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Post by truenorth on Apr 20, 2024 6:19:05 GMT -8
Muir on 2024 goals: "When Toprak believes he can win the title, we believe he can as well." Friday, 19 April 2024 The BMW Team Principal spoke about how BMW’s made a step outside of rider line-up changes, the atmosphere and the potential in 2024… BMW have been one of the stories of the 2024 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship thanks to a huge step in terms of their results, taking three podiums and two wins in the first two rounds with Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), while teammate Michael van der Mark has also shown good pace including a fourth place in Race 2 in Barcelona. Speaking to WorldSBK Commentator Steve English, Team Principal Shaun Muir explained how the team and manufacturer have taken a big step, the relationship between Razgatlioglu and van der Mark and Championship hopes in 2024. MAKING THE STEP: “He confirmed that we were on the right path” The big change was Razgatlioglu’s arrival, with the #54 first jumping on the bike at Portimao in December, but there were other changes too. Discussing this, Muir said: “Honestly speaking, we’ve got to the position where we were very close to making that step. I think over the winter period, we brought some revisions but not ground-breaking changes that people all anticipated to make that big change. It was simply consolidating a setup that we knew worked from our experience over the last years. Setting the base and then Toprak joining the team and starting on that base, and what that did was confirm to us that we were on the right path. It also started to deter us from taking what the riders were requesting which is a different setup from the one we know is going to be best for long-race conditions. It just stabilised everything. “Michael’s coming back off injuries and his fitness is now coming back, working with Toprak again which brought a new feeling in the team completely in terms of a real balance in the box. I’m not speaking derogatory of any other rider we’ve had in the past, it just seemed to be that things just clicked in a lot of areas where we were struggling a little bit before. Operationally, from my side and SMR, we’ve made some fine revisions, bringing Phil on board was great because he worked with me in the Aprilia days anyway, so I had some success with him and Eugene. His character suited what we were looking for and just one or two changes in the group, but generally it’s the same group I’ve had for the last couple of years except we’re getting some results. I can’t put my finger on one thing that’s made the difference, everything’s just settled down.” THE GOALS: “What I feel now is like the start of 2011 and 2015, when we were in our British-championship winning years…” Muir has won titles domestically with his eponymous Shaun Muir Racing outfit and is hoping he can replicate that on the world stage, with Razgatlioglu and his manager, Kenan Sofuoglu, speaking about the title in recent weeks. Muir added: “British superbike was a stepping stone. We’ve done it, we’ve run our course. I think we did fantastic in that championship. We did what was right at that time and that was to step to WorldSBK. Moving on through the ranks here, the Aprilia years were really good for us. We’ve been here a long time now, we’ve done the hard miles again and I do feel that our experience of understanding the travel, the circuit, the environment, what you’ve got to deal with has come through all those years of experience. “I feel, overall, in this Championship, getting the combination and what I feel now is like the start of 2011 and 2015 when we were in our championship winning years, I have a similar feeling to this year now as well. Everything clicks. You know when things are right. You don’t have dramas, there’s an ambience in the team and there’s a spirit and the knowhow behind from the factory to think we’re on the right path and I do believe moving on with Toprak, we have two years of him, we’re only two rounds in and here we are talking about the World Championship. But Toprak’s talking about it. If anyone knows he can win the World Championship, it’s the man sitting on the bike. When he believes he can, we believe he can as well.” ATMOSPHERE IN THE BOX: Razgatlioglu and van der Mark working together When he was at Yamaha, the #54 often worked with then-teammate Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) in Tissot Superpole and that’s something he’s replicated with van der Mark – who he raced with at Yamaha in 2020 – at BMW, with Razgatlioglu giving the #60 advice during the Barcelona Superpole session. On the atmosphere at the team and Razgatlioglu giving advice mid-session, Muir said: “I’ve got to say, I’ve never had that in this team from the get-go, even with Markus and Tom, and then Eugene and Tom and Michael and Scott, we’ve never had that environment. We knew something had to change. It was frustrating. Those frustrations in the box are borne out of no results. When you’re really grinding away and you’re doing your best and that’s only a tenth or whatever, it really is soul searching. You’ve got to dig deep to another level there and it affects everybody, from the top to the bottom. We all feel that. Clearly, the environment gets affected by that, you’re trying to search for something, the riders are running off in different directions trying to search for something that’s probably not there. We know what that base is now. “Immediately, when Toprak joined, I don’t want to use the words in awe, but we were just super impressed with the calmness but at the same time, we’re trying to understand that character as well. We know Mickey inside out. We’ve been sat by his bed in hospital at the worst times and we’ve been on the podium at Portimao and had good times. We understand what Michael’s like, but Toprak, no. He was a completely blank piece of paper to us. We only saw what the public saw and the paddock saw. We were just impressed by him being a straightforward good human being, feelings like everyone else, ambition like no one else. It just seems to mix really well. I’m sure Yamaha had that for years before and Manuel when he had him at Puccetti so we’re getting the benefits of that now. Long may it continue.”
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Post by truenorth on Apr 20, 2024 6:30:15 GMT -8
2024 Assen World Supersport Race One Result: A Game Of Two Halves By Jared Earle | Sat, 20/Apr/2024 - 07:02 World Supersport had messy qualifying yesterday in a Superpole session that turned wet minutes in, but riders outside the 105% were allowed to race. Tyre choice would be a hard decision as rain started after teams made their first choices. Eighteen laps under 18ºC weather with a half-wet, half-dry track, championship Yari Montella was pulled into the pits for a technical issue and could not make it out in time to start from the back of the grid and started from the pits instead.
Stefano Manzi led from pole position ahead of Marcel Schroetter and Glenn van Straalen who was sporting a fancy orange colour shame. Niki Tuuli crashed out at the start and was avoided by everyone. Marcel Schroetter missed his then and dropped out of the points.
After the wet section, tyre choice showed its effect, with Manzi dropping to fifth, with Tom Edwards and Luke Power leading on wet tyres with Valentin Debise and John McPhee closing up.
John McPhee set a fastest lap of 1'48.010 in fourth place and the leading four on wet tyres were lapping seven seconds quicker than Stefano Manzi in fourteenth place.
Lap three and Jorge Navarro set a 1'47.530, three seconds behind the leading four of Power, Edwards, Debise and McPhee. Nicolo Antonelli in fifth place, ten seconds off the lead, was the first rider with slick tyres. Lorenzo Baldassarri became the fourth crasher, overtaking Manzi and losing his rear slick.
As lap five closed, Navarro closed on the four bikes ahead of him, setting a 1'47.318 as he closed to just two seconds behind them. McPhee and Debise swapped places with Edwards at the front with Power dropping to fourth place as the scrap unfolded and was joined by Navarro to start lap seven. Debise took the lead round the outside of the Northern Loop as Navarro took fourth from McPhee. The leaders on wet tyres remained over twelve seconds ahead of the riders behind, with better pace with the half-wet track still rewarding their tyre choice.
In the dry section, a couple of the leading riders had rear twitches but Debise still managed to set a 1'47.302 fastest lap as the gap to the dry tyres was almost fourteen seconds off the back of the leading five on the wet tyres.
At half race distance, the slick tyres started to get quicker than the wets, with Adrian Huertas in thirteenth place setting a 1'46.940. Valentin Debise led Luke Power and Tom Edwards by over a second and a half as Huertas set a 1'45.889, a second quicker than Debise, but over thirty seconds off the lead in eleventh place.
With eight laps left and twenty seconds from the lead to the first slick-tyred bike, Niccolo Antonelli in sixth place, with Adrian Huertas in tenth place carving through the bikes around him and catching ninth-placed Stefano Manzi.
