Tuesday, July 12, 2011

World Superbike gears up for Brno classic

The rider they will all have their eyes on this weekend, and whose name is indelibly linked with the Brno circuit, is undoubtedly Max Biaggi. The Aprilia Alitalia man has a grand total of three wins and seven podiums in the eight races he has taken part in at Brno since his arrival in World Superbike. His results take on even more significance seeing as he has never qualified for and finished a race in lower than fourth position. While Max Biaggi is the rider with the best results at Brno, Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) will be called upon to maintain his 43 point lead in the standings, over his Aprilia rival. Third-placed man Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team) has never raced a Superbike at Brno, but he does have a best result of fifth place in 2006 in MotoGP, and did win the 250 cc race in 2002. Team-mate Eugene Laverty is also lining up for his Superbike debut on this track. Other Italians who have gone well at Brno in the past include Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki Alstare) and Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team). The BMW Italia squad will be back to full strength at Brno with the returning James Toseland, who won race 1 here in 2007, and Toseland is now on the road towards completing his recovery following a crash in private testing at Motorland Aragon.
Brno could also see a return to the leading positions for Noriyuki Haga (PATA Racing Team Aprilia), who has one win (race 2 in 2005) and two pole positions at the Czech circuit to his name. Brno will be a home race to all effects for the Effenbert-Liberty Racing Team, who have their base in Prague, a Czech Republic sponsor and a Czech rider amidst their ranks. As well as regulars Pedercini Kawasaki (Mark Aitchison and Roberto Rolfo) and Supersonic Racing Team (Maxime Berger), the grid will be made up of wild-card entries for Italian Matteo Baiocco on his Barni Racing Ducati 1098R and Hungarian Viktor Kispataki on a Prop-tech Ltd Honda CBR1000RR.
Points (after 7 of 13 rounds): 1. Checa 261; 2. Biaggi 218; 3. Melandri 195; 4. Laverty 146; 5. Camier 125; 6. Haslam 120; 7. Fabrizio 108; 8. Rea 94. Manufacturers: 1. Ducati 273; 2. Aprilia 257; 3. Yamaha 235; 4. BMW 153; 5. Suzuki 112; 6. Honda e Kawasaki 111

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