Thank God that Italian’s Marco Melandri and Max Biaggi each won a race in today’s 8th round of the World Superbike championship at the Motorland Aragon circuit and kept Italy’s honour high as the Italian soccer team just got their butts kicked good and hard in the final match of the EuroCup 4-0.
Max Biaggi leads in the standings by 48 points over Melandri and the next round is at Brno on July 22nd and the Czech circuit is the Roman Emperor’s favourite circuit, but before heading to Brno.
a big number of the teams (Aprilia, Althea Racing, BMW, BMW Italia, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Pata) wil stay over at Aragon for an important tire test where Pirelli will have the riders test the new 17″ tires that will be adopted in 2013.
The day’s program will have the riders try the 16.
5” tires for a few laps, the same tire that they have available during the racing weekend, before moving on to the 17″ tires of which Pirelli will take 4 front-wheel and 4 rear-wheel solutions.
However, precisely not to falsify the test results and to prevent the riders from focusing on the difference between the two sizes, both the 16.
5” tires and the 17” solutions will have the same compound, SC1.
In this way, given the same compound, the riders will be able to correctly assess the differences between the tires they are currently using in races and those that they will use from the next season.
The decision to move to 17-inch tires was promoted and strongly desired by Pirelli and immediately accepted enthusiastically both by Infront and by the FIM.
Here is what some of the riders had to say after the double header: Marco Melandri (2nd and 1st) “It is just amazing.
To win here is beautiful.
I just want to say thanks to my guys, because we made another step with the bike.
In race one we had a good battle and I just missed a little bit of speed in the end to try to beat Max.
In the beginning I first had to overtake Eugene Laverty and Tom Sykes.
Then I had to push hard to catch up with Max who was leading.
Once I was there, I tried to overtake him, but it was not easy as I struggled with my rear tyre.
When I was in front, I would have preferred to make it difficult to him to pass me back, but he overtook me quite easily.
He was faster than me and on the last lap it was hard for me to follow him.
It is always nice to be on the podium, but I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed after race one.
In race two I put all my effort to get the win.
It was not easy because the wind was very strong and the Aprilia guys were pushing hard.
In the beginning, Max could not go as fast as in race one and for me it was similar.
Eugene was very fast and suddenly with only a few laps to go, Max overtook me.
I passed him back but went wide and so Chaz and Eugene went past me.
And they were riding so strong and so fast that it was not easy.
For the last lap I had no plan, because when racing against those guys you cannot think about a plan because they try to pass you every corner.
So I just tried to find a good place for braking at the end of the straight.
Now we will try some more things in the test tomorrow and keep working in this direction in the next races.
” Max Biaggi (1st and 4th)“We certainly didn’t hold anything back we were basically all in the same conditions, so there was no way to make the difference.
I really had to give 100%, especially after the halfway point when the tyres started to lose grip and I had to be careful not to make any mistakes.
After overtaking the last time in Race 1, the decisive overtake, I gained a few metres advantage and managed to win”.
Eugene Laverty (2nd and 5th)“I came here with the goal of getting on the podium and I achieved that.
It was a shame for Race 1.
I didn’t have the grip to keep up with the lead pack and I finished fifth.
Before the second race we made some changes that allowed me to ride significantly better, even enough to get out in front.
In the last lap Marco overtook me where I didn’t expect it, but second place is still an excellent result that lets me leave the difficulties of the last few rounds behind me”.
Chaz Davies (4th and 3rd) “What a race! I didn’t get off to the greatest start and the first couple of laps weren’t good either but I put my head down and got to fourth.
I tried to keep chipping away and eventually caught the top 3.
I had a great race, enjoyed every moment of it.
I was really surprised to be on the podium but I knew we had the pace.
” Carlos Checa (3rd and 7th) “To close in the top five would already have been a good result today, so to reach the podium was pretty unexpected to be honest.
It’s always great to score this kind of result when you’re racing at home.
I thank all of my team for their hard work and also the public for their enthusiasm.
We had a little luck at the end of race 1 – I was sorry for what happened between Badovini and Sykes, and pleased they were unhurt.
The second race went fairly well, in the sense that my rhythm was a bit better but I was unable to get past those ahead of me.
They slowed me down a little through the corners and then I was losing out to them on the straight.
It’s difficult to race in these conditions, you have to force every manoeuvre, pushing so hard in the last part of the track to make up for what you lose on the straight.
”Leon Haslam (7th and 6th) “In race one we chose the wrong tyre.
In the warm-up in the morning the race tyre we had chosen only lasted seven laps so we made a last minute gamble to choose the hardest tyre which we had not really run over the weekend.
We knew that the pace would not be so good in the beginning but hoped that it would be good at the end.
My lap times stayed the same but I just had zero grip.
It was the wrong choice, we missed out there because I felt we could have definitely challenged Carlos Checa for a podium in race one.
In race two I had a better start and felt pretty good but then ran off the circuit and lost a lot of time.
I pushed again and got back to battle with Carlos and Tom Sykes and a few other guys but ran off the circuit again.
Every time I went a little bit deeper on the brakes I really struggled.
I was pretty happy to finish ahead of Sykes and Checa, but I felt that we had a good pace – especially at the end of the race – to be in the leading group.
I just made too many mistakes.
”Michel Fabrizio (6th and 11th)“It was an unlucky day.
Race one was compromised by Srmz’s crash, although I was able to make a good recovery.
