Sykes wins his first of 2012
Monza (Italy), Sunday 6 May 2012 – Thanks to poor weather conditions that came and went all day at Monza the first race had to be cancelled and only one SBK contest took place, which was then unavoidably shortened to half distance. On a day of uncertainties and unpredictable track conditions Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) provided an emphatic win out of all proportion to the short eight laps the race lasted before the rains came back to spoil the party yet again. His margin of victory was 9.709 seconds, more than a second per lap faster than his main rivals in damp but drying track conditions. An overall crowd figure of 85,000 was recorded at the Autodromo Nazionale for this weekend’s event.
Tom Sykes: “There’s been a lot of commotion today, but to get the win for Kawasaki and the ZX-10R is great for us. The bike was awesome in the race, there were a lot of damp patches, but I had such good feedback I was able to get my head down and go about business in a good way. It’s a shame the race couldn’t go two-thirds distance but, hopefully now we can move on to a very sunny England and have some consistent weather for a change!.”
Leon Haslam: “I think we made the best of a bad day, 14th on the grid wasn’t ideal. It was quite difficult to overtake coming off the dry line, but it worked out perfect. We managed to get second, Tom was too quick from the get-go and by the time I got second he had already gone. A big credit to BMW, I’m happy to just get back onto the podium.”
Eugene Laverty: “We’ve been strong all weekend here at Monza in these conditions but I think we’re all just relieved to get that race over. I’m happy to be on the podium, home safe and sound. When I saw Leon go in front of me because he’s very experienced, I was happy to follow him and let him lead the way because there were some damp patches. Pleased for the podium after a tough day.”
As the race was so short, but beyond the lap count that would mean a restart, only half points were awarded to all the top 15 finishers. Tissot-Superpole winner Sylvain Guintoli (Effenbert-Liberty Ducati) looked like he would be the man to challenge Sykes but his bike stalled on the final warm-up lap and he could not get back to the grid in time to make the start. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) and Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) headed up a warring group of six potential podium riders, with Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) fifth and Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) seventh.
Sykes is the fifth different race winner of the year and race victories have now been taken by Aprilia, Ducati, Honda and Kawasaki riders, after only seven individual race finishes.
Results: 1. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 14’08.800; 2. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 9.709; 3. Laverty E. (IRL) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 10.119; 4. Melandri M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 10.294; 5. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 10.527; 6. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 10.638; 7. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 10.899; 8. Giugliano D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 12.195; 9. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 13.199; 10. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 19.372; 11. Aoyama H. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 24.551; 12. Davies C. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 24.655; 13. Berger M. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 24.662; 14. Zanetti L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 24.668; 15. Camier L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 24.810; 16. Mercado L. (ARG) Kawasaki ZX-10R 24.935; etc.
Points (after 4 of 14 rounds): 1. Biaggi 97.5; 2. Checa 95.5; 3. Sykes 91.5; 4. Melandri 72.5; 5. Rea 70; 6. Haslam 68; 7. Guintoli 66; 8. Laverty 64; 9. Smrz 42.5; 10. Giugliano 41; etc. Manufacturers: 1. Ducati 140.5; 2. Aprilia 108; 3. Kawasaki 97.5; 4. BMW 96; 5. Honda 74; 6. Suzuki 20.5.
World Supersport
Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda) won what was only his fourth ever Supersport race, in wet conditions at Monza. He finally held off an exciting late challenge from Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda) who passed him going into the final corner, but was forced wide to allow Cluzel to duck inside and claim the prize. Some way back, Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki DeltaFin Lorenzini) was a safe third, ahead of the impressive wet-weather abilities of Imre Toth (Racing Team Toth). Fifth was wild card rider Stefano Cruciani (Puccetti Racing Kawasaki
Results: 1. Cluzel J. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 33’08.897; 2. Lowes S. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 0.312; 3. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Kawasaki ZX-6R 17.369; 4. Toth I. (HUN) Honda CBR600RR 21.528; 5. Cruciani S. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 29.469; 6. Baldolini A. (ITA) Triumph Daytona 675 32.214; 7. Roccoli M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 43.577; 8. Antonelli A. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 43.949; etc.
