds faster than the next best rider, and in nine Superpoles this year, he has the best individual record. Behind him, Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) was second at his favourite circuit on the calendar, as he prepares to go out tomorrow and defend a 37-point championship lead. A resurgent Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was a positive third, as he rebuilds from some less than satisfying recent results. Ruben Xaus (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) finished an impressive fourth, earning himself a front row start. He had crashed heavily here last year but today’s result wiped out many memories of his 2009 misfortune.

Xaus’s BMW being fourth means that there are four different machines on the front row, and with Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare) and Luca Scassa (Supersonic Ducati) fifth and sixth restively, there are six different bikes in the top six grid slots. Scassa, a privateer, was top Ducati rider of any kind, with Ducati Xerox factory pilot Michel Fabrizio one place behind. Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) will start from row two, taking eighth place as the last rider home in the final Superpole session. Lorenzo Lanzi (DFX Corse Ducati) just missed the final eight places of Superpole three, with James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda) tenth. Max Neukirchner went 11th for Hannspree Ten Kate Honda and Tom Sykes ended a fruitful day 12th and on the third row for the Kawasaki Racing Team. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) crashed in two Superpole sessions, and now starts from the fourth row; championship contender Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) is only one place ahead of him.

Cal Crutchlow: “I definitely hoped to be here and I’d rather give away a pole for a race win, but you’ve got to take them when you can. I enjoyed that, it was a good session for us. Most of the sessions have been strong and my Yamaha is working well. Max is hard to beat in the championship and especially round here. I can see a big battle tomorrow, maybe ten guys at least at the start. I thought I could have got into the 57s because I was riding very deep into the corners, and I actually had another qualifier left but I’m happy with that.”

Max Biaggi: “A first row result is good for me, but compared to last year’s race we’ve got a lot more work to do this weekend. Something we changed on the bike makes it a bit different so it’s not the same feeling. It’s better in other tracks but here we’ve got some difficulties. It’s getting a little bit better, the bike is not where I want, but I’m happy with my pace. We’ll see tomorrow.”

Jonathan Rea: “It is hot out there, but there’s a lot of breeze so it’s not too bad. I actually didn’t really know where to go after Superpole because I haven’t been in the top 3 for some time. I’d just like to thank all of my team, our package isn’t perfect but what we do have in the Ten Kate garage is a really hard work ethic and we’re trying. Hopefully we can get away good tomorrow and try and stay with these two guys as long as we can. I’ve got nothing to lose!”

Ruben Xaus: “First of all I’d like to give my best to Troy and hope he recovers as soon as possible because when two riders are on the team on fire, they go ahead. We did a good job today, the bike is now working well, we made a big step in Imola and physically I’m not feeling perfect but I was able to ride fast.”

Results next page.

The world superbike title resumes at the classic Brno this weekend, with all the focus centred on whether anyone can snap Max Biaggi’s recent domination. Biaggi and his Aprilia are currently on the best winning stretch in four years of WSBK competition, which is already a worrying enough proposition for his rivals. Then add in the fact that he’s already a race winner and lap record holder at the Czech Republic circuit, it’s obvious he’s going to be the rider to beat in the two 21-lap races.

Perhaps one of only a few personnel who will be able to wear down the Italian is Australia’s Troy Corser (BMW), who led most of race one in the last round at Misano before Biaggi eventually clawed his way to the front.

And like Biaggi, Corser is also a Brno winner, the last of his three victories coming in his world championship-winning year of 2005.

Last year, riding the all-new BMW in its first year of WSBK competition, Corser stormed to his best result of the season with a fifth in race one.

Now armed with a vastly improved machine, Corser is expecting big things at Brno, which is a temple to racing with its constant elevation changes and magnificent, sweeping bends.

“I’m confident going into Brno, and the bike has come a long way since this time a year ago,” said Corser.

