HISTORIC YAMAHA DOUBLE AT MONZA

Laverty Springs a Surprise
By Michael Esdaile

In day of high stakes Superbike racing there was drama aplenty at the fourth round of the 2011 Superbike World Championship, held at Italy’s historic and high speed Monza circuit near Milan on Sunday.

First surprise was the fact Ireland’s Eugene Laverty not only won the first race, but backed up to win the second. The first race win was the first time the Yamaha man had stood on a Superbike podium in his career. Not a bad way to make the podium.

Other surprises were defending champion Max Biaggi’s mistakes in the first race, then a ride through penalty in the second race that cost the Italian a clear shot at his first race win of the year.

Other drama came at the start of the second race when Jakub Smrz (Ducati), Leon Haslam (BMW) and Jonathan Rea (Honda) all came down in a tangle just as the field was heading for the first corner. They were unable to continue.

But that was not the end of it: after working through to second place and giving Aprilia hope for a 1-2, Leon Camier crashed; then there was Biaggi’s ride through penalty that took him from a comfortable lead to 11th place; and just when he was looking like a mid-field man, Michel Fabrizio turned in a strong ride on the Alstare Suzuki to nett the team its first podium of the year. And finally, with three laps to go, championship points leader Carlos Checa’s Ducati suffered an engine problem that dropped him from sixth to tenth. In fact, with two corners to go to the finish, the Ducati started smoking badly and the Spaniard had to coax the bike across the line.

The result was that Checa’s 43 point lead in the championship was slashed to 27 points, with Melandri taking over the number two place in the title chase, abeit by just one point from Biaggi, who really wanted to win both races at Monza to get his title defence onto a firm footing.

Biaggi leads the Yamaha of 
Eugene Laverty early in the first race.

POLE FOR BIAGGI
Biaggi had emerged from the three round Superpole session with a new pole record for the ultra-fast 5.77 km circuit, blasting the Alitalia Aprilia around in 1m 41.745s, well under the 1m 42.121s lap he used to take pole last year.

At that stage, he was focused on winning both races at a track where the 1000cc four cylinder machines can clearly use their superior top speed to good effect over the 1200cc twins. What was the difference? Well, Biaggi and Laverty were clocked at 332 km/h while Checa managed 329 km/h hanging in the draft in the first race, but running without the advantage of a slip-stream the Ducati could manage ‘only’ 318 km/h. That’s still wickedly fast for a two cylinder engine, but giving away a big speed advantage at a track with two long straights was always going to make Monza a tough nut for Checa to crack.

In the end his Ducati almost threw in the towel entirely in the second race.

Carlos Checa rode hard all day but the two cylinder
Ducati was out-gunned by the four cylinder bikes.

However, none of this detracts from the superb job Laverty did to emerge victorious with a double win on the Yamaha World Superbike Team’s YZF-R1. Laverty said later that he would have been happy to have just made it to the podium at Monza, but to take a double victory was something he had not considered likely beforehand.

MAX MAKES MISTAKES
His first race win came after a tough battle with defending world champion and pole sitter Max Biaggi who was showing plenty of determination by taking the lead off the Irishman several times in the first few laps. But each time they crossed the finish line, it was the Yamaha man in front. Laverty then got some respite from the relentless attacks from Biaggi when the Italian ran wide on three occasions and dropped placings so that he had to fight his way back toward the front, engaging in titanic scraps with Marco Melandri (Yamaha) and Leon Haslam (BMW) in the process.

In the end though, Laverty made no mistakes, apart from a big slide in the Parabolica on the last lap, and won by 1.5 seconds from Biaggi with Haslam grabbing the final podium spot from Melandri.

Michel Fabrizio had worked up from tenth on the first lap to get the Alstare Suzuki into sixth after five laps then got past holeshot man Troy Corser’s BMW to run in fifth to the finish.

With three laps to go, Assen first race winner Jonathan Rea also got past Corser, who had actually led for the whole of the first lap before dropping back due to some big slides from the German machine.

Biaggi’s team-mate Leon Camier helped the Aprilia cause by stalking Checa – who had started from 13th and got as high as eighth – passing the Spaniard on the last lap, bumping the Althea Ducati man to ninth.

Jakub Smrz got his Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing Ducati home tenth, less than a second behind Checa, with Ayrton Badovina (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team) and Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing Ducati) 11th and 12th, more than six seconds ahead of Tom Sykes on the Kawasaki Racing Team’s ZX-10R, with Maxime Berger (Supersonic Racing Team Ducati) and Rueben Xaus (Castrol Honda) rounding out the final points scorers.

CORSER HOLESHOTS AGAIN…
The second race saw Corser holeshot once again to lead almost to the end of the first lap, when Biaggi whistled past to take over out front. The Italian was in determined mood, clicking off a series of blazingly fast laps to pad his lead.

Behind him, Camier got the second factory Aprilia into second after diving inside the PATA Racing Aprilia of Noriyuki Haga into one of the chicanes then a lap later blasted past Corser.

By then Biaggi was 1.5 seconds clear and pulling away. Over the next three laps he stretched the gap to his Aprilia team-mate to 4.1 seconds while Corser slipped back to sixth after being passed by Melandri, Fabrizio and Haga.

At that point Laverty had made his way steadily toward the front from ninth at the end of the first lap and was right on Corser’s tail.

APRILIA DENIED
On the eighth of 18 laps Camier went down in a cloud of dust and flying debris after the front tyre of the Aprilia suffered an abrupt loss of traction in a terrifying front-end tuck. That left Biaggi leading by 5.2 seconds from Melandri with Fabrizio third from Haga, Laverty and Corser, with Checa seventh.

With a five second cushion over the scrap for second place between Melandri, Laverty, Fabrizio and Haga, Biaggi eased the pace to hold the gap steady at a little over five and a half seconds. He was looking well on target for his first win of the year, vital if he was to pull back a bigger bunch of points off Checa.

Then, on the tenth lap, he arrived at one of the chicanes way to hot and rather than trying to take the bend, he ran on through the slip road, rejoining the track on the other side of the chicane. He sat up then got his head down once more, with the gap to second placed Melandri 5.4 seconds. Laverty had by now passed Fabrizio to tail his Yamaha team-mate but any mistakes would see the Suzuki man back past, with Haga hot on his heels. It was very close.

Then the race officials announced Biaggi would have to take a ride through penalty for running on at the chicane.

Biaggi shook his head in disbelief but knew better than to ignore an official instruction so with just five laps to go he dived into the pit lane for his ride through, re-joining in 11th place behind the Kawasakis of Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz.

From there he worked his way forward, passing the Kawasakis on successive laps, then nailing Checa after the latter ran into engine problems.

YAMAHA BATTLE
Out front Melandri had inherited the lead but had team-mate Laverty virtually glued to him, pulling alongside on occasion, the Yamaha men almost three seconds ahead of Fabrizio’s Suzuki, with Haga right up the GSX-R1000’s tail pipes.

In the last two laps, the huge Monza crowd was treated to a tense battle between Melandri and Laverty, decided on the final lap by Laverty getting the better of his team-mate. Behind the two Yamahas, Fabrizio held out Haga’s PATA Racing Aprilia ato give Suzuki its first podium of the year after a real cut-and-thrust final two laps between the former Xerox Ducati team-mates.

So after it appeared early on that Aprilia was going to score a 1-2, the first Italian V4 home was Haga in fourth, almost two seconds clear of Corser who was having a much better time on the BMW. Badovini brought the Italian team’s BMW home sixth ahead of Guintoli, Lascorz and Checa.

If Laverty’s first race win was a thriller, his second was epic: he’d come from ninth at the end of the first lap and had to engage some serious hard men in his race to the front. Two wins was just reward for his big effort.

POINTS CHASE
For Biaggi it was a case of what might have been. But for the mistake at the chicane and the subsequent ride-through penalty, he almost assuredly would have narrowed Checa’s lead in the title chase to just 11 points. Still, with another nine rounds (18 races) to go, Biaggi has time on his side.

However, with the next three rounds – Miller Motorsport Park, Misano and Aragon – being places where Checa and the Althea Ducati can be counted in the hunt for race wins, not to mention the new-found competitiveness of the Yamahas, it’s looking like a torrid next few weeks for Biaggi.

For full results from Monza, click on this link:

http://sbk.perugiatiming.com/pdf_frame.asp?p_Round=ITA1&p_Anno=2011&p_Manifestazione=04&p_Gara=01&p_Sessione=001&p_Stampa=CLA

World Superbike Championship points (after four of 13 rounds):
Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati 1198R) 145
Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team YZF-R1) 118
Max Biaggi (Alitalila Aprilia RSV4 Factory) 117
Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda CBR1000RR) 89
Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike Team YZF-R1) 85
Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport S1000 RR) 84
Michael Fabrizio (Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000) 74
Leon Camier (Alitalila Aprilia RSV4 Factory) 58
Jakub Smrz (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing Ducati 1198R) 55
Noriyuki Haga (PATA Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory) 47
Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport S1000 RR) 46
Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team S1000 RR) 35
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike ZX-10R) 34
Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike ZX-10R) 33
Rueben Xaus (Castrol Honda CBR1000RR) 31

More about → HISTORIC YAMAHA DOUBLE AT MONZA

KAWASAKI TEAM MEMBERS BAILED

FOUR members of the Paul Bird Motorsport team that runs Kawasaki's Superbike World Championship effort have been arrested on suspicion of importing drugs into England following the Assen round of the Superbike World Championship.

