Max Biaggi’s first double victory in the Superbike World Championships arrived after a tense and exciting Race 2 that saw the Roman champ duel it out with his proud and speedy rival, Leon Haslam on his Suzuki. So it was a repeat of the first race won today by Max, in which he also beat out Haslam for the victory.
Jumping into the lead from the start, Biaggi was pursued by Haslam, but unlike in the first race, they were unable to break away from the rest of the crowd: Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha), Carlos Checa (Ducati) and up until the point when his engine failed, Jonathan Rea (Honda) remained close behind the two leaders, making the race even more uncertain.
A mistake just four laps before the end of the race seemed to have compromised Biaggi’s run. Biaggi, in the span of a curve, found himself relegated to third place, having been passed by both Haslam and Crutchlow. The Roman’s will to win was exceptional, and he immediately regained ground over the Brit on his Yamaha and took off after Haslam, who he managed two pass just two laps before the end of the race. Resisting the Suzuki bishop’s attempt to regain the lead, Biaggi crossed the finish line in first place.
Not since 1998 has an Italian driver (Pierfrancesco Chili at Kyalami) won a dual victory on an Italian motorcycle. With this double win Biaggi moves up to second place in the world classification with 69 points, behind his rival Haslam (85 points).
Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team’s triumphant day was completed by two fifth place finishes from the English driver, Leon Camier, who seemed to be improving continuously, and is by now quite comfortable on his Aprilia RSV4 and able to race for extended periods with the leaders.
“It’s a pleasure to be back on top after the problems we had in Australia,” said Biaggi. “We’ve improved with respect to last year. The pace was a bit slower in Race 2 and we were all quite close. It was really a great battle with a lot of passes and a few mistakes. I’m really very happy for this dual victory because it is truly a great outcome, both for me and my team, as well as Aprilia, which is really doing a great job.”
“I am very happy,” said Camier. “We did well in both races and set excellent paces. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find my rhythm during the initial laps and this penalized me quite a bit. Now I also need to make improvements in this area. The familiarity with my RSV4 is improving with this new suspension and we’ve got a lot of work to do to keep moving forward.”
It was a cut and dry victory, resulting from impeccable conduct by Max Biaggi on his Aprilia RSV4, who climbed atop the highest step of the podium following Race 1 of the Superbike Portimao round. Starting off from second position on the grid, the Roman champion immediately took the lead and set the pace for the rest of the race. Only Leon Haslam, on his Suzuki, was able to keep up with him. By the second lap, the two drivers had already broken away from the rest of their competitors and Haslam had even managed to move into first place during the eighth lap, trying to break away completely. However, Biaggi would not give up and the two continued to fight it out until the bitter end. Just six laps from theend of the race, Biaggi launched his final attack by taking advantage of a moment of indecision on the part of Haslam, who refused to let go, but was ultimately left inBiaggi’s wake. The final lap was breathtaking, with Biaggi closing off all opportunities for the Brit to attack and crossing the finish line in first place with a 0:200lead. Rea finished third after taking advantage of a slip by an aggressive Crutchlow during the final laps.
Leon Camier turned in an excellent fifth place result after starting off in a bottleneck and then managing a nice recovery. The young Englishman moved into tenth position during the first lap and began to regain ground thanks to an excellent pace from about mid-race on, recording the same times as Biaggi and catching up to Rea’s group during the last few laps. He lost the battle for fourth place to Checa by just a few hundredths of a second.
“Yesterday I had already said that the bike was working a lot better compared to the Phillip Island race,” stated Biaggi. “And considering last year’s results as well, I was aware of the fact that we would be able to have a good race. In the past few days, we worked very well and I was certain that I would finish in the top three. I mustthank my team and all of the Aprilia technicians who work here and at Noale. I’d like to dedicate this victory to my daughter Inès Angelica and to Eleonora“.
The Superpole of the Portuguese round of the SBK took place today with excellent weather and track conditions at Portimao, which led to an exciting duel, with Crutchlow taking first place with the top time of 1:42:092, a new record for this track, ahead of Max Biaggi on his Aprilia RSV4 and Spaniard Carlos Checa.
