This weekend’s WSBK round at Imola didn’t follow the script that many had written for the twelfth act of the championship. Ben Spies came into the weekend leading the championship with an eighteen point lead over Noriyuki Haga, and the expectation was that both riders would be at or near the front like they have been in most of the races this season. Spies qualified second, but he wasn’t a factor for the win in either race and ended up with fourth and fifth place finishes. "In race one we didn't have enough power coming out of the bike and we struggled with grip a bit as well. The second race we had the pace for sure to battle for the lead, but a combination of things held us up. Rea got pretty greedy early in the race, passing me in the gravel trap three different times. I had a couple of laps where I wasn't riding well at all then I got myself together and caught up to Simoncelli and Biaggi. They bumped and Biaggi ran off the track, when he came back on it was either hit him or go off into the gravel. If you would have told me after the first race that we would only be losing the championship by three points I'd be happy because there were a lot of guys who could beat me this weekend."Imola is a home race for Ducati, and the team had a history of running well on the track's previous configuration. Michel Fabrizio gave the tifosi something to cheer about when he beat Spies by .043 of a second to take his first career superpole. Haga qualified fourth on the other factory Ducati and Rea was third so the stage was set with the top four riders in the championship sitting on the front row. Both Rea and Spies had their problems in both races, but Haga came away with a first and a second, and Fabrizio took a third and a first. Fabrizio’s win in race two was surprising because he passed Haga for the lead when they were far enough ahead of third place to allow Haga to take the win and pad his points lead. There were clearly no team orders on the factory Ducati team, and Nitro Nori had no complaints, "Congratulations for Michel for winning and for Marco with his first time in Superbike, third position today. During the race the bike started moving a lot, after Michel passed me I tried to catch him up but he was quite fast today and I couldn't find where I could pass him".
Marco Simoncelli’s performance was probably even a surprise to people who have followed the career of the reigning 250cc champion. The Italian was a last minute addition to the factory Aprilia team after testing the RSV4 earlier in the week at Mugello. He was about 1.6 seconds off Fabrizio’s superpole time, but he quickly moved up to fifth from eighth on the grid. He had the pace to pass other riders, but crashed when he lost the front end. The Italian had a good start in race two, and moved up to fourth after passing Spies and Byrne. The next rider in sight was teammate Max Biaggi who had slowed after battling with Haga and Fabrizio for the lead. Apparently Aprilia had no team orders either because Simoncelli made a hard pass on Biaggi in a chicane, and went on to take third in his second World Superbike race.
AMA Daytona SportBike rider Chaz Davies rode the first of three World Supersport rounds for the ParkinGO Triumph BE1 Racing team this weekend. Davies had a good weekend qualifying eleventh and finishing fourth ahead of teammate Gary McCoy on a Triumph Daytona 675.
David Emmet is reporting that Aprilia will have a second two-bike team in World Superbike next year. The news came out of an interview with Aprilia’s Alain Roger who also said that Troy Bayliss had talked to Aprilia about riding for them next season. This news follows recent Bayliss quotes that range from him saying that he was looking for a World Superbike ride to he only missed motorcycle racing when he came back to Europe. Stay tuned. . .
Spies trails Haga by three points with this weekend's round at Magny Cours and the final round at Portimao on October 25th remaining. Spies has had his share of retirements (4) and finishes outside the top five (3) this season, but last weekend was the first time he didn’t come away from a round with at least one podium finish. If Spies goes on to win the championship he may look back at Imola as the weekend he saved the title, but he and his Yamaha team will have to bounce back quickly. Haga looks fully recovered from his injuries, and ready to fight for the championship that has eluded him.
Race #1 Results
Race #2 Results
Championship Standings
Pictures #1
Pictures #2
Pictures #3
Pictures #4
