Phillip Island served up another nail-biter for WSBK fans this Sunday. With the race winner making a last lap pass, no one could have guessed the top four finishers in this race. With a few familiar faces, along with a few new hopefuls, wrapping up the first stop on the World Superbike Championship only wets the appetite further for the rest of the WSBK season. Rider quotes, video highlights, and race standings after the jump.
After Round 4 at Le Mans, The MotoGP Championship is still up for grabs, if not more so than before. Four riders: Lorenzo, Rossi, Stoner, and Pedrosa, are all in a dead heat for the Championship title. Running down the list are further surprises, with Marco Melandri in 5th place (tied with Andrea Dovizioso), just 23 points (or a race win) away from the top of the field.
Colin Edwards can claim the title of best in the US, with his 7th place slot, 31 points back from leader Lorenzo. Meanwhile, Nicky Hayden, a former MotoGP Champion himself, is disappointedly 15th out of 18 riders, 57 points behind first place.
Race 2 proved to be a less hectic event without a red flag in sight. With the race being won by a comfortable margin, the World Superbike season is shaping up to be a good close one.
The first chicane of the Monza circuit is notorious for accidents and hated by all racers because it tightens into a dangerous and tight funnel. Race 1 of the World Superbike Championship at Monza would not be spared of the dangers of the first chicane as a terrifying accident brought the race to an almost immediate halt with five riders seriously involved. Race 1 would continue to prove itself to be full of surprises as more riders ran in to different sorts of difficulty throughout the race’s duration. Continue reading for more and spoilers.
At the fifth round of the World Superbike Championship being held at Monza this weekend, Ben Spies shattered the lap record with a time of 1:44:073 to take his 5th consecutive Superpole victory, making the young American 5 for 5 so far this season in the qualifying event.
Going into Sunday’s race, it seemed for certain that a Spaniard would once again be on the podium at Jerez. Then The Doctor showed up with a lightning fast warm up time, that just eeked out Jorge Lorenzo’s. With the Italian interjecting himself on this previously Spanish only affair, the Spanish GP was shaping up to be a a blood sport exhibition for the 123,000 Spanish fans filling the grandstand. Continue reading on for a full race report from Jerez.
After being rained out yesterday, the Qatar GP, at the Losail International Circuit, finally got its green flag today. There was however a good omen to the start of the season, question mark riders Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden made it onto the starting grid and finished a respectable result. We don’t want to give away anymore of the MotoGP season opener, so continue reading for all the spoilers.
After his poor start in the first race, further pressure was put on Spies who now stood 35 points behind Noriyuki Haga because of his crash out in Race 2. Surely Haga felt the pressure too, knowing that the American wouldn’t make the same mistakes a second time. With the Championship already playing out in the third stop of the WSBK tour, Race 2 already had more than just a purpose. Continue reading for spoilers from Race 2 of the Valencia World Superbike Races, and to see how Race 2 sorted itself out.
The World Superbike Championship visited Valencia this weekend. With three poles and three wins in a row, all eyes were on Ben Spies at the start of the first Superbike race, wondering if the American could close the 10 point lead that Noriyuki Haga had over him. A sweep of the weekend’s races, could mean that Spies could be leading the series, or at the very least tied with Haga, depending on how the Japanese rider fared. Conversely, Haga with a strong showing could lengthen his early lead over the field. With Spies showing almost a full second on Haga at the Superpole, this would be no easy feat. Continue reading for spoilers from Race 1 of the Valencia World Superbike Races, and to see how Race 1 sorted itself out.
It was a three machines with three different types of motors battling it out for the top three spots in World Superbike’s first round of racing this year at Qatar. Continue reading to see the spoilers and race results.