The San Marino round is the eighth of the HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championship in 2010 and will take place at the Misano World Circuit between 25 and 27 June. There will a full card of races at the popular track close to Misano Adriatico, as the championship returns to Europe for the first time since the Monza round on May 9th. Several of the top teams have taken advantage of the long break between the previous Miller Motorsports Park meeting in the USA and the San Marino race weekend to make their own tests, many at Misano itself.
New championship leader Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) also leads the 2010 win count with six as we enter the second half of another exciting year in WSBK, all of the four-time 250cc GP Champion’s victories coming in twos. Max has scored doubles at Portimao, Monza and most recently Miller. Hot on his heels is long-time leader Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare), now eager to make up for a crash in the USA that cost him his championship advantage. Both top protagonists, plus their team-mates Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) and Sylvain Guintoli (Alstare Suzuki), tested at Misano recently.
Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and his talented team-mate Max Neukirchner made their own private tests at their team’s home circuit of Assen last week. The Honda duo will be keen to return to Misano in race mode however, as each has taken a victory at the ever-evolving Misano World Circuit, Rea last year and Neukirchner the year before. Rea is currently third in the championship standings, ten points ahead of the desperately unlucky Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) who was forced out of the lead in each Miller race. Carlos will have his usual high level of motivation going into Misano, and like his team-mate Shane Byrne he has tested at Misano as well, as part of the recent World Ducati Week festival.
Official Ducati riders Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) also tested at Misano during that period, and there could be no better place for the talented duo to get back to their very best winning form. It has been a tough year on occasion for Michel and Nori, but they have each taken a race win; Nori in Spain and Michel in South Africa.
Two of the fastest riders at the recent Misano tests were James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda) and his team-mate Cal Crutchlow, who are looking to score their first wins of the year. BMW Motorrad Motorsports’ Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus were not quite at the level of the fastest riders in the Misano sessions, but Corser in particular was very close on times, and looks to one of his favourite circuits to be able to show his podium quality again on the ever-improving S1000RR. Xaus has put in some outstanding rides at Misano and the most recent of his 11 career race wins came there in 2008.
One of the few top teams not to test recently is the Kawasaki Racing Team, but Tom Sykes and Chris Vermeulen are very much up for a fight in Italy, with Vermeulen now getting on top of his long-term knee injury and Sykes having had to rest his body after a heavy crash in America.
In the kingdom of the true privateers, Jakub Smrz (Pata B&G Ducati) and Luca Scassa (Supersonic) have been battling it out for the title of most impressive rider so far. Scassa may be nearer to home ground, and have tested at Misano recently (as did the DFX Ducati team) but Smrz can count on memories of being the 2009 Superpole winner at Misano to boost his pre-race hopes. Lorenzo Lanzi returns to action for DFX Ducati this weekend.
Four-cylinder private entries from ECHO CRS Honda rider Broc Parkes, and Pedercini Kawasaki riders Roger Lee Hayden and Matteo Baiocco are in place once more, and there will be a wildcard in their midst this weekend as well. Regular CIV competitor Federico Sandi (Gabrielli Racing Team) will join the grid at Misano on his Aprilia RSV4 machine.
Points (after 7 rounds of 13): 1. Biaggi 257; 2. Haslam 242; 3. Rea 151; 4. Checa 141; 5. Haga 135; 6. Toseland 132; 7. Corser 127; 8. Camier 115; 9. Crutchlow 107; 10. Fabrizio 102. Manufacturers: 1. Aprilia 263; 2. Suzuki 252; 3. Ducati 214; 4. Honda 162; 5. Yamaha 158; 6. BMW 130; 7. Kawasaki 45
SUPERSPORT: The intense battle for supremacy in the Supersport World Championship will continue at Misano, with leader Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) on 142 points, second placed Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) only six points behind and Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com) now 14 points back in third. The top three have monopolised the 2010 season wins in this class but others will look to Misano as another chance to secure their first victory. ParkinGO Triumph BE-1 rider Chaz Davies is a clear fourth in the rankings, with Sofuoglu’s team-mate and local rider Michele Pirro fifth, on the same points total as Spanish star David Salom. Former 1000c Superstock champion and recent WSBK regular Vittorio Iannuzzo will now ride for the BE-1 Triumph team. A total of nine additional riders will compete at Misano in the Supersport class, as well as the regular competitors.
Points (after 7 rounds of 13): 1. Sofuoglu 142; 2. Laverty 136; 3. Lascorz 128; 4. Davies 84; 5. Pirro 58; 6.Salom 58; 7. Rea 54; 8. Harms 51; 9. Fujiwara 48; 10. Lagrive 44. Manufacturers: 1. Honda 170; 2. Kawasaki 128; 3. Triumph 94
SUPERSTOCK 1000: Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia) has been making the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup category his own this year, having taken all four wins so far, the most recent at Monza back in May. Michele Magnoni (Honda) heads up a fabulously tight battle for second with 47 points, Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Racing Junior Honda) has 46, Davide Giugliano (Team06 Suzuki) 45 and Sylvain Barrier (Garnier Junior Racing BMW) 40.
Points (after 4 rounds of 10): 1. Badovini 100; 2. Magnoni 47; 3. Berger 46; 4.Giugliano 45; 5. Barrier 40; 6. Petrucci 30; 7. Antonelli 28; 8. Baz 27; 9. Bussolotti 26; 10. Tutusaus 25. Manufacturers: 1. BMW 100; 2. Honda 73; 3. Suzuki 52; 4. Kawasaki 30; 5. Yamaha 29; 6. KTM 25; 7. Ducati 22; 8. Aprilia 13
SUPERSTOCK 600: In the 600 Superstock division, Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Racing Yamaha) heads up the pack, having never been off the podium so far, collecting two wins on the way. Twenty points behind, his fellow Frenchman Florian Marino (Ten Kate Junior Racing) is second, with Federico D’Annunzio (Martini Corse Yamaha) now third.
Points (after 4 rounds of 10): 1. Guarnoni 86; 2. Marino 66; 3. D’Annunzio 51; 4. Karlsen 47; 4. Lombardi 38; 5. Lanusse 30; 7. Calero Perez; 8, Fanelli 25; 9. Le Coquen 19; 10. Major 20.
PRE RACE LAUNCH: The San Marino round media event will involve a parade of racebikes through the streets of San Marino followed by a press conference on the morning of Thursday 24 June. The presence of World Superbike machines being ridden through the historic streets on a 300 metre long route is an unprecedented event and is sure to attract good media and TV coverage.
THE CIRCUIT: The Misano Adriatico circuit, now properly called the Misano World Circuit, is a 4.226km track which has seen many improvements in the recent years, and most radically of all a change in the direction of racing, meaning that right hand corners are the more predominant now. Rain affected the first day of recent tests but the normal characteristics of a Misano race weekend are heat and humidity, which make for very high track temperatures. Located at sea level, Misano will be a complete change from the previous two circuits on the championship trail, Kyalami and Miller, which are both situated at high elevations.
Alfa Romeo Beach Volley Challenge
In line with the traditional ‘summer holiday’ nature of the San Marino Round, this year championship sponsor Alfa Romeo, together with Infront Motor Sports, will be organizing a Beach Volley Challenge, scheduled for Thursday 24 June at Frankie Chili’s ‘Lido Romina’ beach at 6pm. The event, backed by Virgin Radio, will see a line-up of teams of professional female volleyball players, riders, team managers and media, as well as the participation of a rock band and a Happy Hour for refreshments.
