As expected, Aprilia has filed an appeal with the International Motorcycling Federation‘s International Disciplinary Court for the finish to the second race of the past weekend’s World Superbike Championship round at Italy’s Monza circuit.

The race ended in controversy stemming from Kawasaki‘s Tom Sykes running wide on a corner and missing a chicane on the final lap. Sykes was in third place at the time ahead of Aprilia‘s Sylvian Guintoli, and was able to return to the track ahead of Guintoli, crossing the finish less than a second ahead of the Aprilia rider to take third place.

After the race, Aprilia filed an appeal and race direction ruled Sykes should have ceded position because he gained an unfair advantage by cutting the chicane. Kawasaki later filed a their own appeal with the FIM’s Stewards Panel, arguing Sykes was already well ahead of Guintoli and only ran off track to avoid running into BMW Goldbet rider Marco Melandri. The Panel agreed, reversing Race Direction’s decision and restoring Sykes to third place. Continue Reading »

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 »

You would think carrying a 30.5 point lead into the final round of the 2012 World Superbike Championship would be a safe enough margin to win the title. Aprilia‘s Max Biaggi made it interesting, inexplicably crashing out of the first race at the finale in Magny-C0urs before scoring a fifth place finish in Race Two to give him a 0.5 point margin over Kawasaki‘s Tom Sykes to win the title.

The 358 to 357.5 point difference is the narrowest finish ever in WSBK. The final round capped off a season that saw Biaggi leading the points chase nearly the entire campaign despite looking very vulnerable at times through the season.

“This is the fourth world championship out of six that I have won at the final race, I seem to like difficult challenges!” says Biaggi. “The 2012 season went right down to the wire: we started well with a win at Phillip Island after totally renewing my team and we also had some difficult moments. We had to work hard to win the title, and maybe for this reason it’s even better. A big thanks to the Team, Aprilia and the Gruppo Piaggio, from President Colaninno to every factory worker, because my success is the result of the work of a great Italian company. Thanks also to my family, my fiancée and my two children, as well as Marino Laghi who is always present with me.”

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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 »

BMW earned its first-ever World Superbike race win at the U.K.’s Donington Park, but missed out on sweeping the round after teammates Leon Haslam and Marco Melandri crashed on the final corner while battling for the lead in the second race.

Melandri earned BMW its landmark first win in Race One leading Haslam in a one-two finish. They could have repeated that finish in Race Two but Haslam low-sided after making contact with Honda‘s Jonathon Rea trying to pass on the inside. That sent Haslam skidding into Melandri, ruining the chance for another double-podium.

The Race Two incident could have overshadowed the milestone victory in Race One, but BMW must be relieved its flagship S1000RR superbike finally earned a race win in its fourth year of competition. 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 »

Max Biaggi won the opening race to the 2012 World Superbike Championship while defending champion Carlos Checa came back from a high-speed crash in the first race to win the second at Australia’s Phillip Island circuit.

Reigning champion Checa of Althea Ducati had a stunning high-side crash while leading on the sixth lap of Race One. The WSBK paddock was already in shock with the death of 17-year-old Oscar McIntyre in the Superstock 600 race the day before but thankfully Checa was not seriously injured.

The crash however allowed the 2010 champion, Aprilia Alitalia’s Biaggi to take over the lead. Biaggi would lead the rest of the way for the season-opening win.

Finishing second was Marco Melandri in his first race with the BMW factory team, who edged out Effenbert Liberty Ducati rider Sylvain Guintoli by 0.274 seconds. Also noteworthy was Tom Sykes on the factory Kawasaki ZX-10R who started on the pole and led the first two laps before finishing fourth.

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