Today’s World Superbike races at Brno weren’t the usual exciting ones that we are usually used to, but Jonathan Rea made a great comeback from his recent disappointing results to take the win in Race 1 while Max Biaggi took the win in Race 2 to make it nine victories this season and his 10th win in all classes at Brno.
In the standings Max Biaggi leads with 352 points while Leon Haslam has 284, Jonathan Rea 203 and Carlos Checa is now fourth, on 189.
Aprilia also leads in the manufacturer standings with 53 points over Suzuki and 82 over Ducati.
Here are some rider quotes so you can find out that the majority of the riders had grip problems on the very hot Czech track.
Max Biaggi: 2nd and 1st“After the second place in race 1 I was satisfied anyway – even if, to be honest, I expected the maximum on this track.
And so it was in the second race: we made some changes to the rear suspension and the gearbox which, as it turns out, worked well.
After being behind Rea for a while, I realised that I was faster and I overtook him.
From there on, I just pushed it to the limit without thinking about tyre wear and the track proved me right.
I want to thank my team.
The guys support me and believe in my indications, and this is confirmed by our results.
There are still a lot of points at stake, so I won’t look back and I’ll continue to stay focused race after race.
That is the winning philosophy.
”Jonathan Rea – 1st and 2ndIn race one I honestly felt that someone up there was watching out for me because it was like I couldn’t do anything wrong! But it felt great to win and dedicate it to my team manager, Ronald ten Kate, who couldn’t be here this weekend because his father is very ill.
It was a weird start to that race, because as I sat on the grid the only thing I could think about was how badly I needed to go to the toilet! As soon as the race started I went to the front instead and just kept it smooth for the remaining 19 laps.
It felt so nice to win a race again – I’d kind of forgotten what that felt like.
Race two wasn’t so bad and fair play to Max (Biaggi), who rode really well.
I tried to fight but I had nothing left in the tyre, which just didn’t feel the same as the one I had in race one.
However, we worked much better as a team this weekend and made really good changes during the practice and qualifying sessions.
Our bike is difficult to take from track to track, but we definitely got the best out of it this weekend.
Now I’m off to Japan for the Suzuka 8 Hour, but I’m looking forward to getting back in front of my home fans in three weeks at Silverstone.
Cal Crutchlow: 3rd and 14th“I’m disappointed to be honest, I knew we had the pace this weekend to win.
The first race didn’t go too much to plan, we had a bit of a problem with rear grip so we made a change for the second race which I thought was going to be really good.
I did 12 laps on the rear tyre and to be honest I was just about to crash so I had to pull into change it.
The tyre looked brand new after 12 laps where it should have looked worn.
We did the last eight laps on a brand new tyre, I did the fastest lap of the race and the tyre looked perfect.
I’m disappointed I couldn’t take it to the front guys but that’s racing, we’ll go to Silverstone now and make up for it.
”James Toseland: 7th and 4th“Race one I had a problem with the electronics which weren’t working as they should do so I couldn’t get the exit speed I needed.
I was surprised to finish seventh.
It was the same system we ran the day before so we couldn’t put our finger on why it changed so much.
Race two my launch control didn’t engage, so I bogged on the line to start and I was last going into turn one.
I thought I wasn’t prepared to have next week off feeling miserable so I rode hard and the bike worked really well.
I dug deep and went for it and managed to get past 12 guys in the next lap and then keep on pushing towards the front.
”Noriyuki Haga: 6th and 5th“I made a strong start in Race 1 but it was difficult to catch Xaus.
My tyres were not bad during the first half of the race but nevertheless I couldn’t push as I wanted to and Xaus remained there in front of me.
In the second race we changed the tyre but maybe it doesn’t suit my riding style because I didn’t feel so stable and it didn’t give me enough feeling.
Having said that, I was able to make up several positions and fifth, even though I hoped to do much better, wasn’t bad considering my grid position.
”Ruben Xaus: 5th and DNF“Overall this weekend has been a really positive one for me.
I have been running consistently at the front.
In the first race I scored my best ever result on the BMW S 1000 RR so far.
The second race was a different story: I crashed in turn one at quite high speed.
The impact was heavy, and I am happy I am okay.
It was clearly my fault.
I was fighting for third for a long time, and I absolutely wanted to achieve my first podium with BMW.
I was holding a consistent gap over Fabrizio for most of the race, but the lap before I crashed I saw he was gaining on me and I simply pushed too hard.
The bike is working really well now, and I want to thank my entire crew.
”Michel Fabrizio : DNF and 3rd“In Race 1 I realised straight away that I had a problem because I wasn’t able to push and then the bike started to vibrate a great deal.