Valentin Debise led Luke Power and Tom Edwards by more than three seconds at the start of lap twelve of eighteen. Adrian Huertas set a 1'44.019 on his way to ninth place, then eighth, as he lapped four seconds quicker than the bikes ahead, closing on sixth placed Antonelli, passing him on lap thirteen.
Then, the rain gently started again.
At the start of lap fourteen, Huertas set a 1'42.547 and closed to six seconds off McPhee, pulling Manzi with him, under two seconds behind. Huertas was lapping five seconds quicker than the bikes in front, twenty seconds off the lead with five laps left.
Lap fifteen, Huertas set a 1'40.935, under fifteen seconds off Debise, passing McPhee with ease, lapping seven seconds a lap quicker. Lap sixteen, Huertas, setting a 1'40.335, was separated from Valentin Debise by under ten seconds and three bikes. Jorge Navarro was the first he passed with Tom Edwards and Luke Power shortly after and he started the penultimate lap three and a half seconds of Valentin Debise's lead. Huertas caught Debise in sector two and passed him in sector three.
Huertas started the last lap two and half seconds ahead of Debise with Stefano Manzi four and a half seconds further back, passing the wet tyre guys with ease. Glenn van Straalen followed Manzi, passing Edwards for fourth place. Stefano Manzi caught up with Debise and as Adrian Huertas took the chequered flag, Manzi brutally barged past Debise into the GT chicane, taking second place from him and leaving him to fend off local hero Glenn van Straalen to remain on the podium. Federico Caricasulo in sixth place set a fastest lap of 1'40.176 on the last lap to grant him pole position. Debise wasn't happy with Manzi's move into the chicane, but he retained third place in spite of running off the track.
Like the Superbike race, tyre choice made the race a game of two halves, with slick tyres only paying off to the top two, but making a huge difference to the best laps that determine the positions for race two tomorrow.
Stefano Manzi now leads the championship by nine points, ahead of Yari Montella and Marcel Schroetter. Tomorrow's race will be led by Federico Caricasulo, Adrian Huertas and Stefano Manzi on the front row with Glenn van Straalen, Marcel Schroetter and Lucas Mahias rounding out the second row.
Results:
Pos No. Rider Bike Gap 1 99 A. HUERTAS Ducati Panigale V2 2 62 S. MANZI Yamaha YZF R6 8.149 3 53 V. DEBISE Yamaha YZF R6 9.180 4 28 G. VAN STRAALEN Yamaha YZF R6 9.291 5 71 T. EDWARDS Ducati Panigale V2 14.695 6 64 F. CARICASULO MV Agusta F3 800 RR 19.375 7 9 J. NAVARRO Triumph Street Triple RS 765 19.412 8 54 B. SOFUOGLU MV Agusta F3 800 RR 22.148 9 94 L. MAHIAS Yamaha YZF R6 27.026 10 68 L. POWER MV Agusta F3 800 RR 27.841 11 17 J. MCPHEE Triumph Street Triple RS 765 27.970 12 23 M. SCHROETTER MV Agusta F3 800 RR 45.762 13 51 A. SARMOON Yamaha YZF R6 49.515 14 40 S. CORSI Ducati Panigale V2 49.815 15 5 N. ANTONELLI Ducati Panigale V2 52.177 16 61 C. ONCU Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'04.165 17 19 G. GIANNINI Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'05.409 18 3 R. DE ROSA QJMOTOR SRK 800 RR 1'07.258 19 39 K. KEANKUM Yamaha YZF R6 1'12.335 20 32 O. BAYLISS Ducati Panigale V2 1'13.058 21 74 P. BIESIEKIRSKI Ducati Panigale V2 1 Lap 22 25 M. BRENNER Kawasaki ZX-6R 1 Lap 23 89 K. BIN PAWI Honda CBR600RR 1 Lap 24 27 K. TOBA Honda CBR600RR 1 Lap 25 78 H. OKUBO Kawasaki ZX-6R 1 Lap RET 50 O. VOSTATEK Triumph Street Triple RS 765 10 Laps RET 7 L. BALDASSARRI Ducati Panigale V2 15 Laps RET 85 T. SMITS Yamaha YZF R6 17 Laps RET 69 T. BOOTH-AMOS Triumph Street Triple RS 765 RET 55 Y. MONTELLA Ducati Panigale V2 RET 66 N. TUULI Ducati Panigale V2
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Post by truenorth on Apr 20, 2024 6:39:56 GMT -8
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Post by truenorth on Apr 20, 2024 6:47:01 GMT -8
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Post by truenorth on Apr 20, 2024 6:51:03 GMT -8
COMEBACK: Adrian Huertas victorious as a slick tyre risk pays off Saturday, 20 April 2024 The Spaniard takes his second win of the season in an unpredictable race as the track began to dry The FIM Supersport World Championship continued to bring drama at the TT Circuit Assen, with Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) storming to victory on slick tyres. The #99 wins his second race of the season after charging from outside the points with 12 laps remaining to win Race 1 in the Netherlands. BACK ON TOP: Huertas returns to the top step It was a race of two halves, with Huertas’ gamble paying off, winning the race on slick tyres on a drying track. Behind the Spaniard was Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing Yamaha), who stole second place on the final corner – claiming a 16th second-place finish. Rounding off the podium and finishing as the top rain tyre runner was Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team), who claimed a third WorldSSP podium and his first podium outside of France. TYRE GAMBLES: a mix of tyres in tricky conditions There was drama before the race began, with Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) pulling into the pits. However, once the lights went out, it was a perfect launch off the line for Manzi from pole position. It was a disastrous start further down the field, with Niki Tuuli (EAB Racing Team) crashing on the exit of turn one. However, with half the track still wet it allowed Tom Edwards (D34G Racing WorldSSP Team) on rain tyres. Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph) would also crash at the start of the race before Lorenzo Baldassarri (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) became the victim of the tricky conditions. Debise eventually took the race lead and built a comfortable advantage. However, slick tyre runners got quicker, especially Huertas, who charged through the field to inside the top 10 with eight laps remaining. The #99’s pace built as the track continued to dry with a six-second difference per lap, allowing Huertas to catch and take the race lead away from Debise quickly. PODIUM DECIDER: a dramatic last lap to decide the top three positions On the final lap of the race, Manzi made his way into third position, charging to close the three-second gap to Debise in second place. The #62 made the move stick on the entry to the final corner on the final lap of the race. Debise ran wide, which put the Dutch crowd on their feet for a photo finish between Debise in third and Glenn van Straalen (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) in fourth. UNEXPECTED RESULTS: the battle for a spot in a competitive top 10 Van Straalen ended his home round in fourth position, ahead of Edwards in fifth, who spent the entire race on the slick tyres. Federico Caricasulo (Motozoo ME AIR Racing) was sixth, taking the fastest lap of the race in the process and finishing as the top MV Agusta. Jorge Navarro (WRP-RT Motorsport by SKM-Triumph) was seventh, ahead of Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha), with Luke Power (Motozoo ME AIR Racing) rounding out the top 10 finishers. The top six from WorldSSP Race 1, full results here: 1. Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) 2. Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) +8.149s 3. Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) +9.180s 4. Glenn van Straalen (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) +9.291s 5. Tom Edwards (D34G Racing WorldSSP Team) +14.695s 6. Federico Caricasulo (Motozoo ME AIR Racing) +19.375s Fastest lap: Federico Caricasulo, MV Agusta – 1’40.176s
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Post by truenorth on Apr 20, 2024 6:53:28 GMT -8
2024 Assen World Supersport Race One Result: A Game Of Two Halves By Jared Earle | Sat, 20/Apr/2024 - 07:02 World Supersport had messy qualifying yesterday in a Superpole session that turned wet minutes in, but riders outside the 105% were allowed to race. Tyre choice would be a hard decision as rain started after teams made their first choices. Eighteen laps under 18ºC weather with a half-wet, half-dry track, championship Yari Montella was pulled into the pits for a technical issue and could not make it out in time to start from the back of the grid and started from the pits instead.
