Eugene Laverty and Marco Melandri split a pair of victories at Monza but the most biggest news from the World Superbike weekend was a strange series of appeals after Race Two that saw Tom Sykes finish third, relegated to fourth and then reinstated on the final step of the podium.

The unusual mix-up occurred after Sykes, sitting in third place, ran off track and into the run off area on Turn 5 on his final lap. The Kawasaki rider returned to the track again in third place where he finished ahead of Aprilia‘s Sylvain Guintoli. After the race, Aprilia filed an appeal and race stewards initially assessed Sykes with a penalty, dropping him one-position and awarding third to Guintioli.

This morning however, Kawasaki appealed to the FIM Stewards’ Panel which analyzed the race footage and sector times for Sykes, Guintoli and second-place finisher Melandri and decided to reinstate Sykes in third. But that may still not be the end of it as Aprilia has five days to lodge another appeal, this time to the International Disciplinary Court which would then make a final decision. Continue Reading »

Tom Sykes earned his first win of the 2013 season and came a hair short of a double victory at the World Superbike Championship round at Assen in the Netherlands.

Traditionally a fast starter and qualifier, Sykes started on the pole once again at Assen and had strong starts in both races. But unlike the first two rounds where he started strong before fading, the Kawasaki factory rider was able to remain at the front in both races at Assen and earn some valuable championship points. Continue Reading »

Max Biaggi who? The Roman Emperor’s retirement after winning the 2012 World Superbike Championship marked the end of an era for Aprilia, with the 2013 campaign marking the first without Biaggi since the Italian manufacturer came back to the WSBK scene with the RSV4. If Aprilia misses its two-time WSBK Champion, it sure didn’t show it with a dominating display at the 2013 season opener in Australia.

Aprilia riders swept the podium in Race One at Phillip Island and nearly did it again in Race Two, taking three of the top four spots. Factory riders Sylvain Guintoli and Eugene Laverty swapped a couple of one-two finishes while Red Devils Roma Aprilia rider Michel Fabrizio added a third- and a fourth-place finish to complete a nearly perfect start for Aprilia’s post-Biaggi era. Continue Reading »

Aprilia opened a new chapter in its racing history, unveiling its team livery for the RSV4 for the 2013 World Superbike Championship. The 2013 season will be the first since the Italian brand returned to WSBK racing in 2009 without “the Roman Emperor” Max Biaggi who retired at the end of last season after winning his second title in three years on Aprilia’s flagship V4 sportbike.

Despite the departure of Biaggi, who is moving up to the broadcast booth to cover WSBK for Italian television, Aprilia hopes to remain a title contender with the returning Eugene Laverty and the newly-signed Sylvain Guintoli. Laverty finished sixth overall in the championship in 2012, his first with Aprilia, scoring a win and six total podium finishes. His familiarity with both the RSV4 and the team will help him this season.

Guintoli meanwhile will find stability with Aprilia after a turbulent season that saw him quit the controversial Liberty Racing team ahead of its home round and finish the season with the Pata Racing team. Drama aside, Guintoli has shown flashes of talent, winning races and earning podiums with both his teams in 2012. Continue Reading »

The historic race first-ever World Superbike Championship round in Russia provided plenty of drama with several top riders crashing out of both races and a new leader emerge in the chase for the 2012 WSBK Championship.

Superpole qualifying made for four different manufacturers lining up in the first row of the grid, with Carlos Checa taking pole position for Althea Ducati ahead of Kawasaki‘s Tom Sykes, Aprilia‘s Eugene Laverty and BMW rider Leon Haslam.

A slightly damp and unfamiliar track likely contributed to a number of crashes and collisions. Sykes won the first ever WSBK race in Russia while BMW’s Marco Melandri took Race Two and moved ahead of Aprilia’s Max Biaggi for the championship lead. Continue Reading »

Marco Melandri bit a chunk off of Max Biaggi‘s World Superbike championship points lead by taking a pair of wins at Brno. The double was the first in Melandri’s career and the first for BMW.

Biaggi, who arrived in the Czech Republic with four wins and nine podium finishes in ten previous races at Brno, was held off the podium this year, shrinking his lead in the championship to 21 points from 48.

Both races saw Melandri steal the win from Kawasaki‘s Tom Sykes who led all but seven laps all weekend but was forced to settle for a pair of second-place results. Continue Reading »

It was supposed to be a weekend of celebration. The World Superbike Championship was celebrating its 25th anniversary of racing at Italy’s Monza circuit. Promoters Infront Motorsports brought out 30 landmark Superbikes from the series’ history, while greats such as Fred Merkel, Doug Polen and Carl Fogarty were in attendance for what was supposed to be a weekend to remember. Spec tire supplier Pirelli was also in the celebratory mood  with special silver-striped tires for the Superpole qualifier.

Unfortunately, the 2012 Monza round will be remembered for heavy rains, a cancelled race, a near boycott of Pirelli tires and the series’ largest team issuing a scathing rebuke to race organizers. Continue Reading »

The Netherlands hosted a dramatic weekend of World Superbike racing that featured a red-flagged wet race, several riders crashing while leading, a first-time race winner, a photo finish between two teammates and the reigning World Champion finishing out of the points because of a poor choice of tires.

The 2011 WSBK Champion Carlos Checa arrived at Assen with the lead in the championship and a three-race winning streak, but opting to run wet tires in Race Two cost him the lead and may have contributed to a crash that severely injured Liberty Racing‘s Brett McCormick. Continue Reading »

Aprilia officially presented its 2012 World Superbike Championship team in Milan, Italy, showcasing its RSV4 superbikes as well as factory riders Max Biaggi and newcomer Eugene Laverty.

For Biaggi, the Roman Emperor says he feels motivated to rebound from a difficult 2011 season and regain the title he won in 2010.

“It doesn’t matter how many seasons we have under our belts and how many titles we’ve won. At the beginning of a new season I am always motivated to the maximum,” says Biaggi. “If anything, I must say that for 2012 I am even more motivated after what happened last year. More than one set of circumstances and a lot of hard luck kept us from defending the title down to the last round. And yet, in spite of a serious injury and having to sit out six races, I took third place in the overall standings. That says quite a lot about the effort we put in, but for the new season we’ll have to do better. ” Continue Reading »

Yamaha announced it is withdrawing its factory World Superbike Championship race team following the end of the 2011 season.

The news comes as a bit of a surprise, just a week after reports the team had re-signed racer Marco Melandri for the 2012 season. On the other hand, the team has struggled to find a title sponsor this season, as has Yamaha’s MotoGP team.

According to Yamaha Motor Europe, the decision to leave the series came after a strategic review of the company’s marketing efforts across Europe. Yamaha decided it is better off focusing its efforts on its customers instead of racing.

Melandri and teammate Eugene Laverty have been having doing well so far this season, sitting third and fourth, respectively, in the championship standings with five wins between them. Melandri in particular has been on fire of late, appearing on the podium in seven of the previous eight races.

[Source: Yamaha Motor Europe]

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