REA OUT INJURED AS BIAGGI TAKES TITLE

2010-09-27 18:48
Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider Jonathan Rea was ruled out of the Imola races after falling in Superpole, in wet conditions, partially fracturing his left collarbone and fracturing his left Scaphoid bone in his wrist. Rea attempted to ride on Sunday, but another fall in morning warm-up made him withdraw and seek a medical solution that would allow him to compete in the final round in France next weekend. He remains third overall in the current rankings.

Max Neukirchner (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was 14th in race one, after qualifying 11th, and would go on to score 12th in race two, despite a lack of drive exiting Imola’s many corners and fast curves in full race mode.

Fabrizio Lai (ECHO CRS Honda) was 19th from 19 finishers in race one but made real improvements in race two to score two points for 14th place. He is now on the scoreboard and is working to take more points at Magny-Cours in the final round of the year.

Each Imola race was won by Carlos Checa, while the title itself was decided one round early, as Max Biaggi did enough to be crowned champion at his home meeting, as his only rival Leon Haslam had failed to finish race two.

Pirro posts a win after a dramatic race finale

Michele Pirro from the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team took his first World Supersport race win, on home ground, after a last corner clash between the two main championship contenders allowed him to sweep past and cross the line unopposed. He moved up to fifth on the championship rankings, on 91 points. He had qualified in third place, on the front row.

Pole man Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and second fastest qualifier Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) were the long time leading duo, swapping the advantage with regularity. A deep lunge by Laverty at the final chicane, in an attempt to pass Kenan at the flag, saw him fall and take out Sofuoglu as well, the riders tumbling with their machines to halt just metres from the finish line. They each restarted, Sofuoglu was quickest to get going and he crossed the line 2.888 seconds after Pirro, but crucially ahead of Laverty, who was classified third.

The main outcome of the way the race finished is that Sofuoglu and Laverty will continue their battle for the 2010 Supersport World Championship crown all the way to the final round, in France, next weekend. Sofuoglu now has 243 points to Laverty’s 227, a difference of 16 points with a maximum of 25 to play for.

Intermoto Czech Honda rider Massimo Roccoli qualified seventh and raced to sixth place at his home round, battling in a group behind the leaders early in the race then dropping back to finish only six seconds from the win.

A tough weekend all-in for Gino Rea (Intermoto Czech Honda) saw him qualify ninth, as so much dry track time was lost in practice and qualifying that he could not get himself onto the front two rows. He was running in fifth place when he lost the front at the Variante Alta, and was unable to restart.

Miguel Praia, from the Parkalgar Honda team, had an even unluckier afternoon, falling in a first corner incident and ending his day without a race lap completed. He had qualified 12th, starting on the same row as Rea.

WSBK and WSS classes both culminate at the 13th and final round of each championship, on Sunday 3 October, at Magny-Cours.


WSBK Rider Comments

Jonathan Rea, Hannspree Ten Kate Honda: DNS and DNS - 3rd overall. “Yesterday, when I fell, I got torpedoed into the ground. I just had a bit more lean angle going around the chicane than before. My scaphoid is fractured, but towards the end, not the normal place right down the middle. This morning I got a bit enthusiastic on a damp track and I hit a wet patch at the bottom of the hill and didn’t have the strength in my shoulders to correct it. The bike kind of walloped me and then the bars flew out of my hands and then I was off. I am going for a second opinion on my wrist injury, as it is feeling a lot worse than it did before warm-up, even though I didn’t touch my wrist in my warm-up crash.”

Max Neukirchner, Hannspree Ten Kate Honda: 14th and 12th - 18th overall. “Two races in the points, but our main problem was the rear grip, particularly in race one. In race two a little better but racing here today was no fun.”

Fabrizio Lai, ECHO CRS Honda: 19th and 14th – 28th overall. “I took two points in race two and that was important because at Imola I have no experience of this bike and this championship. Points in any weekend are good in this championship. I last raced in Imola in Italian championship in 2003, so that was a long time ago. And a 125cc is not the same as a Superbike!”


WSS Rider Comments

Michele Pirro, Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR: Winner - 5th overall. “I am so happy to have won because this is my home race and the rest of the season has not been very good. OK, I was able to win because Kenan and Eugene crashed at the last corner but I am still very happy. Congratulations to all the team who did a great job today to get a win and a second place. Now we can move to the last race in Magny-Cours and aim for another podium to finish the season in a good way.”

