Team Alstare Suzuki rider Michel Fabrizio suffered problems with his right wrist and rear grip in today’s 13th and final World Superbike Championship round at Portimao in Portugal that saw him finish in 11th and 14th positions.
The GSX-R1000-mounted Italian was hoping to end the final round with a pair of strong top-10 finishes. Although problems that began in practice and qualifying were less today, it was not enough to allow him to be as aggressive as he would have liked to have been.
Carlos Checa (Ducati) won the first race with Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati) second and Jonathan Rea (Honda) third. The second race – the final one of the season – saw Yamaha take a one-two with Marco Melandri taking victory ahead of Eugene Laverty, with Rea third.
Michel Fabrizio – Race 1: 11th, Race 2: 14th:
“I am disappointed to end the season like this because today could’ve been so much better. I didn’t feel confident this weekend and although there was an improvement today, it was not enough for me. Between the warm-up and race one, we changed the bike back to the set-up we used in the second free practice, because that was the one that worked the best for me.
“In race one, my right wrist started getting sore and I was having difficulty on the brakes and getting the bike to turn quickly enough. It was very hard controlling the bike, so I suppose 11th wasn’t so bad. We changed the front and rear a bit for race two – just a few clicks – so that I didn’t have to exert so much pressure on the bars and it felt better. I just wished I didn’t have to end the last race weekend of the season like this.”
Final WSBK Results:
Race 1: 1 Carlos Checa (ESP-Ducati, 2 Sylvain Guintoli (FRA-Ducati), 3 Jonathan Rea (GBR-Honda), 4 Max Biaggi (ITA-Aprilia), 5 Joan Lascorz (ESP-Kawasaki), 6 Marco Melandri (ITA-Yamaha). 11 Michel Fabrizio (ITA-Alstare Suzuki).
Race 2: 1 Melandri, 2 Eugene Laverty (GBR-Yamaha), 3 Rea, 4 Checa, 5 Guintoli, 6 Leon Camier. 14 Michel Fabrizio (ITA-Alstare Suzuki).
Final World Superbike Championship Points: 1 Checa 505, 2 Melandri 395, 3 Biaggi 303, 4 Laverty 303, 5 Haslam 224, 6 Guintoli 210. 12 Michel Fabrizio (ITA-Alstare Suzuki) 152.
