Round 2 - WSBK 2011, Donington Park

[jhansen]

Back to where it all started, and the first of the two UK rounds we have this year. Unfortunately, the wild cards have dwindled as most have opted to keep preparing for the BSB opener. Also unfortunate, we are minus James Toseland due to a testing injury. On the positive side, we get Chris the V back on the Kwaka. I really hope he's healed up. And Jonathan Rea should be feeling closer to 100%. I suspect we could see a different set of results this time out.

I'm really looking forward to supersport though, which has returned to what we all know and love. Epic racing.

How bout a local weather report? Must be cold?

[jhansen]

The first seven spots in FP1 were occupied by seven different manufacturers.

QP1:

1. Max Biaggi Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1:28.794
2. Marco Melandri Yamaha YZF R1 1:28.841
3. Carlos Checa Ducati 1098R 1:29.194
4. Eugene Laverty Yamaha YZF R1 1:29.379
5. Jakub Smrz Ducati 1098R 1:29.397
6. Leon Haslam BMW S1000 RR 1:29.472
7. Troy Corser BMW S1000 RR 1:29.476
8. Ruben Xaus Honda CBR1000RR 1:29.613
9 .Joan Lascorz Kawasaki ZX-10R 1:29.637
10. Leon Camier Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1:29.639
11. Noriyuki Haga Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1:29.814
12. Maxime Berger Ducati 1098R 1:29.851
13. Tom Sykes Kawasaki ZX-10R 1:29.860
14. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati 1098R 1:30.008
15. Ayrton Badovini BMW S1000 RR 1:30.169
16. Jonathan Rea Honda CBR1000RR 1:30.348
17. Michel Fabrizio Suzuki GSX-R1000 1:30.383
18. Roberto Rolfo Kawasaki ZX-10R 1:30.680
19. Mark Aitchison Kawasaki ZX-10R 1:31.117
20. Chris Vermeulen Kawasaki ZX-10R 1:31.485

[frostie]

Good day of qualifying today but it was one hefty crash for Laverty, and very costly with him able to qualify in 13th. It's very hard to look past Checa tomorrow, in the opening race at least, but Tom Sykes has been very impressive over the course of the weekend.

Here's a bit of a breakdown, taken from my website, from the opening two days and how each rider has performed.
---------------------------------------------------------
With practice and qualifying completed at Donington Park a clear picture has developed as to what to expect in tomorrow’s races. Carlos Checa once more dominated proceedings on his Ducati but with a more in depth look at his performance over the course of the weekend it is clear that he has utterly dominated in Derbyshire.

The Spaniard has continued his form from the opening race into round two and been consistently the most impressive man on the racetrack this weekend. A cursory look at the lap times from the course of each practice session shows that while his rivals have been able to compete with him in terms of ultimate pace, Checa has left them in his wake due to his incredible consistency.

As the table shows the championship leader has had more sub 1m28.5s laps than anyone else. These lap times show the ultimate pace of each rider but are not indicative of the actual pace that the rider will be able to achieve in tomorrow’s races.

As we saw in Philip Island World Superbikes has changed in recent years and instead of the hard charging races of the past a more intelligent approach is now needed to succeed. This has come about because of ex-MotoGP riders, such as Checa and Biaggi, coming into the series. The ex Grand Prix riders have a much greater understanding of setting a bike up, particularly the electronics, and maximising the bikes potential over the course of a race.

Whereas in the past there was a “rag ‘til it breaks” mentality in WSBK the success of more cerebral riders, Biaggi, Checa etc, there is now a much more businesslike approach to racing. The leading lights now know that it is much more important to find the correct balance for the race instead of finding a perfect setup for one flat out Superpole lap.

The leading qualifiers, and the factory Yamaha riders, have all had relatively similar weekends in terms of their abilities to generate fast times. Each, with the exception of Eugene Laverty, has completed numerous sub 1m89s laps. Checa has the most of laps in this range but there is little to choose between him and his rivals.

It is in the next sector of lap times that Checa’s advantage over the field starts to be displayed. The Spaniard has completed more sub 1m29.5s laps than anyone else. The race pace should be in this timeframe for quite a large section of the race, probably over half distance, and as a result it is crucial for riders to be able to lap consistently in this range.

Riders such as Laverty, Rea and Haga have all struggled to lap consistently in this range and while each are exceptional racers they will need to spend a lot of time looking at their data if they are to find a solution in time for tomorrow’s race. Encouragingly for the likes of Jakub Smrz the Czech rider has been very consistent in this bracket and could be a challenger for the podium tomorrow if he can race with a clear head; far from a guarantee for the Ducati rider.