Kenan Sofuoglu, Hannspree Ten Kate Honda: 2nd - 1st overall. “All weekend I was very confident and it was the same for the race today. We were definitely ready to go for the win but I am not sure that Eugene had enough speed to go with me. He was able to follow but his aim in the race when he was leading seemed to be to slow me and to block me. I pushed hard for the last few laps and he was still able to follow me but I think that the final attack he made was too much on the limit. I was very lucky and my bike was still able to run and I could get back up to finish in front of Eugene. Of course, I really wanted to win this weekend but it didn’t happen. The positive thing is that I have a 16-point advantage going to Magny-Cours.”

Eugene Laverty, Parkalgar Honda: 3rd – 2nd overall. “I am angry with myself because my left arm started to go numb towards the end of the race and I was riding the bike with my right arm only. It is an old injury that came back today and my priority now is to get it sorted properly. In the race when I took the lead I tried to cruise a little to protect my arm but when Kenan came by I had to go with him. I couldn’t set myself up as precisely as I wanted on the last lap but came up the inside on the run to the chicane. He put pressure on me and I lost the front so we crashed. I got my bike up but it took a moment longer than Kenan to get going again. Now I will go to Magny-Cours and try my best to end the season with a win and see what happens there.”

Massimo Roccoli, Czech Intermoto Honda: 6th – 10th overall. “I equalled my best finish of the year so we should be happy in some ways. We aimed for a good finish in the points and we got one but I think we all wanted some more dry track time in practice.”

Miguel Praia, Parkalgar Honda: DNF - 13th overall. “I could do nothing. I went into the first corner and another rider crashed into me and that finished my race. I tried to restart but couldn’t. I am very frustrated, as I could have scored good points in the top ten I am sure. My left thumb is a little sore so I will get it checked by the clinic, just to make sure it is OK. Now I am focusing on the final race and finishing the season on a high.”

Gino Rea, Intermoto Czech Honda: DNF – 8th overall. “I am OK, no injures but annoyed and frustrated to have crashed. We are looking at the data now, and it shows that the front went, but there seems no reason why. No warning, as it happened so quick. We lost a bit of time in practice because of the weather changes, so it has been a bit frustrating this weekend.”


Results

SUPERSPORT

Race : (Laps 19 = 93,784 Km)
Pos / Rider / Nat. / Team / Time / Gap
1 / PIRRO / ITA / Honda CBR600RR / HANNspree Ten Kate Honda / 36'07.906
2 / SOFUOGLU / TUR / Honda CBR600RR / HANNspree Ten Kate Honda / 2.888
3 / LAVERTY / IRL / Honda CBR600RR / Parkalgar Honda / 4.569
4 / PARKES / AUS / Kawasaki ZX-6R / Kawasaki Motocard.com / 4.865
5 / FUJIWARA / JPN / Kawasaki ZX-6R / Kawasaki Motocard.com / 5.718
6 / ROCCOLI / ITA / Honda CBR600RR / Intermoto Czech / 6.102
7 / AITCHISON / AUS / Honda CBR600RR / Kuja Racing / 9.977
8 / MIGLIORATI / ITA / Kawasaki ZX-6R / Puccetti R. Kawasaki Italia / 18.563
9 / TAMBURINI / ITA / Yamaha YZF R6 / Bike Service R.T. / 19.987
10 / VIZZIELLO / ITA / Honda CBR600RR / Velmotor 2000 / 28.436
11 / LAGRIVE / FRA / Triumph Daytona 675 / ParkinGO Triumph BE1 / 28.508
12 / IANNUZZO / ITA / Triumph Daytona 675 / ParkinGO BE1 Triumph / 42.347
13 / PALUMBO / ITA / Kawasaki ZX-6R / Puccetti R. Kawasaki Italia / 1'05.502
14 / BARONE / ITA / Yamaha YZF R6 / RCGM 2B Corse / 1'05.930
15 / LUNDH / SWE / Honda CBR600RR / Cresto Guide Racing Team / 1 Lap

Fastest Lap 5° Eugene Laverty 1'52.198 158,377 Km/h
Lap Record: 2009 Cal Crutchlow 1'51.645 159,160 Km/h
Best Lap: 2009 Cal Crutchlow 1'50.680 160,550 Km/h

Riders Championship Standings:
1 SOFUOGLU 243, 2 LAVERTY 227, 3 LASCORZ 168, 4 DAVIES 137, 5 PIRRO 91,
6 SALOM 90, 7 HARMS 87, 8 REA 83, 9 FUJIWARA 71, 10 ROCCOLI 71, 11 LAGRIVE 70,
12 FORET 65, 13 PRAIA 60, 14 PARKES 29, 15 TAMBURINI 25.