“I like the track itself a lot, as it suits my riding style. The set-up you run here is quite unusual. There are corners which you brake into going downhill and others which you brake into travelling uphill. That means you have to find a compromise.”

Corser joined all the world superbike regulars in a test session at Imola last week, which included his fellow Aussies Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki) and Broc Parkes (Honda).

For Vermeulen, it was his first real chance to go testing since he hurt his knee way back in February, but he was happy to have found new Pirelli tyres that seem to suit the ZX-10R in race trim.

“The new tyres that Pirelli has brought have been good,” said Vermeulen.

“We have gone through some of the parts that have been introduced through the year and this is the first chance I have been able to do something on the bike without being under the pressure of race weekend since my accident. Consistently we are a lot closer to the front, so that is very positive.”

After such an underwhelming season, top 10 finishes at Brno would amount to a positive outing for Vermeulen, while at the sharp end of the pack Biaggi and Corser will be on duty with the regular guard: Leon Haslam (Suzuki), Carlos Checa (Ducati), Jonathan Rea (Honda), Noriyuki Haga (Ducati), Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) and Yamaha pair James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow.

Crutchlow was fastest at the Imola test ahead of Haslam and Fabrizio, with Biaggi back in ninth.

At Brno, Biaggi will be out to extend his winning streak to six, which would only leave him only three behind the all-time record jointly held by Briton Neil Hodgson and American Colin Edwards.

Biaggi leads the championship on 307pts, with a comfortable 37pt buffer back to Haslam (270), followed by Checa (172), Rea (158), Haga (151) and Corser (149). There are a maximum of 250pts up for grabs in the final five rounds. db

Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) continued along the rich seam of form he has been displaying for the past two rounds by taking his fourth double win of the year, the Italian utterly dominating raceday at Misano and moving further ahead in the championship standings. In front of 69,000 fans Max was eventually imperious after some early flurries of overtaking activity, but Superpole winner Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) was a co-star in race one, leading for 16 laps before yielding to Max, then finishing third. Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) fought back from eighth in race one to go second in race two, and keep Biaggi in his sights for the final five rounds of the year. In the overall championship Biaggi has 307 points, Haslam 270 and Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) 172.

Race 1

Biaggi took his seventh win of the season in race 1, finally overtaking long time leader Corser and then proving able to hold off Checa’s Ducati in the final laps. Checa was second, Corser third, the top three veteran riders covered by only 0.822 seconds at the flag. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) was fourth, Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare) fifth. Leon Camier, on the second Aprilia RSV4, was an eventually lonely sixth. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) ended race one seventh after working hard at Misano; Haslam a disappointed eighth, having some technical set-up issues that held back his possible charge. Shane Byrne (Althea Ducati) and James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda) were ninth and tenth respectively.

Max Biaggi: “I’m obviously happy with this victory. Especially because I didn’t expect it and because doing so well in Italy, in front of our supporters has a very special flavour for us. The conditions are difficult because of the lack of grip. Already after five or six laps I started to “drift”. After overtaking Troy I tried to push as hard as possible because I saw that the times were still high, but I couldn’t shake him or Checa because the risk for mistakes was too high.”

Carlos Checa: “I felt we had a good chance here, we’ve been working very hard. Tyres with hotter temperatures mean that the race is not the same for all the riders, but we stayed quicker throughout the race and it was a very close battle with Max at the end, but not close enough and I had to settle for second.”

Troy Corser: “I got another good start and dropped back inside Max to get the lead. The track was really slippery compared to this morning, so it took a few laps to get a feel for the tyre and get a good rhythm. I made a mistake and Max came past, I tried a bit too hard and that was about it for me. It was positive all the same because we managed to stay in front for a good while.”