Stefano Manzi led from pole position ahead of Marcel Schroetter and Glenn van Straalen who was sporting a fancy orange colour shame. Niki Tuuli crashed out at the start and was avoided by everyone. Marcel Schroetter missed his then and dropped out of the points.
After the wet section, tyre choice showed its effect, with Manzi dropping to fifth, with Tom Edwards and Luke Power leading on wet tyres with Valentin Debise and John McPhee closing up.
John McPhee set a fastest lap of 1'48.010 in fourth place and the leading four on wet tyres were lapping seven seconds quicker than Stefano Manzi in fourteenth place.
Lap three and Jorge Navarro set a 1'47.530, three seconds behind the leading four of Power, Edwards, Debise and McPhee. Nicolo Antonelli in fifth place, ten seconds off the lead, was the first rider with slick tyres. Lorenzo Baldassarri became the fourth crasher, overtaking Manzi and losing his rear slick.
As lap five closed, Navarro closed on the four bikes ahead of him, setting a 1'47.318 as he closed to just two seconds behind them. McPhee and Debise swapped places with Edwards at the front with Power dropping to fourth place as the scrap unfolded and was joined by Navarro to start lap seven. Debise took the lead round the outside of the Northern Loop as Navarro took fourth from McPhee. The leaders on wet tyres remained over twelve seconds ahead of the riders behind, with better pace with the half-wet track still rewarding their tyre choice.
In the dry section, a couple of the leading riders had rear twitches but Debise still managed to set a 1'47.302 fastest lap as the gap to the dry tyres was almost fourteen seconds off the back of the leading five on the wet tyres.
At half race distance, the slick tyres started to get quicker than the wets, with Adrian Huertas in thirteenth place setting a 1'46.940. Valentin Debise led Luke Power and Tom Edwards by over a second and a half as Huertas set a 1'45.889, a second quicker than Debise, but over thirty seconds off the lead in eleventh place.
With eight laps left and twenty seconds from the lead to the first slick-tyred bike, Niccolo Antonelli in sixth place, with Adrian Huertas in tenth place carving through the bikes around him and catching ninth-placed Stefano Manzi.
Valentin Debise led Luke Power and Tom Edwards by more than three seconds at the start of lap twelve of eighteen. Adrian Huertas set a 1'44.019 on his way to ninth place, then eighth, as he lapped four seconds quicker than the bikes ahead, closing on sixth placed Antonelli, passing him on lap thirteen.
Then, the rain gently started again.
At the start of lap fourteen, Huertas set a 1'42.547 and closed to six seconds off McPhee, pulling Manzi with him, under two seconds behind. Huertas was lapping five seconds quicker than the bikes in front, twenty seconds off the lead with five laps left.
Lap fifteen, Huertas set a 1'40.935, under fifteen seconds off Debise, passing McPhee with ease, lapping seven seconds a lap quicker. Lap sixteen, Huertas, setting a 1'40.335, was separated from Valentin Debise by under ten seconds and three bikes. Jorge Navarro was the first he passed with Tom Edwards and Luke Power shortly after and he started the penultimate lap three and a half seconds of Valentin Debise's lead. Huertas caught Debise in sector two and passed him in sector three.
Huertas started the last lap two and half seconds ahead of Debise with Stefano Manzi four and a half seconds further back, passing the wet tyre guys with ease. Glenn van Straalen followed Manzi, passing Edwards for fourth place. Stefano Manzi caught up with Debise and as Adrian Huertas took the chequered flag, Manzi brutally barged past Debise into the GT chicane, taking second place from him and leaving him to fend off local hero Glenn van Straalen to remain on the podium. Federico Caricasulo in sixth place set a fastest lap of 1'40.176 on the last lap to grant him pole position. Debise wasn't happy with Manzi's move into the chicane, but he retained third place in spite of running off the track.
Like the Superbike race, tyre choice made the race a game of two halves, with slick tyres only paying off to the top two, but making a huge difference to the best laps that determine the positions for race two tomorrow.
Stefano Manzi now leads the championship by nine points, ahead of Yari Montella and Marcel Schroetter. Tomorrow's race will be led by Federico Caricasulo, Adrian Huertas and Stefano Manzi on the front row with Glenn van Straalen, Marcel Schroetter and Lucas Mahias rounding out the second row.
Results:
Pos No. Rider Bike Gap 1 99 A. HUERTAS Ducati Panigale V2 2 62 S. MANZI Yamaha YZF R6 8.149 3 53 V. DEBISE Yamaha YZF R6 9.180 4 28 G. VAN STRAALEN Yamaha YZF R6 9.291 5 71 T. EDWARDS Ducati Panigale V2 14.695 6 64 F. CARICASULO MV Agusta F3 800 RR 19.375 7 9 J. NAVARRO Triumph Street Triple RS 765 19.412 8 54 B. SOFUOGLU MV Agusta F3 800 RR 22.148 9 94 L. MAHIAS Yamaha YZF R6 27.026 10 68 L. POWER MV Agusta F3 800 RR 27.841 11 17 J. MCPHEE Triumph Street Triple RS 765 27.970 12 23 M. SCHROETTER MV Agusta F3 800 RR 45.762 13 51 A. SARMOON Yamaha YZF R6 49.515 14 40 S. CORSI Ducati Panigale V2 49.815 15 5 N. ANTONELLI Ducati Panigale V2 52.177 16 61 C. ONCU Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'04.165 17 19 G. GIANNINI Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'05.409 18 3 R. DE ROSA QJMOTOR SRK 800 RR 1'07.258 19 39 K. KEANKUM Yamaha YZF R6 1'12.335 20 32 O. BAYLISS Ducati Panigale V2 1'13.058 21 74 P. BIESIEKIRSKI Ducati Panigale V2 1 Lap 22 25 M. BRENNER Kawasaki ZX-6R 1 Lap 23 89 K. BIN PAWI Honda CBR600RR 1 Lap 24 27 K. TOBA Honda CBR600RR 1 Lap 25 78 H. OKUBO Kawasaki ZX-6R 1 Lap RET 50 O. VOSTATEK Triumph Street Triple RS 765 10 Laps RET 7 L. BALDASSARRI Ducati Panigale V2 15 Laps RET 85 T. SMITS Yamaha YZF R6 17 Laps RET 69 T. BOOTH-AMOS Triumph Street Triple RS 765 RET 55 Y. MONTELLA Ducati Panigale V2 RET 66 N. TUULI Ducati Panigale V2
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Post by truenorth on Apr 21, 2024 5:53:41 GMT -8
"I didn’t know what the good tyre would be!’" – Spinelli on ‘incredible’ debut win and inspired tyre call Saturday, 20 April 2024 The Italian rider stunned the WorldSBK paddock with an intermediate tyre gamble to claim an unexpected win on his debut A new face made their debut in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at the TT Circuit Assen and wasted no time in making their mark. Nicholas Spinelli (Barni Spark Racing Team) claimed an incredible victory in his first race, giving the Barni Ducati team their first win in the WorldSBK class. The #24 was the only rider to use an all-intermediate combination and it paid off as he built up an incredible gap before a well-timed red flag from Spinelli’s view helped him to victory. SPINELLI’S STORY: P11, intermediate tyres… victory The Italian was quick in a wet Tissot Superpole session and took 11th place on the grid, showing his wet weather prowess which he did in WorldSSP last year with a podium in Australia. Using the intermediate tyres, he surged up the order to take the lead on the opening lap and opened up a gap of around 25 seconds. Although he lost masses of time in the final few laps, a red flag thanks to oil on track at Turn 15 allowed him to hold on for victory ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati). Spinelli’s win is just the third time WorldSBK has had two debutant winners in a single season, in 1989 after Doug Polen and Peter Goddard and 1996, with John Kocinski and Yuichi Takeda. HIS THOUGHTS: “I won, in front of Toprak and Bautista, the name of some legends” On the win, Spinelli said: “It’s incredible! My first race, I won, in front of Toprak and Bautista, the names of some legends. It’s incredible because I tried the Superbike yesterday for the first time, so when I tried, I said, ‘wow, it’s incredible’. Step by step and session by session, my feeling is really good. I’m very happy for the team as well.” WHY INTERMEDIATES? “I didn’t have the experience… it was a team decision!” “I made the decision because I don’t have experience with the bike,” began Spinelli when asked about the reasons he went for intermediates. “I said with my team that I didn’t know what the good tyre would be, so it was a team decision to go for the intermediate. In the first laps, I rode very well because I had a very big gap, up to 25 seconds, but in the latter laps, the gap got closer. When I saw four seconds on the last lap, I said, ‘it’s finished for me!’