They were subsequently released on bail pending further investigations.

However, the Paul Bird Motorsport team has since issued a media statement saying that the discovery of drugs, a handgun and some ammunition in one of its race transporters came as a complete surprise to the team.

"The team are confident that no team member has any connection whatsoever with the items discovered. No one has been detained after the time of the search and all team members are able to undertake their normal duties," the media statement reads.

"There is no suggestion of the Paul Bird Motorsport Team being involved in illegal activities and no other team members have been interviewed following the incident. The team staff present at the time of the search and discovery enjoy the full support and confidence of the team and all involved are determined to offer their full cooperation to HM Customs in their ongoing investigations," the statement says.

For the full Paul Bird Motorsport statement, click on: http://krnewsroom.blogspot.com/2011/05/kawasaki-team-denies-wrong-doing.html

The four men arrested - Philip Roe, Gary Matthews, Mattia Fontanta and Daniel Swyer - were initially detained after two Paul Bird Motorsport transporters were inspected at Dover Eastern Docks in April on their way back to the team's base in Morecambe, Lancashire, returning from the Assen round of the Superbike World Championship.

England's daily paper The Telegraph broke the story in its May 2 edition and reported that a UK Border Agency spokesman said: "Two lorries were searched by UK Border Agency officers as they passed through Dover Eastern Docks. Quantities of Class A drugs, Class B drugs and a handgun were discovered," he said.

"Four men, aged 50, 40, 32 and 27 were arrested on suspicion of the importation of controlled drugs and firearm offences. They were questioned and later released on bail pending further enquiries."

The Telegraph is speculating that the drugs discovery will result in closer scrutiny of all motorsport teams entering and departing Britain.

For the full story, click on:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8485812/Superbike-team-lorries-found-to-contain-drugs.html

More about → KAWASAKI TEAM MEMBERS BAILED

CARLOS CHECKS OUT!

By MICHAEL ESDAILE

Checa ready to go!

SPANISH veteran Carlos Checa translated his strong form in testing, practice and qualifying at Phillip Island into two comfortable wins in the opening round of the 2011 Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island on February 27.

Checa had been the fastest man around the track all week – in the pre-season tests on Monday and Tuesday, then in Practice and Qualifying on Friday and Saturday, ending up on pole position after snatching that from Alitalia Aprilia’s Max Biaggi in his final two laps of the third Superpole session.

In taking pole, Checa set the fastest official Superbike lap of the Phillip Island circuit, 1m 30.882s, – eclipsing both the old pole record of 1m 31.069s set by Yamaha’s Ben Spies in 2009 and the 1m 31.050s lap recorded by Regis Laconi in Superpole 2 in 2009.

For Biaggi, a pair of second places – the second after a torrid encounter with Superbike ‘rookie’ Marco Melandri on the Yamaha World Superbike Team YZF-R1 – was a very strong result. The Aprilia team has never taken a lot of points from the opening round at Phillip Island so 40 points towards his championship defence was a clear sign that the Roman Emperor is intent on retaining his crown.

Max and Marco

While the two Italian manufacturers took top honours at Phillip Island, the other European manufacturer in the series had mixed results. In the first, Leon Haslam rode a terrific race to bag the third rostrom spot for BMW but in the second, he was a distant fifth. Team-mate Troy Corser had a weekend he’d probably rather forget, with tenth in the first race and 19th and last in the second after he ran off the track mid-way through the race.

As a result, Yamaha emerged from the weekend with third place in the manufacturer’s championship, just ahead of BMW, while Suzuki was a distant third, ahead of Honda.

Surprisingly, for a team that had looked strong in testing, Kawasaki emerged from the weekend last on the manufacturer’s points table, not what the green team was looking for.

The first race saw Biaggi grab the holeshot and this time – unlike his poor start in the first race last year – Checa went with him before young Irish tyro Eugene Laverty snatched the lead off both veterans at the top of the Southern Loop and led the first two laps.

Behind him Checa and Biaggi were running nose-to-tail with Leon Haslam pushing hard in fourth on the first of the factory BMW S1000RRs. After a troubled practice and qualifying, Troy Corser showed plenty of grit with a daring move inside the second Yamaha ridden by Marco Melandri at the entry to Lukey Heights.

That made it: Yamaha-Ducati-Aprilia-BMW-BMW-Yamaha.

But Checa wasn’t about to let the young Irishman get away and it was not long before he was ranging up on the back of the Yamaha and before the third lap was over he had got in front. From therer he proceeded to steadily pull away, leaving Biaggi to deal with the young Yamaha man.

Biaggi was playing a waiting game. He knew his Aprilia had the speed advantage on everyone down Gardner Straight but he wanted to preserve his Pirellis for a late charge. Behind him lurked an impatient Haslam, with Corser fifth before Melandri got some pay-back, pushing the Aussie wide with a scything inside pass at Honda Corner.

Fujio & REVSdaile share a joke

By the time Max motored past Laverty to start the sixth lap, Checa had checked out. Biaggi pushed hard but was unable to make any impression so he worked at getting away from the pursuing pack, led by Haslam, with the Yamahas of Laverty and Melandri just behind, then a gap back to Castrol Honda’s Johnny Rea, Noriyuki Haga on the PATA Racing Aprilia and the fading Corser, who now had Alstare Suzuki’s Michel Fabrizio on his tail.

At that point, a third of the way through the 22 laps, Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli crashed the Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing Ducati out of tenth place. His team-mate, Jakub Smrz, was running in 13th spot but a steady push saw him move steadily forward, ultimately seeing him home in seventh place.

With Checa extending his lead, Biaggi too had a little breathing room, having built a two second buffer over the untidy BMW of Haslam, who in turn had a gap on the battling Yamahas of Laverty and Melandri. Then, when they got the message that Rea was zeroing in on them, Melandri stuck it up the inside of his team-mate to leave the Irishmen – Laverty and Rea – to squabble over fifth, while a little further back, Fabrizio displaced Haga from seventh.

After giving Laverty the slip, Melandri set about working on Haslam for the final rostrum position and just past the half way point, Rea sliced in fifth spot while Melandri passed Haslam for third and set about trying to build a buffer over the BMW man who now had Rea glued to his rear Pirelli with Laverty and Fabrizio close behind.

The heat came off Haslam a little when Rea ran down the slip road at Honda Corner leaving the young English rider, runner-up in the 2010 World Championship, to set his sights on Melandri and slowly close in.

Out front, Checa had a very handy five second lead over Biaggi and unless something drastic happened, the top two places looked set in stone so all interest was in the four-way battle for third. Melandri lead a nose-to-tail team of Haslam, Laverty and Fabrizio with a big gap back to Haga and Corser who had Tom Sykes on the new Kawasaki and Smrz hot on their heels.

Adding further spice to the absorbing battle for third, Fabrizio passed Laverty for fifth while Haslam mounted a determined attack on Melandri, passing the former MotoGP man at Doohan Corner with four laps to go.

Haslam held onto third place from there to the flag, giving BMW a podium in his first race with the team. His best lap, 1m 32.266s, was just 73 thousandths of a second slower than his best lap last year, set on his way to winning the first race of that season on the Alstare Suzuki. The difference was that wheras last year he looked as if he was on rails on the GSX-R1000, this year he was trying to beat the BMW into submission. The S1000 RR was untidy under brakes and rather ‘loose’ in the rear around many of Phillip Island’s fast turns and that podium place says more about Haslam than it does about the factory BMW.

Just when it seemed the top six places were set, with a lap and a half to go, Laverty re-ignited things with a slick pass on Fabrizio at Honda Corner, then pipped team-mate Melandri for fourth on the final lap with Fabrizio sixth on the Suzuki GSX-R1000 that last year won the race.

Smrz came through the field to grab seventh, eight seconds back from Fabrizio, while Sykes took a disappointing eighth in the debut of the new ZX-10R Kawasaki, having got by Corser, then Haga in the final few laps. His best lap, 1m 33.501s, was well off the 1m 31.813s effort he had managed in the second qualifying session and was not even as good as his best lap from the very first free practice session on Friday.

Adding to Kawasaki’s woes was young Spaniard Joan Lascorz. The former 600 Supersport pilot had managed third fastest time in the first free practice session, inproved his time in the first qualifying session but dropped five places in the process, then had a big go in the second qualifying session, only to run off at high speed. He kept the Kawasaki upright but was clearly chastened by the experience, which showed him just how fast things can go wrong on a 1000cc Superbike.

In the race, he crashed out of tenth place just past mid-way.

Race two was no better for the Spaniard. From sixth at the end of the first lap he dropped to tenth in the space of three laps, had a brief interchange with Rueben Xaus (Castrol Honda) then faded to 16th before pitting to retire the ZX-10R with eight laps to go.

Sykes’ performance was almost the opposite in race two. He started from 13th on the first lap then moved forward before getting involved in a battle with Xaus and Smrz around mid-race, then, after escaping that moved up to eighth before once again tangling with Xaus and a strong finishing Leon Camier (Alitalia Aprilia) and ending up ninth.