Race 2

Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) was in unbeatable form in race 2, surviving some hard early passing moves by his main rivals to get clear of the pack and push on to win, easing up across the line, by 4.095 seconds. This was double number four for the season. Haslam was a committed second after changing his machine and rear tyre as he attempted to halt Biaggi’s championship surge. Fabrizio returned to some of his best form by going third, holding off the determined Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda). Checa was fifth after being ambushed in the early laps, Guintoli sixth and Byrne seventh. Luca Scassa was an impressive eighth for the local Supersonic Ducati Team, with Haga ninth and early leader Corser tenth after losing ten seconds in one lap.

Max Biaggi: “In such a tough and well balanced championship, all of the victories are earned with hard work and sweat. In race 2, to be honest, maybe I rode… pushing the envelope a bit, maybe even risking too much. But on the other hand, without risk there is no gain! This race represents a crucial moment for us and for our season we are coming out with our heads held high. As always I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart: from the guys on the team to our supporters. Victories like this never happen by chance and these ones in particular are well deserved by a large family which works together toward a common goal”

Leon Haslam: “We have had a tough weekend and after the first race eighth was the best we could have done because we had a few issues. The team came up trumps for me in race two and we finished in second place behind Max in race two. Second is never good for me behind Max as he is the championship leader but today we will take it.”

Michel Fabrizio: “In the second race we didn’t win but we got on the podium, which is a good result. It wasn’t easy and once Max passed me, I had no chance of counterattacking him, and I had to do everything possible to hold onto third place with Crutchlow behind me. I’d like to dedicate the podium to my team because every week my engineers are working hard and continuing to believe in me”.

Results next page.

Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) posted a brilliant 1 minute 35.001 seconds to take the new track best lap and BMW’s first ever Superpole win. In doing so he extended his own record of pole wins in WSBK racing to 43 and he did it in some style, finishing half a second clear of his nearest rival. Second on the grid for Sunday’s races will be championship leader Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) who was surprised and delighted to be so far forward at a circuit like Misano. Third went to Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) and fourth to the charging Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda). BMW, Aprilia, Ducati and Yamaha machines share the front row places, after the usual close competition for grid places in a class with seven competing manufacturers.

Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) was not able to get into contention with Corser and Biaggi in the final Superpole contest and went fifth, but Sylvain Guintoli overcame the result of an earlier qualifying collision with Corser to put his Alstare Suzuki sixth on the grid. Leon Haslam, second in the championship, took his Alstare Suzuki machine to seventh place in a tough Superpole for man and machine.

Luca Scassa (Supersonic Racing Ducati) put in another great performance for a privateer rider as he posted a top eight time; he now starts Sunday’s races as last man on row two. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) battled hard to go ninth, just missing the final Superpole knockout session; Pata B&G Ducati privateer Jakub Smrz was tenth. James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda) struggled in qualifying and Superpole and thus went 13th fastest, joined by fellow British riders Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia), Shane Byrne (Althea Ducati) and Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda). Once again Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was top Kawasaki rider, 18th, while his team-mate Chris Vermeulen was 21st fastest.

Troy Corser: “I don’t know who’s older, Max or me but here we are! I’m very happy with what we did today, it’s been a long time since I was on pole, but the team has put in a lot of work since Miller and this is a really good result. I am happy with the set-up of the bike, it’s easier to ride and it has a more balanced position. It was very hot this afternoon and the surface was a bit more slippery but it is the same for everybody. If we get a good start tomorrow I will go from the front and see what happens.”

Max Biaggi: “I’m very satisfied with this result which, to be quite honest, I didn’t even really expect. This is a track where it is very difficult to overtake, so starting up front was important. I’m quite pleased. In the last lap I gave it my all and was very quick, but what counts now is being strong for the entire race. There are a lot of riders here, not only Troy, who are capable of making very fast laps and they showed that today as well, so we’ll have to try to stick close to the leaders.

Michel Fabrizio: “It is very important to start on the front row of the grid here in Misano, where I have never really gone very well. I made a little mistake on the final lap when I saw the chequered flag a little bit too late to put in anything extra. In tomorrow’s races the early laps are going to be difficult, I don’t want to be controversial because once again we’re missing a bit in engine power with respect to the fours, but we’ll see how it goes.”