. Then I saw the red flags and for this, I’m very lucky, but this is racing.” THE TEAM’S VIEWS: “He’d never ridden a Superbike… we decided to give him this opportunity!” Reacting to the team’s first win in WorldSBK, Team Manager Marco Barnabo said: “We are very happy to have won this race. Obviously, we are sorry that Danilo got injured and couldn't lead this race, for which he could and would have been a protagonist. Anyway, we are happy because it is our first victory in the Superbike World Championship. After Danilo got injured, we had to decide whether to keep the bike off or put someone in his place. We decided to have Spinelli, who had won the Italian Supersport with us and then for many reasons we couldn't go on with him in other World Supersport seasons. So, we decided to give him this opportunity and to have won the race with him, who had never ridden a Superbike, and came here in really difficult conditions, it was very, very nice. Fantastic.” ZAMBENEDETTI SAYS: “A special moment… an incredible race!” In the middle of the pit lane celebrations, Ducati Corse Technical Director Marco Zambenedetti said: “It was an incredible race! I’m really happy for Barni, the team and all the staff. In the end Spinelli did a great job, he took some risks but I’m happy. A special moment for Barni, after many races.”
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Post by truenorth on Apr 21, 2024 5:57:23 GMT -8
COMEBACK COMPLETED: Alvaro Bautista makes a brilliant comeback to win, Toprak P9 Sunday, 21 April 2024 The Spaniard clawed his way through the field, claiming his 61st career victory on Sunday morning. The MOTUL FIM World Superbike World Championship kicked off Sunday’s action at the TT Circuit Assen in sunny conditions, with Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) showcasing an incredible comeback to fight through the field to win a nail-biting 10-lap Superpole Race. The Spaniard won by over two seconds from his teammate Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), who finished second, making it an Aruba.It Ducati one-two. SHOCK RESULTS: Bautista wins with the podium decided on the last lap Once the lights went out, Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) dropped to third on the exit to turn one, with rookie Bulega storming into the lead for the opening stage of the race and building a gap of almost three seconds in the early stages of the race. Bautista made a mistake early on, dropping to eighth. However, the #1 was not the only rider to make a mistake, with Razgatlioglu running wide and dropping from second to fourth – leaving the #54 with work to do. Bautista’s pace picked up, gaining positions and carving his way through the field into second position, and eventually catching his teammate. Bulega who like the rest of the field, opted for the SCQ tyre for the Superpole Race, set the fastest lap in lap three with a 1’33.882. However, once Bautista passed on the penultimate lap, the #11 had no response. Bautista crossed the line to win and complete an incredible comeback ahead of Bulega in second. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) stole third place at the final corner to claim his 37th career podium finish. REA RETURNS: Jonathan Rea finished inside the top five Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) did not finish inside the top three, with the Australian unable to respond to Lowes on the run to the line. Rea started from pole and ended the Superpole Race in fifth in a great sign of improvement from the #65, who battled for the podium throughout the race. Rea was ahead of his teammate Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha), who finished in sixth place, less than 10 seconds away from the win. DISAPPOINTMENT FOR TOPRAK: van der Mark finished as the top BMW Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) continued to build on his experience in the WorldSBK class, crossing the line in seventh. The Brit was ahead of Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), who came across the line to finish as the top BMW in a remarkable result. The home hero was ahead of his teammate Razgatlioglu, who was in ninth, claiming his worst finish since joining the German manufacturer - finishing more than 10 seconds away from victory. The top nine from the Tissot Superpole Race, full results here: 1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) 2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) +2.686s 3. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +7.403s 4. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +7.551s 5. Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) +8.177s 6. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) +9.114s 7. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +9.702s 8. Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +9.824s 9. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +10.034s Fastest lap: Nicolo Bulega, Ducati – 1’33.882s
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Post by truenorth on Apr 21, 2024 5:58:32 GMT -8
2024 Assen World Superbike Superpole Race Result: Finally, A Dry Race By Jared Earle | Sun, 21/Apr/2024 - 02:22 A cold, windy but dry morning sprint would be missing Iker Lecuona as he was ruled unfit for the remainder of the weekend. Everyone had the Q rear tyre and Scott Redding was the only rider on a different choice of front.
Championship leader Nicolo Bulega took the lead into turn one ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu, twitching on entry, and Jonathan Rea. Rea and Razgatlioglu swapped back and forth as Bulega escaped and Alvaro Bautista went wide and dropped to ninth place.
Razgatlioglu took second place before the start of lap two but went wide to let Rea and Alex Lowes past. Bulega set a fastest lap of 1'33.989 in the lead as he extended his lead over Rea to over a second with Razgatlioglu passing Lowes for third place. Bulega set a 1'33.882 on lap three, over a second and a half clear of Rea, Razgatlioglu, Alex Lowes and Remy Gardner with Sam Lowes and Alvaro Bautista over a second further back. At the end of lap four, Lowes passed Razgatlioglu into the GT chicane and Gardner passed early in to lap five.
At half racer distance, Nicolo Bulega led Jonathan Rea by over two and a half seconds, with Alex Lowes, Remy Gardner and Alvaro Bautista after passing Toprak Razgatlioglu. Bautista passed Gardner in the last sector and started lap seven in fourth place behind Alex Lowes, under two tenths from Rea in second and passed them both in the sweeping corners.
Razgatlioglu in sixth place had to fend off Sam Lowes as his pace was off, his tyres dropping off early and Lowes passed him easily.
At the start of lap nine, Bulega's lead was eaten into by Bautista who had dropped the riders behind him and the two Ducatis were three seconds clear of the fight for third led by Rea. Bautista slid round the fast turns and passed Bulega before the final chicane.
Alvaro Bautista, lapping over a second and a half quicker than the rest of the field, started the last lap in the lead and started escaping and his sheer pace gave him the win by over two and a half seconds. Nicolo Bulega took second place and, five seconds further back, Alex Lowes passed Remy Gardner into the final chicane to take the last step on the podium.
Gardener's fourth place was his second of the weekend and he will start this afternoon's race at the front of the second row, alongside Jonathan Rea and Andrea Locatelli. Toprak Razgatlioglu could only manage ninth place, behind Sam Lowes and Michael Van der Mark.