However, from the lap times achieved in practice and qualifying, the Kawasaki has a lot more in it than these results suggest.

On the other hand, while Ducati is no longer involved as a factory entrant in Superbike, it would have been delighted with the Althea team’s efforts. In the second race, Checa carried on where he left off in the first, taking an early lead, and after a bit of sport with the holeshotting Haslam, settled into the lead role effortlessly and pulled away to another untroubled win.

That Checa was barely raising a sweat could be seen by his race two lap times – he ran 1:32s for the first half dozen laps before easing back to 1:33s from there, and ran two 1m 34s on his last two circuits when it was clear he had the race well and truly in the bag.

The reason for this? Max Biaggi. The Italian made a mess of the start of the second race and was buried in the ruck, finishing the first lap in eighth place before mounting a very forceful charge that proved the burning desire to win still burns in the Roman Emperor. By the tenth lap he was in second place, having dealt with Melandri and Haslam in a cat-and-mouse game over three laps.

However, with Checa comfortable in the lead, any aspirations Biaggi had for a win were brought undone by Melandri. The younger Italian harried Biaggi all the way to the chequered flag, the pair of them jousting all around the track to give the crowd its money’s worth. In the end, Biaggi’s ruthless efficiency was too much for Melandri, who conceded due to still recovering from shoulder surgery.

Johnny Rea gave the Ten Kate team reason to smile again by bringing the Castrol Honda home intact, in fourth place, wrestling that off Haslam with a lap to go after running 11th at the end of the first lap. It was a troubled weekend for the Irishman who had a heavy tumble in testing on the Tuesday and was airlifted to Mebourne where a blood test indicated enzymes in his blood that should not have been there. He returned to the track, was second fastest to Checa in the first practice session, qualified fifth fastest for Superpole then crashed in Superpole 2, dislocating a finger. But Rea is a serious little racer. While he was ferried back to the paddock on the back of a scooter, he popped the finger back into joint, jumped on his spare CBR1000 and posted a faster time. Gutsy.

Haslam had ridden above the BMW’s real capabilities in the first race and was fifth at the end of the second race, six seconds ahead of a strong finishing Leon Camier on the second Alitalia Aprilia. The former British Superbike Champion had been crook all weekend, suffering from a very bad does of the ‘flu, so his fighting effort in race two was noteworthy, especially with the second round of the championship at Donington Park.

Haga made it three Aprilias in the top ten with a seventh place finish, just ahead of Fabrizio and Sykes, with Rueben Xaus rounding out the top ten.

Troy and Max

And what of lap record holder Troy Corser? Well, after running as high as third in the early laps after a great start, he was bumped back to fifth by Melandri and Biaggi on lap five, but was giving a good account of himself when he ran on at Honda Corner, rejoined in 11th place and worked his way up to eighth before fading in the second half and eventually finished 20th, the last man home.

This was not the way the Aussie two times Superbike World Champion wanted to start his third season in the BMW team, so expect some big changes before the Donington round.

However, none of this can take anything away from Checa, who quite simply was in a class of his own all weekend.

And the record shows the Ducatis don’t do too badly at Donington either…

More about → CARLOS CHECKS OUT!

NEW YAMAHA TEAM MANAGER

THE Sterilgarda Yamaha World Superbike team has a new manager, 38-year-old Andrea Dosoli.

Dosoli brings a wealth of road racing experience to his new role with the team, having been chief mechanic, responsible for data acquisition, MotoGP team manager and Moto2 team manager/co-owner for the duration of the 2010 season.

He will take on the responsibility of team management with the Yamaha World Superbike Team from November 10, 2010.

Dosoli replaces lomg-serving team manager Massimo Meregalli who has been appointed manager of Yamaha's MotoGP team for 2011 following the departure of Davide Brivio to Ducati, along with Velentino Rossi and his crew.

In a formal statement, Yamaha Motor Europe said it: "wishes to express thanks and appreciation for Massimo’s loyalty, dedication and hard work with the World Superbike Team and wish him all the best in his new role with the factory MotoGP team next season.

"After several years as team manager for the Yamaha Motor Italia Supersport Team and then manager for the World Superbike Team from 2005 to 2010, Massimo Meregalli will now move across to join the Yamaha Factory MotoGP Team in 2011 in a management role.

"Massimo Meregalli’s career with the World Superbike Team reached a high in 2009, securing the World Championship title with American rider Ben Spies. Over the five year tenure under Massimo’s management the WSB team achieved an impressive 24 Superpoles, 104 podiums and 33 race wins with riders including Spies, Noriyuki Haga, Troy Corser, Cal Crutchlow, Andrew Pitt and James Toseland.

"The team also secured the World Superbike Constructors’ Championship in 2008 for Yamaha."

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LAVERTY KEEN TO GO

STERLIGARDA Yamaha World Superbike Team's new rider Eugene Laverty visited the team’s workshops at Germo di Lesmo in Italy after his first test on the bike following the final round of the 2010 championship at Magny Cours.

Laverty had the opportunity to see first hand the mechanics in the workshops making the adjustments of the bike from the data gained at his first test and get a first impression of the 2011 YZF-R1 racebike he will ride to challenge for the title next year.

There was also a chance to meet some of the team members not usually present at the race weekends and get a deeper insight into the team’s base.

The team’s workshops are just a stone’s throw from the Monza circuit and sit next to the Yamaha factory MotoGP team’s workshop. Frankie Carchedi, Laverty’s crew chief for the 2011 season, was also present, both enjoying the chance to discuss changes to the bike’s settings in advance of their one day test in Valencia next week and following test at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia at the end of the month.

Laverty joins the team for the next year having completed two successful years in World Supersport, taking second in the championship, fighting for the crown right to the last race in both seasons.

“It was nice to spend the day at the workshop and meet the guys who don’t always come to the race track,” said Laverty. “We also studied some data with Frankie from the first test in Magny Cours and looked at where we can improve. It gave some good information for me to understand what I need to do differently and work on at the next test. It has all been really positive and a great opportunity to do it away from the race track with no pressure.

"The workshops were really impressive and I got to see everything, you can it’s very well organised. I’m really looking to getting on the 2011 racebike for the first time next week at Valencia and then Phillip Island at the end of the month to get cracking again!”

More about → LAVERTY KEEN TO GO

HAUSER: ANOTHER BMW CASUALTY

FOLLOWING the news that BMW Motorrad Superbike Team Manager Davide Tardozzi had left the team (see: http://krnewsroom.blogspot.com/2010/10/bmw-split-tardozzi-gone.html ) we now have word that he was not the only casualty in what appears to be an internal battle of wills.

Tardozzi was released from his three year contract over "differences of opinion about the way the team should be organized," with rumours that he and BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director Berthold Hauser (right) were clashing over the way the team should be run.

Tardozzi was one of the most widely respected team managers in World Superbikes, and credited with much Ducati's Superbike World Championship success, where he was team manager for many years before joining BMW.

It has now emerged that Tardozzi was not the only victim of that encounter, with the BMW team issuing a press release announcing that Hauser is also to be replaced, with immediate effect.

The press release is as follows:

BMW Motorrad Motorsport is heading into the future with a new management structure. Bernhard Gobmeier will replace Berthold Hauser as BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director with immediate effect. The move comes two weeks after BMW Motorrad and Team Manager Davide Tardozzi agreed to part company by mutual consent. Gobmeier will be responsible for all BMW Motorrad Motorsport activities, including the company's factory involvement in the Superbike World Championship.

"I'm pleased to announce this fundamental realignment," says Hendrik von Kuenheim, General Director of BMW Motorrad.

"The new structure puts BMW Motorrad Motorsport in extremely good shape to meet the challenges of the future. Bernhard Gobmeier has filled a variety of roles within the BMW Group over the years and brings his experience in motor sport to the job. I'm in no doubt that he will continue to take BMW Motorrad Motorsport forwards with his analytical and structured approach. He will bring himself up to speed with the current situation as quickly as possible and put the necessary measures in place."

And von Kuenheim continues: "I would like to thank Berthold Hauser for all his good work over recent years. He can look back on some impressive successes in his career as BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director. Under his leadership Richard Sainct won the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1999 and 2000 as BMW Motorrad made its return to the event. And Berthold Hauser was also responsible for the team's successful start to life in the Superbike World Championship and its first podium finishes. He will continue to perform a managerial role for BMW Motorrad."

New BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director Gobmeier, adds: "I'm looking forward to taking on this new challenge in a top-class race series with a professional racing team and two strong riders. Our aim is clear: to build consistently on the positive foundations which Berthold Hauser and his team have put in place over recent years, so that we can be in a position to win races on merit as soon as possible."

Gobmeier, a qualified engineer, has worked for BMW AG for more than 16 years, during which time he has performed a variety of roles. In 1994 and 1995 he was responsible for overhauling the company's sales activities for BMW M vehicles in North America and restructuring its racing activities in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) with the BMW M3 GT. The native Bavarian then filled various management positions within BMW M GmbH between 1996 and 2008, before taking over as head of chassis development at BMW Motorrad in 2008.

More about → HAUSER: ANOTHER BMW CASUALTY

SUPERBIKES ARE GO!