Tom Sykes fast lap in qualifying was good enough for the third fastest time but his ability to lap consistently in the 1m29s bracket could allow the Kawasaki rider to give the Japanese manufacturer a much needed lift. He has always excelled in front of his home crowd and it would be of little surprise to see him defeat compatriot Leon Haslam in the races due to the fact that he has clearly found a setup much more capable of consistent fast laps, even if Haslam has the faster bike in terms of ultimate pace.

Haslam, riding for BMW, was very impressive in his 2010 title challenge aboard a Suzuki. The Englishman though showed that there are still quite a few rough edges to be smoothed over and one thing that he will need to improve is his ability to find the best compromise for race pace. It is clear that the BMW is still far from a perfect bike and as a result Haslam’s ability to qualify second is very commendable. However it seems that when the red lights go out he will have a very challenging race as he tries to keep riders like Sykes, Smrz and even Max Biaggi at bay.

While the riders around him at the start will have to contend with battling through to the front there is little to suggest that Checa will face any strong challenge from them for the duration of the race. The Spaniard looks to be incredibly confident right and is ready to rack up more wins this weekend. He has the fastest bike on the track but much more importantly he has the most consistently fast bike as well.

Checa has consistently been setting times in the sub 1m29.5s range while his rivals have been lagging a few tenths adrift of this pace. Biaggi had had a fast bike underneath him all weekend and while Superpole was a struggle for the champion he should be able to make it to the front and while it is unlikely that he will battle for the win with Checa it would be very unwise to underestimate Biaggi.

[Andy77]

Thanks for the introduction Frostie.

Don't miss to join 10 Tenth Chatroom for the WSB and WSS races

[jhansen]

Dang, nobody watches WSBK anymore?

I think Melandri might be a factor this year. Checa is still looking solid. Thought we'd see more from the British contingent.

Did anyone see the Biaggi vs. Melandri moment during qualifying?

[frostie]

Originally Posted by jhansen

Dang, nobody watches WSBK anymore?

Was thinking the same myself Jim!

Originally Posted by jhansen

I think Melandri might be a factor this year. Checa is still looking solid. Thought we'd see more from the British contingent.

Did anyone see the Biaggi vs. Melandri moment during qualifying?

Good weekend of racing at Donington I thought Melandri was superb this weekend and showed once more that he will as you say be a factor this year. He has the bike underneath him to do well at every track whereas Checa is going to have some very poor races, Monza being one that sticks out like a sore thumb, but he is doing a great job of maximising his performance in these opening races. I thought his run to third in race one was one of the best races I've seen from a rider in a long time just overshadowed by Melandri's even better performance.

The Biaggi Melandri moment was pretty funny, good petulant slap from Max!

[chunder]

I seriously doubt Carlos is going to have any poor races, that bike is basically a factory Ducati, so in reality he will have access to many years of data and stuff. And he has a year on the bike now too to help.

Melandri is more likely to suffer through not knowing a few tracks, so I think it will even out really.

[jhansen]

Not sure yet about the Ducs chunder. The factory ones weren't so factory last year. Full credit to Checa so far though. Great stuff.

Gotta love it when Biaggi gets rattled! It all goes wrong for him.

[gomick]

He made so many mistakes whillst rattled - be good when Camier is fully fit, Max may even get more rattled... Good racing, better than Moto GP!
Kwaka showed pace in both races which was good - Xaus still equals poo!

[Dani Filth]

I was expecting Melandri to be competitive .. but what he achieved already is a little more
Checa .... 3 out of 4 . not bad for an geezer.
Lascorz was also great in race2 .. shame about Sykes in race1 though. Hope Kwaka can improve the bike even more.
the bimmers still close but seems they can't take the final step .

[Andy77]

If Checa wouldn't have been pushed into the gras right after start in race 1 it would have been another run away victory for him. Melandri did well but not too outstanding. The only thing that made me wonder was how Melandri could conserve his tires that well in race 1. After all, he already fought hard with Biaggi and through the field, to catch up with Smrz and finally made Smrz looking pretty slow as well.

Another thing that shouldnt go unmentioned is that one rider lost his rear rim. Something I seldom seen in motorcycle racing, if ever. But then, I said the same about the three flatspotted rear tires in the WSS race at Philips Island

Also, does anyone understand how someone can come to the conclusion to put a world championship race at Donington at the end of March ?

[chunder]

I think Marchw as probably the onlu date available for the track and perhaps hte championship.

PLus Flammini would have probably been more than keen to help out Donington and I bet their rate was far lower than it would have been for a MSV track, as Palmer has been kicking off for years about the costs of running a WSBK event at Brands, but now of course the entire BSB is run by him. Why give a large percentage to Flammini when you can keep all the profit for yourself, F*** the fans. Ok he would get a large crowd at a WSB event, but not a massive amount smaller for BSB and if you look at the margins he must make more money from BSB I imagine, or he wouldnt have done it.

I hope Checa isnt flaky, he is a good rider, a nice guy and deserves a proper title run, somehting he has never really had his entire career really. And he would have won well in race 1 were it not for problems, but he has a tendency to to that from tiem to time!!