Max Biaggi will start of from second place tomorrow after having stopped the clock at 1:42:513, just 0:421 behind the English driver on his Yamaha. The Roman driver, who, along with Smerz, had the best time from the qualifying round this morning, moved into Superpole 1 in third place using racing tires. During the second stage he changed to his first qualifying tire and passed the round in second position. In Superpole 3 Max battled it out until the end for pole position, but surrendered to Crutchlow who managed to set a new record thanks to a perfect, final intermediate time.
Leon Camier finished in eleventh place with a time of 1:43:039 who was not able to qualify for the final stage. The young British driver finished Superpole 1 in twelfth position with the first qualifying tire. During the successive phase, he used the second one as well and stayed in the race for the Final 8 up until the last few seconds.
“I’m very happy,” said Biaggi. “This first row is the result of the excellent work that’s been done in recent days. After the problems we had in Australia, the situation here has improved a lot and we’ve returned to the competitive levels that we had during the final races of last year. The classification is quite a short list, we’re all very close, so it’s important to start off in front and this makes me optimistic about the two races tomorrow. I want to thank my team and the Aprilia technicians for the great work that’s been done up until now.”
“I’m a bit disappointed about this qualifying round,” said Camier. Unfortunately, once again I wasn’t able to find a good lap. On the other hand, I have an excellent rhythm and this is what keeps me calm for tomorrow’s races. It will be important to start off well and make a lot of passes during the first few laps in order to be able to keep up with the lead group from the outset and it will also be important not to make mistakes”.
One month after the first race of the season, the Superbike circus returns to Europe with the Portuguese round at Portimao. The excellent weather conditions and the track allowed drivers and their teams to work under optimum conditions, with Leon Haslam registering the top qualifying time of 1:43:476.
Max Biaggi finished in fourth place with a time of 1:43:688, just 0:212 behind the English driver on his Suzuki. Following the problems encountered at Phillip Island, the Roman driver was quite fast from the outset at the practice rounds that were held during the morning as he concentrated on his RSV4’s alignment.
It was ninth place for Leon Camier with a time of 1:44:041, with a difference of 0:565 with respect to his fellow countryman Haslam. The young British driver, who had his second race here last year with the 5-stroke 4 cylinder Aprilia achieving an excellent sixth place result in Race 1, tried out a different alignment on his RSV4 with respect to the winter tests.
“The bike is the same one that I used at Phillip Island,” said Biaggi. “No updates were made, but the situation has improved because the problems with vibrations and skipping that we had in Australia are much less noticeable. We tried a new setup with the suspension, which was studied at home by our technicians in the Racing Department, but it didn’t work, so tomorrow we’ll go back to the set-up that we’re familiar with in order to continue to progress.”
“We used the same suspension here as we did in the last race,” said Camier. “It was very different from the one used for the tests we did here and we got some results, even if we didn’t have any reference data. The pace of the race is good, even though I still have to find the single lap. The suspension still needs a lot of work, but I’m happy with what’s been done up to this point, considering that the others aren’t far behind.”
Yamaha bounce back with the first podium of the season
Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike rider Cal Crutchlow showed solid race craft in the second superbike race today, confidently sticking with race leaders Max Biaggi and Leon Haslam to stand on the World Superbike podium for the first time. After dropping to fourth initially Crutchlow capitalised on his opportunity to move up when Johnny Rea was pushed wide by Haslam going into the first corner on lap three. He was never more than 0.3 seconds from the lead, taking his well earned podium in third at the finish line. Team-mate James Toseland wrapped up the day in race two with style, charging through the pack from 15th, overcoming a number of competitive riders to cross the line in sixth, nearly ten places up from the start.
Race one proved to be a display of consistency and determination from British rider Toseland. Starting from a less than perfect 15th on the grid, Toseland gradually worked his way through the pack. The final lap saw him close down a half second gap, taking Haga on the last corner to steal a well deserved seventh place finish at the line. His team-mate Crutchlow spent the majority of the race in third until an unfortunate low-side crash three laps from the end dropped him to 15th. He managed to pass 14th placed rider Tom Sykes on the last lap to stay in the points.
Crutchlow heads to Valencia in tenth position with 25 points, Toseland heads to the third round in Spain in 11th, tied on points with his team-mate with 25.
Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (14th, 3rd)
“It was a tough day today from the first race, I made a stupid mistake, my own fault I was pushing too hard. We’ve made big steps from Australia, all credit to Yamaha they’ve done a fantastic job. We came here fighting but unfortunately in the first race I went down and Johnny Rea got through and got the podium. I’m looking forward to the next weekend in Valencia, if we can continue doing a good job and getting the success we’re starting to experience it’ll be a good season, let’s keep the ball rolling. The team have put in a sterling effort this weekend. Well done to Max Biaggi and Leon Camier as well.”
James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (7th, 6th)
“We’ve still got a lot of work to do but we’ve made massive improvements. We really deserved the third and sixth in that last race, After Cal’s Superpole he was unlucky to crash in the first race so I’m really pleased with his result in the second. The potential of the bike is very good, once we use the full power of the engine we’re right up there. It was only my crash that stopped me being on the front row I think. I was a bit sore today and my head was bit fuzzy after its knock yesterday so I wasn’t completely on form. Considering that and starting from 15th on the grid we achieved some good results. It’s a shame we started on the back foot this year but we’re moving on and we’re keeping on pushing.”
Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager
“For sure we’ve made a great improvement after Australia, we got a Superpole and we got our first podium. I think this will be helpful in continuing to improve. I’m optimistic that what Cal achieved today can be what we expect to have for the next races. James is also improving, I’m sure that without the crash in Superpole he would have been starting from the first or second row and would have achieved even more during the races. He showed us that he’s finding his rhythm with the bike. A big thanks to all the guys in the team who have done a great job getting us back to being competitive, it’s something I really appreciate.”
Ten Kate Honda
Jonathan Rea experienced mixed fortunes in today’s two second round World Superbike championship races at Portimao, taking a spectacularly well-fought podium in race one, but retiring from the second outing.
Both this afternoon’s races were won by Italian Max Biaggi, as Rea’s Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Max Neukirchner struggled with his own technical issues in the first race. The German brought his CBR1000RR home for a solitary championship point in race two.
Starting from fifth place on the grid, in the first 22-lap encounter at the 4.592km Portimao circuit, Rea found himself bumped out of contention by another rider in turn one and was forced to compose himself for another fight back through the field. From 12th place, the Northern Irishman battled his way through to well-earned podium by the flag.
He enjoyed a trouble-free start to race two and slotted into second place behind Biaggi before passing the Italian on lap two. On the eight lap, however, the 23-year-old was forced to retire with a technical problem.
Max Neukirchner had struggled since practice began on Friday to find a good balance for his riding style and he qualified in 13th place. With some significant changes to his race bike, Neukirchner began race one with more confidence, but this was short-lived, a malfunctioning clutch forcing his retirement. In race two, his handling issues continued and the 26-year-old was frustrated to finish in 15th.
Jonathan Rea – 3rd and DNF
I had a big crash on Friday and had to rebuild my confidence through the rest of the weekend and then some idiot let the brakes off going into turn one in the first race. I locked the front brake and went straight into the gravel which was scary. I really needed to get away with Max and Leon, but I caught up to Crutchlow and he was making quite a few mistakes when I put some pressure on him. I got third place but I don’t think it was gifted and I think would have got it anyway. In race two I was holding my own with Biaggi but messed up the last corner on lap five, I think, so Leon and Crutchlow got by. I was still feeling pretty comfortable, but then heard a funny noise going down the straight a couple of laps later, so I pulled in the clutch and that was it. It’s pretty frustrating watching the end of a race from the garage, and we need to make some in-roads to get back to the front soon. We’re testing some new electronics here tomorrow and then it’s off to Valencia, where we had a good test last December. Let’s hope for better things there.
Max Neukirchner – DNF and 15th
We have struggled to get the right balance for the bike all weekend and, even though we’ve had some good ideas, we haven’t really found one that works. We’ll keep working though and, luckily, we have a test here tomorrow, which I hope will give us some opportunities to find a way forward. The biggest problem I have is getting the bike to turn and hold a line going into the corners. It means I’m having to brake earlier for each turn and by the end of the race… well, it’s not very good. But we’ll look at things again tonight and hopefully make some progress before we go to Valencia in two weeks time.
