Racing News

    Aprilia Racing’s Max Biaggi is the 2012 World Superbike champion -- by half a point.

    All Biaggi had to do was finish fifth in Race Two, after crashing out of Race One, and that's exactly what he did. Biaggi beat Kawasaki's Tom Sykes in the final tally by the slimmest of margins. Sykes finished third and first for the day to claim second spot in the championship, while BMW Motorrad’s Marco Melandri finished the season third overall. Melandri finished second in Race One, but crashed out of Race Two. Byron Wilson of MotoUSA reported the season finale at Magny-Cours in France.


    Race One
    As was feared by riders earlier in the weekend, Sunday’s races were declared wet after the weather took a turn for the worse. PATA Racing’s Sylvain Guintoli turned the challenge to his favor though, getting to the front with eight laps remaining and building a gap of over six seconds on second place finisher Melandri. Sykes held third, but trailed the Ducati rider by 16.5 seconds at the checker.

    Sykes came off the start in pole position and led the opening four laps, until bested by Honda’s Jonathan Rea. The two remained close and Sykes was able to regain the lead on Lap 13 when Rea crashed, though by then Melandri and Guintoli had both cut through the field to contend at the head of the pack. The BMW rider came through Lap 1 in 10th, but was able to make a steady climb and had reached third by Lap 12. Guintoli didn’t have as much ground to make up as Melandri, coming through Lap 1 in sixth, but by Lap 15 he’d assumed second and was on his way to the front.

    Owing to the conditions, a number of riders went down, including eventual title winner Biaggi. On Lap 2, the Aprilia rider crashed and was forced to retire from the race. Later, Althea Racing’s Carlos Checa crashed, as did FIXI Crescent Suzuki’s Leon Camier and Rea, though Rea was able to rejoin and finish the contest, albeit in 13th place. ParkinGO MTC Racing’s Chaz Davies, Guintoli’s teammate Lorenzo Zanetti and Honda’s Hiroshi Aoyama all were forced to retire as well.

    Red Devils Roma’s Maxime Berger finished Race One in fourth, followed by Melandri’s teammate Leon Haslam in fifth and BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet’s Ayrton Badovini in sixth. Aprilia rider Eugene Laverty took seventh, followed by Althea Racing’s Davide Giugliano in eighth and Team Pedercini’s Claudio Corti in ninth. Giugliano had a few near misses during the contest, running into the gravel twice, but he was able to remain upright and avoid crashing.

    World Superbike Magny-Cours Race One Results:
    1. Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati)
    2. Marco Melandri (BMW)
    3. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki)
    4. Maxime Berger (Ducati)
    5. Leon Haslam (BMW)
    6. Ayrton Badovini (BMW)
    7. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia)
    8. Davide Giugliano (Ducati)
    9. Claudio Corti (Kawasaki)
    10. Loris Baz (Kawasaki)
    11. Norino Brignola (BMW)
    12. Michel Fabrizio (BMW)
    13. Jonathan Rea (Honda)

    Race Two
    Sykes gave everything he had in Race Two, getting to the front early and leading every lap to take the top step on the podium. He was followed by Rea in second and Guintoli in third.

    After Race One Sykes trailed Biaggi by 14.5 points, meaning that even if Sykes scored the win Biaggi could finish fifth or better and still claim the championship. Early in the contest it seemed as if Biaggi might not be able to pull it off, after a bad start left him in tenth through the opening laps. He fought through the field though and by Lap 15 had advanced to fifth, where he held steady to the checker.

    Biaggi’s teammate, Laverty, held to fourth and Giugliano trailed the Corsair in sixth. Checa ended the contest in seventh followed by Davies in eighth. Badovini and Camier took ninth and tenth respectively.

    Melandri persevered in Race Two despite riding with injuries lingering from the previous round at Portimao, holding sixth through the opening five laps. He wasn’t able to hold though and crashed out of competition. Soon after, Haslam ran off into the gravel, though he was able to remain in competition. Near the end of the contest though, the BMW rider ran into more trouble, crashing  in Turn 13. Sykes’s teammate Loris Baz and BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet’s Michel Fabrizio also crashed out of competition during Race Two.

    It was a spectacular end to a dramatic season, with Biaggi taking the second World Superbike title of his career. Though close to the title, Sykes still earned the best overall result of his Superbike career in second.––Paul Duchene
     
    World Superbike Magny-Cours Race Two Results:
    1. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki)
    2. Jonathan Rea (Honda)
    3. Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati)
    4. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia)
    5. Max Biaggi (Aprilia)
    6. Davide Giugliano (Ducati)
    7. Carlos Checa (Ducati)
    8. Chaz Davies (Aprilia)
    9. Ayrton Badovini (BMW)
    10. Leon Camier (Suzuki)
    11. Maxime Berger (Ducati)
    12. Claudio Corti (Kawasaki)
    13. Lorenzo Zanetti (Ducati)
    14. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda)
    15. Norino Brignola (BMW)

    World Superbike Championship Points 2012:
    1. Max Biaggi, 358
    2. Tom Sykes, 357.5
    3. Marco Melandri, 328.5
    4. Carlos Checa, 287.5
    5. Jonathan Rea, 278.5
    6. Eugene Laverty, 263.5
    7. Sylvain Guintoli, 213.5
    8. Leon Haslam, 200
    9. Chaz Davies, 164.5
    10. Davide Giugliano, 143