Cal Crutchlow: “Testing here went OK, but we’d like to have some new parts because now we’ve come here to race we’re doing the same pace as in all the tests with the same set-up. We do need to find something extra because everyone else is going really well here, but in any case congratulations to Corser and I’m satisfied to be on the front row for tomorrow’s races.”

Results next page.

Australian Chris Vermeulen definitely knows the fast way around the Misano circuit in San Marino, and he’s confident that will be his ticket to a mid-year revival in round eight of the Superbike World Championship this weekend.

After a wretched year with injury and a string of pedestrian results for a rider of such high quality, Vermeulen (Kawasaki) has earmarked the normally sun-kissed Misano – located on the Italian Adriatic coast — as the ideal time to break the shackles from a barren campaign.

“I’ve had some decent results at the Misano circuit over the years with a mix of podiums in world superbike, world supersport and MotoGP, but never the top step,” said Vermeulen.

“Unfortunately I don’t think this year we’ll have the package to reach the top step of the podium, but I do hope that I will be able to make a significant leap up as the four-week break has done me good.”

Vermeulen spent the down time in Australia training and receiving regular physiotherapy on his injured right knee.

“My knee is coming along, so I’m looking forward to seeing what Misano brings us,” he said.

“The event is always a favourite amongst fans with the sunshine and Italian passion for racing, so I hope we can put on a good show and improve on our current form.”

The Kawasaki Racing Team didn’t go testing during the four-week recess, but the Aprilia, Suzuki, Yamaha, Ducati and BMW factory outfits all took advantage of the long break to get out and about, many at Misano itself.

Wollongong’s Troy Corser (BMW) was one of those to hit Misano, at a circuit where he won both races in 2000 on an Aprilia.

“The Italian fans certainly make themselves heard at Misano. They love their motorcycle racing and welcome us with open arms,” said Corser.

“I’ve competed at the circuit many times, and it’s a real fixture of the Superbike World Championship calendar. Modifications were made to the circuit in 2006 and we now race clockwise.

“That was a nice change, although this was a familiar venue for the riders, we all had to start from square one again. The track is quite twisty and there are a few bumps, but it’s still pretty fast. Returning to sea level means we will have more power again.”

Corser is seventh in the standings, but only 24pts behind third-placed Jonathan Rea (Honda).

The championship lead changed hands at the last round in America with Max Biaggi (Aprilia) seizing the initiative from Suzuki’s long-time leader Leon Haslam.

If Biaggi is the conqueror in race one at Misano, recent history suggests he will then turn it into a clean sweep because all his six race wins in 2010 have come in twos with doubles at Portimao, Monza and Miller Motorsports Park.

But there will be plenty of riders who fancy their chances of wearing Biaggi down, including his team-mate Leon Camier, Rea, Ducati duo Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio, Yamaha pairing James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow, and Spaniard Carlos Checa (Ducati), who was desperately unlucky in America after mechanical woes robbed him of two certain victories.

And even someone like Max Neukirchner, who has struggled since joining Rea at Honda, is a race winner at Misano, as is Corser’s team-mate Ruben Xaus.

In fact, Xaus has been outstanding over the journey at Misano, and only Australia’s Troy Bayliss has more WSBK victories at the 4.226km circuit.

In terms of sheer quality, Vermeulen’s best result at Misano was in 2007 when he finished second behind countryman Casey Stoner in the MotoGP race.

A remarkable day of unpredictable final outcomes and drama on track finally delivered two 21-lap race victories to Max Biaggi and his Aprilia Alitalia team in front of 55,000 spectators, a record for Miller Motorsports Park. Max now has a 15 point lead over Leon Haslam (Alstare Suzuki) but he may not have won a single race today had Althea Ducati privateer Carlos Checa’s machine not quit twice on him while leading. Checa had to content himself with two Pirelli awards for the fastest lap of each race and a new lap record of 1′48.045, set on lap four of race one. Biaggi made his third double win of the year, after similar feats at Portimao and Monza.