Alvaro Bautista, making the most of an uncanny amount of tyre life left at the end of the race, takes the lead of the championship, ahead of his teammate Nicolo Bulega.
Results:
Pos No. Rider Bike Gap 1 1 A. BAUTISTA Ducati Panigale V4R 2 11 N. BULEGA Ducati Panigale V4R 2.686 3 22 A. LOWES Kawasaki ZX-10RR 7.403 4 87 R. GARDNER Yamaha YZF R1 7.551 5 65 J. REA Yamaha YZF R1 8.177 6 55 A. LOCATELLI Yamaha YZF R1 9.114 7 14 S. LOWES Ducati Panigale V4R 9.702 8 60 M. VAN DER MARK BMW M 1000 RR 9.824 9 54 T. RAZGATLIOGLU BMW M 1000 RR 10.034 10 45 S. REDDING BMW M 1000 RR 11.981 11 31 G. GERLOFF BMW M 1000 RR 14.886 12 97 X. VIERGE Honda CBR1000 RR-R 15.148 13 47 A. BASSANI Kawasaki ZX-10RR 15.922 14 77 D. AEGERTER Yamaha YZF R1 16.927 15 29 A. IANNONE Ducati Panigale V4R 21.202 16 21 M. RINALDI Ducati Panigale V4R 22.384 17 95 T. MACKENZIE Honda CBR1000 RR-R 25.887 18 24 N. SPINELLI Ducati Panigale V4R 26.597 19 5 P. OETTL Yamaha YZF R1 29.518 20 28 B. RAY Yamaha YZF R1 29.851 RET 27 A. NORRODIN Honda CBR1000 RR-R 5 RET 53 T. RABAT Kawasaki ZX-10RR 3
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Post by truenorth on Apr 21, 2024 6:02:16 GMT -8
MIXED CONDITIONS MASTERCLASS: Razgatlioglu beats Bautista in Assen classic, Gardner claims first rostrum Sunday, 21 April 2024 It was an unforgettable race in WorldSBK after some mid-race rain added an extra challenge to the race Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) claimed his first win at the TT Circuit Assen in sensational style after some mid-race rain provided plenty of excitement for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship field. The Turkish star started from ninth on the grid but made quick progress to be in the podium fight, before battling with reigning Champion Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) for victory during the Pirelli Dutch Round in WorldSBK’s 950th race. A QUICK START: Razgatlioglu charges, Locatelli challenges When the lights went out, Bautista got a great start from first on the grid, as did teammate Nicolo Bulega next to him with the #1 holding on to P1 through the first lap. The rider on the move was Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) as he moved from sixth to second on the first lap and challenged Bautista. However, ‘Loka’ soon found himself behind Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) who was determined to claim a first podium and then Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), as the Turkish star battled from ninth to third in the first few laps. On Lap 6, Razgatlioglu moved into second as he overtook Gardner to move into second place, with the chasing pack generally having more pace over Bautista although the battling costing them time. At the end of Lap 7, Razgatlioglu made his move for P1 by passing the #1 into the final chicane under braking; a trademark move of ‘El Turco’. Rain started to fall on Lap 8 with the white flags shown, signally that riders could change tyres if they wanted, although no one dived into the pits immediately. Elsewhere, Locatelli passed Gardner on Lap 8 for the podium through the chicane, although Gardner responded a lap later, and Bautista re-claimed P1 on Lap 9 with a superb pass over Razgatlioglu. RAIN STARTS FALLING: mastering the conditions With the rain falling harder, it was Gardner’s Yamaha machine who had the pace advantage, passing Bautista at the final chicane to take the lead and demote Bautista into second, before Locatelli moved ahead of the reigning Champion. The #55 soon moved into the lead with an aggressive move on Gardner at Turn 8 before Bautista followed him through, with the #1 putting the pressure on ‘Loka’, passing him at the start at Lap 16 when the Italian ran wide. Soon, Razgatlioglu was back in front when he passed Bautista at the Geert Timmer Chicane for the lead, with Gardner all over the pair of them. With four laps to go, the gaps stretched out a little but although everything remained close despite Razgatlioglu edging out a gap. It enabled the 2021 Champion to hold on for victory, his third of the season as well as his and BMW’s first win at the Dutch venue. Bautista took second, moving onto 96 rostrums and three behind Chaz Davies in the all-time list, while Gardner held on to finally take his first WorldSBK rostrum after so many fourth-place finishes and his first in any class since the 2021 Algarve Grand Prix. He became the first Australian on the podium since Misano Race 1 in 2010, when Troy Corser was on the rostrum. NARROWLY MISSING OUT: Iannone takes top Independent spot, van der Mark penalised Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) was on the move throughout the race as he moved into podium contention but had to settle for fourth place ahead of Locatelli in fifth despite leading the race at times, finishing just a tenth behind Iannone. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) took sixth place, and he was just a tenth away from the Dutchman ahead, with the Brit taking advantage of difficult conditions to move up to P6. He was initially classified in seventh but a three-second penalty for Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) for not losing one second at the final chicane when he went off the track promoted him into the top six. FIGHTING BACK: Aegerter into the top eight, Vierge claims P10 Van der Mark’s penalty promoted Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) to seventh place and Bulega to eighth, with the #11 dropping down the order during the 21-lap race despite his strong start. Van der Mark was classified in ninth place following his penalty but crossing the line in P6 will have pleased him and BMW, showing another sign of the progress the German manufacturer has made this season. Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) finished as the lead Honda rider with 10th place, equalling his best of the season. IN THE POINTS: a best of the season for Mackenzie Tarran Mackenzie (PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda) surged up the order in the difficult conditions, taking 11th for his best of 2024, finishing only a tenth down on Vierge ahead. He was also two seconds clear of American rider Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) in 12th, with the #31 running in the top ten at points during the race. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team Motocorsa Racing) claimed 13th with Philipp Oettl (GMT94 Yamaha) in 14th and Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) completing the points-paying positions. JUST MISSING OUT: Spinelli close to more points, Rea and Lowes collide Nicholas Spinelli (Barni Spark Racing Team) was just 0.087s from the points in Race 2 but had to settle for 16th in what was an unforgettable weekend for the #24. Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) was 17th with Axel Bassani (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in 18th; the Italian had a huge moment in the final sector which dropped him down the order. Scott Redding (Bonovo Action BMW) was enjoying his best weekend of 2024, but it ended in the gravel when he crashed at Turn 17. At the start of Lap 10, Rea and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) collided at Turn 1 to end their progress, with Lowes retiring and taken to the medical centre for a check-up, while Rea re-joined in 20th and last before he fought back to claim 19th, ahead of Adam Norrodin (PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda). The top six from WorldSBK Race 2, full results here: 1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 2. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) +0.625s 3. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +1.022 4. Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) +3.120s 5. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) +3.217s 6. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +5.174 Fastest lap: Remy Gardner, Yamaha – 1’34.295s Championship Standings: 1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) 123 points 2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 117 3. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) 109 4. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 93 5. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) 64 6. Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) 64
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Post by truenorth on Apr 21, 2024 6:04:24 GMT -8
2024 Assen World Superbike Race Two Result: Lessons Learned, Lessons Applied By Jared Earle | Sun, 21/Apr/2024 - 05:49 Once again, uncertainty hung over the Assen World Superbike race, with a dry start but a chance of change. Soft tyres were mostly the order of the day for the twenty one lap race. Overhear fifty six thousand fans turned up over the weekend in spite of the weather.
