World Superbike Preview - Round 12 - Imola

Max Biaggi © Jen Watson Silverstone 2010

With only 2 rounds and 4 races left  leaving only 100 points available, Leon Haslam certainly has his work cut out this weekend as he is 58 points shy of the current table leader.  If Max "The Pirate" Biaggi finishes in front on Leon in both races,  he can even win the championship a round early.  As all us Brits are trying not to think the unthinkable, I'm sure I'm not alone when I say forgive me Max but we are all willing Leon on!
A couple of home wins and the Championship would be the icing on the cake for Max, who already has won 9 races this season.  Last years race saw him pipped to the post by Haga in Race 1 and 4th in Race 2.
The Xerox Ducati squad were strong here last year with a 1st and 3rd in Race 1 and 1, 2 in Race 2...lets see how much difference a year makes and not to forget that all important team boss change that I keep referring to.
Nestled in 3rd place is Johnathan Rea who was very happy to announce that he has resigned with Ten Kate Honda for another year in WSBK.  He is 64 points ahead of Carlos Checa in 4th place, and barring disaster and fingers crossed that I'm not doing a "Murray Walker" when I say 3rd must surely be his. Last year Johnny managed a 7th in Race 1 and a 6th in Race 2.
Sitting in 5th spot is Cal Crutchlow who is waiting to pounce on that 4th place this weekend.  He is a mere 7 points behind Carlos.  If his excitement at getting signed for MotoGP with Tech3 wasn't enough to clinch it, then I'm more than sure his current winning form will be.
Further down the table in a very lowly 7th place is JT52.  Hopefully James can pick himself up, dust himself, and this season off and get back to the winning form that we all know he is more than capable of.  We all know the rules of the game - 1. finish ahead of your team mate and 2. Points mean prizes...blah blah blah. But now that he has himself signed up to a new team (Mrs Toseland predicts BMW) he must wipe all of this years mishaps from his mind and concentrate on the finishing on a high. The possibility is still there for him next year to become the first superbike rider to win 3 championships with 3 different manufacturers.
Unfortunately Leon Camier will not be competing in this round due to his continued recovery from his broken Scaphoid.  He is determined to return but has said he realises that there is not point doing this and risking another injury before his is fully fit.  It is yet to be decided if he will be fit to compete in the last round of the Championship to be held at Magny Cours in France.  The team and I wish Leon a full and speedy recovery.

Shane "Shakey" Byrne © Jen Watson Silverstone 2010

Another brit who would probably like to get this season finished and a start another fresh is Shane "Shakey" Byrne.  Its already been well documented in the press that this weekend is "Make or Break" for Shane in terms of being resigned. He currently sits 12th in Championship, and with a DNF and 7th in last years races we know we can always can count on Shane to give it his all.
Once again, its all to play for in this exciting championship...but I can't help feeling sad that after this we only have 1 more round before what seems like that never ending off season.
As ever please add your comments.
Thanks for reading
Jen

World Superbike Team Switching - The Talk of the Steamie #WSBK

Good Morning, todays chit chat on twitter has prompted me to write another blog. As usual after a race weekend there is much chatter about riders swapping teams and championships.
So here is where we are so far. Yesterday Yamaha announced (finally) that Cal Crutchlow was off to MotoGP taking over from Ben Spies at Tech3. This morning I received an email from Yamaha announcing their signing of none other one Marco Melandri. I thought this was quite interesting as I kinda half expected that Noriyuki Haga might return to Yamaha(or maybe I just wished he would)since Ducati has announced that they would no longer be talking part in the WSBK championship next year.
Add to the rumour mill James Toseland telling Eurosport yesterday he was actively seeking a new ride as Yamaha wanted Italians on the team prompted alot of talk of Davide Tardozzi taking over from Massimo Meregalli, who is rumoured to be going to join Ben Spies in MotoGP. Oh yeah and there was also rumours that BMW want a more German team. Leading to more talk of the Melandri deal was linked to Tardozzi coming(they are neighbours apparently)and then this would probably mean the arrival of Michel Fabrizio since Davide Tardozzi is his personal manager.
Now I have to say that I didn't really get all the team manager hype and I wasn't Davide Tardozzi's biggest fan but think on this....since leaving Ducati(who last season were a force to be reckoned with) they have completely lost their racing mojo...but since his arrival at BMW they have won their first ever championship with Ayrton Badovini and the WSBK team have gone from strength to strength. Suppose looking at that you can see how Yamaha may want to pay to have him released from what was thought to have been a 3 year deal with BMW.
Wow what a tangled web we weave...so where does that leave James Toseland and Noriyuki Haga...by all accounts still looking for a ride for next year.
As ever jump in and leave your thoughts in the comments box..I love hearing all your takes on who is going where, when and why.
Happy Monday
Jen

World Superbike Preview - Round 11 - Nürburgring, Germany

The break is over and so the World Superbike paddock heads over to Nürburgring, Germany for round 11 of the championship. After 2 "All Brit" podiums during the last round at Silverstone and with 5 of the Magnificent 7 in the top 10, this year's championship should have been all about the Brits. But with only 3 rounds and 150 points up for grabs, Max Biaggi and the Aprilia team obviously never received that memo. Even with a commanding lead of 60, Max is still refusing to "settle for points". So the battle lines have been drawn and Leon Haslam is out to keep the pressure on and is hoping to giving Max "something to think about!". Last year Leon managed a 6th and 5th place but felt he could have done better as he was pushed wide by Jonathan Rea in the 1st race and then off the track by Ben Spies in the 2nd.

