Despite some problems outside the Moscow Raceway (mostly corrupt cops according to several journalists who said that various people got shaken down) and the distance everyone had travel to go to their hotels (apparently a couple of hotels will be built nearby in the next couple of years), yesterday’s World Superbike round went off almost without a hitch, thanks to the organization of Infront who brought in dozens of Italians to help the Russians with the marshalling and 270mt of airfences to place around circuit, and some spectacular and adrenalinic racing by the riders.
Marco Melandri came away from the Russian round with the standing’s lead in his pocket dethroning a struggling and nervous Max Biaggi for the first time this season and despite being handed a 3rd place podium by his team mate Eugene Laverty in Race 1.
Biaggi avoided and changed the subject about the team orders when the question was put to him at the parc ferme, while Laverty just said he had tire issues, but on his Twitter account he wrote, “You all know what happened in race 1.
My podium at Silverstone was taken away + in Moscow I gave it.
” This isn’t the first time that Biaggi has been helped with points by a team mate, Leon Camier also did it at Silverstone in 2010.
After the jump you can read what the riders had to say after the races, see another highlight video (race 2 is above) and check out our massive gallery of photos from the 2012 Superbike Russian weekend.
Tom Sykes (1st and 2nd)“This race win was better than the Monza one as we got a little bit more of a reward in points terms.
I did a lot of work on tyres yesterday and we went a slightly different way from most people in race one.
We worked a lot on this yesterday and that work paid off today.
The bike felt great.
I had a little bit of pressure on at half race distance but I was trying to save the tyre a little bit.
When the gap got down to three seconds I pushed on a little more and it seemed to work.
To lead start-to-finish and take the win over full race distance is very rewarding.
We had a good margin at the end and it was a nice race.
Quite a long race, to be honest, and it is quite a physical circuit.
The lap is short but more concentration and physical input in needed compared to some other circuits.
Overall we should be very satisfied.
Race one was great with maximum points and race two gave us another 20 points in the bag.
I got a little bit carried away battling with Eugene behind me in race two and in trying to save my tyre I did not read the pit signals.
When I looked there were two laps remaining and I wanted to push on and try to pressure Marco in the last few laps.
I felt I had a good package today and could have done it, but when you are riding with guys of Marco’s standard you cannot leave things to the last minute.
But, realistically, we are happy.
A first and second, still third overall and the gap at the front tightening up.
There are still a lot of points to play for.
”Marco Melandri (2nd and 1st)“It is an unbelievable day.
To win here at the first ever round of the Championship in this country is something special and I am just very, very happy.
This morning it was cloudy and raining a little bit, so it was not easy.
Race one was very tough at the beginning with the slick tyre in the wet and the fact that a wasp stung my leg made it even more difficult.
It was a very tough race and to finish second was like a win for me.
For race two the team made a small modification to the bike and I felt very good from the first lap.
Once I saw Biaggi was out I understood I had the chance to try to get a win and I did.
I was worried a little bit about my rear tyre, but it worked perfectly with my BMW.
The team once more did a great job.
Thanks to everyone.
We are now leading the Rider’s Championship but we take it race by race.
We have no time to think about defending our lead, because six races are a lot and anything can still happen.
We have to stay focused and work hard and if I have the chance to fight for a win I will try to get it.
For me it is important to have fun at every race and I cannot race without trying to do my best.
Overall I am so happy.
We had some bad luck in the past, but now we are working very well but you never know what will happen in the last races.
I also want to thank the Clinica Mobile.
They helped me a lot, not only with the sting but also with the back problem I had all weekend.
”Max Biaggi (3rd and DNF)The crash was the last thing we needed.
Unfortunately, when I changed my line in the braking section I ended up on some dirty asphalt and I wasn’t able to slow down.
I saw Haslam drawing closer and tried unsuccessfully to avoid the collision.
I apologised to him straight away.
At first I thought he had been injured, but fortunately he assured me that he was OK.
After the podium finish in the first race I wanted to stay up front.
This really complicates the championship but it certainly isn’t over yet”.
Eugene Laverty (4th and DNF)“Race 1 didn’t go too badly, considering the fact that we made the wrong choice for the rear tyre.
In Race 2 I expected to have more grip but I didn’t.
On the contrary, after a few laps I was already struggling to maintain pace.
From about the halfway point the front runners slowed down a bit so I was able to catch up with the group until a sudden loss of grip took me out of the game just two turns from the finish”.