Alvaro Bautista and Nicolo Bulega led Andrea Locatelli into turn one and Locatelli and Jonathan Rea both passed Bulega but Bulega took third place back before lap two started. Remy Gardner made it three Yamahas in the top five with Toprak Razgatlioglu behind them.
After a shuffling of places, Razgatlioglu took fifth place off a displaced Rea, the pair both sporting harder rear tyres. Remy Gardner in third place set a 1'34.295 on lap two and started lap three in third place behind Bautista and Locatelli. Razgatlioglu passed Bulega for fourth as Scott Redding crashed further back. Gardner took his pace to second place and Razgatlioglu passed Locatelli for third place at the end of lap three.
Lap five, Gardner in second place closed up on Bautista in the lead and brought Razgatlioglu with him. The top ten were covered by just three and a half seconds with no significant gaps in the pack.
Five laps down, into turn eight, Razgatlioglu seized the opportunity to take second place off Gardner, but it cost him a few tenths to Bautista to make the pass. Throughout lap seven, Razgatlioglu made up the gap to the leader and started lap eight in the lead after passing Bautista neatly into the GT chicane. Gardner and Locatelli remained in tough behind Bautista as the rain threatened. Locatelli and Gardner swapped back and forth without losing touch with Bautista.
White flags warned the riders of rain in two sectors on lap nine as Iannone closed the gap from Michael van der Mark to Gardner. Bautista took the lead back off Razgatlioglu as Gardner passed Locatelli with Iannone following shortly after.
Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes crashed out together but Rea was able to rejoin the race in twentieth place. Iannone tried to pass Gardner on the outside into the chicane, but Gardner carried his speed to train third place. Van der Mark and Nicolo Bulega closed up on the fight for fourth as the leading trio of Bautista, Razgatlioglu and Gardner escaped from the fight for fourth over a second behind them.
Rain didn't slow Gardner down and he passed Razgatlioglu into turn eight and harassed Bautista to take the lead before the final chicane, starting lap thirteen in the lead. Locatelli took a weird line to push a cautious Razgatlioglu back a place and carried his pace past Bautista. Gardner and Locatelli opened lap fourteen in the lead with Bautista and Razgatlioglu behind them. Van der Mark took fourth place off Razgatlioglu cleanly into turn five and Locatelli passed Gardner and was followed by Bautista as the leading seven were covered by just over a second.
Fifteen laps completed, Locatelli led Bautista, Gardner, Razgatlioglu, Iannone, van der Mark and Bulega until Locatelli ran off track and recovered in sixth place. Once again, Bautista and Razgatlioglu led the race, separated by a tenth of a second, and Razgatlioglu once again passed into the chicane to start lap seventeen in the lead as Bautista defended second place from Gardner.
The leading trio started lap eighteen of twenty one with Iannone in fourth place over a second off the lead as Razgatlioglu started to try to escape from the fight between Bautista and Gardner behind him.
Lap nineteen, nine riders at the front were covered by just over three seconds, with a small gap between Iannone and Van der Mark in fourth and fifth.
At the start of the penultimate lap, Razgatlioglu had a small lead over Bautista and Gardner with Iannone a second off the fight for the podium and van der Mark a further second back. Drops of rain showed up in sector four and Bautista tried to pass into the last chicane but Razgatlioglu wasn't having it.
After turn one, Razgatlioglu put in a gap from Bautista on the last lap. Bautista slid the rear slightly out of a couple of corners and was unable to close on Razgatlioglu who was sliding both wheels, his choice of the harder rear holding out to the end.
Toprak Razgatlioglu, starting from ninth place, won by pushing hard in the last sector and celebrated like it was his first win, learning about the cost of tyre wear in the sprint race. Alvaro Bautista and Remy Gardner took the remaining podium places, Gardner taking his career first podium. Two seconds further back, Andrea Iannone and Andrea Locatelli took fourth and fifth with Michael van der Mark grabbing sixth in front of his home crowd only to be dumped back to ninth, getting a three second penalty for course cutting without losing one second at turn seventeen, having been let off for an earlier incident in the race.
Razgatlioglu's fan club were present with their large flags and joyful singing of the anthem and, with his win, Toprak Razgatlioglu climbed from fourth place in the championship to second place behind Alvaro Bautista, a deficit of just six points and eight points clear of Nicolo Bulega.
Results:
Pos No. Rider Bike Gap 1 54 T. RAZGATLIOGLU BMW M 1000 RR 2 1 A. BAUTISTA Ducati Panigale V4R 0.625 3 87 R. GARDNER Yamaha YZF R1 1.022 4 29 A. IANNONE Ducati Panigale V4R 3.120 5 55 A. LOCATELLI Yamaha YZF R1 3.217 6 14 S. LOWES Ducati Panigale V4R 5.174 7 77 D. AEGERTER Yamaha YZF R1 5.538 8 11 N. BULEGA Ducati Panigale V4R 6.337 9P 60 M. VAN DER MARK BMW M 1000 RR 8.059 10 97 X. VIERGE Honda CBR1000 RR-R 19.453 11 95 T. MACKENZIE Honda CBR1000 RR-R 19.556 12 31 G. GERLOFF BMW M 1000 RR 21.771 13 21 M. RINALDI Ducati Panigale V4R 22.322 14 5 P. OETTL Yamaha YZF R1 31.822 15 53 T. RABAT Kawasaki ZX-10RR 35.305 16 24 N. SPINELLI Ducati Panigale V4R 35.392 17 28 B. RAY Yamaha YZF R1 37.947 18 47 A. BASSANI Kawasaki ZX-10RR 43.360 19 65 J. REA Yamaha YZF R1 1'18.925 20 27 A. NORRODIN Honda CBR1000 RR-R 1'34.526 RET 22 A. LOWES Kawasaki ZX-10RR 12 Laps RET 45 S. REDDING BMW M 1000 RR 20 Laps
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Post by truenorth on Apr 21, 2024 6:20:53 GMT -8
"I enjoyed it… a really impressive comeback!" – Bautista delighted after stunning Sunday at Assen Sunday, 21 April 2024 The Spaniard gained the Championship lead with two podiums on Sunday, including victory in the Superpole Race from P7 on the grid Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) ended the Pirelli Dutch Round with a Tissot Superpole Race victory and a second place in Race 2, leaving him delighted heading into his team’s home round next time out. The results have given him the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship standings lead over Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) by just six points after a dramatic Sunday at the iconic TT Circuit Assen. Bautista started the Superpole Race from seventh place and found himself as low as ninth on the first lap after running wide while trying to pass former teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team Motocorsa Racing), but soon charged up the order to move into second place with a few laps to go. From there, he set his sights on 2024 teammate Nicolo Bulega out in front. He made light work of the #11, passing him through the final sector before pulling out 2.6 seconds on his rookie stablemate. That set him up for Race 2 with first place on the grid and he took advantage of that to lead through the opening few laps, before the rain started to fall to add an extra dimension to the race. Lots of riders took turns leading – Bautista, Razgatlioglu and Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) included – with the last two Champions fighting for victory. In the end, it was the #54 who claimed the win after passing Bautista on Lap 16 at the Geert Timmer Chicane. Reflecting on his win and podium on Sunday, Bautista said: “Race 2 was like all weekend, really tricky and difficult because conditions were really changing. In the morning Superpole Race, I had a good feeling with the bike, and I could push 100%. The conditions were more stable than the rest of the weekend. It was the first time we had normal conditions. I enjoyed it, especially the first laps where I battled a lot with other riders to make a really impressive comeback. In the afternoon, I had a good start. I tried to keep my pace. I was quite confident, making good lines, but then it started to rain a little bit and it basically never stopped lightly raining during the race. In one part of the race, it started to rain a bit harder in some areas. We slowed down a little bit, then, after I tried to push again, I think the rear tyre cooled down too much and I couldn’t get the temperature to push at the end, so I didn’t have the same feeling as the start of the race. To finish on the podium was important. It’s been a really tough weekend.” The results on Sunday mean Bautista has taken the Championship lead for the first time this season, after a difficult first couple of rounds for the reigning Champion. He leads Razgatlioglu by six points with Bulega in third, the smallest gap between the top two after nine races since 2020, when Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) led Scott Redding (Bonovo Action BMW) by just four points. With the lead in his pocket, Bautista explained what he wants to achieve next time out at Misano. He said: “I think you can expect what you want to expect! What’s important for me is in Barcelona, we found something that helped me to ride like I wanted again and also here we used the same base setup as Barcelona because in this weather, we couldn’t work on the bike. At Misano, I hope to have better or more normal conditions and try to take a step forward. In the end, the results are the consequences of the good work.”
