Leon Camier – Aprilia WSB 2010

The Aprilia Alitalia rider Leon Camier will not be riding at the penultimate round of the World Superbike championship at Imola following his crash at the Nurburgring.

Camier suffered a broken scaphoid bone in his wrist during practice which needed surgical intervention and is now in doubt for the final round at Magny-Cours.

The British rider is now recovering from his successful surgery but is unlikely to be replaced at the following two rounds leaving Max Biaggi as the sole rider for the team.

Noriyuki Haga – Ducati Xerox 2009

Noriyuki Haga claimed his first victory in four-months in race one at Imola yesterday with Michel Fabrizio taking his maiden win of the championship in race two.

Race One

Noriyuki Haga is back in contention for the championship once again, after winning the first race at the Imola round  for the Ducati Xerox team.

Max Biaggi on the Aprilia RSV4, led the race by the end of the first lap after starting from sixth on the grid, he was  followed by Michel Fabrizio, Jonathan Rea and Haga.  Ben Spies was back in fifth place after making contact with the BMW of Troy Corser as they battled to get ahead in the first corner.

On lap 3, Rea on the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda, made an error heading over the crest leading onto the Rivazza complex.  Unable to stop, he shot across the path of Fabrizio and Haga before going into the gravel trap and dropping his machine, once back on his feet he managed to get his bike back on circuit but was now in last place.

As the leading four headed into the distance, Spies struggled to keep up with the three front runners as Biaggi came under pressure from the Ducati of Fabrizio who had re-taken second position from his team-mate Haga.

Haga took the second place slot back on lap 8 as they went into Rivazza, before making the same move two-laps later on Biaggi, who straight away fought back for his position.  Haga finally made the move stick on lap 18 of the race with Fabrizio finding his way past the Aprilia after getting a better run coming out of the final chicane.

Spies who had now made his way back to the front of the riders, also tried to take advantage of Biaggi by following Fabrizio through but the Aprilia rider had already seen him and shut the door.

On the final lap, Biaggi reclaimed his second position at the final bend as he dived up the inside of Fabrizio and took his place with just a one hundredth of a second.

Spies finished in fourth place, five seconds behind Haga followed by Ryuichi Kiyonari on the Ten Kate Honda racing machine who had started in fourteenth on the grid.

Leon Haslam took fifth place on the Stiggy Honda after starting in tenth ahead of Jonathan Rea in seventh and Jakub Smrz for the Guandalini Racing team in eighth.

In ninth was Tom Sykes on the Yamaha World Superbike followed by Australian rider Broc Parkes for the Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team.

Marco Simoncelli crashed out of his debut race after replacing the injured rider Shinya Nakano at the Imola circuit.  Running in fifth place at the start of the race after a bad start, Simoncelli crashed out on lap 10 after losing the front of his Aprilia and was forced to retire.

Here are the results;

1. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1198R 21 laps
2. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +2.074s
3. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1198R +2.190s
4. Ben Spies USA Yamaha WSB YZF R1 +5.438s
5. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +14.470s
6. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +14.685s
7. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000 +28.822s
8. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +32.694s
9. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 +33.817s
10. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R +34.801s
11. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +35.296s
12. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR +36.442s
13. Karl Muggeridge AUS Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +38.698
14. Matteo Baiocco ITA Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +42.147s
15. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +45.510s

19. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA SCI Honda CBR1000RR 13 laps completed
20. Marco Simoncelli ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 9 laps completed
21. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 8 laps completed
22. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 7 laps completed
23. Fonsi Nieto ESP DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 7 laps completed
24. Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R 5 laps completed
25. Luca Conforti ITA Barni Corse Ducati 1098R 5 laps completed
26. Matthieu Lagrive FRA Althea Honda CBR1000RR 3 laps completed
27. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 2 laps completed

Race Two

Michel Fabrizio took to the front of the pack in the second race of the day after starting in pole position, followed by Noriyuki Haga, Max Biaggi, Shane Byrne and Jonathan Rea.

Spies got off to a terrible start and was back in sixth position as the race got underway from second on the grid.  He moved into fifth place after an error by Rea on lap 1.

Haga soon passed his team-mate to take the lead as Biaggi made a move on Fabrizio but only until lap 5 when the Ducati was back in front of the Aprilia.

By lap 11, Fabrizio was all over the back of Haga, apparently ignoring team orders, and took the lead going into turn one on lap 13.

Marco Simoncelli, on his debut weekend in World Superbikes, claimed an impressive third place on the second Aprilia Racing machine.  After closing in on his team-mate Biaggi, Simoncelli made a daring move and passed him at the Variante Bassa with some late braking, forcing Biaggi into the gravel which in turn also took Spies through the gravel trap as he was pushed wide as Biaggi rejoined the circuit.

Spies finished in fifth place ahead of Jonathan Rea in sixth, Shane Byrne on the Sterilgarda Ducati in seventh, Leon Haslam on the Stiggy Honda in eighth, Jakub Smrz on the second Sterilgarda Ducati in ninth and Carlos Checa for the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda team completing the top ten.