Max Biaggi will defend in '11

By MICHAEL ESDAILE

WITH seven motorcycle manufacturers represented, the Superbike World Championship can lay claim to being the best supported road-racing class on the planet. And while the season-opening race for 2011 may seem a long time away, in truth it is only just around the corner.

Set down for Australia’s scenic Phillip Island circuit in Victoria, the opening round of the 2011 HANNspree Superbike World Championship will be held from February 25 to 27 but the countdown has already begun with pre-season testing in full swing.

New to the 2011 Superbike World Championship calendar is a race at the Motorland Aragon circuit in Spain and the top teams tested there from October 27 to 29.

The BMW Motorrad, Alitalia Aprilia, Kawasaki Racing Team and Alstare Suzuki teams were confronted with a challenging 5.077 km layout that has plenty of elevation changes and several blind corners.

A number of riders used the three days of testing to to familiarise themselves with new teams. Included in this group were Leon Haslam, joining BMW as Aussie Troy Corser’s new team-mate, and Italian Michel Fabrizio who will be the sole rider for the Alstare Suzuki team which this year fielded Haslam and Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli.

Michel Fabrizio to Suzuki

Fabrizio got the Suzuki ride after he was left up in the air following the decision by Ducati not to field a factory-operated team in 2011. Thus the Italian rejoins the team that helped take him to the 2003 European Superstock Championship.
Continuing racing Ducatis is the Italian Althea team, spear-headed by Spaniard Carlos Checa who was a revelation in 2010, his victory at the Phillip Island opener and subsequent consistency seeing him emerge as Ducati's top challenger. Checa celebrated his new two year contract with wins in both races at Imola, the penultimate race of the 2010 season and the Althea team has been promised much more support from Ducati in 2011.

So while Ducati will not be involved as a factory entrant, it has confirmed it will provide substantial backing to its customer teams, most notably Althea, who beat the official Xerox team on the way to third in the 2010 standings. With Checa staying on board for another two seasons, Althea Racing will essentially become the semi-official Ducati representative.

Checa back for two more, too

Ducati’s Superbike technical director Ernesto Marinelli was on hand at the Aragon tests to help the Althea team and was pleased to see Checa set fastest time on the first day before he headed off to Portugal to race the Pramac Ducati V4 in the Estoril round of the MotoGP World Championship, missing the next two days of testing at Aragon.

The Althea Racing Ducati man was outstanding and was the only rider to dip under the 1m 59s second mark on the first day. It's early days yet, but Checa has clearly let his rivals know that he is one of the candidates for the win next year, and that the 1198R Ducati can still be a contender for victory in 2011.

Indeed, it took two more days before anyone bettered the 1m 58.3s lap Checa set that first day. The rider who did it was newly crowned Superbike World Champion Max Biaggi on the factory Alitalia Aprilia RSV4. Biaggi was quickest on the second day at Aragon, but even then his best lap was three tenths of a second slower than Checa’s first day effort. However on the third and final day, Biaggi got down to a best of 1m 58.0s to be fastest over the three days. Checa’s first day lap time saw him finish up with second fastest lap for the three days, ahead of the 1m 58.6s best lap recorded by Tom Sykes on the brand new Kawasaki ZX10-R.


Haslam was fourth-fastest on the S1000RR BMW at 1m 59.0s then it was Fabrizio on the Suzuki, a recovering Leon Camier on the second factory Aprilia, Troy Corser on the second factory BMW and Japanese veteran Noriyuki Haga trying out the Pata Racing Aprilia RSV4 all sharing the same lap time, 1m 59.2s.

Leon Haslam (seated) and Troy Corser are chasing BMW glory in 2011.

Rounding out the factory riders testing at Aragon was Katsuaki Fuijwara (Kawasaki Racing Team) who carried out sterling testing work for the team, under the watchful eyes of Chris Vermeulen, in the pit garage but still on crutches.

There is enormous intrigue heading into the 2011 SWC campaign after a major end of season rider shake-up, which sees only two of the six factory teams running the same line-up as they campaigned with in 2010.

For the other four teams it’s been a mixed bag, including drafting in a MotoGP refugee, recycling former riders, and opening up opportunities for the rich vein of talent that’s been lurking in the Supersport class.

Kawasaki will again pin its hopes on Aussie Chris Vermeulen and Brit Tom Sykes with Spaniard Joan Lascorz moving up from a Supersport class ZX-6R to the new ZX-10R to make it a three-pronged Superbike attack from the Paul Bird run Kawasaki team.

Vermeulen is set to make his return to riding in early January after two months’ intense rehabilitation following knee surgery for the injury that shortened his 2010 campaign. While the Australian had to sit out the Aragon test, Tom Sykes got plenty of track time on the brand new Kawasaki, continuing on from the tests he ran for the team at Magny-Cours immediately after the last Superbike race of the 2010 season.

At Sterilgarda Yamaha, the addition of Marco Melandri from MotoGP and Eugene Laverty from Supersport has added even more spice and depth to the World Superbike Championship grid.

Melandri is the latest rider to seek a fresh start after a less than fruitful few years in MotoGP by joining the Superbike ranks while Laverty is making the jump from World Supersport as one of the most highly credentialed rookies. Twelve months ago, Cal Crutchlow was in the same position, and he’s now scored a MotoGP ride with Yamaha.

And just to strengthen Laverty’s claims, he was the fastest in a two-day test immediately following the final round of this year’s championship at Magny-Cours, impressing the team with his calm and measured approach.

Meanwhile, there is some strong intelligence which suggests that Melandri’s erstwhile contemporary in MotoGP, Alex de Angelis, could also be cajoled into signing as the second rider at Ten Kate Honda alongside Jonathan Rea.

Yamaha’s new look has come at the expense of double world champion James Toseland, who was sent packing but has now found sanctuary at the BMW Motorrad Italia team, which has already hired a number of key personnel from the now defunct Xerox Ducati outfit.

The BMW Motorrad Italia team will receive technical support from the BMW Motorrad Motorsport factory team, which is providing engines and electronics for the BMW S1000 RR. The team will be led by Andrea Buzzoni, Director of BMW Motorrad Italia and Manager of the Superbike project; Serafino Foti, who will serve as Sporting Director and Gerardo Acocella as Technical Director.

In 2010, BMW Motorrad Italia made its début in international competition and won both the riders' and constructors' titles in the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup, with Ayrton Badovini as lead rider for the team. The Italian squad will also continue in that series with Lorenzo Zanetti.

"It was an inconsistent year in 2010, says Toseland of his season with the Yamaha team, “so in the current climate I am thankful to BMW for seeing some potential there to put me in such a good team. I am going to go into next season injury free and with everything fully mended, and with a winter plan of training and physio completed. I intend to give it my best shot,” says the 2004 and 2007 Superbike World Champion.

And the ex-Ducati factory pilots, Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio, will also remain in the SWC fold, with Fabrizio returning to his old friends at Alstare Suzuki while Haga has linked up with privateer Aprilia operation, Pata Racing.

Meantime former Alstare Suzuki rider Sylvain Guintoli joins the Liberty Cz Group alongside Czech rider Jakub Smrz on a Ducati 1198R. The team is based in Prague in the Czech Republic and will be called Liberty Ducati.

But based on his 2010 form, and the fact that the factory Aprilia V4 is already a proven race-winning package, Biaggi must start as the favourite to win his second successive title in 2011, but we will know a lot more once the official pre-season tests have been held at Portugal’s Portimao track on the Algarve coast and Australia’s Phillip Island coastal circuit.

Following the Aragon tests, a number of other private tests will be held from November to January at circuits in Europe and Malaysia before the two official pre-season tests at Portimao (January 26-28, 2011) and Phillip Island (February 21-22, 2011).

This will be the second year running that all the top Superbike and Supersport teams will make their way to Phillip Island for the second and final official test, before round one is held at the high speed Australian layout from February 25-27.

Some of the top teams in SWC racing have now made their other pre-season testing plans more concrete. Yamaha Sterilgarda is waiting until November 11 to give new boy Marco Melandri a run out at Valencia, after his MotoGP commitments have been discharged, and between November 30 and December 1-2, Aprilia and Yamaha will run at Phillip Island to try and guarantee good weather and consistent testing conditions in the European winter.

For the same reasons, the next planned track appointment for the Kawasaki Racing Team will be at Sepang, in Malaysia. The extensive tests will take place over four days, and be split into two blocks – January 10 and 11 then January 13-14.

BMW has two more European outings scheduled, at Jerez between November 24-26 and Portimao from November 29 to 30.

STOP PRESS:

KiwiRider's Todd Sutherland is putting together a tour to the Phillip Island series opener in February, with prices starting at $875! He only has a dozen places, so the race will go to the swift.

For details, contact Todd Sutherland on 09 416 5307,

021 709 989

or e-mail: todd@kiwirider.co.nz

Tell him you read about it on the KiwiRider website.

More about → SUPERBIKES ARE GO!

MAX: ANOTHER TWO YEARS WITH APRILIA

THE speculation over Max Biaggi's future has been ended with an official announcement from Aprilia that the 2010 HANNspree Superbike World Champion has signed on for a further two years.