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Post by truenorth on Apr 21, 2024 6:52:47 GMT -8
DUTCH DELIGHT: Glenn van Straalen storms to victory with Ten Kate Racing Sunday, 21 April 2024 The Dutch rider has won his maiden race in tricky conditions in the Netherlands ahead of Huertas. For the final time this weekend, the FIM Supersport World Championship went racing at the TT Circuit Assen in a race which will be remembered for a long time. Glenn van Straalen (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) took the race win at his home race and the home race for the Ten Kate team. The #28 became the first Dutch winner at Assen in 10 years and the fourth Dutch winner in WorldSSP. HOME HERO: van Straalen wins ahead of Huertas After finishing fourth in Race 1, van Straalen put on an incredible display to win after pitting for wet tyres on lap two. The #28 made his way into second in the closing stages of the race to pass to take the lead with four laps remaining. Van Straalen finished ahead of Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team), claimed his fourth podium in the WorldSSP class, finding the pace to steal second from Niki Tuuli (EAB Racing Team), who was the first rider to pit on the first lap and ends Sunday with his 11th podium. STRATEGY: pit stops were key in Race 2 Rain fell throughout the warm-up lap, with the entire grid on slick tyres. Leading into turn one was Huertas, who ran wide as the rain began to pour down in a tense start to the race. Eight riders pitted at the end of the first lap, with Tuuli entering the pitlane first. Race leader Huertas then decided to pit on lap two and was followed by another eight riders, with each rider needing to spend at least a 76-second intervention time in the pitlane. Tom Edwards (D34G Racing WorldSSP Team) led the race in the early stages after deciding to stay out on slick tyres. John McPhee (WRP-RT Motorsport by SKM-Triumph) was another rider who stayed on slicks, eventually crashing out of the race. There was over 20 seconds difference per lap between the slick and rain tyre runners with still 14 laps remaining. Edwards was passed by Kaito Toba (PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda), who claimed the lead before Lorenzo Baldassarri (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) took the lead. Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) pitted on lap five, dropping the #62 to 25th position – outside the points. Things soon went from bad to worse for Manzi, receiving an 11.82s penalty for not completing the 76-second intervention time. With 10 laps remaining, the battle for second place was tense, with Tuuli soon finding his way through Huertas and Toba. Van Straalen, however, was on a charge as he made his way into second before stealing the lead. HOT PACE: Tuuli unable to respond to Huertas On the last lap of the race, all eyes were on Dutch rider van Straalen and the riders in second and third, with Huertas finding his through on Tuuli. The #66 could not respond to Huertas’ pace, with the Spaniard stretching the gap to over half a second at the line. With a strong pace on the last lap, van Straalen was able to take his maiden victory and become a home hero. UNEXPECTED: some unexpected results for riders inside the top 10 Nicolo Antonelli (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team) finished in fourth, just 1.223s away from a podium after making a mistake on the final lap of the race. Rounding out the top five was Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), who showed consistent pace throughout the entire race, finishing ahead of Baldassarri in seventh. Toba came to the line to finish in seventh, ahead of Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) in eighth. Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) ended the race in ninth ahead of Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), who rounded out the top 10. The top six from WorldSSP Race 2, full results here: 1. Glenn van Straalen (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) 2. Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) +1.352s 3. Niki Tuuli (EAB Racing Team) 2.944s 4. Niccolo Antonelli (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team) 4.167s 5. Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +10.872s 6. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) +13.285s Fastest lap: Bahattin Sofuoglu, MV Agusta – 1’45.814s Championship standings: 1. Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) 86 points 2. Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) 85 3. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) 84 4. Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) 83 5. Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) 55 6. Federico Caricasulo (Motozoo ME AIR Racing) 54
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Post by truenorth on Apr 21, 2024 6:53:35 GMT -8
2024 Assen World Supersport Race Two Result: Of Course Weather Threatens A Return By Jared Earle | Sun, 21/Apr/2024 - 06:58 The last race of the weekend would not let the grandstands go home without one last stab of rain. As the grid started their sighting lap on slick tyres, the rain flags started in sector one and as they rounded the track, the rain increased. Pit intervention time, if it comes to that, is seventy six seconds. The 20ºC weather made everything unpredictable as the lights went out.
Adrian Huertas led Can Oncu and Stefano Manzi, Oncu getting a remarkable start. Everyone rode round gingerly as the start of the track started to get very wet, very fast. Adrian Huertyas showed no fear and ended lap one over a second and a half in the lead. Ninth-placed Niki Tuuli and Lorenzo Baldassarri pitted in for wet tyres. John McPhee crashed out trying to take second place from Oncu.
Lap times dropped and most riders at the front pitted in but Tom Edwards set a 2'07.099 in the lead with Stefano Manzi, Federico Caricasulo, Valentin Debise, Luke Power, Yari Montella and Lucas Mahias remained out, taking their chances on slick tyres, five seconds slower on lap three than they were on lap two and Montella gave up on his slicks and pulled in.
Niki Tuuli on his first lap in the wet tyres, set a 1'49.504, thirteen seconds a lap quicker than the leaders and only forty five seconds off the lead.
A lap later, Tuuli set a 1'48.748, seventeen seconds off the lead. Lorenzo Baldassasri was the leading wet tyre rider and he charged past everyone, but Kaito Toba took the lead from him, starting lap six in the lead ahead of Lorenzo Baldassarri, Adrian Huertas, Niccolo Antonelli and Niki Tuuli. Most of the last slick holdouts finally pulled in for wet tyres and put themselves a lap off the lead.
Baldassarri took the lead from Toba and Huertas as oncer again, Tuuli set the fastest lap, a 1'48.036, in fifth place behind Antonelli. Huertas took second place off Toba and closed on Baldassarri.
Niki Tuuli closed to within two seconds of the leader Baldassarri, lapping half a second quicker, but sixth-placed Glenn van Straalen set a 1'46.847 fastest lap five seconds off Tuuli. Tuuli passed Antonelli and set his sights on Toba ahead of him, starting lap nine ahead of him, but Tuuli nearly crashed passing Toba and Huertas for second place, closing on Baldassarri at half race distance.
Nine laps of eighteen down, Lorenzo Baldassarri led Niki Tuuli by under half a second with Adrian Huertas, Toba and Antonelli. Tuuli took the lead around the outside as the leaders met back markers on the wrong tyres, seven riders lapped. One lapped rider, Krittapat Keankum was put under investigation for holding up the racers that lapped him. Tuuli extended his lap to over two seconds by the end of lap eleven.
Glenn van Straalen climbed up to fourth place, setting a 1'46.794 on lap eleven, then third place behind Huertas, pushing Baldassarri and Toba off the podium, and closed on second-placed Huertas.