Race 1

A two-rider fight for supremacy in race 1 suddenly became a clear victory for Max Biaggi as long time race leader Checa was forced to stop with an electrical problem on lap 19 of the 21 laps. Almost five seconds behind Biaggi, championship leader Leon Haslam was second for Alstare Suzuki, and the final podium place was secured by the rejuvenated Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox). Leon Camier was in a podium position on his Aprilia Alitalia vee-four for most of the race, but could not keep Haslam and Haga behind on the final laps. Troy Corser was fifth for BMW Motorrad Motorsport, Shane Byrne a brilliant sixth on his Althea Ducati, having fought back from a very lowly position at the start. Luca Scassa, Sylvain Guintoli, James Toseland and Ruben Xaus rounded out the top ten finishers.

Max Biaggi: “Very lucky. I think Checa deserved that race because he rode very hard. Honestly speaking he deserved it but racing is racing and sometimes these things happen. This time it was our turn. We had a very good pace and I am happy for me, my team and Aprilia.”

Leon Haslam: “I didn’t get the best of starts I think I was about tenth away, and I got stuck behind Jakub Smrz when his engine blew and I was covered in quite a lot of oil, so I didn’t want to follow too close. I got a gift of second with Carlos breaking down, but we will take it.”

Noriyuki Haga: “I have not had a good result at this track in the two previous years so I am happy to take third place. From the first lap my tyre feeling was not so good and I adjusted my riding style and I was happy to be able to finish third.”

Race 2

With his main championship rival Leon Haslam crashing out of race two, Max Biaggi’s second win of the day for Aprilia put him 15 points in the lead. Carlos Checa once more stopped on the track while leading. Leon Camier had a career best of second on his Aprilia Alitalia machine and Cal Crutchlow took his Yamaha Sterilgarda bike to third place. This was the first time that two Aprilias have finished on the podium in a 1-2. In the championship Biaggi now has 257 points, Haslam 242 and Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) 151. Behind the podium battle Haga was fourth, Corser fifth and Guintoli sixth. Shane Byrne went seventh and Jonathan Rea eighth. Checa leaves America on an unchanged 141 points, in fourth place, with Haga now only six points behind him.

Max Biaggi: “We made a double win, and that was my dream. Before we came here, I was hoping and dreaming to make a double win. It is just what I need. I was also a little bit lucky because Checa had some trouble, but anyway this is 50 points, very helpful to me and my team. I’m happy for my team-mate too. This machine is only one and a half years old, and we developed the bike very, very strong. The engineers made a good job. I’m very happy for my Aprilia friends. The people understand this bike is a winning machine.”

Leon Camier: “The start of the weekend didn’t go according to plan, really. I had a couple of crashes, and I sort of managed to turn it around for the second one. The first race we had a bit of a bad front tyre choice and maybe a bit of a setting thing. Yeah, the second one’s gone awesome, so massive thank you to Aprilia. They’ve done an awesome job as you can see. I think it’s Aprilia’s first 1-2 in Superbike. Max just had a bit more pace than me.”

Cal Crutchlow: “I think we deserved that. In the first race we were unfortunate. We got caught up in somebody else’s crash and just ran off the track. I think we came back strongly the second race, and all credit to Max and Leon, they rode a superb race. I think we’ve turned it around. Yamaha has done a good job this weekend. It was a very similar race to what Ben ran here last year, and he won by nine seconds – so it shows how fast these guys are going.”

Results next page.

Althea Ducati rider Carlos Checa dominated the final Superpole session with a fabulous new track best lap of 1′47.081, beating Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) and Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda) to the punch in a session that was red-flagged for a time.