Here are the results;

1. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1198R 21 laps
2. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1198R +3.592s
3. Marco Simoncelli ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +6.510s
4. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +7.445s
5. Ben Spies USA Yamaha WSB YZF R1 +14.678s
6. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000 +16.396s
7. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R +17.110s
8. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +22.502s
9. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +25.268s
10. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +30.203s
11. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R +32.649s
12. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 +36.243s
13. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR +36.368s
14. Karl Muggeridge AUS Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +38.809
15. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R +42.438s

DNS. Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R
DNS. Luca Conforti ITA Barni Corse Ducati 1098R

Leon Haslam – Stiggy Honda – Assen 2009

Leon Haslam will be the only rider on the grid for the Stiggy Honda World Superbike team for the ultimate three rounds of the Championship.

After John Hopkins was forced to retire for the remainder of the season after suffering an horrendous accident at the Nurburgring at the beginning of the month.  Hopkins had returned to the grid after recuperating from his big crash at Assen where he broke his hip and was side-lined for the next four rounds.  However, at the German circuit, the Honda rider was completely run over during a multi-crash, leaving him with further hip problems and a bleed to the brain.  He has since had surgery on the shoulder and wrist  and has had fluid drained from his hip and will return for a brain scan next month.

The team decided not to replace Hopkins on the grid after suffering with their own financial worries and will go it alone with Haslam for the last three rounds.

The team have also let their Supersport rider Gianluca Vizziello go, after failing to deliver the results they had expected plus the situation with the economic crisis, leaving Anthony West as the only Stiggy Supersport rider for the remainder of the Championship.

Karl Muggeridge – Celani Suzuki 2009

The latest casualty of the economic crisis is the Celani Suzuki team, who have decided not to take part in the next round of the World Superbike Championship at Nurburgring on September 6.

The team are planning to make a come-back for the following three rounds at Imola, Magny Cours and Portimao with a more competitive machine after scoring only 5 points so far this season.

Karl Muggeridge was the initial rider for the team, scoring 4 out of the total 5 points before suffering a cracked vertebrae in a crash at Assen.  Alessandro Polita replaced the injured rider after he was left without a ride when the Suzuki Hoegee team pulled out of the Supersport World Championship.

Muggeridge will be riding as a replacement for the injured Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner.  The team will however have David Giugliano riding for them in the Nurburgring Superstock 1000 FIM cup on the same weekend.

Max Neukirchner – Suzuki Alstare 2009

The Suzuki Alstare rider Max Neukirchner has undergone a second operation to stabilise the damaged vertebrae he suffered in an accident at Imola back in July.

The operation was done in two stages by specialist Dr. Stöckel at a hospital in Chemnitz.  Firstly the broken thoracic vertebra was stabilised by screws and then three days later, the second vertebrae in the lumbar region was set.

One of the main priorities for the young German rider was that the healing process would not be delayed by going ahead with the surgery as he fully intends to race at least one or two more rounds this season.

Max is disappointed that he will not be on the grid for his home race at the Nürburgring, however, he will be attending the event to meet fans and to promote the Suzuki team.

The Australian Karl Muggeridge will be the replacement rider for Max at the next round of the World Superbike Championship on September 6

Troy Bayliss

Three-time World Superbike Champion Troy Bayliss, is to receive a lifetime achievement award from the city of Imola at the Italian round of the World superbike Championship at the end of September.

An event is taking place especially for the great rider, arranged by Imola circuit organisers, the city authorities and Ducati, in Imola’s main square on Saturday 26 September.

The evening will begin with a bike display in the square before a video documentary on Bayliss’s career is shown, all finished off  with a concert, all free of charge, the fans are expected to flood the city to see the legendary Ducati rider.

The 40-year-old, retired in 2008 after winning the championship for the third time.

Max Biaggi – Aprilia Racing 2009

This weekend the World Superbike Championship took place at the Brno circuit with race wins going to Max Biaggi and Ben Spies.

Race 1

Max Biaggi took the Aprilia across the line in the first race of the day to take his first victory since 2007 and the teams first win since 2001 when Régis Laconi won at Imola.

In second place was Carlos Checa on the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda, followed in third by his team-mate Jonathan Rea.  Britain’s Shane Byrne on the Sterilgarda Ducati, finished in fourth ahead of Troy Corser on the BMW Motorrad Team Alpha Racing bike in fifth and Jakub Smrz on the Guandalini Racing machine in sixth.

Ben Spies on the Yamaha World Superbike was leading the race on lap 4 ahead of Michel Fabrizio on the Ducati Xerox Team bike and Biaggi.  Fabrizio made a move on Spies but collided with the American ending the race for both of them and passing the reins to Biaggi.

Ruben Xaus, the second BMW rider, had been running in seventh place on the first lap when he went down on the exit of the right-hand hairpin.  The bike and rider were thrown into the gravel trap with the Spaniard receiving a leg injury seeing him being taken to the on-site medical centre.  The injury proved worse than was first though and Xaus had actually suffered a break to the femur in his right leg. Xaus is hoping that the scheduled five-week summer break will give his injury enough time to heal and that he will be back on his BMW by the next round in September.