Tuuli led van Strallen, who took second place in front of the cheering grandstand at the GT chicane, by two seconds. Tuuli led van Straalen by a second and a half at the start of lap fourteen as a dry line was visible around the track. Lap fifteen, the lead was under a second as van Straalen sniffed a home round win ahead of him. Van Straalen, on his special orange liveried Yamaha, closed on Tuuli to end the lap taking the lead into the chicane under the grandstand. On lap sixteen, he held his pace and escaped in the lead.
A second and a half behind Tuuli, Huertas denied off Antonelli with Baldassarri and Toba over four seconds behind, and at the start of the penultimate lap, van Straalen led Tuuli by almost two seconds. Bahattin Sofuoglu picked up his pace and passed Toba. Antonelli hit the gravel but returned to the track in fourth place as Huertas caught and passed Tuuli.
Glenn van Straalen rode a careful last lap as Adrian Huertas closed, but was too far back to even get in his wake before the flag. Van Straalen won in front of his local fans on his orange bike, leading Adrian Huertas by over a second with Niki Tuuli rounding out the podium. Niccolo Antonelli took a safe fourth place in spite of his excursion off track. Tuuli blamed his second place on a slower tyre change, losing five or six seconds in the pits.
Adrian Huertas took charge of the championship as his rivals suffered from tyre choice, Montella and Schroetter finishing in eighth and ninth with Manzi out of the points, and the top four of the championship were covered by four points going into the seven week break. Glenn van Straalen's first World Supersport win raised him to eighth place in the championship.
Results:
Pos No. Rider Bike Gap 1 28 G. VAN STRAALEN Yamaha YZF R6 2 99 A. HUERTAS Ducati Panigale V2 1.352 3 66 N. TUULI Ducati Panigale V2 2.944 4 5 N. ANTONELLI Ducati Panigale V2 4.167 5 54 B. SOFUOGLU MV Agusta F3 800 RR 10.872 6 7 L. BALDASSARRI Ducati Panigale V2 13.285 7 27 K. TOBA Honda CBR600RR 19.361 8 55 Y. MONTELLA Ducati Panigale V2 26.280 9 23 M. SCHROETTER MV Agusta F3 800 RR 36.279 10 61 C. ONCU Kawasaki ZX-6R 41.854 11 85 T. SMITS Yamaha YZF R6 41.874 12 9 J. NAVARRO Triumph Street Triple RS 765 46.345 13 74 P. BIESIEKIRSKI Ducati Panigale V2 50.433 14 40 S. CORSI Ducati Panigale V2 58.640 15 51 A. SARMOON Yamaha YZF R6 1'03.842 16 19 G. GIANNINI Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'04.979 17 69 T. BOOTH-AMOS Triumph Street Triple RS 765 1'05.992 18 78 H. OKUBO Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'10.291 19 53 V. DEBISE Yamaha YZF R6 1'24.306 20 25 M. BRENNER Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'39.174 21 89 K. BIN PAWI Honda CBR600RR 1'42.553 22 P 62 S. MANZI Yamaha YZF R6 1'44.571 23 64 F. CARICASULO MV Agusta F3 800 RR 1 Lap 24 39 K. KEANKUM Yamaha YZF R6 1 Lap 25 94 L. MAHIAS Yamaha YZF R6 1 Lap 26 71 T. EDWARDS Ducati Panigale V2 1 Lap 27 50 O. VOSTATEK Triumph Street Triple RS 765 1 Lap 28 3 R. DE ROSA QJMOTOR SRK 800 RR 3 Laps RET 32 O. BAYLISS Ducati Panigale V2 3 Laps RET 68 L. POWER MV Agusta F3 800 RR 14 Laps RET 17 J. MCPHEE Triumph Street Triple RS 765 17 Laps
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Post by truenorth on Apr 24, 2024 7:21:12 GMT -8
The Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team has been born. From next year, the Italian manufacturer will run in the World Superbike with its own bike, powered by the engine of the ZX-10RR. Coming from the Japanese manufacturer
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Post by truenorth on Apr 25, 2024 14:23:08 GMT -8
Bimota And Kawasaki - A New Focus And A New Branding Strategy By Steve English | Thu, 25/Apr/2024 - 05:37 The news that Bimota is returning to WorldSBK in 2025 came as a surprise to the paddock. The withdrawal of Kawasaki as a full-factory effort from the series, after eight World Championships, blindsided many but what does it actually mean for the series?
In many ways it will be business as usual. Provec Racing, the Catalan team that has morphed into the Kawasaki Racing Team over the years, has been the factory supported squad for the championship since 2011. In that time the team, led by the Roda brothers, became the standard bearer of the series. This success culminated in Jonathan Rea’s unprecedented six titles in a row. Since 2021, though, the team and manufacturer have fallen on harder times.
Switching from Kawasaki to Bimota is a decision that has been a considerable time in the making. In 2019 Kawasaki Heavy Industries purchased Bimota. KHI is a massive company and their motorcycle division is a tiny part of a massive empire. With almost 40,000 employees KHI is involved in a myriad of industries including aeronautical, shipping, off-shore structures, rail and many more. Motorcycling is the part we care about but it’s only a small part of what makes that company tick.
Brand value
With that in mind it’s easy to see why switching to the Bimota brand makes sense. The Italian firm is a historic marque. It’s a famous name with a rich history. Over the decades Bimota’s brand built up an enthusiastic base. While not evoking the same response as Ducati or MV Augusta, they are a brand that means something to many. This tugging on the heartstrings is the main reason for the Superbike racing switch in 2025.
Nobody likes to think of motorcycle racing as a balance sheet sport. Passion is what fuels the sport rather than profit and loss columns...or at least that’s how we look at it. For KHI this switch makes perfect sense. For Kawasaki to build a new Superbike would take an investment of tens of millions of dollars. To build a new super limited edition Bimota Superbike with Kawasaki power instead means that there can be now a limited edition homologation special. Of course this was also possible using the green brand, but would customers pay up to €45,000 for a Kawasaki Ninja? No. Will they do it for a luxury brand with a historic name? Time will tell.
For Provec Racing the switch should mean that the majority of their on-site personnel remains the same. There is no need to break up their existing structures but, at least in the short term, you would expect involvement from Bimota’s side on chassis development. With a new brand coming into the the Provec should be exempt from testing restrictions. You can expect that a test team will be busy running around European circuits in the coming months.
Same names, different pressures
For Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani the news brings with it different pressures. Lowes is out of contract at the end of the season but has been one of the surprise packages of 2024. With only one mistake, during Sunday’s Race 2 at Assen where he crashed, he has become the team leader following Jonathan Rea’s departure. His relationship with Pere Riba has been very successful thus far and the crew chief will be keen to keep his rider in place. Bassani has a second year remaining on his Kawasaki contract and that will carry forward to the new project.
The decision by Kawasaki also brought out plenty of rumours online. Does this mean that Kawasaki are now planning a MotoGP return with the new 2027 regulations package set to be announced? The indications are that this is a decision based strictly on market requirements and rebranding.
Another question that immediately surfaced was “did Rea know this was coming?” The answer to this is almost certainly no. Rea made his decision to leave and had to pay a hefty release clause for the privilege. He made his decision because last year, prior to the rule changes for 2024, he saw little chance of challenging for the championship again on the ZX10-RR.
For the future Independent teams will still be able to race the Kawasaki and it remains to be seen what this announcement means for Puccetti Racing. The team has ran Kawasaki machinery in both the Supersport and Superbike classes but there was no mention of what they will compete with in 2025.
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