Cal Crutchlow 2010

Cal Crutchlow and Max Biaggi shared the victories in the World Superbike Championship finale at Magny-Cours in France at the weekend in two superb races.

In race one it was Cal Crutchlow who finished his World Superbike season in style yesterday, crossing the line 4 seconds ahead of second placed man Leon Haslam.

Crutchlow passed Max Biaggi on lap 8 of the first race, where he remained to claim his third victory of the season and his final win in the World Superbike series.

The battle continued behind the Sterilgarda Yamaha rider for the second step of the podium with Biaggi, Haslam and Carlos Checa fighting it out between them.

Haslam and Checa both made it past the newly crowned World Champion Biaggi with last gasp moves in the final chicane, but Biaggi’s fourth place was enough to snatch the constructors championship for Aprilia at the expense of Ducati who bow out of WSB following this weekend.

In race two it was Biaggi who took the chequered flag, after a fantastic battle with Cal Crutchlow saw the pair swapping places at the front with Michel Fabrizio taking the third step of the podium.

Biaggi got the jump on Crutchlow from the start but lost the lead to local favourite Sylvain Guintoli who started second on the grid.

Biaggi muscled his way past Guintoli after the long run up to the Adelaide hairpin and remained in front for the rest of the race. Crutchlow passed the French rider on lap fifteen and set about catching the champion, but could not find a way past, finishing under a second behind for second place.

Despite the French fans getting behind Guintoli, the Suzuki Alstare rider had his pocket picked by Fabrizio on the Ducati Xerox late on in the race to take the final podium place.

Here are the results;

Race 1

1 C. CRUTCHLOW GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda Team Yamaha YZF R1
2 L. HASLAM GBR Team Suzuki Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000
3 C. CHECA ESP Althea Racing Ducati 1098R
4 M. BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory
5 J. SMRZ CZE Team PATA B&G Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory
6 M. FABRIZIO ITA Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R
7 N. HAGA JPN Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R
8 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX 10R
9 S. BYRNE GBR Althea Racing Ducati 1098R
10 L. SCASSA ITA Supersonic Racing Team Ducati 1098R
11 L. LANZI ITA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R
12 J. REA GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR1000RR
13 M. NEUKIRCHNER GER HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR1000RR
14 I. LOWRY GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX 10R
15 M. BAIOCCO ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R
16 F. LAI ITA ECHO CRS Honda Honda CBR1000RR

Not Classified
RET R. HAYDEN USA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R
RET T. CORSER AUS BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR
RET J. TOSELAND GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda Team Yamaha YZF R1
RET R. XAUS ESP BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR

Disqualified
DIS S. GUINTOLI FRA Team Suzuki Alstare Suzuki

Race 2

1 M. BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory
2 C. CRUTCHLOW GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda Team Yamaha YZF R1
3 M. FABRIZIO ITA Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R
4 S. GUINTOLI FRA Team Suzuki Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000
5 N. HAGA JPN Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R
6 J. SMRZ CZE Team PATA B&G Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory
7 L. SCASSA ITA Supersonic Racing Team Ducati 1098R
8 S. BYRNE GBR Althea Racing Ducati 1098R
9 C. CHECA ESP Althea Racing Ducati 1098R
10 L. HASLAM GBR Team Suzuki Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000
11 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX 10R
12 M. NEUKIRCHNER GER HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR1000RR
13 I. LOWRY GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX 10R
14 M. BAIOCCO ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R

Not Classified
RET L. LANZI ITA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 17
RET R. HAYDEN USA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R
RET J. TOSELAND GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda Team Yamaha YZF R1
RET T. CORSER AUS BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR
RET F. LAI ITA ECHO CRS Honda Honda CBR1000RR

The veteran rider needs just nine points from the two races this weekend to land the title for Aprilia, only two years after the manufacturer entered the sport with the RSV4 machine.

Max Biaggi is now 39 years old and seems to have been around forever, for me it has been fantastic to see the Italian at last fulfill his promise and land the World title and it would be a personal triumph for the rider if he can claim the manufacturers prize for his team as well.

The 2010 World Superbike Champion Max Biaggi said;

“It would be truly exceptional to be able to place the manufacturer world title next to my rider world title. Most of all I think it would be a great reward for the guys on the team and the entire racing division who, together with me, have given a performance this season which will go down in the history of our sport. As always, we will be giving it our all.”

Meanwhile Britain’s Leon Haslam who was pipped for the title by Biaggi, will ride his last race for the Suzuki Alstare satellite team having secured a ride with BMW next season.

Fellow Brit James Toseland will also bid farewell to his current employers at Yamaha this weekend although he has yet to secure a ride for next year. Rumours are that he could rejoin the Ten Kate Honda team where he won his second World Superbike title in 2007.

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.

Yoshimura Suzuki Team

The Yoshimura Suzuki team have confirmed that they will now make their first of three appearances at the next round of the World Superbike championship, having missed out on their planned outing at Assen due to the grounding of airlines after the Icelandic volcano eruption.

The Japanese rider Yukio Kagayama will be on the modified version of the Suzuki GSX-R1000 at the Italian circuit, the winning bike of the Suzuki 8 hour race.

The team are also planning on using the same rider and machine for the final race of the season at Magny-Cours in October but in September will have the rider Daisaku Sakai at the Imola circuit.

Noriyuki Haga – Ducati Xerox 2009

The World Superbike series headed to France this weekend with Ben Spies and Noriyuki Haga sharing the wins at the Magny-Cours circuit.

