Courtesy of Aprilia

Nurburgring, 4 September 2009
SBK: POOR WEATHER STOPS BIAGGI AND NAKANO

After a long summer break Superbike is back on the track with the round in Germany. Typical winter weather, eleven degrees, rain and strong wind is the setting of the first trials on the difficult Nurburgring track. The best time went to Rea who, on the wet track, stopped the clock at 2'11"278 with a 0"503 advantage over Sykes and 0"808 over Corser's BMW.
Fourteenth place for Biaggi with 2'13"928 at 2"650 behind Rea. The Roman rider, returning from the splendid Brno victory, worked hard to find the best balance possible for his RSV4 on this track which was made even more tricky by the weather conditions.
Nineteenth place for Nakano with 2'14"791 at 3"513 behind the best time. Notwithstanding the rain, the Japanese rider tried with no small difficulties to learn the track on which he had never ridden before, not even in his time on the 250cc.

"These trials were particularly complicated given the weather conditions - Biaggi said - I tried to keep the pace and find a basic balance where the suspension and gears are concerned, but with the rain coming down in bursts we were unable to work with any consistency on this track on which, as always, we don't have any data. We have improved since this morning and we have some clear ideas on some things which can benefit us here. Hopefully the weather will improve and we'll have to work even more to reduce the gap between us and our opponents".

"It is very difficult to learn a track in these conditions - Nakano said - but after two hours of trials I learned the circuit better. During the qualifications we worked very hard on the set up and I have improved quite a bit compared to the warm ups. Now I need to analyse the parts where I am losing the most in order to make new modifications".

SUPERPOLE: BIAGGI FINISHES IN SEVENTH PLACE

There is no rain for the German Superpole Superbike round but the cold continues at fourteen degrees as well as strong winds over Nurburgring. Haga on the official Ducati takes his first Superpole of the season with a time of 1'55"489 leading Rea's Honda by 0"260 and the other CBR1000 RR ridden by Haslam by 0"287.
Seventh for Biaggi with 1'57"722 at 0"951 from the pole. The Roman rider came through the first phase in sixth place on a racing tyre while in Superpole 2 he finished in seventh after having used the first qualifying tyre available to him.
Shinya Nakano does not qualify for the Superpole and will start tomorrow from the twenty-second row. The Japanese rider had various difficulties finding the right feeling with his RSV4 on this circuit since he had never ridden on it dry before. In the pre-session Nakano showed some progress, working with a vision toward the race, but obtaining times which were far from the first positions.

"We worked very hard - Biaggi said - the bike is very nervous and difficult to manage. The fact that we haven't ridden it on the dry track certainly didn't make it easy for us to find the best setting for the RSV4. Now we are going better step by step. The races of tomorrow will be very hard and I have to push harder and harder to get a good result".

"These were very difficult qualifications - Nakano said - I couldn't find the right feeling with the bike having never ridden here on a dry track. I am very disappointed but now we are working hard for tomorrow and we are doing what's possible to straighten out the situation".

SBK, RACE 1: BIAGGI FINISHES IN FIFTH PLACE

The sun shines over the Nurburgring even though the cold continues for race one of the German Superbike round. Ben Spies wins on the official Yamaha, 3"850 in front of Haga's Ducati with Checa in third place at 6"990.
Haga starts off strong straight away leading the battle between Biaggi, Spies, Rea and Corser but all for nothing as the red flag comes out for an accident in the first turns involving Tamada and Hopkins, so all of the drivers go back to the boxes without completing even the first lap. During preparations for the restart the sky clouds over suddenly, foreshadowing rain so once the light turns green frenetic preparations begin on the second bike in all of the boxes to ready them for the damp in the event of flag-to-flag.

At the second start it is once again Haga who tries to create a gap straight away followed by Rea, Spies, Corser, Biaggi and Checa. The Japanese rider on the Ducati has a decent lead over his opponents after the first five laps but from that point on Spies begins his masterpiece. In the tenth lap the American catches up Haga in record time on the circuit and on the next lap he overtakes him. But the Ducati stays glued to his exhaust until the last lap when Spies puts down the hammer decisively which allows him to get away from his opponent after the first turns and reach the chequered flag undisturbed. Behind them Rea lets his team mate Checa catch him up and edge him out to climb to the third step of the podium keep the Northern Irishman's attacks in check without too much trouble.
Max Biaggi finishes Race 1 in fifth place. After a good start from the seventh position, Max fights for fourth place with Corser and after two laps loses contact with the leaders to fend off the attacking Fabrizio. He continues to defend fifth place until the last three laps when he his overtaken by Haslam, coming back from a poor start. In the penultimate turn Biaggi passes the Britain again while they brake for the curve, crossing the finish line in fifth place.
Unfortunately for Nakano, after a good start from the twenty-second row he is forced to drop out in the thirteenth lap for a problem in the RSV4'S oil circuit whilst holding 16th place.

SBK, RACE 2: BIAGGI FINISHES AT THE FOOT OF THE PODIUM

The sky remains cloudy over the Nurburgring and the temperatures low, but fortunately there is no rain to ruin Race 2 of the German Superbike round. Jonathan Rea on the Honda Ten Kate wins with 0"786 over Spies' Yamaha in a race run at an impressive pace. Spies soars to the head of the world classifications with an 18 point advantage over Haga and 4"993 over his team mate, Carlos Checa.
Haga starts off well and tries to spread the gap straight away but Rea, Checa, Corse and Spies stay in his wake, distancing all of the other riders. Ducati's Japanese rider stays in control until the fourth lap when he goes just a little wide in the first turn and Rea slips inside where some small contact between the two leaves Haga with the worst of it, crashing and forced to withdraw. From this moment on, the Northern Irishman pushes the race to an exasperating pace, improving on the track record several times and with only Spies able to keep up with him. At the halfway point they pull ahead of Checa while in the last lap the American tries to take the lead in order to take advantage of this stroke of luck with Haga in the fight for the world championship, but Rea is unreachable and is first across the finish line for the second time this season.
Max Biaggi finishes in fourth place on his RSV4. The Roman rider pays the price of a poor start, his bike rears up repeatedly and he finishes the first lap tenth. From this moment on begins a spectacular comeback with times which would have allowed him to battle for the podium: in the second lap he overtakes Kagayama, Sykes in the fourth, and it's Corser's turn in the seventh. At the halfway point he passes Fabrizio's Ducati, moving into fifth. In the thirteenth lap he has Haslam, who has more than two seconds advantage, in his sights, but after only four laps he is in his wake. In the eighteenth lap Max overtakes Haslam leaving him behind, but Checa is too far in front and the two riders make the same times, so he will cross the finish line at the foot of the podium.
Strong neck pains prevented Nakano from participating in the second race. The Japanese rider had felt these muscular problems this morning which kept him from making some movements and in spite of the extensive care of the Mobile Clinic, the pain did not show signs of diminishing. After having clenched his teeth in Race 1, Shinya decided not to line up for the start of the second match and he will leave for Japan tomorrow to have further medical tests done.

"I am pretty satisfied - Biaggi stated - even though the conditions of these past few days were pretty difficult. Having ridden only one day on the dry track and without having any data available, our work was quite complicated, so we optimised the material we had at our disposal based on our experience in the previous races and in the end it was a good weekend. I still feel the usual vibrations in the turns which I'm still unable to resolve; I hope they decrease in the next races because they really limit us a lot. Race 2 went much better - a shame about the start - but we already understand where the problem came from and the pace was good. We will need more time to draw out the best in ourselves, hopefully already by Imola even though the type of circuit is not very favourable to our characteristics".

TIMES