There had been speculation that the 39-year-old Biaggi may have been considering retirement but that has been put to rest by the October 18 statement from Aprilia.

"I'm obviously very happy to be continuing this winning adventure in World Superbike with Aprilia," Max Biaggi says.

"After an exciting but tiring season, after many years of racing and many victories, it was only natural and right to stop and think, to reflect on such an important future commitment. And in my considerations a very decisive factor was, as it was at the beginning of this adventure with Aprilia, the fact that I feel so close to a team and a company which is so capable and so focussed on the sports objective," he added.

"Now we need to prepare as best as we can for next season. We are well aware that we cannot rest on our laurels and that we will be in all of our rivals' sights. But now I am also sure that we will be highly motivated at the start of the first race, with a bike which I have brought up and which I did not want to abandon, ready to die hard... extremely hard!"

Biaggi won his first world title when he clinched the 1994 World 250 Championship on an Aprilia V-twin two-stroke. He went on to win a further two titles for the Italian manufacturer, in 1995 and '96 before switching to Honda to win his fourth World 250 Championship in 1997.

He then switched to the 500cc class with Honda and won the opening race of the 1998 season, at Suzuka in Japan, and won again at Brno to finish runner-up to Michael Doohan in the title chase with 208 points to Doohan's 260.

Biaggi switched to Yamaha in 1999 but won just one race, in South Africa, and finished fourth in the World 500 Championship. In 2000 he was third in the title chase, behind Kenny Roberts Junior (Suzuki) and Valentino Rossi (Honda) with two race wins.

Max Biaggi with Piaggio Group CEO Roberto Colaninno

The next two years he finished runner-up to Rossi in the premieer class, then switching back to Honda on one of the all-conquering RC211V five cylinder 990cc four-stroke racers in 2003, he finished third behind Rossi and Sete Gibernau.

In 2005, despite racing on a factory Repsol Honda alongside Nicky Hayden, he slumped to fifth in the MotoGP Championship and in 2006, with no one in MotoGP willing to hire him as he was considered too difficult to work with, Biaggi tried to secure a ride with the Alstare Suzuki Superbike team but failed to reach agreement on the level of equipment he would have, so he took a year off.

In 2007 he replaced Australian Troy Corers in the Alstare Suzuki team to race in the Superbike World Championship and scored two race wins and 14 other podiums to finish third in the title chase.

In 2008 he switched to the Sterligarda Go Eleven team on a Ducati 1098RS 08 and finished seventh in the title chase.

For 2009 he joined the new Aprilia Superbike team racing the 60 degree V4 RSV4 in its development season, and in 2010 he won the Superbike World Championionship - an amazing 16 years after he sampled his first world championship success.

Along the way to the 2010 title he racked up 10 race wins and four other podium finishes and became the first Italian rider to ever win a Superbike World Championship. It was also the first time Aprilia had taken the Superbike crown, adding this to the 44 other World Championships it has to its name.

More about → MAX: ANOTHER TWO YEARS WITH APRILIA

TEN KATE BACKING CONFIRMED

By Michael Esdaile

THE Netherlands-based Ten Kate Honda team’s budget concerns have just been eased with the announcement that Honda Motor Europe has finalised a new three-year agreement to support the team in the HANNspree Superbike World Championship.Ten Kate and Honda have enjoyed a more than decade long collaboration that has brought them nine world championship titles – eight in World Supersport and one in World Superbike.

“This new three-year agreement will enable us to continue with our technical development, our rider programme and to maintain a strong team structure,” team principal Ronald Ten Kate said in a prepared statement. “In the next few weeks we will finalise those three ingredients to prepare for the future.”

Irishman Jonathan Rea has just finished his second year of a three year contract to race in the Superbike class with the team but there is plenty of speculation as to who will join him in 2011.

There is also speculation that the Ten Kate Honda team may lose its newly crowned Supersport World Champion to the Moto2 GP class.

This has been sparked by Turkish rider Kenan Sofuoglu agreeing to ride the Technomag CIP team’s Suter machine in the final two Moto2 championship races of the 2010 season, at Estoril in Portugal and Valencia in Spain.

The Technomag Moto2 team ran Japanese rider Shoya Tomizawa, who won the opening race of the season at Qatar and was killed at Misano.

Naturally the English motorcycle web sites are in overdrive that this means Sofuoglu is wanting a full-time Moto2 ride in 2011. However, it may be worth remembering that this will not be the first time the two-time Supersport World Champion has tried a Moto2 bike. He tried a couple earlier in the year, and was not exactly complimentary about their handling capabilities. The straight-shooting Turk described them as "like badly set up World Supersport machines."

Anyone who has studied the lap times of the two classes at the same tracks would probably come to the same conclusion.

More about → TEN KATE BACKING CONFIRMED

FABRIZIO TO ALSTARE SUZUKI!

ITALIAN Michel Fabrizio, left without a ride following the folding of the factory Xerox Ducati team, will join the Alstare Suzuki team as its sole rider in 2011.

Fabrizio raced for Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra in the 2003 European Superstock Championship, taking four wins and winning the title in the process. Most of the mechanics he worked with then are still with the team these days, so his first outing, during the Magny-Cours tests last week, saw him slip easily into place and start working well straightaway.

The tests were hampered by poor weather on the first day, but day two saw sunshine, a dry track and rapidly falling lap times.

“I am very happy with how the tests went at Magny-Cours, even though the weather was not so good on the first day,” Fabrizio said. “I am a bit surprised how easily I got used to the Suzuki Alstare bike after three years of riding a twin. A twin requires a completely different style to a four, so to jump onto a four and get comfortable so soon is a very good sign. Having known the team from before obviously helped and soon I felt as if I had never been away.”

More about → FABRIZIO TO ALSTARE SUZUKI!

CRUTCHLOW TAKES SIXTH POLE

YAMAHA Sterilgarda World Superbike rider Cal Crutchlow wrapped up his final Superpole in World Superbike in style, taking his sixth pole position start of the year at Magny Cours, lapping under Ben Spies' 2009 pole record in the process.

Having set the fastest time of the Superpole sessions, Crutchlow stayed out for a further three laps on his qualifier tyre, shadowing rival Max Biaggi to ensure the Italian rider did not get away and take a faster time.

The previous pole record of 1m 37.709s was set by 2009 World Superbike Champion Ben Spies on the Sterilgarda Yamaha R1 last year.

Crutchlow's fastest time was a 1m 37.699s. Crutchlow's team mate James Toseland started Superpole well, making it through the first session in tenth using a race tyre before switching to the qualifiers for the second heat. Unfortunately the British rider's front tyre was unable to match the grip offered by the super sticky rear, leaving him unable to break into the top eight for the final session. As a result Toseland will start from fifteenth on the grid for tomorrow's two races at the Magny Cours circuit.

"It's nice to be going in to my last Superbike race before I head off to MotoGP with a pole position," said Crutchlow. "It's a good reward for Yamaha they've put their trust and faith in me for the next two years so it's good to deliver for them. I want to make it two race wins tomorrow for sure. It's taken a while to find race pace this weekend, maybe we've found something in the Superpole, we'll see tomorrow and I'm hoping for two good races. I sat behind Max, if he tried to go and take pole away I was going to try and get ahead of him into one of the hairpins and go faster."

More about → CRUTCHLOW TAKES SIXTH POLE

APRILIA: "NO INTENTION" OF JOINING MOTOGP

By MICHAEL ESDAILE

EVER since it was announced that the MotoGP class would go to 1000cc engines in 2012, there have been rumours - perhaps wishful thinking is a better term - that Aprilia would join the party in 2012 with a racer based on the RSV4.

It is no secret that Dorna, the commercial rights holders for the MotoGP series, is desparate to attract more than the four is currently has. Ducati will be propping up the class to a major extent in 2011, with six riders on its 80cc V4s, while Honda will have five riders, Yamaha four and Suzuki two (or perhaps just one if rumours are to be believed).

Meantime there are six manufacturers represented in the Superbike class and with suggestions that this year's championship-winning V4 Aprilia is a MotoGP bike in disguise, there has been talk of the Italian manufacturer switching to MotoGP.

Evern former World 500 Champion Wayne Gardner in his regular column has said: "I'll bet my bottom dollar on it."

However, if anyone has taken Wayne up on this, they could be soon in the position of extracting a few dollars from the notoriously tight-fisted Aussie.

That's because Piaggi Group CEO Roberto Colaninno said, "at this moment, we have no intention of doing that," when asked at a presentation to financial analysts if Aprilia had any plans to return to MotoGP.

Of course, the key words here are "at this moment."

Aprilia has a distinguished record in grand prix racing, and recently overtook the legendary MV Agusta in race wins. However those wins were in the 125 and 250cc classes. Its efforts in the 500 class, and the MotoGP class that followed it, are not nearly so impressive. It fielded a 400cc V-twin, that while nimble, was outgunned by the four-cylinder 500cc two-strokes. It also tried its hand with what came to be known as the ill-fated RS3 Cube, a motorcycle powered by a three-cylinder Cosworth developed engine that proved unrideable.

But that was under Ivano Beggio's leadership. And it was in this period the company ran into financial difficulties and was eventually bought by the Piaggio Group.