Race One

It was Ben Spies on the Yamaha World Superbike that led into the first corner of race one with Max Biaggi, Jonathan Rea, Leon Haslam and Michel Fabrizio, all fighting for second place.

Rea on the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda passed the Aprilia of Biaggi going into the hairpin while Haga on the Ducati Xerox slipped past the Stiggy Honda of Haslam, but not for long as Haslam soon retook his position.

Tom Sykes crashed out on the fast, downhill section to Lycee at the Magny-Cours circuit on the second Yamaha World Superbike but managed to walk away from the accident.

With 19 laps of the race to run, Fabrizio put his Ducati Xerox ahead of Haslam to take fifth position while just two laps later, Jonathan Rea suffered some sort of technical problem and drove into the pit lane to retire.

Haga continued to hassle the Italian rider but couldn’t find a way past the Aprilia until on lap 17, Biaggi made the mistake of leaving a gap wide enough for Haga to get through and beginning to chase down the American, who by now had made a gap of 1.3 seconds.

With only 6 laps of the race remaining and Haga was realising that only a mistake by the Yamaha rider would see him in the lead,and unusually the error occurred with Spies running wide and letting Haga slip up the inside and at the front.  Spies soon retook his spot and cut up the inside at the corner exit.  The two riders were racing side-by-side heading down to Lycee but it was Spies who was first at the bend.

Biaggi took the final step of the podium finishing in third place ahead of Fabrizio in fourth and Stiggy Honda rider Leon Haslam in fifth.  In sixth place was Carlos Checa on the second Hanspree Ten Kate Honda, after qualifying in twelfth on the grid, followed by the Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama in seventh, Shane Byrne on the Sterilgarda Ducati in eighth, Troy Corser on the BMW Motorrad in ninth and Jakub Smrz on the Guandalini Ducati in tenth.

Here are the results;

1. Ben Spies USA Yamaha WSB YZF R1 37mins 57.110secs 23 laps
2. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1198R +0.181s
3. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +5.009s
4. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1198R +16.347s
5. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +22.622s
6. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +24.948s
7. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +27.144s
8. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R +27.578s
9. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +28.486s
10. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +28.716s
11. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR +52.680s
12. Matteo Baiocco ITA Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +1min 01.372s
13. Luca Scassa ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1min 05.123s
14. David Salom ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1min 05.483s
15. David Checa ESP Yamaha France GMT 94 YZF R1 +1min 05.672s

18. Leon Camier GBR Aprilia Racing RSV-4 20 laps completred
19. Sheridan Morais RSA Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R 13 laps completed
20. Fonsi Nieto ESP DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 12 laps completed
21. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R 10 laps completed
22. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000 7 laps completed
23. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA SCI Honda CBR1000RR 5 laps completed
24. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 3 laps completed
25. Karl Muggeridge AUS Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 3 laps completed
26. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 1 lap completed

Race Two

In race two it was Noriyuki Haga on the Ducati Xerox that took the chequered flag, with his eighth win of the season and now leads the championship by 10 points over the Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies.

Haga took the lead from the start while Ben Spies struggled with his machine for the entire race.  After losing the lead to Haga, Max Biaggi was all over the Ducati, making a pass on lap 5 which Haga soon took back.  Biaggi then tried the same move again two laps later, running wide and allowing Jonathan Rea to slip through on the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda.

Rea was soon on the tail of the Ducati and the three top riders swapped places several times over the following laps.  The Hanspree Honda rider finally left enough of a gap to allow the Aprilia through and was forced wide as Biaggi retook his second place.

Ben Spies finished in fourth place followed by Leon Haslam, taking his second fifth position of the day for the Stiggy Honda team.  In sixth place was the Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama ahead of Shane Byrne of the Sterilgarda Ducati, Karl Muggeridge on the second Suzuki Alstare, Carlos Checa on the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda and Troy Corser on the BMW Motorrad in tenth.

The two leading riders seemed a bit confused as they crossed the line, both Spies and Biaggi continued racing for another lap, oblivious that the race was over.

The British Superbike rider Leon Camier was denied a finish in both races for the Aprilia team after suffering technical difficulties with his machine.

Here are the results;

1. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1198R 38mins 00.282s 23 laps
2. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +1.480s
3. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000 +6.024s
4. Ben Spies USA Yamaha WSB YZF R1 +18.135s
5. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +21.236s
6. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +23.647s
7. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R +23.701s
8. Karl Muggeridge AUS Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +24.838s
9. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +31.455s
10. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +32.507s
11. Fonsi Nieto ESP DFX Corse Ducati 1098R +37.594s
12. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR +44.727s
13. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1198R +49.782s
14. Matteo Baiocco ITA Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +50.345s
15. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R +56.209s

DNS Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR
DNS Flavio Gentile ITA Althea Honda CBR1000RR

Makoto Tamada – Assen 2009

Sheridan Morais is returning to the Kawasaki World Superbike seat this weekend, replacing the injured Makoto Tamada at the Magny Cours round of the championship.

Tamada was side-swiped off of his Kawasaki at the last round of the championship at Imola by wild-card rider Luca Conforti, after only five laps of the opening race at the final chicane.  The Japanese rider banged his head in the crash and although not knocked unconscious he suffered a slight concussion and cannot remember the accident.

For the fourth time this season, Tamada will have to sit in the wings while another rider replaces him on the Kawasaki, although he his hoping to be fit for the following round.

The South African Superbike Champion replaced Tamada at the Monza round, finishing thirteenth and eleventh and had a second chance to race for the team at the Brands Hatch triple-header, where he presented the team with a tenth and an eight place.

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.