Points (after 4 of 13 rounds): 1. Sofuoglu 61; 2. Lowes 51; 3. Foret 49; 4. Cluzel 48; 5. Baldolini 34; 6. Parkes 29; 7. Leonov 26; 8. Lanzi 25; etc. Manufacturers: 1. Honda 86; 2. Kawasaki 86; 3. Yamaha 40; 4. Triumph 40; 5. Suzuki 6.
Superstock 1000
Lorenzo Savadori (Barni Racing Team Italia) took the all-new Ducati 1199 Panigale to its first win in this class of racing, on a drying track at Monza. With the previous championship leader Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) falling late in the race the championship lead was taken over by Savadori, who has 53 points to Barrier’s unchanged 50. Christoffer Bergman (BWG Racing Kawasaki) was an impressive second, only 1.65 seconds behind, with Eddi La Marra (Barni Racing Team Italia) right behind him. Fabio Massei (EAB Ten Kate Junior Team) was fourth in the 11-lap race with Marco Bussolotti (SK Energy Racing Team Ducati). With his third place La Mara is now only five points from the leader Savadori and two behind Barrier.
Results: 1. Savadori L. (ITA) Ducati 1199 Panigale 21’21.255; 2. Bergman C. (SWE) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1.651; 3. La Marra E. (ITA) Ducati 1199 Panigale 1.884; 4. Massei F. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 3.071; 5. Bussolotti M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 11.194; 6. Gyorfi A. (HUN) Honda CBR1000RR 21.378; 7. Reiterberger M. (GER) BMW S1000 RR 26.047; 8. Baroni L. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 30.259; etc.
Points (after 3 of 10 rounds): 1. Savadori 53; 2. Barrier 50; 3. La Marra 48; 4. Reiterberger 35; 5. Baz 30; 6. Bergman 28; 7. Massei 23; 8. Baroni 20; etc. Manufacturers: 1. Ducati 61; 2. BMW 59; 3. Kawasaki 50; 4. Honda 23; 5 Aprilia 11.
Superstock 600
Riccardo Russo (Team Italia FMI Yamaha) won the Superstock 600 class in fully wet conditions on his R6, after a deluge of rain forced the start of the race to be put back as full rain tyres were fitted. It was his second win of the year. Gauthier Duwelz (Team MTM Racing) was second on another Yamaha with the first Honda home being the EAB Ten Kate Junior Team CBR600RR of Bastien Chesaux. Michael van der Mark, Chesaux’s team-mate, was fourth and only 3.5 seconds from Russo.
Results: 1. Russo R. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 13’18.546; 2. Duwelz G. (BEL) Yamaha YZF R6 1.694; 3. Chesaux B. (SUI) Honda CBR600RR 2.307; 4. Vd Mark M. (NED) Honda CBR600RR 3.509; 5. Vitali L. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 6.211; 6. Calero Perez N. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R6 6.254; 7. Covea T. (NED) Kawasaki ZX-6R 10.982; 8. Schacht A. (DEN) Honda CBR600RR 16.186; etc.
Points (after 3 of 10 rounds): 1. Russo 61; 2. Vd Mark 54; 3. Calero Perez 50; 4. Duwelz 42; 5. Chesaux 26; 6. Egea 24; 7. Vitali 20; 8. Schacht 18; etc.
European Junior Cup
The reappearance of fierce rainfall during the second lap of the KTM European Junior Cup at Monza brought out the red flags and the delayed race was subsequently cancelled in the interest of rider safety.
Points (after 2 of 8 rounds): 1. Pasek 25; 2. Hartog 20; 3. Wielebski 16; 4. Demoulin 13; 5. Patterson 11; 6. Lewis 10; etc.