Ronald ten Kate – team-manager
Well, the weekend was looking promising but it just goes to show that you can’t assume anything. Jonathan had good pace all weekend and in race one he was a bit unlucky that he got hit on the way into the first corner. However, he fought back fantastically to a great third place so, when he was in second position in race two, we were ready to watch some action. Unfortunately, the sheets show that his engine was starting to lose power from early in the race and eventually he had to pull out. For Max, we made quite some changes to his bike on race day but his clutch burnt out in the first race and he clearly struggled in the second. We definitely need a weekend without all these gremlins around and hopefully it will be at Valencia.
Althea Racing
A dry track and warm conditions at Portimao today for the second round of the World Superbike championship. Thanks to the strong results achieved during the qualifying sessions and yesterday’s Superpole, Checa started from the front row and Byrne from the second. In the first race both Althea Racing riders were immediately among the frontrunners and after a few laps, Byrne was up in fourth position, followed by Checa in fifth. Soon after however Carlos and Shakey lost contact with the leading group and battled on as part of the chasing group. Checa pushed right to the end to reach the podium places but concluded a hard-fought race in fourth position, with Byrne behind in sixth. In the second race both Checa and Byrne made a good start and were in seventh and eighth place respectively during the initial laps. A good race pace allowed Checa to reach the leading pack, moving into fifth and then quickly into fourth position, while Shakey unfortunately remained in eighth. In the last laps Carlos picked up his pace as he did everything to try to reach third position but he was unable to pass Crutchlow and finished once more in fourth position while Byrne crossed the line seventh.
Carlos Checa : “I am happy with the great job we’ve done this weekend and the two fourth place finishes. Of course getting onto the podium would have been better but I don’t think that we could have done better than we did today. In race 1 I didn’t make a good start and I wasn’t part of the leading pack. Race 2 went better, even though my start again was not great, but at least I was able to stay with the fastest guys. Unfortunately what I gained through the corners, I was then losing on the straight and so it would have been useless to take risks. Now we go to Valencia, a track where we tested a few months ago and where I’d like to do extremely well in front of my home crowd of course.”
Shane Byrne : “In race 1 the setting of my 1198 was not quite right and I was not able to push to the max, also because I’m still not 100% fit. Before race two my technicians worked hard on my Ducati and it was a lot better for that race. I am satisfied with the results even though I know that me and my bike have the potential to do better and to push for race wins. Now we move on to Valencia. We tested there over the winter and I am sure that we will be able to further improve and fight for the positions that count.”
Genesio Bevilacqua – General Manager : “Unfortunately the difference between our bikes and the four cylinders is very apparent here and so we are of course happy with these positive results. Checa has proved to be in great shape and had two fantastic races today. Shakey has been suffering a little after yesterday’s crash but is getting back to achieving the kids of results that we know he is capable of obtaining. We hope that in Valencia we will not suffer quite so much against the four cylinders, which really caused us a problem here.”
Xerox Ducati
Racing at Portimao today proved difficult for the Ducati Xerox riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio, who had to fight hard for points, having started the races from the fifth row of the grid; the two races brought identical results for the factory riders, two eighth place finishes for Nori, two 11th places for Michel.
In the morning warm-up Noriyuki had picked up his pace with respect to yesterday, completing eight fast laps and concluding the short session in third position. Michel, still working to improve grip, finished in fifteenth place.
Race 1 – Both riders were aware that they needed a blistering start in order to help their chances of carving their way through the pack from the fifth row, and Nori was able to do this in Race 1, rocketing from eighteenth to ninth position straight off the line. Michel, caught up in traffic, remained in sixteenth position for the first lap but had worked his way up to twelfth by lap two. During the fifth lap Haga was able to pass Corser and on the same lap team-mate Fabrizio passed Corser’s team-mate Xaus. From mid-race on, and now in eighth position, Noriyuki remained there, with Corser and Toseland chasing him down, until three laps from the finish where he briefly moved up to seventh place before Toseland, on the very last lap, pushed him back down to a final eighth position. In the second half of the race, Michel made a couple of mistakes, going off track twice and allowing both Smrz and Xaus to take advantage and move ahead of him. Smrz later crashed but Michel was unable to catch Xaus, thus closing the first race in eleventh place.