Jakub Smrz (Pata B&G Ducati) was fourth, one place ahead of championship leader, Leon Haslam (Alstare Suzuki).

Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) was happy in sixth place, with Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) overcoming the effects of a huge crash that brought out the red flags to go seventh, one place up on Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia).

World Superbike Superpole

1 7 Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1′47.081
2 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′47.414
3 35 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′47.648
4 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1′47.662
5 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′48.006
6 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1′48.035
7 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′48.378
8 2 Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′48.621
9 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1′48.141
10 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′48.154
11 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1′48.159
12 50 Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′48.162
13 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′48.274
14 52 Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′48.640
15 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1′48.706
16 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 1′48.964
17 77 Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′49.635
18 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′50.135
19 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 1′50.479
20 95 Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′50.596
21 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′52.691

www.worldsbk.com

The HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championship will soon arrive at the Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, USA, for its annual American adventure. This year the meeting will be unique as raceday takes place on Monday May 31st – the Memorial Day Holiday – rather than the usual Sunday, with first practice on Saturday 29th and Superpole qualifying on Sunday 30th. As round seven of a 13 round season, Miller will be the halfway point for what has already been a thrilling period of competition in the Superbike class. Once again the Supersport World Championship will run alongside the bigger bikes when action gets going on Saturday.

Seven different manufacturers will once more be represented by official teams this coming race, with several other top-flight privateers also capable of race wins, in what is turning out to be an intensely competitive season. From double World Champions like Troy Corser and James Toseland to complete rookies in the class like American Roger Lee Hayden, World Superbike in 2010 is a massive melting pot of rider experience and machinery, making predictions about possible winners a difficult business week-to-week. So far six riders have won races in 2010, and few think that total will not increase before the end of the year. At Miller, a track virtually no one has tested at or ridden on since last year’s race, the uncertainty about who will be in a position to win come raceday is all the more intense.

At the top of the World Championship fight since the first round, Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) reasserted his victorious pace in South Africa during round six, winning race two after fighting to a podium finish in race one. He extended his lead over Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) to 15 points in the process. Double race winner at Assen, Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Phillip Island race winner Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) are third and fourth now on identical points scores. Checa is the only current WSB rider to taste victory at Miller, scoring a double when he was a Honda rider in 2008.

We had a new 2010 race winner at Kyalami, Michel Fabrizio for Ducati Xerox, while Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) is looking to get back to his best, having won in Valencia but still struggling by his own high standards elsewhere. Currently Haga is sixth and Fabrizio eighth overall. All the Ducati riders will have a three kilogramme weight reduction to their machines from the Miller round onwards, after a recent change in the balancing rules between the 1200cc twins and the 1000cc four-cylinder machines.

It can surely only be a matter of time before James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda) and his team-mate Cal Crutchlow take their first wins of 2010, as each has scored more than one podium already. They sit fifth and ninth respectively. Toseland being in that position means that there are five different manufacturers’ machinery inside the top five places – Suzuki, Aprilia, Honda, Ducati and Yamaha. Two Aprilia Alitalia machines feature in the top ten, with full season rookie Leon Camier having already scored a podium on his way to a current ranking of tenth.

The BMW Motorrad Motorsport team, led by riders Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus, has already had a 2010 podium finish for Corser to celebrate, at Monza, as they work their way to full competitiveness. Kawasaki Racing Team riders Tom Sykes and Chris Vermeulen are working hard on getting further up the leader board, with a fifth place for Sykes at Monza the high water mark so far.

Many other top name regulars are fired up for Miller, including Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare), Max Neukirchner (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), Shane Byrne (Althea Ducati), Jakub Smrz (Pata B&G Ducati), Luca Scassa (Supersonic), ECHO CRS Honda rider Broc Parkes, plus Roger Lee Hayden and Matteo Baiocco (both Pedercini Kawasaki).

www.worldsbk.com