Michel Fabrizio (5th and DNF)Race 1 went very well and I’m happy with the result.
In race 2 it was a matter of a race accident that can happen, especially if you start far from pole.
Aoyama braked a bit too much, another rider was able to avoid him but I saw him at the last moment and I could do nothing about him.
”Leon Haslam (6th and DNF)“In race one I felt pretty comfortable.
I made the start that we wanted.
Conditions were quite tricky so I didn’t want to push too much.
Early on in the race I made a mistake and ran off the track and I dropped back a few places.
I rejoined and managed to work my way back up into the top three.
I got stuck behind Chaz who was a bit quicker on the straight so I had to make the move in the twisty section.
He kept running quite wide in one of the turns and I made my move, but he closed the door and we collided.
It was frustrating because I felt pretty comfortable and was taking it quite easy in that position and I even thought that we might have the chance to pulling Tom back in at one point but again it was not meant to be.
Still I managed to get sixth place, even with the crash.
In race two I also felt pretty good.
I had the same pace as Marco and Eugene who I was racing with.
I was losing out at one corner which leads on to the long straight, so I found it quite difficult to pass.
When Marco came through I felt as though Eugene was holding me up a little bit.
Then going into the end of the back straight Max must have made a mistake and that was it – race over.
It was just bad luck.
It’s kind of the story so far this season.
I had a little bang to my head and have a sore leg, but nothing that will stop me from racing in Germany and I’ll be fit and strong by then.
”Lorenzo Zanetti (8th and 12th)“It’s been a good Sunday that paid off in part the last unfortunate races .
We were able to find a good set-up on the bike and especially in race 1 I had a very fast pace.
I could have had better position than I would have had to take too many risks.
In Race 2 I had a bad start and when I came back through the field I had asked too much from the tires.
When I got to the middle of the field I couldn’t go forward but I closed in tenth anyway.
It’s the best result of 2012 and it’s dedicated to the team, to my technicians and the sponsors who made this possible.
I hope that your support will continue in the future, it would be a shame to lose all the team’s technical and human knowledge.
”John Hopkins (9th and 12th) “It was a kind of frustrating day for me and it should’ve been much better.
I started race one on slicks and probably rode a bit too timidly in the early stages and lost ground.
Halfway through, I got stuck in a bit of a group and when the track dried out, it got dirty and caused a loss of grip.
I kept the FIXI Crescent Suzuki upright and brought it home, which makes me reasonably happy.
I was looking forward to race two, but unfortunately suffered with the same tyre issues that have bugged us all weekend.
The bike was chattering a lot and I could only ride it at a certain level – which meant I couldn’t finish any higher than 12th.
”David Salom (10th and 13th)“Race one went very well.
We started on a damp track but after a few laps it had dried out and I started to push very hard to make up some positions.
In race two I had some problems with the front tyre and fourteenth place was the best possible result.
I’m satisfied with my results today because we obtained nine points, but we still have a lot of work to do to improve my bike’s performance.
”Loris Baz (11th and 9th) “In race one I was there just waiting on the track to dry because in those conditions there is only one line.
I tried to pass one rider but another rider tried to pass me in turn 11 and he crashed and I ran wide, so think we lost some pressure in the rear tyre after that.
I was sliding all around.
Race two was not so bad but I could not follow any pace any higher than my own.
I had three or four very hard laps where I could not have the same pace as Leon Camier and Ayrton Badovini.
I always know that we can take back some difference later on and I tried hard to pass Badovini but he always passed me back.
I am happy to be ninth after all we had this weekend.
It did not start very well but it ended up with two finishes in the points and one top ten.
”Ayrton Badovini (12th and 8th)“I’m definitely not happy with how this weekend went, as I was unable to be as fast as I would have liked.
In race 2 I rode defensively, while in the first one I had a few little issues that prevented me from being as quick as I could be.
Now we need to focus fully for the upcoming Nürburgring round.
”Alex Lundh (14th and 14th) “The first race was very difficult, but I was very motivated for the second.
I got a reasonable start but then I saw Aoyama and was so close to crashing when he and McFadden went down.
I lost a lot of time because of that and then it was difficult to catch up.
It’s been a great first experience seeing as it’s my first Superbike race day.
It’s hard work with two races in one day, but I’ve learned a lot and feel that we made improvements during the weekend and so overall I’m happy.
”Hiroshi Aoyama (13th and DNF)As a whole, I think we had quite a good weekend.
We have been in better positions and our lap times have been positive.
