The rain in Spain fell mainly in Italy this weekend, as the World Superbike circus got rained out twice at the historic Monza track.
The first race was cancelled after a series of crashes immediately after the start, while the second race was stopped after only eight laps when more rain fell; half points for the one contest being awarded.
Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes got his second WSBK victory out of the event, with a big nine-second advantage over BMW’s Leon Haslam, who was just ahead of Aprilia’s Eugene Laverty, making a podium sweep for United Kingdom riders. Haslam, who went from 14th to second in only eight laps, was possibly the most impressive rider of the day.
Championship leader Max Biaggi would only drag his Aprilia into fifth, although he retains his lead over 2011 champ Carlos Checa, who was seventh on the day on his Ducati, and delighted to finish in the top 10, the Ducati suffering severely on Monza’s high-speed straights.
Sykes said, ” My second win for Kawasaki but my first this year and it was nice to get that one under the belt. It is a shame that it is only half points but we put on a good show in eight laps and I hope I put on a good show for the Italian fans … I had a great start and got myself into the lead and as Elvis once said, “It’s now or never.”
Next race May 13, Donington, U.K.
World Championship Point Standings (after 7 of 28 races):
1.Max Biaggi, Italy, Aprilia Racing Team, 97.5 points
2. Carlos Checa, Spain, Althea Ducati, 95.5
3. Tom Sykes, United Kingdom, Kawasaki Racing Team, 91.5
4. Marco Melandri, Italy, BMW Motorrad Motorsport, 72.5
5. Jonathon Rea, United Kingdon, Ten Kate Castrol Honda, 70
6. Leon Haslam, United Kingdom, BMW Motorrad Racing, 68
7. Sylvain Guintoli, France, Effenbert Liberty Ducati, 66
8. Eugene Laverty, United Kingdom, Aprilia Racing Team, 64
9. Jakob Smrz, Czech Republic, Effenbert Liberty Ducati, 42.5
10. Davide Giugliano, Italy, Althea Ducati, 41
[…] whole debacle started when Liberty said they weren’t happy with the way things went down at Monza. They originally put it this way: “The clear impression is that the WSBK has endured one of its […]
“The weekend at Monza was most certainly conditioned from Saturday by weather conditions which were extremely unstable, with nice weather, suddenly alternating with rain and at times even with hail. As for Superbike, first and foremost I would like to make an important note on Saturday’s Superpole: Pirelli consistently recommended that the teams and riders use the intermediate tyres which were available to them. This advice, however, was completely ignored since all of the riders used rain tyres. Clearly the reason for this was the fact that the track was completely dry in places, while in others it was wet due to the trees along the track which kept the asphalt from drying. The rain tyres run well at 50°-60°, but on the two consecutive straight stretches, which were completely dry, they obviously reached temperatures well above 200°. This caused a meltdown of the compound in the centre. I would also like to reassure everyone on this point that Pirelli tyres have a particular structure with a steel belt, and therefore it is absolutely impossible for them to explode. That said, on Sunday the riders in the Superstock classes raced as scheduled, in conditions which were even worse than those during the Superbike races, using the rain tyres on the front and the intermediate or race tyres on the rear. In Supersport, as further proof that the Pirelli rain tyres can most definitely sustain an entire race without any problems, the riders raced and finished on rain tyres. So it was a shame that, although the Superbike riders had two intermediate solutions available to them for the rear, they expected only to use the racing slicks. Once the race began, in any case, it was clear that even in those conditions a good race could be run.”
– Giorgio Barbier, Racing Director, Pirelli Moto