Although initial reports suggested that John Hopkins went relatively unscathed after his crash at the Nürburgring (video above), .
Now that Ben Spies has taken the points lead in the World Superbike Championship, Yamaha feels comfortable releasing the secrets behind “Elbowz’s” success on tracks he’s never seen before.
Walking us through his process, this is a rare insight into the mind of a motorcycle legend in the making. Check the video after the jump for the interview with Spies, and comments from his fellow Yamaha riders from the MotoGP series.
After World Superbike’s long hiatus, and recent round at the Nürburgring in Germany, we thought we’d update you on the points standings. Find them after the jump.
Race 2 continues World Superbike’s tour of Germany and the Nürburgring. With the balance of the Championship standings still tipping precariously after Race 1, Ben Spies and Noriyuki Haga were both looking for a victory that would give them a sure lead in the Championship points.
With the long summer break, everyone in World Superbike was waiting to see what would happen to the Championship Standings while at Germany. With two races on each race day, Ben Spies would have two chances to chip away at Noriyuki Haga’s 7 point lead, and finally take control of the series. With Haga still on the mend, the Nürburgring seemed like it would be hostile ground for the Xerox Ducati rider, but any thoughts of Haga being a push-over were quickly dispelled by his lightning Superpole performance.
World Superbike action returns from its summer hiatus, and comes to you this weekend from the Nürburgring in Germany. With Ben Spies only 7 points behind the injured Noriyuki Haga, it appeared the American would take the Championship lead this weekend with little effort, as Haga would not be able to push himself to compete with the Texan. Nitro Nori would appear to have some gas still in his reserves, and has proven thus far that he won’t give up his lead without a fight.
It’s official, Yamaha announced today that Ben Spies will remain in World Superbike with the Yamaha factory team for the 2010 season. However in 2011, Spies will move up to MotoGP series, where he’ll join a Yamaha satellite team (likely Tech3 Yamaha).
According to Italian website Motosprint, Stiggy Racing will be trading in it’s Honda CBR1000RR’s next year for a pair of shiny new Yamaha R1’s. This surprising manufacture swap seems to center around the financial issues Yamaha (and the rest of the motorcycle industry) is facing with cut backs in racing, and will add a second “supported” Yamaha team to the WSBK series in 2010.
Continuing on our Eastern European tour, Race 2 had a number of riders with something to prove on two wheels. With teams on a more level playing field after the recent test at the Brno venue, Race 2 proved to be an opportunity for the diamonds in the rough to shine, and for old rivals to get some payback.
Brno has a variety of meanings to different people. To the Old Czech, the words means muddy, to the Slavs it means to fortify, to men aged 16-55 it means rail thin supermodels, but to motorcycle race fanatics, the city should take on the meaning of unpredictable racing action. You’ll have to continue after the jump to see why Race 1 proves this theory.
World Superbike action this weekend comes from Brno, where riders are hot off a recent testing session at the former Soviet Block track. The Superpole results clearly speak to who did their homework, with fresh faces entering into the upper ranks. This Sunday should be set to have some good production motorcycle racing, and hey…if we’re wrong about that, there’s still eastern European umbrella girls, and that always makes people happy.