It’s a shame because my pace was good, while in race two I got a bad start and that ruined my plans.
”Tom Sykes (DNF and 8th) “We are far from happy because we had a fantastic test last week and learned a lot.
We came here this weekend and were very strong, even in hot conditions, and I could do good lap times for a long time.
I was confident for today’s races but unfortunately the winds came along and that looks like it has pushed us over the edge again on the front traction side.
We were already critical but we had the best of he situation this weekend.
I was expecting a good result on the Ninja ZX-10R, but we could not do anything about it.
We were still heading for the podium in race one but unfortunately someone tried a silly manoeuvre in race one and it has cost me dearly, and Kawasaki, because we could have been sitting top three in the championship still without that.
The boys in the team did a fantastic job and the bike was ready when the pitlane opened for race two, so credit to them, but it is not the ideal situation for any of us to be in.
Al my boys put together a top bike for race two it was just unfortunate that with the windy conditions we were just not able to deliver.
That mistake by another rider has upset me a bit and put us back but I am sure with a test tomorrow we can keep working and we will get there.
I am confident we can come strong.
” Ayrton Badovini (DNF and 9th) “I am still happy about the weekend, despite the results and the wasted opportunity.
We were always fast.
In race one we could have done well while in the second race I crossed the finish line with only a ten second gap from the winner even with some small issues.
That shows how big a step forward we have made.
I want to apologise to Sykes as it was not my intention to put him in a dangerous position.
At the same time I want to thank the team because they rebuilt the bike in just one hour.
They’re formidable.
”Leon Camier (9th and DNF)“The funny thing is that I felt that I was riding really well today.
I was all over most of the other riders in the turns and on the brakes, but was losing out on acceleration out of the slow corners.
On the back straight, I was losing somewhere between three and five tenths-of-a-second and that’s hard to make up in this level of competition.
The wind was quite strong today and it affected our braking points and it was easy to overshoot the corners – especially the slow hairpin at the end of the back straight.
I am really happy with the chassis of my FIXI Crescent Suzuki and I feel that the electronics have improved quite a bit recently.
If we can improve the acceleration out of the turns and get a bit more power, I think that our bike is capable of competing with the best.
”Davide Giugliano (10th and 10th) “I think that if this was track was all corners, and no straight, Carlos and I could have finished first and second today.
In the second race I had a better pace than in the first, and so even though I finished tenth, it meant I was only ten seconds from the winner, which is pretty good.
We were all very close in race 2.
I’m also satisfied that I came in as the second Ducati after the one ridden by the world champion Carlos, I don’t think that’s bad either.
It wasn’t easy today, Carlos and I have to battle just to stay in the middle, just to stay close to those with superior top speed.
Anyway, I’ve taken some points and now we move on.
I thank my team for all their hard work over the weekend.
”Jonathan Rea (16th and 5th) It’s been a tough day really, and I didn’t need what happened in race one when two riders came together at the start into turn one and I went down.
I got back up and the bike was fit to go again so I thought it would be good to get some experience for race two for bike set-up.
We made some changes between the races and that enabled me to challenge a bit better at the front.
At the beginning of the race the pace was OK for me but a few guys started to stretch and I couldn’t go with them.
I belonged in the second group today, but I was fit to get back in to them and make some passes.
The guys had set my bike up a little bit better for grip so, when the tyres went off, I seemed to have more grip than the others.
I made my way back past and tried to get a bit of a gap for the last lap and finished fifth.
For me it’s like an average result, especially here where we were prepared to take that.
It leaves a bad taste in the mouth after I was a victim in race one.
But anyway, everyone gets their fair share, and I’m looking forward now to the rest of the races.
It’s nice to get out of here with at least some pace and after 50% of the race I was able to match the leading group but, while we can take positives, it’s been an average weekend.
Hiroshi Aoyama (14th and 15th I was quite motivated this weekend because this was like my home race as I am based in Barcelona.
The first impression was not so bad but in qualifying we missed Superpole again.
Most of the time I was in a Superpole position but things changed in the last five minutes.
We tried to fight in the race but we didn’t really find a good solution to have a good feeling with the bike.
Every time when I go out the team is trying to fix the bike and we are working hard, so I hope soon we can find a good solution and go fast again.
Loris Baz (DNF and 20th) “We were just unlucky today.
I was pushed wide in the first corner so that was the first piece of bad luck.
Riders crashed in front of me to I had to go straight.
My race pace was quite good and I think I could have finished 11th, but then my gear linkage broke a few laps in.
I had to come in then.
My pace was good in race two but the wind was quite difficult it made it hard to find a solution to it.
I wanted to lean off more to pull the bike into corners but when I did the wind caught my body and made it even worse.
I had a few laps to sort it and then the shifter broke so it is just bad luck.
It is nothing we have done wrong, just bad luck.
”John Hopkins (19th and DNF)“On a day like today, it’s hard to say much at all.
I didn’t make a great start in the first race, but managed to settle into some kind of rhythm.
As the race wore on, I made a few mistakes and ran off the track a couple of times and at this level, it’s so hard to get back into contention.
I managed to get into the points, but I felt it should’ve been better.
In race two, the bike felt slow, more or less from the start, and then it got worse, so I had to pull in.
You get days like today in racing sometimes, but it’s never easy to deal with when the problem is not of your own making.
I am sure the team will work hard to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
”