There can be no doubt that there will be plenty of personnel at Aprilia who would love to go back to MotoGP, but the management will be very wary of the collosal costs involved.

And when a company with the resources of Suzuki is questioning its involvement in MotoGP, and cutting its Superbike involvement, it seems unlikely Aprilia could afford it.

No doubt Colaninno's comments eased the fears of financial analysts, who will be worried about the effect a MotoGP foray would have on the company's finances.

More about → APRILIA: "NO INTENTION" OF JOINING MOTOGP

HASLAM TO BMW TEAM

BRITISH rider Leon Haslam, who laid claim to this year's HANNspree Superbike World Championship for half the season, will ride the S1000RR BMW alongside Aussie Troy Corser in 2011.

Haslam has struggled with lack of good technical support from Suzuki in the second half of this year's Superbike Championship and when Alstare Suzuki team manager Francis Batta told him he still had no assurances from the Japanese factory, the Brit asked to be released from the second year of his contract.

There have been doubts over the future of the team for some time - Suzuki apparently unwilling to continue to back the team at their current level.

After a recent meeting in Japan, Alstare team boss Francis Batta came away with more questions than answers.

"Even though I didn't receive any concrete guarantees, I am still encouraged that Suzuki showed some attachment to the team," he told Italian reporter Claudio Porrozzi from the website GPone.com.

Suzuki is likely to have the budget to run just a single rider next season, though the level of support available from Hamamatsu is uncertain.

An announcement on teh team structure, and who the rider will be, is expected soon.

More about → HASLAM TO BMW TEAM

SUPERBIKE WEIGHTS UP!

AT A meeting of the Superbike Commission at Imola on September 25, it has been decided to raise the minimum weight for the Superbikes from 162 to 165 kg for all configurations, twins and fours.

At the same time it was decided to set the minimum weight for the 600 Supersport championship machines to 161 kg across the board. Currently the rule requires 675cc three cylinder machines a minimum of 162 kg while 600cc fours were allowed to be lighter, at 158 kg and 750cc twins were given a mimimum of 166 kg.

Although Ducati has contested the Supersport class in the past with 750cc twins, there are currently no twins in the class.

Both changes - to the Superbike and Supersport classes - have been made with the aim of reducing costs by, in the intention of the Commission, making the use of precious and expensive materials unnecessary.

More about → SUPERBIKE WEIGHTS UP!

BMW SPLIT: TARDOZZI GONE!

By MICHAEL ESDAILE

REPORTS of a major split inside the BMW factory Superbike team appear to have been confirmed with an official announcement from the team that team manager Davide Tardozzi has departed - after less than one year of a three year contract.

According to the official story, "BMW Motorrad Motorsport and Davide Tardozzi have agreed to part company by mutual consent with immediate effect."

The Director of BMW Motorrad Motorsport, Berthold Hauser, said: "With his wealth of experience Davide has been a great help to us this season in his role as Team Manager. However, he and the team had different ideas regarding the structure of the team. We would like to thank Davide for his contribution to a good partnership and wish him all the best for the future."

Tardozzi raced for Bimota in the inaugural year of the Superbike World Championship and led the points chase into the final round at Manfeild. However he crashed on the wet warm-up lap for the first race, was unable to take his place on the grid in time and watched as Fred Merkel took over.

After he retired from racing, for for many years Tardozzi was team manager of the highly successful Ducati factory Superbike team before surprising everyone late last year with his announcement that he was quitting because he wanted "new challenges."

It was a month or so later that it was announced that he would join the factory BMW Superbike squad and take over the role of team manager there.

Previously this had been handled by Reiner Baeumel, who also looked after the technical direction of the team.

This year Baeumel has focussed on the further development of the bikes while Tardozzi has overseen the race operations - a mix that from the outside seems to have worked, with the team's results improving as the year has gone on.

The first insight that things may not all be rosy inside the BMW team came from a report in German language publication Speedweek in late September that the team was having a clear-out of mechanics and management, ridding themselves of the non-German members of the SWC crew.

It was reported that BMW was unhappy with Tardozzi, despite the Italian having been instrumental in improving the results for the German team.

The remainder of the team is still under contract for the final race in France, but Speedweek reported that the non-German crew members were threatening to mutiny. As of September 29 they had not received offers of a new contract for 2011, amidst complaints by BMW that the non-Germans were not present at team HQ often enough, the team also threatening not to pay their outstanding salary over the issue, according to Speedweek.

Speedweek also predicted that Tardozzi would not be present at the final round of the championship at Magny Cours, and this has now been confirmed.

People close to the former-rider talk about an untenable situation which convinced the Italian to suddenly walk away from the team. From the brief comment Tardozzi has made, it seems that up until recently at least, his plans were to fulfill his BMW contract.

"I still don't know what I will do next year. I really don't know, " was the only thing he was willing to say.

More about → BMW SPLIT: TARDOZZI GONE!

SMRZ BACK ON DUCATI

CZECH rider Jakub Smrz is set to race a Ducati again in the 2011 Superbike World Championship. This follows the announcement that he is to join a new satellite Ducati team formed by the Liberty CZ Group.

In fact, Smrz has been signed to the team for two years, 2011 and 2012.

Liberty CZ Group's business interests include a chain of Italian food stores in the Czech Republic and Effenberg Beer, who is a partial sponsor of Smrz' current team, B&G Pata.

The new team, "Liberty Racing", will reportedly be headquartered in Prague with some familiar faces behind the scenes, including Natale Egi, who managed the Sterilgarda Ducati team that fielded Max Biaggi and Ruben Xaus in 2008.

This season Smrz raced a Ducati for the B&G Pata team, which switched to an Aprilia RSV4 at the Brno round. But Smrz has taken a while to find form on the Italian V4, and his debut at Brno was marked by a series of crashes.

However, for the final round of the 2010 championship he managed to put it on the front row of a grid at Magny Cours, alongide pole man Cal Crutchlow, Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli and Max Biaggi.

More about → SMRZ BACK ON DUCATI

HAGA BACK ON APRILIA

JAPANESE Superbike veteran Noriyuki Haga will race a factory-supported RSV4 Aprilia in 2011 after his Ducati factory rider evaporated with the decision of the Italian manufacturer to withdraw its factory team at the end of the 2010 season.

The team Haga will race for is an amalgam of part of the current DFX Corse squad currently fielding Lorenzo Lanzi and partr of the B & G Pata team for whom Czech rider Jakub Smrz has been racing.

The new team has been offered factory support for an Aprilia RSV4 with official bikes from Aprilia and will also benefit from a number of Aprilia technicians in the team.

Haga last rode for the Italian manufacturer in 2003 when he competed in MotoGP on-board the RS3 Cube and the year before that he campaigned an RSV 998 V-twin in the Superike Championship.

More about → HAGA BACK ON APRILIA

CHECA CONTINUES WITH ALTHEA TO 2012

SPANISH Superbike rider Carlos Checa signed on with the Italian Team Althea Racing outfit for another two seasons, on Ducati 1198R V-twins, it was announced at the Imola round of the championship on September 26.

The 38-year-old Checa celebrated the news in style, winning both Superbike races at the narrow, winding Italian circuit with team manager Genesio Bevilacqua celebrating with him on the podium.

It seems that Bevilacqua, a big fan of the booming Bologna V-twins, has been promised major technical support from Ducati, which had already announced its withdrawal from the SWC series in terms of running a factory team.

In a typically flowery Italian press release, the team says: "With Checa on board, Team Althea Racing will attack the world championship, strengthened by both the experience gained during the current season and the relationship, one of reciprocal trust, built up between the team and Ducati.

"Thanks to the two year agreement signed with Checa and to Ducati for the precious support, we will strive to achieve great things", said Bevilacqua. "Carlos will help to develop the Italian manufacturer's racing activity and I am sure that we will make a good job of it. Carlos has already found the perfect mental balance so as to be able to get the best out of this bike and the team and therefore I have every confidence with regard to the future."

However, British rider Shane Byrne, who, it has to be said, has not exactly shone on the team's Ducatis this year, will not be continuing with the team in 2011.

"We have had a great relationship with Shane but unfortunately the economics of the situation will not allow us to continue to work with him. We do not however exclude the possibility of running a second bike," the team press release adds.

Team Althea Racing will enter promising 20-year-old Italian youngster Lorenzo Baroni in the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup.

Having ridden in the 125 category until 2006, Baroni has participated in Superstock 1000 since 2007 and is considered one of the category's "experts". Althea Racing and Bevilacqua have followed the young rider's progress with interest and, convinced that he can be successful in 2011, have decided to bet on his character, talent and ambition. Baroni has the potential to be one of the protagonists of the championship.

"This decision is the result of a specific strategy", concludes Bevilacqua. "As well as challenging in the World Superbike Championship, we will also concentrate on identifying and developing new talents in a category that provides riders with great training. My challenge for the coming year, only possible thanks to the support of partners Stevenson & Bridley Associates and Bellariva Group, will be to draw out Lorenzo's full potential, guaranteeing maximum support from both a sporting and technical standpoint, with a view to launching him in the Superbike category in the future."

And it is to the future the team must look, as by 2012, Checa will be 40...

More about → CHECA CONTINUES WITH ALTHEA TO 2012

BIAGGI'S TOP 10 REASONS...