Race 2 and the Ducati Xerox pair made a carbon copy start, with Noriyuki slicing through the pack from eighteenth to ninth position and Michel in sixteenth. The Italian then made up five positions within the first three laps before tucking in, in eleventh position, behind team-mate Haga. The two Ducati 1198s had trouble catching the Suzuki of Guintoli, and although Nori closed the gap two-third of the way through the race, getting past Corser in the process, he didn’t manage to pass the Frenchman, and make it stick, until the very last lap, to take eighth position overall, exactly as he did in race 1. Although Michel held eleventh position from lap 8 right until the end of the race, he lost a little ground to Nori in the final laps, citing difficulty in braking.
Noriyuki Haga (Race 1 – 8th , Race 2 – 8th)
“We’ve worked hard all weekend and today finally I had slightly better feeling with the bike but it was very difficult to score great results from the fifth row. In race 1 I made a good start, which I knew was essential if I wanted to make some good points. I tried to push as hard as possible but by the last five laps or so I was lacking rear grip and this meant that my traction was very much affected. The second race was quite similar, the tyre performed better but I had a hard time getting past Guintoli, and again finished eighth. I apologise to the team, the fans and the sponsors for my poor results but at least I was able to make up a few positions and take some points. Now we look to start challenging for the podium every weekend from Valencia onwards. The important thing is not to crash, and to take as many points as possible each race. Biaggi and Haslam have demonstrated their strength both here and at Phillip Island and we hope we can be back up there on the podium at Valencia.”
Michel Fabrizio (Race 1 – 11th , Race 2 -11th)
“Let’s say that this weekend we were not able to refine the set up of my 1198 as we had hoped to. I continued to have the same problem, the same lack of feeling at the front, in both races. We made many modifications over the weekend but it didn’t make much difference; I just never felt right on the bike. At the start of race 2 I managed to make up a few places straight away by pushing as hard as I could but after a few laps it became more and more difficult to turn; I went off track a couple of times in race 1 and then I went straight two or three times in the next race. We of course hope for much better results at Valencia, where I need to start from the front rows.”
SuperSport
Kenan Sofuoglu won today’s thrilling second round World Supersport race at Portimao in Portugal by the slender margin of three hundredths of a second from Spain’s Joan Lascorz. Sofuoglu’s Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Michele Pirro, was third.
Sofuoglu, who finished third at the season opener in Australia, started the 20-lap race around the undulating 4.592km Portimao circuit in relatively conservative fashion, circulating the early laps in fourth place; this despite setting a new circuit best lap during the morning warm-up.
The 25-year-old Turk, began his move to the front in the second half of the race, passing first his team-mate, and then Lascorz and finally race leader, Eugene Laverty, on successive laps into Portimao’s first corner.
After Laverty crashed out of third place, Sofuoglu held off a determined challenge from Lascorz, extending his record tally of World Supersport wins to 15 and taking a one-point championship lead as Pirro took a lonely third place, nine seconds back.
It was the 23-year-old Italian’s first World Supersport podium in his debut year with the Hannspree Ten Kate team, and Pirro underlined his winning potential by setting a new Portimao lap record early in the race.
Kenan Sofuoglu – winner
I’m so happy to win this race because the competition is so tight this year, but the good thing is that my bike is really strong this year, too! Yesterday in qualifying, my crew asked me how was the bike and I replied that there was only one problem: I was not good enough for it! I promised them that today I would show the potential of the CBR600RR and already in warm-up this morning I set a new best lap. I took it a bit easy in the beginning of the race, and then pushed in the last part to take the lead. Lascorz was very strong in the last laps but I held on because I really wanted this win. I was disappointed after Phillip Island, so this victory is really important and I want to give big, big thanks to the team.
Michele Pirro – third
It’s my first podium in Supersport so I am really, really happy! The team has worked really hard all weekend to give me a bike with so much potential and, after the two disappointments of the race in Australia, I am also very happy for the team. I want to thank them for all their work and the next time we will try even more for a better result in maybe first or second position. So, I look forward very much to Valencia and the next race.