SUPERBIKE

Race 1 : (Laps 21 = 103,656 Km)
Pos / Rider / Nat. / Team / Gap
1 / CHECA / ESP / Ducati 1098R / Althea Racing / 38'27.631
2 / LANZI / ITA / Ducati 1098R / DFX Corse / 1.171
3 / HAGA / JPN / Ducati 1098R / Ducati Xerox Team / 1.472
4 / SMRZ / CZE / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / Team PATA B&G Racing / 6.691
5 / HASLAM / GBR / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / Team Suzuki Alstare / 9.584
6 / SYKES / GBR / Kawasaki ZX 10R / Kawasaki Racing Team / 10.979
7 / FABRIZIO / ITA / Ducati 1098R / Ducati Xerox Team / 15.023
8 / BYRNE / GBR / Ducati 1098R / Althea Racing / 15.913
9 / GUINTOLI / FRA / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / Team Suzuki Alstare / 17.025
10 / CRUTCHLOW / GBR / Yamaha YZF R1 / Yamaha Sterilgarda Team / 20.795
11 / BIAGGI / ITA / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / Aprilia Alitalia Racing / 21.243
12 / XAUS / ESP / BMW S1000 RR / BMW Motorrad Motorsport / 25.86
13 / SCASSA / ITA / Ducati 1098R / Supersonic Racing Team / 31.551
14 / NEUKIRCHNER / GER / Honda CBR1000RR / HANNspree Ten Kate Honda / 31.689
15 / CORSER / AUS / BMW S1000 RR / BMW Motorrad Motorsport / 44.349

Fastest Lap 13° Leon Haslam 1'48.966 163,075 Km/h
Lap Record: 2009 Noriyuki Haga 1'48.982 163,050 Km/h
Best Lap: 2009 Michel Fabrizio 1'47.735 164,940 Km/h

Race 2: (Laps 21 = 103,656 Km)
Pos / Rider / Nat. / Team / Gap
1 / CHECA / ESP / Ducati 1098R / Althea Racing / 38'24.452
2 / HAGA / JPN / Ducati 1098R / Ducati Xerox Team / 2.129
3 / CRUTCHLOW / GBR / Yamaha YZF R1 / Yamaha Sterilgarda Team / 3.926
4 / SYKES / GBR / Kawasaki ZX 10R / Kawasaki Racing Team / 5.762
5 / BIAGGI / ITA / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / Aprilia Alitalia Racing / 7.025
6 / BYRNE / GBR / Ducati 1098R / Althea Racing / 12.147
7 / LANZI / ITA / Ducati 1098R / DFX Corse / 14.212
8 / GUINTOLI / FRA / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / Team Suzuki Alstare / 18.029
9 / XAUS / ESP / BMW S1000 RR / BMW Motorrad Motorsport / 18.249
10 / SCASSA / ITA / Ducati 1098R / Supersonic Racing Team / 19.446
11 / CORSER / AUS / BMW S1000 RR / BMW Motorrad Motorsport / 23.674
12 / NEUKIRCHNER / GER / Honda CBR1000RR / HANNspree Ten Kate Honda / 34.804
13 / SANDI / ITA / Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. / Gabrielli Racing Team / 53.54
14 / LAI / ITA / Honda CBR1000RR / ECHO CRS Honda / 1'03.102
15 / BAIOCCO / ITA / Kawasaki ZX 10R / Team Pedercini / 1'07.185

Fastest Lap 7° Carlos Checa 1'48.877 163,208 Km/h
Lap Record: 2010 Leon Haslam 1'48.966 163,070 Km/h
Best Lap: 2009 Michel Fabrizio 1'47.735 164,940 Km/h

Riders Championship Standings:
1 BIAGGI 413, 2 HASLAM 350, 3 REA 288, 4 CHECA 274, 5 CRUTCHLOW 239, 6 HAGA 238,
7 TOSELAND 187, 8 GUINTOLI 184, 9 FABRIZIO 169, 10 CORSER 165, 11 CAMIER 164,
12 BYRNE 154, 13 XAUS 96, 14 SYKES 93, 15 SMRZ 89.

Source: Honda Pro Image

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