I was happy to have been in a competitive place and I wanted to make two good results in the races today.
In race one, the tyre did not work at all and I could not finish any higher.
In the second race somebody crashed into me twice.
I had a big impact on my back in the crash and I found it quite difficult to breathe so I went to the medical centre.
It was OK in the end and I have a big bruise on my knee from where my bike hit me.
We’ll just think about the next race, which is at a track I do not know but I’ll try to learn it quickly and get closer to the front.
Leon Camier (15th and 5th)“The track was pretty damp for race one and there was only about a two foot wide dry line round most of it.
Because of my grid position, I knew that in order to pass people I would have to go off the dry line.
That wouldn’t have been possible on slicks, so I opted for wets instead.
I also thought that the rain would come again, but when that didn’t happen and the track dried out, I had no choice but to come into the pits and switch to slicks.
That cost a lot of time and after my new tyres had been fitted I rejoined the race dead last.
I pushed as hard as I could and ended 15th.
Happily there were no difficult tyre choices to make for race two as the track was dry and the sun was out.
I made a reasonably good start and then rode very aggressively, passing people on the outside as well as the inside.
My FIXI Crescent Suzuki felt good and the only place I was really losing out was on the long back straight.
At the end, my body was hurting and it was getting hard to concentrate, but I was pretty happy to take fifth place.
”David McFadden (16th and DNF) “In race one we went for the rain tyre and I made a good start, but there was no way I could do a good race on that tyre.
In the second race I made a better start and made a few passes but then Aoyama passed me down the straight and when I went to brake like normal the bike just stopped and Aoyama and I took each other out.
I have hurt my leg and my ribs but nothing too serious.
These things happen in racing I guess.
”Chaz Davies (DNF and 3rd)“In the end of this weekend wasn’t bad at all! Yesterday we made a big mistake during Superpole, we thought we were safe and didn’t mount the qualifying tire.
We started from the 13th position on the grid and so we were very busy in the beginning of the race.
In the end I’m very disappointed with the result but very happy with the pace I had.
Even on a damp track it went very well, then what happened, happened.
After the contact I managed to capture the frontrunners but I had a technical problem.
In Race 2, things were a little more difficult and a I lost some time in overtaking but in the end I found myself in front little ‘difficult and a bit’ of lost time to make some overtaking but in the end I found myself in front, and pushing for a podium with the best.
You saw happened after.
I finally managed to get a good result.
” Carlos Checa (DNF and 4th)“We did what we could and that’s how it went.
In the first race we chose slick tyres – it would have been impossible to finish the race on rain tyres.
It was a pity for the crash – I was fighting with Johnny for the position, he came too close to me, didn’t leave me room and I lost the front when he touched the handlebar.
We had to build the bike from the rolling chassis for race 2 as there were some problems with my bike after the crash.
I had similar sensations to yesterday but had real difficulty on the straight – it was extremely difficult to pass, or even get close enough to attempt to do that.
”Davide Giugliano (DNF and 6th) “I’m sorry for race 1.
I was fast, one of the fastest on track at that point and I didn’t realize in time that the front tyre had started to suffer very early on, finding myself on the ground before I could do anything.
In the second race I decided to stay calm in the first half and try to control the tyre wear but when I wanted to start pushing, from mid-race on, the front tyre wasn’t performing and it only got wrose in the later stages.
I hope that in the next races, with a little less of a straight, we might do better because here you can see that it was very difficult.
”Sylvain Guintoli (DNF and 11th)“The decision to go with intermediate front tire was wrong but did not want to take any chances on the still wet asphalt.
Unfortunately I lost the front and race one was over there.
In the next one things went better but I compromised the weekend during qualifying starting too far back.
It didn’t go well and I’m sorry, we’ll make up for it in Germany.
” Jonathan Rea (DNF and 7th) It’s been quite a frustrating day because we had good pace in both races.
In race one I was battling for the podium and had a false neutral in turn 16 so, with no engine braking, I lost the front.
The guys had to build me a new bike from parts in the truck and luckily it felt pretty good for race two.
I got a slowish start and could see that Sykes was pulling away but I thought I could go with him and Melandri and I had to get past Laverty.
The bike felt really good, but I was losing a lot of ground on the straight.
I got involved in another rider’s crash when he highsided in front of me but that’s part of racing.
We can take some positives out of the day because my crew worked slowly and surely through the weekend and we got a bike that was capable of winning.
Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot to show for it, so it’s been a tough weekend.