At a certain point I wasn’t able to put the bike into gear and so had to come back to the box.
It’s a shame because I was gaining on Toseland and thought I could run a good race, maybe even reaching the podium.
Race 2 went much better.
I defended myself and am satisfied with the result, though I was sorry for Xaus of course.
” Carlos Checa: 9th and 6thYesterday, in both the qualifying and free practice sessions, we had a great level of grip while today, with the same tyre, we had more problems.
This morning we tried to adapt the bike to the situation but during the race it was sliding around a lot.
I tried to push to take as many championship points as possible but now my head is already focused on Silverstone, a great track, rich in history, on which we will try to race to the front.
”Shane Byrne: 12th and 9th“In race 1 we didn’t have much grip and this conditioned my result.
In the second race, on the other hand, I was able to improve quite a lot, lapping more than half a second faster than I did in race 1, in a race in which I think everyone had trouble making fast lap times.
Now I’m banking on getting fully fit so I can be totally prepared for Silverstone.
No-one has ridden on the new track yet and this could be an interesting factor as far as the races are concerned.
” Tom Sykes: 11th and DNF“Overall it’s been a disappointing end to the race weekend.
I know we started off quite slow but we had a decent Superpole then tried a few things in the morning warm-up and got a bit better balance with the bike.
We had an eleventh in race one which was nothing special as we had a few struggles which the boys managed to put right for race two, so big thanks to them.
In race two the bike felt very strong and I got a good start but unfortunately we had a racing incident on the first lap, which spoilt the weekend.
I was looking forward to a strong ride as many people dropped out so I think we could have had an eight or a ninth here.
Obviously there have been a few ifs and buts this weekend but I’ll brush myself off and look forward to my home race at Silverstone.
”Broc Parkes: 13th and 12th “We got two lots of decent points which is a good result because we had some issues with one of our bikes at the start of the weekend and lost some track time.
In race one we were pretty happy because we finished the closest we have all year to first position and battled with some guys who are usually ahead of us.
We struggled a bit with the higher temperatures in race two but we took some positives from this weekend for sure.
”Leon Camier: DNF and 8th“A really tough weekend all in all.
We couldn’t have tried any harder but that’s the way it goes sometimes.
In race one I knew something had gone wrong on the bike pretty much straight away and then it cut out completely in turn one.
It was getting progressively worse so I decided to come in to the pits.
In race two I had an ok start but I think I must have missed a gear and got swamped in the first corner.
I tried to get my head down and fight my way through but I just had absolutely no grip.
I had some good battles though, particularly with Leon Haslam towards the end of the race.
I knew I had to get past him to help my teammate Max in the Championship so I’m pleased I could help.
I’m really looking forward to getting to Silverstone for the next round of the Championship.
It’s going to be really special to be back in front of the British race fans and hopefully get our season back on track.
”Chris Vermeulen: DNF and DNF“We’ve had a real struggle here in Brno this weekend.
We made up a little bit of pace during practices but like everyone else here we had problems with edge grip.
Having to start on fifth row makes life difficult and I got caught up in a rider tangle on turn one and was whipped out of the race.
I was optimistic about starting race two but I just could not continue after two laps due to the pain in my damaged right knee.
I am obviously extremely disappointed and frustrated with my knee injury, which is holding me back.
I will have to discuss with both my team and my doctor this week on how best to move forward.
”Max Neukirchner – DNF and DNFI am really sorry for all my fans who made the trip down here from Germany.
I felt like we’d made some progress during the weekend and qualifying didn’t go so bad.
I got a difficult start in race one and then, in the first turn, someone just rode right across the front of my bike.
I had to pull hard on the brake to avoid hitting them but I locked the front and that was it.
In race two I got a better start but as we were into the double right-hander on the first lap I came together with someone else and that was the end of my weekend.
It is very frustrating but I hope that we can build on the developments that we’ve made when we get to Silverstone for the next round.
Jakub Smrz: DNF and DNF“I’m disappointed with my debut, but I’m happy I’m racing on an Aprilia and I really believe in this new project .
However, we still have to work on improving my feeling with the front end, where most of the issues were this weekend, but I’m sure things will change for the best at Silverstone”.
Troy Corser: DNS“Congratulations to Ruben and his crew for their best BMW result so far.
I would have loved to race today, but it was obviously the right decision not to ride the bike this weekend.
I am feeling worse, but I am feeling better at the same time.
The bruise is aching, but it is only a question of time.
I hope by the end of next week to be able to do some light training for the top half of my body.
We plan to test at Mugello on Tuesday before Silverstone for a final check to make sure I am physically strong enough.
I am looking forward to the next races.
”