There is not a lot of betting that goes on in Utah, but Miller Motorsports Park has a good feeling about its upcoming World Superbike round. The only American venue on the WSBK calendar, track officials are hoping to see the 200 mph barrier be broken on Miller’s long straightaway by the production race machines. Standing over 3,500 feet long, Miller’s front straight makes for some daunting first-corner entries, which will challenge WSBK and AMA Pro Racing riders alike during the BigM Weekend.
Factory Kawasaki World Superbike rider Joan Lascorz has been airlifted from the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari at Imola today, after the young Spanish rider crashed his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R during a post-race test. Treated first at the circuit’s medical center, it was decided to airlift Lascorz to Bologna when it was suspected the WSBK rider had fractured a vertebra.
Scoring a 7th and 9th place in Sunday’s two World Superbike races, Lascorz lost control of his Kawasaki in the final minutes of the today’s testing session. Unconfirmed reports say the Spaniard hit a wall on the outside of the track, fracturing either his 5th or 6th vertebra. According to the Spanish press, Lascorz is currently in surgery for his injuries. A&R hopes for the best for the young WSBK rider, and that he has a full and speedy recovery from this incident. A statement from World Superbike is after the jump.
With the sun peaking through the clouds over Imola, ambient and track temperatures warmed up a bit for World Superbike’s Race 2. With the Ducatisti lining the stands at the Italian track, race fans present at Imola looked for a strong showing from Carlos Checa and his Althea Ducati. The old Spaniard would have to contend with a tough grid though, and one especially quick Tom Sykes on his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R. Continue reading for spoilers for race results.
Round 2 of the 2012 World Superbike Championship comes from Imola today, and features six manufacturers in the top seven qualifying positions. With weather conditions favorable for racing, Italian motorcycle fans were treated to a great competition between the WSBK riders. Favored to win was the man on the local machine, Carlos Checa, but he would have to contest with pole-sitter Tom Sykes and his Kawasaki ZX-10R. Also always a crowd favorite in Italy is former-WSBK Champion Max Biaggi, who qualified a disappointing fifth, but still could not be counted out from a good result. Continue reading for spoilers and race results from World Superbike Race 1 at Imola.
After a month-long hiatus from the Phillip Island season-opener (Race 1 & Race 2), World Superbike action is back again this weekend and taking place in Imola, Italy. Though Max Biaggi leads the Championship with 45 points (ahead of Marco Melandri who has 30 points), much of the talk in the past month has been about the surprise resurgence of Kawasaki, with factory rider Tom Sykes taking a podium finish in Race 2 and showing potential to run against the likes of The Emperor, Carlos Checa, and Marco Melandri.
Now with Sykes third in the Championship going into Imola, the season that seemed preordained to be really between only two riders (Biaggi & Checa), has shown itself to be full of surprises. Continue reading for spoilers and results from the World Superbike Superpole qualifying event at Imola.
Fresh on the heels of AMA Pro Racing’s 2012 Daytona 200 (surely to be a race we will talk about all season), there is a fun rumor floating around that World Superbike is considering changing from its two-race format at select events to one longer race format that would include pit stops. The rumor comes about as Infront boss man Paolo Flammini allegedly told journalists that he was considering the format switch for WSBK, as it would increase the spectacle of the sport, and we presume help differentiate it from its rival series, MotoGP.
Aprilia has the dubious distinction of having some of the most compelling motorcycles in its product lineup, which are mated to some of the worst market communications in the industry, but the Italian manufacturer certainly seems to be trying this year. Getting ready to launch the Aprilia Tuono V4 APRC in the US later this month, Aprilia is trying to expose more riders to the Italian brand and its racing heritage.
While we were less-than-impressed with the company’s more recent strategy of hiring motorcycle blogs to create online commercials for the brand, this latest media effort seems more genuine and original. Find after the jump an ever-so-trendy infographic on Aprilia’s racing heritage, APRC electronics system, and V4 engine, and RSV & Tuono motorcycles. Click on it for an even bigger version, it’s actually pretty interesting.
Every few months a good rumor about the return of Troy Bayliss finds its way into the media, and this week is no different. The whole process started several months back when Bayliss left a message on his Facebook page about his inability to come to terms with Ducati about racing a few wild card rounds in World Superbike this season — a statement that was quickly rebutted by Ducati Corse’s WSBK Boss Ernesto Marinelli, who said that if the former-World Champion wanted to ride in WSBK this year, a Ducati would be made available to him.
Now in an announcement made today by the Effenbert Liberty Racing team, the Czech-speaking Ducati-riding squad confirmed that it will be moving-up Canadian Brett McCormick to the team’s fourth WSBK-spec Ducati Superbike 1198 for the rest of the season, instead of having Troy Bayliss ride for the team at several wild card races.
Surely linked to the discussions Bayliss was having with Ducati Corse, the move is a boon to McCormick, who was set to ride the new Ducati 1199 Panigale in the World Superstock 1000 series, despite the fact that World Superbike. fans surely would have welcomed the return of the three-time WSBK Champion Bayliss to the track.
After consistently struggling in the World Superbike Championship, Kawasaki finally seems to have all its duck in a row for the 2012 season. Teething the recently updated Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R over the course of last season’s races, Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz made it clear at the season’s opening round at Phillip Island that Team Green can contend for podium finishes and even race victories against the mighty Ducati of Carlos Checa and Aprilia of Max Biaggi.
With Sykes starting at the pole position after the cancellation of Superpole qualifying, the Englishman lapped in the position in both races at the Australian track. Battling with a very strong Honda factory team, Sykes even squeaked out a great victory over fellow countryman Johnny Rea, securing a podium finish for Kawasaki on the team’s first outing of the season. Clearly excited by that start, Kawasaki Racing has put out a video of the team’s weekend at Phillip Island. Check it out after the jump.
As is the custom with World Supebike racing and with Race 1 out of the way, the WSBK grid lined up to it all again. Treating fans to a double-dose of motorcycle racing, you would think that the second race would be a repeat of the previous, but it was anything but that. Exciting from the first lap to the very last, the 2012 World Superbike Championship was off to a great start with its season-opener at Phillip Island, Australia. Continue on for results.
Despite a tragic beginning to the first race of the season, World Superbike racing returned to our lives today with the season-opener at Phillip Island. With cloudy skies and strong winds, Tom Sykes and the factory Kawasaki WSBK team took their place on the starting line at the pole position. Showing a marked improvement over last year’s measure, Kawasaki would still have to contend with the Ducati of Carlos Checa, the Aprilia of Max Biaggi, and the ever improving Honda of Johnny Rea.