A look back at the Nurburgring
| Thursday, 02 September 2010 13:28 |
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2009 - Ben Spies had to face one tough weekend going into the Nurburgring round: Haga's shoulder had had time to heal and the circuit suited the Japanese rider, after he had scored a double in 2008. After qualifying the situation seemed clearly in favour of Haga, as Noriyuki took pole and his direct rival Spies, for the first time of the season, was left off the front row, gaining only a fifth place.
At the start of race 1 Haga rocketed away followed by Biaggi and Spies, but a huge pile-up in the middle of the pack brought out the red flags; on the restart Haga was equally impressive and took the lead from Corser, Spies and Rea. In the following laps Haga was able to maintain a small advantage thanks to the fight between Spies and Rea behind him, while Corser slipped back. Spies was able to get rid of Rea after six laps and after four laps he was able to close on the Japanese rider. The American took the lead on lap 11, Haga fought back and was able to take the lead at the first corner, but his efforts were fruitless: on lap 17 he nearly hit Spies, while on the following lap he went wide. On the penultimate lap Spies raised his game, and carved out a decisive advantage over Haga, who had to settle for second.
In race 2 the sky was overcast and the lower temperatures reshuffled the performances right from the start: Haga took the lead from Corser, Checa and Haslam, while Spies dropped to eighth. In the opening laps Haga was under attack by the Honda riders: Nori was able to stay in the lead, but he had trouble holding off Rea and Checa, so that at the fifth lap they crossed lines in a way that Jonathan touched Haga exiting the first corner, causing Noriyuki's fall. Rea took then the lead, while Checa wasn't able to contain Haslam and Spies, the couple went past on the seventh and ninth lap, leaving him behind. Spies tried then to get rid of Haslam, which overdid things going on the escape road at the Veedol chicane, and falling to fourth, passed also by Checa. Ben was then able to close the gap to Rea, but he was never able to mount a serious challenge: the second place, together with Haga's fall, allowed him to leave the Nurburgring for the first time at the top of the Championship table.
2008 - After ten years the Superbikes came back to the Nurburgring, finding out that the weather conditions were quite unpredictable: rain was often present and didn't help the riders to acclimatize with the track. Several crashes were recorded, two particularly heavy: the first by Kagayama, broken right hand; the second by Biaggi in the warm-up. The Italian suffered concussion in the left foot and he had to take the starts under considerable pain.
The first race was a Bayliss-Haga duel: the pair took off after a few laps, leaving behind Neukirchner, Fabrizio and Corser. Bayliss had troubles at the first corner: he made several mistakes there, until the seventeenth lap, when he went up the escape road, leaving a four-second advantage to Haga, who won the race.
Race 2 was a private affair for the works Yamaha riders Haga and Corser, once again helped by Bayliss' mistakes: Troy fell behind after a handful of laps. Neukirchner was able to stay with the aforementioned duo for eighth laps, but he too had to raise the flag. Once alone, Corser and Haga didn't ease off and swapped places several times. On the sixteenth lap, it looked like Corser was able to get the better of Haga with a spectacular move on the outside at the first corner, but during the same lap the rain started to fall, the race was stopped and the classification taken two laps before, so that Haga was able to score the double.
Haslam set to go for it in Germany
| Thursday, 02 September 2010 13:11 |
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There are no prizes for guessing what Leon Haslam (photo, on Silverstone grid with Red Arrows flying officers) and his entire Suzuki Alstare team will be aiming for on raceday at the Nürburgring - get ahead of championship leader Max Biaggi and his factory Aprilia Alitalia machine. He is currently 60 points behind the Italian rider, with six individual races left to run. Haslam has good recent experience of the German circuit, having posted two strong finishes there when riding a private Honda. His team-mate Sylvain Guintoli has never raced at this German circuit, another circuit new to him in his rookie WSB year. Haslam, a three time race winner this year, he has waited long enough to get back into action, and has his sights set on a double order of top three finishes.
"Last year, I managed a sixth and a fifth on a privateer bike, so I am looking forward to this year's round and challenging for the podium in both races," said Leon. "For sure I would like to win both races and put pressure on Max, but there are a lot of good riders and good bikes out there and it's not going to be an easy weekend. But, I wouldn't be out there if I didn't like the battle and I get a real buzz mixing it with the rest of the top riders. We've had a good, long break and although I have been training hard and doing a lot of riding, mainly off-road, there is nothing like being on the track and racing flat out. All I can do is the best I can, beat Max in both races and hope he gets a couple of poor results."
For Frenchman Guintoli, the circuit in the Eifel Mountains of Germany is a puzzle, but one he hopes to enjoy solving. "I didn't race at the Nürburgring last year, so this will be my first time there on a Superbike," he stated. "I have definitely been happier these past few races and feel I now know a lot more about World Superbikes then at the start of the season. I know I say it a lot, but this series is so competitive and the smallest of margins can make such big differences. I have been keeping fit during the long break and cannot wait to be at the racetrack again and get back on my Suzuki Alstare GSX-R1000. As usual, my aim is to qualify well, be in a good place on the grid and then fight for the podium."
Contrasting recent German form for Yamaha men
| Wednesday, 01 September 2010 17:49 |
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Double Silverstone race winner Cal Crutchlow had a fabulous winning experience at the Nürburgring in the Supersport World Championship in 2009, but his Yamaha Sterilgarda team-mate has not raced at this circuit for over ten years. Realistically the best either Crutchlow or Toseland can hope for by season end is a top three finish, but there is a lot of racing to be done before the season finishes in France on October 5.
Crutchlow had an unfortunate pushbike accident over the summer break, but expects this to cause him few problems in the races in Germany. "I managed to dislocate my knee riding my bicycle over the holiday but it is pretty much back to normal now and will be fine for the races!" said Cal. "I had a brilliant result at the Nürburgring last year. It would be perfect to repeat the success I had on the R6 Supersport bike on the R1 Superbike. I can't wait to get back on the bike again. Finally winning two races at Silverstone was the result of lots of hard work by the team and I. We all want to get straight to Germany and hope to do it again. I always find the summer break too long and really miss racing so I'm happy it's time to go again."
Toseland is looking for his first race victory since his return to the championship series he has won twice, and has six more chances before the season wraps up. He said, "The last time I was at the Nürburgring I was 18 years old, so it's been a couple of years. Since then I've been to Oschersleben in Germany but not back to the ‘Ring so I'm really looking forward to it. There are only three rounds left now, we were close to the podium at Silverstone but due to my unfortunate fall in qualifying I was held up. I have had a good holiday and I'm now raring to go to get on with it. I can't wait to get to the track and get stuck in on Friday morning."
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