Currently 130 points behind Max is Jonathan Rea, after the highs of 2nd place in both races at Silverstone, 3rd place in the championship is only his to lose. But with his 4th and 1st place results from last years race he surely must be in contention for a podium or 2.

But lets not forget the "Man of the moment" and resident "Pole King" Cal Crutchlow after 2 fantastic home victories at Silverstone he has to have his sights set on trumping last years R6 wins by winning on the R1. For Cal the summer break is always too long and he can't wait to get back to business in Germany.


Flip the coin (in more ways than one) to the other side of the Yamaha garage where you'll find James Toseland, who for one reason or another is not having the best season of his career. But if he only proves one thing this year, it has to to be that he just never gives up. Having started many of this seasons races from a less than favourable grid position his 6th place standing in the championship shows his steely determination and experience. Unfortunately James has not raced here at Nürburgring since he was 18 years old thus putting him on the back foot before he's even turned a wheel.

Quietly nestled in 7th place in the championship is Leon Camier who has proved a worthy adversary and team mate for Max. Currently sitting on 164 points only 13 points behind James and 24 points behind Cal, Leon's recent form and podium at Silverstone says he is very much a man on the move and definitely not one to be ruled out.



Even with only 3 rounds left there is still room for a championship shuffle and plenty important places left to fight for. So as we head towards the weekend I'll leave you with this to contemplate. Spare a thought for the guys of the factory Ducati team, whose shock announcement regarding their departure from the WSBK paddock next year has left us with a few questions. Could it be that it is Rossi or bust for Ducati? What will happen to Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga? I'll say only this...take a look at these 2 photographs both taken by me at Silverstone 2010.


I can't help wondering if the very relaxed looking Michel Fabrizio has already secured a ride for next year, whilst Nori definitely has his mind on other things. If I was a betting gal I'd say.....watch out Rubens Xaus!
Jen

World Superbikes Preview – Round 8 – Misano, San Marino

After a 3 week break the World Superbike Paddock is heading for San Marino, where Max Biaggi will be hoping to repeat on his success at Miller Motorsport Park and his 3rd double win of the season to extend his 15 point lead on Leon Haslam.

Leon has not raced at Misano on the Suzuki Alstare, but as the track is fast and free flowing I’m willing to bet he will be more than keen to make up his loss of points due to his DNF during Race 2 at Miller Motorsport Park. All that coupled with a successful recent test where Leon tried out new Ohlins front forks and after posting quicker laps times, he will now go ahead use them for the race.

The other teams testing recently at Misano were Yamaha, Aprilia and BMW. Day 2 of the test saw Yamaha’s Carl Crutchlow (1:36.2) and James Toseland (1:36.3) top the timing sheets. Very closely followed by BMW’s Troy Corser and Suzuki’s Leon Haslam who both posted the same time of 1:36.4

Both Xerox Ducati and Althea Ducati also held their 2 day test at Misano during World Ducati Week which saw Troy Bayliss prove he hasn’t lost his passion for the sport by posting a blistering time of 1:35.6. Troy managed to post these times with a new prototype race tyre, and even using a qualifying tyre couldn’t help either Noriyuki Haga or Michel Fabrizio to bridge the gap. Surely this can’t be doing much for the mood or the mojo inside the Xerox garage, especially since Misano and Ducati have always equalled good results.

Carlos Checa was very happy to put the frustrations behind him after having to retire from both races at Miller Motor Sport whilst leading with a technical error thought to be related to the fly-by-wire throttle. He completed a successful test posting a time of 1:36.3. Hot on his heals was his team mate Shane "Shakey" Byrne and last year’s Race 1 2nd place man with a time of 1:36.6.

Let us not forget about the man who is currently 3rd in the Championship standings and last year’s Race 2 winner, Honda’s Jonathan Rea who is still recovering from his qualifying crash at Miller Motorsports Park where he sustained tyre burn injuries to his neck and shoulder. Although Honda did not participate in the testing Misano the team practised at their home track in Assen. Both riders were happy to report they had been working successfully to eliminate the chatter problems both have been recently suffering.

With only 24 championship points separating 3rd place man Jonathan Rea (151) and 7th placed man Troy Corser (127) the table is tight. Throw into the mix that 11 riders in the current paddock that have all had podiums at Misano in the last five years, can only mean one thing...yes ...it is going to be a great weekends racing!
Jen