Thursday, June 9 2011
Misano Adriatico, Wednesday 8 June 2011 – The FIM Superbike World Championship weekend will be at its very best this coming weekend for the San Marino Round, with a full programme of supporting events, including World Supersport, Superstock 1000 FIM Cup and UEM European Superstock 600 Championship, following the sole appearance of the Superbike category at the last round in the USA.
World Supersport
The forced absence of Luca Scassa (Yamaha ParkinGO) from the fifth round of the FIM Supersport World Championship will give a great opportunity to his team-mate Chaz Davies, currently level on points with the Italian at the top of the table, to make the break. This time round both Kawasaki and Honda will be trying to interrupt the sequence of four successive Yamaha wins (two for Scassa, two for Davies), with Honda probably having the best chance. The CBR600 is getting closer all the time, as demonstrated by a second and third place at Assen and Monza for Fabien Foret (Hannspree Ten Kate), yet the best Honda in the standings is currently the Harms Benjan Racing Team version of Denmark’s Robbin Harms in fourth.
So far the Kawasakis have failed to live up to pre-season expectations, but Broc Parkes and David Salom are actually third and fifth respectively with their Motocard.com bikes, the Australian twice finishing on the podium. Massimo Roccoli (Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki) scored his only Supersport win at Misano and the local man from Rimini will be aiming to go well in front of his numerous home fans. It’s also the home track for the promising young Roberto Tamburini (Bike Service Yamaha), while the 38-strong grid is boosted by a massive flux of wild-cards and one-event entries including Italian champion Ilario Dionisi (Honda Italia) and Stefano Cruciani and Mirko Giansanti (Kawasaki Italia), as well as series regular Danilo Dell’Omo on the Suriano Racing Team Triumph.
Points (after 4 rounds of 12): 1. Davies 70; 2. Scassa 70; 3. Parkes 60; 4. Harms 43; 5. Salom 42; 6. Foret 36; 7. Lowes 27; 8. Roccoli 26; etc. Manufacturers: 1. Yamaha 100; 2. Honda 68; 3. Kawasaki 60; 4. Triumph 14.
Superstock 1000
There are eight Italian riders in the top 10 (and 11 in the top 15) in the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup standings, a clear demonstration of the validity of the latest generation of Italian talent. The opening two rounds of the FIM Cup were won by Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Ducati) and Lorenzo Zanetti (BMW Motorrad Italia Superstock Team), first and third in the table. In second place can be found Danilo Petrucci (Barni Racing Ducati), on the podium at Assen. The top 5 positions are completed by Andrea Antonelli (Lorini Honda) and Michele Magnoni (Baru Racing BMW), in fourth and fifth.
All eyes will also be on Lorenzo Baroni (Althea Racing Ducati), former champion Niccolò Canepa (GOELEVEN Kawasaki) and Fabio Massei (Piellemoto BMW), while the best non-Italian riders, including Frenchman Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad Italia Superstock Team), Australian Bryan Staring (Pedercini Kawasaki) and the young German Markus Reiterberger (Garnier Alpha Racing Team BMW) are also aiming to be amongst the protagonists.
Points (after 2 rounds of 10): 1. Giugliano 45; 2. Petrucci 33; 3. Zanetti 32; 4. Antonelli 18; 5. Magnoni 16; 6. Barrier 16; 7. Baroni1 3; 8. Canepa 13; etc. Manufacturers: 1. Ducati 45; 2. BMW 41; 3. Kawasaki 20; 4. Honda 18; 5. Yamaha 4.
Superstock 600
No joy so far for Italian riders in the junior Superstock category, with the wins going to Dutchman Michael Van der Mark (Ten Kate Junior Team Honda) and Frenchman Romain Lanusse (MRS Yamaha Racing France). At Monza Bernardino Lombardi (Martini Corse Yamaha) scored a positive second place and is the leading Italian in the category, while Racedays Kawasaki’s Joshua Day is also showing promise. Nine wild-cards and one-event entries are expected to boost the 24 regulars on the starting-grid, with the best of the bunch at their home track expected to be Franco Morbidelli (Forward Racing Jr Yamaha), Giuliano Gregorini (RCGM Team Yamaha) and Luca Vitali (Forward Racing Jr team Yamaha).
Points (after 2 rounds of 10): 1. Lanusse 45; 2. Lombardi 33; 3. VD Mark 31; 4. Day 23; 5. Russo 20; 6. Calero Perez 17; 7. Metcher 16; 8. Morbidelli 13; etc.
The weekend programme is completed with an interesting support race at Misano, the first of two in the Two Countries Cup, between Superstock riders from Italy and Russia. Around 30 riders are entered from the two countries for this opening round and the return match is scheduled for August 21 at the new Canyon Circuit in Kazan (Russia).