I think Melandri and Biaggi will be tough over a season though.

Andy this has happened before with a rim boring thorugh, it happened to Robert Dunlop at the TT in 1994, forcing him to nearly lose an arm! That was Dymag wheel, this was an OZ wheel and literally the middle just spun out! Interesting that both bikes where single swing arm. Dunlop was on an RC45, Berger a 1098R

[Andy77]

Originally Posted by chunder

....
Andy this has happened before with a rim boring thorugh, it happened to Robert Dunlop at the TT in 1994, forcing him to nearly lose an arm! That was Dymag wheel, this was an OZ wheel and literally the middle just spun out! Interesting that both bikes where single swing arm. Dunlop was on an RC45, Berger a 1098R

Ah thanks. I didn't know about the broken rim at the TT. Even though I already watched gp500 back then the information rate on the TT down here in Germany was rather low. Well it still is but the ways to get to news has become way way better than it was until the late 90s.

[chunder]

I cant remember where it was on the course, just before the Mountain I think, he was on a Medd RC45 and the centre just broke off the wheel, he wa slaunched into a wall and suffered awful arm and hand injuries.

But amazingly and bravely Robert raced for many years after with these injuries, winnign countles races on 125 and 250 machines. Proper hero.

[Andy77]

I think I read once that it happened at Sulby Straight close to the speed trap but I am not really sure either.
Well, I know who Robert Dunlop was, but unfortunately I saw him riding the first time just a couple minutes before his fatal accident at the NW200.
I was at work at an on call shift and decided to tune into bbc's live stream from the thursday practice session. I watched some time at work then left to home. When I tuned into the stream from my home there was already this card up that showed the irish sea and the sunset. And I wondered why as there was absolutely no comentary at all. I figured out that somehing must have happened but didn't know what.
What stands out for me, is that his son Michael won the 250cc on raceday. Undoubtedly one of the great moments of the sport.

I only got internet in 2001 and back then it still was pretty odd to load music and videos. An album full could easily take a day or two, videos not to mention. As I mentioned too the coverage of road racing from the IoM and the Irish Island is not too good at all down here. Sometimes the TT gets a mention but usually for the fatalities only. So to me it was completely amazing stuff that when I found out that the BBC streams the NW200 live. The internet made the access to the sport of road racing way way easier than it ever was before down here.

[cg7aa]

I made it to Donington last Friday for the late afternoon practice session - just! When I got there the session had just started but the ticket office was just closing. Given that people had already queued up, it would have been nice to get tickets, the two young ladies were obviously unwilling to work a minute more and shut shop.

We were directed to the main office to get tickets, they in turn tried to direct me back to the closed ticket booth. I eventually got my ticket but all the walking around had taken some half an hour or so. I almost contemplated just getting in the car and not bothering but I had driven all the way up there so I went in and caught the last 10 or so minutes.

Once I had calmed down, I quite enjoyed the brief experience, the weather was nice too.

To my ears, the BMW sounded the sweetest. The Kawasaki and Aprilia were good too. They just seemed to scream more.

I had forgetten just how violent these machines are when being ridden on the limit, coming out of Foggy's, they were bucking and weaving all over the shop. Awesome site.

Sykes was very aggressive, he seemed to be moving around a lot on the bike and the bike seemed somewhat unsettled. Camier also seemed to be trying to teach his bike who was in charge. The Effenberg Ducs looked like they were running with no TC, the rears were always out of line and spinning up.

[chunder]

The issue was with the tyres really, a lot of the bikes were slding a lot because it was so damned cold.

I know it probably wasn't that chilly on Friday.

Sykes has ridden like that on the Suzuki since last year, and continues in the same veign.

No way are any of the bikes in WSB running without TC, might just be a weird map or a different sytem to the fuel cut used by most teams, but the deffo use it

[Andy77]

I remember a bit about the circuit from german comentary. It went like "the biggest change to the circuit was the chicane towards Melbourne Hairpin". While I could make out the change to the chicane I imediatly thought that the bigger change was me missing Dunlop-Bridge

[Dani Filth]

hahaha .. quite so .. something was missing and I just realized after reading your post

[racer69]

one hopes the bridge might go back in, given it was only taken down because thats where the F1 pits were going to be...

The chicane did seem quicker... i'd assumed they had just flattened the kerbs though?

[chunder]

I dont the bridge will go back.

And the chicane was opened out a bit more to to make it quicker

[Andy77]

Originally Posted by chunder

I dont the bridge will go back.

And the chicane was opened out a bit more to to make it quicker

I found it not as edgy as I had in memory. More like one of those roundy doundy S or Z style chicanes and not the 90° to 90° edges i seemed to remember

[gomick]

Didnt even notice the bridge was missing - doh!