WHEN Max Biaggi stepped onto the podium shortly after wrapping up the 2010 Superbike World Championship at Imola, in traditional, time-honoured fashion he was wearing a special T-shirt to celebrate the win.

However Biaggi's commemorative T-shirt was a little bit different to the others as, in addition to the five stars on the front (for four 250cc and one SWC titles), on the back it also had a list of 10 reasons, thought of by the Italian himself, of why he is now the proud holder of five world championships.

For the benefit of Kiwirider readers, here is the full list:

1. I've been chasing a fifth star for a long time
(13 years in fact);

2. I am the first Italian in SWC history to win the world title;

3. I am the first Italian to win a 250cc world championship with an Italian bike (Aprilia) and I
wanted to be the first Italian to win in SWC with an Italian bike (Aprilia);

4. I have the hottest chick as my companion, and this helps! (referring to his current companion, former-Miss Italia, Eleonora Pedron);

5. Enzo Ferrari was wrong, in a big way... (referring to the F1 constructor, who famously said "When a driver becomes a father, he loses one second a lap");

6. I will never stop thanking Ducati for their refusal to sign me in 2009;

7. Aprilia and Piaggio are my second family;

8. Becoming a father has given me exceptional motivation;

9. At well past 39 years of age I can still keep everyone else in line;

10. I owed it to all my fans and the Italians.

More about → BIAGGI'S TOP 10 REASONS...

BIAGGI IS SUPERBIKE CHAMP!

By MICHAEL ESDAILE

MASSIMILIANO Biaggi became the first Italian in the 22 year history of the Superbike World Championship to be crowned champion – fittingly at the Imola circuit in Italy on September 26.

In taking the Superbike crown with a round to go, Biaggi added to his four World 250 Championships won in successive years from 1994 to 1997. Fittingly, he won the Superbike Championship on an Aprilia – the brand that took him to his first three 250cc titles.

However, the Manufacturer’s Championship is still to be decided. After the Imola round, Aprilia’s lead in that particular title chase was narrowed by eight points after Ducatis dominated the Imola podium.

Although he came into the twelfth round of the SWC title at Imola leading the rider’s championship with a 58 point buffer over Englishman Leon Haslam (Alstare Suzuki), Biaggi had a nerve-wracking time before he secured the title with a round to go in what turned out to be a topsy-turvy weekend that saw a Kawasaki on pole and a Suzuki blow-up!

It started with Spaniard Carlos Checa fastest in the first practice session ahead of Althea Ducati team-mate Shane Byrne and Xerox Ducati’s up-and-down Michel Fabrizio keeping the Ducati flag flying high at a circuit that has traditionally favoured twins over fours - going right back to the historic 1972 Imola 200 when Paul Smart and Bruno Spaggiari took a Ducati 1-2 on works prepared 750cc V-twins.

In the first qualifying session Checa was again fastest, but this time Brits Jonathan Rea and title contender Leon Haslam were second and third fastest, followed by the Ducatis of Noriyuki Haga, Fabrizio and Byrne.

HASLAM STRAPPED
“In the morning seson my knee felt really bad and the whole session was a bit of a struggle, even though I had some strapping on it,” Haslam reported. “For the afternoon qualifying, we made the strapping much stronger and I had some pain-killing injections before I went out. I definitely felt a bit more comfortable and was able to put in some decent laps. My thumb is a bit irritable, but I forget about when I am on the bike and it’s OK as long as it doesn’t move in a certain direction!” he added.

“Today the track didn’t feel as good or as quick as the tests and it is a bit more slippery. Hopefully, as more rubber goes down, it will improve. This afternoon, my lap times were quite comfortable and I really didn’t have any big problems. Obviously my main competition is Max and I have to beat him in both races if I want to keep my title dream alive. I’ve heard that he’s not so good in the wet, so maybe it would be better for me if it did rain on Sunday. But, the weather is something I cannot do anything about so I will be doing my best, whatever the conditions.”

“Today was a more difficult Friday than usual,” Biaggi said. “In spite of the good results from last year, we have always had to work hard to find the right solution at this track. Even after having done some tests here a few months ago, I'm still not completely comfortable and I'm not able to ride smoothly. If you add to that the progress that our adversaries have made, today's times are easily explained. There's nothing to be alarmed about – we simply need to work well as we always do and give our best. Unfortunately the weather doesn't seem to be helping either as we would have needed to do a lot of testing in stable conditions. We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed."

Saturday’s morning qualifying session was run on a wet track and no one got close to the lap times recorded the previous afternoon, meaning the times that would determine who made it to Superpole were those from Friday’s dry session.

Biaggi, 14th fastest on Friday afternoon, did some early laps on the wet track but pulled in, while most other riders waited until the track had dried a little more before venturing out. Even then the best were still seven seconds from their Friday times, with Cal Crutchlow fastest at a 1m 54.094s, compared with Checa’s 1:48.178 from the previous day.

The track had dried for the practice session prior to Superpole and despite a mechanical problem and a crash, Rea on the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda topped the times with a 1:48.859, just edging out Checa and Fabrizio’s Ducatis, with Haslam, Lorenzo Lanzi (DFX Corse Ducati 1098R) and Biaggi next in line, and Jakub Smrz seventh fastest on the Team Pata B & G Racing Aprilia RSV4.

The first Superpole session saw Rea crash the Ten Kate Honda again, but not before setting a fastest enough time to make it to Superpole two. The first Superpole session was topped by Crutchlow on the Sterligarda Yamaha with Byrne, Haslam and Smrz next, then the BMWs of Troy Corser and Rueben Xaus.

Biaggi was 11th fastest in this outing.

Biaggi clips the chicane in practice.

Superpole two saw privateer Ducati man Lorenzo Lanzi top the table ahead of Corser, Tom Sykes (Paul Bird Motorsport Kawasaki), Luca Scassa (Ducati 1098R) and Smrz, with Haslam and Biaggi just making it to Superpole three but Checa missing out.

There were numerous crashes in the second Superpole session, including Scassa, Crutchlow, Byrne, Xaus, Smrz and Checa.

KAWASAKI POLE!
Tom Sykes (centre) took Kawasaki's first Superbike pole since 2007. Here is flanked by Jakub Smrz (left) and Leon Haslam (right).

In Superpole three, Tom Sykes turned in a stunning performance to snatch pole for Kawasaki, the green team’s first in Superbike since the Lausitzring in Germany in October 2007. The rest of the front row comprised Smrz, Haslam and Scassa while row two was headed by Lanzi, from Corser, Biaggi and Xaus.

“I’m obviously really happy to have achieved my first ever pole position in World Superbikes,” said Sykes. “We’ve been making gradual improvements over the past few races and it is full credit to my team for giving me a package which I had all confidence in, to ride in the tricky conditions. We have been pretty consistent since Friday, no matter what the weather, and have managed to find the balance between our set-up from Nurburgring and the successful test we had here a few months back. I have only had to make a few changes here and there but this allows me to put my head down and get stuck in. To start tomorrow’s races in P1 is fantastic and I aim to better the results I had in the Nurburgring and continue our good fortunes.”

“A complicated day,” commented Biaggi, “but in the end I found that I was quick enough to earn the second row, and probably risking a bit more I could have done even better. These were undoubtedly the wildest test sessions of the season due to the varying weather conditions, so I'd say that we did the right thing today.

“I was sure that I could do much better than yesterday even if, and we have always known this, on this track we have more than our share of difficulties. We still have a lot of work to do and not much time, so we need to try and put together the best possible package we have, although for dry conditions I already have a few things in mind. The wet asphalt is always an unknown factor, but especially here it is absolute torture. The two races tomorrow won't be easy for us. In the first laps everybody ahead of us will be very quick and the weather conditions will play an important role, but we're ready to grit our teeth and give 110% to obtain the most. We'll draw up the sums at the end of the two races."

Sunday morning dawned clear and on a dry but cool track Checa once again topped the time sheets in the morning warm-up, ahead of Lanzi, Haslam and Sykes while Biaggi was eighth fastest and Rea crashed the Ten Kate Honda for the third time in the weekend. Crutchlow and Xaus also binned it.

However, Rea was injured and was unable to make the grid for the afternoon’s races.

GREEN MACHINE
At the start of the first race Sykes made good use of his pole position, blazing out into a good lead on the first lap with Haslam second from a jostling pack led by Corser, Smrz and Lanzi, with Scassa next ahead of Biaggi, Checa, Haga and Toseland.

Before the lap was over, Smrz used the nimbleness of the Aprilia to nip past Corser and next time around the narrow, undulating Imola course, Lanzi pushed Corser back to fifth and Checa, making his way forward from a poor start, had jumped Biaggi.

Next lap around, Biaggi made an error, ran off onto the gravel and while he wrestled the Aprilia, Toseland, Haga, Fabrizio and Crutchlow all blasted past.

On the fourth lap Corser was off the pavement, ploughing through the deep gravel on the works four cylinder BMW and eventually rejoining way down in 19th.

Meantime, the Roman Emperor was now looking far from imperial, battling down in 13th place while Haslam was out front chasing down Sykes. The championship chase was very much alive and Haslam was giving it everything, despite the knee and hand injuries sustained at the Nurburgring.

