World Superbike – Brno Preview

The World Superbike riders have not raced in anger since the June 28^th round at Donington. The teams just finished an official test at Imola, and this week they’ll be heading to Brno in the Czech Republic for round ten of the fourteen round championship. Noriyuki Haga leads the championship by fourteen points over Ben Spies and fifty-one points over Michele Fabrizio.

Superpole Times – Spies quickest, Haga 14^th

The month long break came at the perfect time for Haga who broke the ulna bone in his right arm, and had multiple fractures in his left scapula. The fractured ulna was set with screws and a plate, and the scapula will heal itself so Haga will be ready to race this weekend, "After the crash at Donington I've been doing a lot of physiotherapy in order to get back into shape as quickly as possible. I'm not sure that my arm and shoulder will be 100% by the weekend but I'm confident I'll be ready for the races." Haga has five top 5 finishes and a win in eight races at Brno.

Makoto Tamada returns to the Kawasaki team for the first time since his crash at Monza, but an unfortunate Max Neukirchner fractured a vertebrae at the Imola test, and will not be racing at Brno. Max Biaggi fractured his foot in the second race at Donington, but he has been testing and will race at Brno, "I really like the Brno track, I've won there on almost all the bikes with which I've raced. The race at Donington confirmed that we can go well. I fought with Spies right until the final lap before I had a technical problem that lost me 7 seconds, but in any case I managed to get onto the podium in second place.”

The break gave all of the teams time to test and improve their bikes. BMW tested a new engine at Imola, and Ruben Xaus felt the team was moving in the right direction , "I am happy how the these tests have gone and I am really happy with the new engines. Now the bike is easier to ride and the connection between the throttle and the engine is improved. Of course, there's still a lot of work to do, but this improvement has made us all smile again and look forward to using these engines in Brno.”

John Hopkins was only able to compete in the first race at Donington as he continues to recover from his injuries at Assen, but his eighth place finish in that race was proof that he is on his way back to top form. Hopkins was sixth quickest overall at the Imola test, but he sat out the final session after an on-track incident, "I actually had a big moment midday yesterday when I was following Fabrizio, lost the rear, the thing came back and just pumped on me really hard. It caused quite a bit of pain in my hip, so this morning it was painful. There was a little bit of swelling so we decided to go and get some X-rays. It shows that the bone looks pretty clear like it's really fragile at the moment so we've got to get a bunch of tests from the specialists. The right side looks completely solid, then the left side is completely see-through."

The official test at Imola was an opportunity for Ben Spies to get some track time on a circuit he had never ridden. Spies struggled at first, but he came away from the test third quickest with the help of some Tom Houseworth adjustments, "When Ben got off the bike after the first few laps he said it reminded him of Kyalami, but once we got it tuned a bit it didn't seem quite that bad. We are trying to get Ben's riding position a little more towards the back on the brakes, because he is coming a little forward.”

Michele Fabrizio ended up second quickest at the Imola test, and the Ducati rider needs to score points if he wants to close the 37 point gap between himself and Spies. Fabrizio had a twelfth and a third place finish at Donington, but he has a good history at the Czech Republic circuit, "Brno is probably my favorite track on the calendar, mainly because it's the circuit where I've had most success. Since 2005 I've only failed to reach the podium once.”

After winning for the first time in the second race at Misano Jonathan Rea struggled at Donington with seventh and fifteenth place finishes. Rea was the quickest rider at the Imola test so it will be interesting to see if he can rebound and stand on the podium at Brno.

The 2008 races at Brno were dominated by Ducati:

Race #1

1. Bayliss (Ducati)

2. Corser (Yamaha)

3. Fabrizio (Ducati)

Race #2

1. Bayliss (Ducati)

2. Fabrizio (Ducati)

3. Biaggi (Ducati)

Weather Forecast:

Fri: Partly Sunny - 84

Sat: Clouds & Showers - 75

Sun: Sunny - 75

Speed Air Times:

Race #1 – Sun (7/26) – 3:00 pm (EST)

Race #2 – Sun (7/26) – 4:00 pm (EST)

Circuit Data:

Circuit length: 5.403 km

Pole position: left

Corners left: 6

Corners right: 8