Ronald ten Kate – team manager
We are very happy with this result! The win for Kenan, with Michele joining him for his first Supersport podium in third was underlined by a new best lap for Kenan in warm-up and a new lap record for Michele in the race. There was a great fight between Kenan and Joan Lascorz in the last laps and it was a small margin in the end. But it’s doesn’t really matter about the margin – it’s just good to see that the whole team and both riders have winning potential, and we’re looking forward to Valencia already.
2010 World Supersport championship – round 2
Portimao, Portugal (4.592km – 20 laps) – results:
1. Kenan Sofuoglu (TUR) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 35’21.143s
2. Joan Lascorz (ESP) Kawasaki +0.031s
3. Michele Pirro (ITA) Hannspree ten Kate Honda +8.879s
4. Chaz Davies (GBR) Triumph +15.270s
5. Fabien Foret (FRA) Kawaskai +22.096s
6. Katsuaki Fujiwara (JPN) Kawasaki +23.041s
Championship points after two of 13 rounds: 1 Sofuoglu 41, 2Lascorz 40, 3vEugene Laverty (IRL) Honda 30, 4 Foret 22, 9 Pirro 16.
BMW
Troy Corser took a ninth in race one and a tenth in race two, but left the Autodromo do Algarve with a certain amount of frustration. He started well in both races (third at the end of lap one in the first race and fifth at the end of the opening lap in the second), but as his BMW’s grip deteriorated, he was unable to push as hard as he wanted and began to slip down the order, finishing in the top ten both times.
Italian Max BIaggi (Aprilia) won both races today, after terrific battles with Briton Leon Haslam (Suzuki), with the victories going down to the wire in both 22-lappers. Jonathan Rea (Honda) took third in race one and fellow countryman Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) took third in race two.
Troy Corser – Race 1: 9th, Race 2: 10th
I suppose you could say that I am a bit frustrated with today’s results because it could’ve been so much better. After qualifying on the second row of the grid, I felt that today could’ve been our best day so far, but it wasn’t to be. I made a good start in the first race and was third at the end of the first lap. For the first four or five laps, I was in touch with the leaders and everything felt pretty easy and I didn’t even think I was going fast. But, as the grip went down, I began having problems with the bike and I couldn’t push as hard as I wanted to. It’s a bit strange, because the worsening grip seemed to cause quite a few problems and I felt as if I was riding a different bike! It didn’t get any better after that and I ended having to physically muscle the bike around, so it’s a good job that I’m really fit at the moment.
In race two, all was OK up until about lap 12 and then I began to have braking problems and then the bike started moving around when I shifted gears when it should’ve been stable.
It’s taking a lot of work riding this bike at the moment and it seems that once the grip goes down, the bike doesn’t get out of the corners so well and other problems occur. The bike has a good engine, the top speed is good and we’re just missing a little something somewhere. I hope that we find that piece of the jigsaw and then Ruben and I will be able to really show the potential of this bike.
Superstock European 600 Championship
Yamaha made a clean sweep of the podium yesterday, taking all three top spots in the Superstock 600 class at the opening round in Portimao. An action fuelled race saw French riders Jeremy Guarnoni and Romain Lanusse, both of the MRS Racing Team fight it out for the top two spots on their Yamaha Superstock YZF-R6s. Guarnoni eventually won out with his team-mate Lanusse crossing the line 6.1 seconds later. Lanusse took the second spot by just .1 of a second from Norwegian rider Frederik Karlsen also riding an R6 for the MTM Racing Team.
Jeremy Guarnoni, MRS Racing Team (1st)
“I was second on the grid and I was going to try and have a good start. Last year I struggled with my starts so I’ve been practising for this season. I had a good start, I didn’t lose position in the first and was behind Marino but in the second corner he made a mistake and I got the first position. I pushed hard for the rest of the race but after the fourth lap my mechanics told me to take it easy. I had a good feeling with the bike so I got a good rhythm so ended up with a six second lead at the end.”
Adrien Morillas, MRS Racing Team Manager
“The weekend was perfect, the results were better than expected. The progression of the team is better and better from pre season to now and we saw that this weekend. We have good materials from Yamaha with great support. We are so happy with the result. There’s still a lot of work to do but we hope everything will continue as we have started.”
Next round: Valencia, Spain – 9-11 April