To his great credit, Sykes kept the Kawasaki out in front until lap nine when he could do no more. The Kawasaki ZX-10R was sliding dramatically as it overheated its rear Pirelli and lost momentum. When it was hooked up, it was very fast.

HERE COME THE DUKES…
However, it wasn’t Haslam who took over the lead when the Sykes could do no more on the ZX-10R, it was Lanzi on the lowest specced Ducati in the field – once again underlining the Pirelli adage: “Power is nothing without control.”

Haslam had made a lunge for the lead but had got in too hot, ran off and dropped to fourth place. In front of him was the charging Spaniard Carlos Checa, steadily moving forward on the Althea Ducati while piano-man James Toseland retired his Sterilgarda Yamaha while running sixth.

With Checa working his way forward, Haslam latched onto him, the two of them quickly pulling in Sykes who was by now very sideways on the Kawasaki. Lanzi was looking good out in front but Checa’s Ducati was faster and Haslam did not seem to mind the sideways behaviour of the Alstare Suzuki.

Checa and Haslam got past Sykes on successive laps, and from there the Kawasaki drifted back into the clutches of Crutchlow, who was heading the second bunch comprised of Haga, Smrz, Fabrizio and Sylvain Guintoli (Alstare Suzuki).

For seven laps Lanzi kept the DFX Corse Ducati out in front but once Checa was on his tail, there was no stopping the Spaniard, who took over with six laps to run. Digging deep, Haslam too got past Lanzi and threw everything he knew at Checa. However the Althea Ducati was stronger than Lanzi’s mount and there were very few obvious openings, Checa definitely faster out of the slow corners and looking tidier over the crests where Haslam’s Suzuki was wheelspinning sideways.

BRAKE LATE…
It was clear: if Haslam wanted the 25 points for the win, he would have to outbrake Checa and try to hold him off to the chequered flag. So that’s what he attempted, except it didn’t go according to plan. Yes, he outbraked Checa, but then he was in the left-hander too hot, stood it up and ran off into the gravel.

Lanzi flashed past, then – surprise, surprise, Noriyuki Haga on the Xerox Ducati, followed by Smrz, was also through before Haslam got going again.

Checa was comfortable in the lead and took the chequered flag almost two seconds ahead of Lanzi, and set a race time of 38m 27.631s – four and a half seconds quicker over the 21 laps than Haga’s race one winning effort from 2009.

So it was an all-Ducati podium, with Haga’s factory bike beaten by two privateer machines. Haga’s race time was also faster than he recorded in 2009, when he won!

Haslam took fifth and the 11 points that went with it, while Biaggi eventually made it home eleventh, picking up just five points for his trouble. His 58 point buffer had been reduced to 52 points – but it could have been worse. If Haslam had settled for second and the 20 points that went with it, he would have cut Biaggi’s lead to 43 points with three races remaining, and, importantly, kept the pressure on the Italian.

Setting fastest lap, 1m 48.966s gave Haslam the lap record for Imola but that was small compensation for his efforts.

With the gap at 52 points, Biaggi knew that it he had more than 50 points on Haslam after the second race, he would be world champ.

RACE TWO.
Sykes (66) has the Kawasaki ahead of Biaggi's Aprilia with the Xerox Ducatis of Fabrizio (84) and Haga (41) right behind. He did a good job on the oldest machine in the field

Race two started the same as the first with the green streak of Sykes on the Kawasaki leading the way for the first four laps, and once again Haslam was glued to his tail section.

Lorenzo Lanzi provided the excitement on the first lap, passing third placed Biaggi and then Haslam for second, before challenging race leader Sykes at the final chicane. But Lanzi was a bit too keen, almost took out Sykes and dropped back into the pack.

The order then was Sykes from Haslam, Biaggi, Corser then Checa, who was on the move. Within the space of two laps he had passed Corser and Biaggi to chase second placed Haslam, passing the Suzuki man early on lap five, then outbraking Sykes for the lead in the final chicane.

From there Checa took off, leaving Sykes to hold up Haslam, Biaggi, Fabrizio and Lanzi as Corser dropped back to a distant seventh, then got bumped to eighth as Haga once again made his run toward the front, with Crutchlow also on the move further back.

FAST KAWASAKI
Clearly the Kawasaki had top speed on everyone and Sykes was also able to get it off the slower corners quite well. It wasn’t so good in the fast corners, but it was fast enough everywhere else, and Sykes proved pretty good on the brakes, to keep the ZX-10R in second for a very long time – seven laps in fact.

After Checa got into the lead, Haslam was anxious to follow, but the GSX-R1000 had no answer for the Kawasaki’s straight line speed, so Haslam went for a late braking move, got in to the final chicane too deep, ran across the gravel then waited to let Sykes back ahead. Trouble was, he waited a little too long, and in a flash Biaggi, Fabrizio and Haga shot past!

A lap later, Biaggi made exactly the same mistake, but he only let Sykes back in front before he got his head down once more.

UP IN SMOKE
The jousting behind Sykes was impressive, but Biaggi kept the Aprilia in third as Haga and Haslam closed in. Haga got past Biaggi, Max hit back and it was all on. Just as things were getting really exciting, with a bunch of five bikes queued up behind Sykes, the motor in Haslam’s Suzuki let go and his championship aspirations literally went up in smoke. Indeed, so thick was the smoke that Fabrizio ran off the track worrying about the oil that the Suzuki may have been laying down (it wasn’t) and so the pack was split up.

Checa by then was steadily pulling away and had the lead out to 4.8 seconds before Haga finally found a way around Sykes and gave chase with nine laps to go. Biaggi was running fourth, and for a while had no one close behind so was content to run behind the Kawasaki in the knowledge that with Haslam sidelined, he was now World Champion.

Eventually though, Crutchlow caught the Aprilia man, outbraked him and set about working out a way past Sykes, finding it with a strong outbraking move into the final chicane.

Checa was still well clear and even though Haga closed the gap down to a little over two seconds at the finish, Checa had things well in hand.

So the final order was Checa, Haga, Crutchlow then Sykes. It was a shame the Kawasaki man could not have held out Crutchlow for a podium but despite the big step forward the team has so most obviously made, the ZX-10R still has its deficiencies in this league.

Biaggi contented himself with fifth and pulled up by a group of fans who had a pirate ship at the track side for him to climb aboard for the cameras. They even had a pirate suit for him to wear.

CHECA’S DOUBLE
Checa had lowered Haslam’s first race record lap to 1m 48.877s and was very happy with his first double win of the season. He had been on track for that at Miller mid-season but for machine troubles.

“It's a fantastic weekend, I can't remember one like it,” Chcea beamed. “It was a very good job by the team. Yesterday I was struggling in the wet, but today they were two exciting races, more the first than the second. But the second I could see that I could win, I just had to keep my concentration. Anyway it was fantastic, for all my team, for Ducati, for everyone here. Congratulations to Max for the title and a shame for Leon Haslam."

Haga too was very happy.

“The bike was much better than in the first race. I was approaching Carlos in the last laps but couldn't catch him. Now I try my best at Magny-Cours to improve my position (in the championship)."

The Japanese is currently sixth on the table, one point behind MotoGP-bound Crutchlow.

For his part, Crutchlow said: "After a tough race one for me, to come from 12th on the grid with such close racing this weekend and such a depth of field was a very good result. I really had to work for it so all credit to Yamaha Sterilgarda, they did a good job for me, especially in the second race. We made a few changes in the meantime, it was a bit of a gamble but a good job all round."

MAX THE CHAMP
“This is a grand day,” commented an exhausted but happy Biaggi in the end, “a day which I have greatly desired. I've often felt in past years like I hadn't been placed in the proper conditions to be able to express my worth and to achieve the results that I know I deserve. This is one of the reasons that, at a certain point in my career, I chose this world, the SBK Championship, and this is why I wanted to surround myself with the right people for this adventure – because racing isn't just about speed, tyres and an engine. It is also about joy and having fun and with these guys, with this team, I feel at home. I want to thank everyone: my team, Aprilia, Piaggio Group, the chairman.

“It has not been an easy season. Many riders have won races and if they had been just a bit more consistent, they would have been able to be more troublesome for us. The greatest moments were the double victories at Monza and Misano. It is something very special to win in front of my fans. But it isn't over yet – there is still one goal left – to ride my RSV4 to the manufacturer’s title. We'll talk again in a week and it would be truly fantastic to close out this wonderful season with another championship".

Roberto Colaninno, chairman and CEO of the Piaggio Group (which Aprilia is part of) was in the pit to experience the triumph of his team and rider.

“Today we achieved an extraordinary result which takes place in the second year of Aprilia’s participation in World Superbike,” Colaninno said, “and, once again, confirms the technical excellence of the Noale Racing Division as well as the Piaggio Group in the two-wheel worldwide scene. It would be impossible to imagine anything better on a day like today. We won the World Superbike Championship on an Italian track, with an Italian bike, an Italian rider and a sponsor – Alitalia – which takes Italy all over the world. This has never before happened in Superbike history and this makes all of us that much more proud”.

For full results, click on:
http://sbk.perugiatiming.com/pdf_frame.asp?p_S_Campionato=SBK&p_Anno=2010&p_Round=ITA2

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