Leon Haslam on the Stiggy Honda, finished in an impressive seventh after qualifying in seventeenth on the grid while his team-mate John Hopkins, crashed out after losing the front-end of his bike.

Here are the results;

1. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 20 laps
2. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +3.631s
3. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000 +9.948s
4. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R +12.952s
5. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +14.599s
6. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +19.359s
7. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +19.680s
8. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1198R +20.731s
9. Matthieu Lagrive FRA HANNspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR +21.923s
10. Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R +27.807s
11. Fonsi Nieto ESP DFX Corse Ducati 1098R +35.263s
12. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R +36.535s
13. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +38.586s
14. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +40.061s
15. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA SCI Honda CBR1000RR +40.280s

16. Luca Scassa ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +40.641s
17. David Salom ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1min 10.529s
18. David Checa ESP Yamaha France GMT 94 YZF R1 +1min 14.874s
19. Roland Resch AUT TKR Switzerland Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1min 42.979s
20. Milos Cihak CZE ProRace Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +1min 43.111s

Not Classified

21. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 18 laps completed
22. Alessandro Polita ITA Celani Suzuki GSX-R1000 14 laps completed
23. John Hopkins USA Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR 10 laps completed
24. Shinya Nakano JPN Aprilia Racing RSV-4 8 laps completed
25. Ben Spies USA Yamaha WSB YZF R1 4 laps completed
26. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1198R 4 laps completed
27. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 2 laps completed
28. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR 0 laps completed

Race 2

In the second race it was Ben Spies that again led the riders to claim his eleventh win of the season, however, this time he had the challenging Max Biaggi to hold back.

Michel Fabrizio took third behind Biaggi, followed by Jonathan Rea in fourth and Carlos Checa in fifth.  An impressive sixth place went to Noriyuki Haga on the Ducati Xerox in sixth position.

Haga is still suffering from injuries received at an earlier round and confirmed that he is frustrated at not being able to ride to his full potential.  The Japanese riders shoulder and wrist are still causing him pain but he somehow managed to finish inside the top ten in both races this weekend, with a sixth and eighth position giving him a lead of 7 points in the championship ahead of Spies.

The Stiggy Honda duo were probably glad to see the back of this weekend with Haslam finishing in twelfth in the second race of the day while Hopkins ended with no points again after suffering technical difficulties on his machine.

Yukio Kagayama on the Suzuki Alstare bike, happened to be behind Hopkins when his troubles began.  As Hopkins slowed going into the right-hander, Kagayama had no where to go and hit the rear of the Americans bike causing him to crash out and  with only a fourteenth in race one, not a good weekend for the Suzuki team either.

Here are the results;

1. Ben Spies USA Yamaha WSB YZF R1 20 laps
2. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +0.213s
3. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1198R +0.657
4. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000 +8.311s
5. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +8.915s
6. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1198R +21.175s
7. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 +21.384s
8. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R +21.599s
9. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +21.726s
10. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +25.180s
11. Shinya Nakano JPN Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +25.612s
12. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +25.622s
13. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +26.246s
14. Matthieu Lagrive FRA HANNspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR +31.098s
15. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R +32.706s

16. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R +33.173s
17. Fonsi Nieto ESP DFX Corse Ducati 1098R +34.953s
18. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA SCI Honda CBR1000RR +57.751s
19. David Checa ESP Yamaha France GMT 94 YZF R1 +1min 00.273s
20. Roland Resch AUT TKR Switzerland Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1min 29.794s

Not Classified

21. Alessandro Polita ITA Celani Suzuki GSX-R1000 12 laps completed
22. Luca Scassa ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 7 laps completed
23. Milos Cihak CZE ProRace Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 7 laps completed
24. John Hopkins USA Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR 6 laps completed
25. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 6 laps completed
26. David Salom ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 5 laps completed
27. Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R 3 laps completed

DNS Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR

Max Neukirchner – Alstare Suzuki WSB

The returning Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner, has suffered further injuries after crashing out in the three-day test at Imola.

Neukirchner, made his first track appearance this week after breaking his leg at the Monza round of the World Superbike Championship.  It was unsure, up until recently, whether the German rider would recover before the end of the season, however, he healed remarkably quickly and had looked comfortable back on his machine during the first day of testing.

In the morning session of the second day at the Imola circuit, Max crashed heavily exiting the Tamburello corner and was thrown onto his back.  He was initially seen at the tracks Clinica Mobile before being taken to the local hospital for further tests.  The injuries appeared to be minor until x-ray’s revealed a fracture in his lower back as well as three minor cracks in other vertebrae.

Neukirchner will now return to his home in Germany where he must remain in a plaster cast for the next 30 days and have complete rest.  It looks unlikely that Max will return again this season after having suchunbelievably bad luck but lets hope he makes a quick recovery and returns to the grid as soon as possible.