Here are the highlights of the penultimate round of the 2012 FIM World Superbike Championship. This is Portugal, and the Portimao circuit.
This circuit at Portimao is on the southern coast of Portugal. The warmup was in the rain. It hadn't rained in this area of Portugal in a year. This track will be wet. Just four races remain. Two here at Portimao, and two in France. The championship is between at least three riders. Tom Sykes, Marco Melandri, or Max Biaggi. There doesn't seem to be any rain. But, the two riders who have won in the wet have been Sylvain Guintoli and Loris Baz. The manufacturers cup is also at stake, between Aprilia and BMW. Next year, BMW will not have a factory bike, but will have privateer efforts by one team.
The track is wet and we'll see what happens. 100 points are at stake in the last two races. Tom Sykes is on pole for race one. David Salom and Johnny Rea are running in two series at the end of the season. Rea is running in MotoGP now, too, of course.
At the start, Checa gets a good start. But Marco Melandri gets the lead. Eugene Laverty is flying and so is Carlos Checa. Checa leads over Laverty. Laverty wants the lead of this 23 lap race. Max Biaggi and Chaz Davies are up there. Everyone has wet rear tires except for Leon Haslam who is on the intermediate tire. Johnny Rea slides. Now, three riders go down. Chaz Davies, Marco Melandri and Davide Giugliano. Melandri slams into Biaggi, and then, people just start running over each other! Melandri has crashed for three races in a row! Ugh!
Laverty and Rea run 1-2. The Irish have the advantage. Eugene Laverty leads. Max Biaggi is now fourth with Tom Sykes fifth. Where's Leon Haslam? There's no sign of him. Eugene Laverty still has a slight lead. Melandri, Davies, and Giugliano are all out. Max Biaggi passes Carlos Checa. He's quickest, running a 1:56 flat. Sylvain Guintoli and Brett McCormick both pass Tom Sykes. Sykes needs to take advantage of Melandri's retirement. Six laps completed of 22 scheduled. Eugene Laverty won't win unless something happens to Biaggi. Johnny Rea passes Laverty for second.
Brett McCormick is doing very well on his return to being a fit rider. Leon Camier and Norino Brignola run eighth and ninth. But Brignola's down. He's out of this race. Can Johnny Rea get on point with Biaggi? He can give it everything. Max Biaggi needs consistency as Carlos Checa passes Laverty. Laverty drops into the 1:57s. But, there's a red flag. There's oil down from Norino Brignola's BMW. OK. The race track has dried out, and there's going to be a restart. Laverty and Biaggi are on the front row along with Rea and Checa.
Marco Melandri will not contend in the restarted race one or, perhaps even in race two. He's been taken to the hospital. Now, the track is dry and we'll see if there's any more rain. The conditions are totally different. Everyone has the same Pirelli tires. The bikes might get sideways, so the riders will need to hold on. At the restart, Biaggi and Sykes are up at the sharp end, with Johnny Rea second. Sykes pushes Laverty out of the way, a la the Nurburgring last time out. If Sykes wants to be champion, he needs to beat Biaggi. Brett McCormick and Loris Baz got good starts.
Eugene Laverty goes for it but can't quite get by Rea. It's Biaggi, Rea, and Sykes. Sykes wants by Biaggi. These two are going to go for it and gap everyone else. The Kawasaki might have a better chance and not wreck tires like it's done through this season. Brett McCormick recovers and moves into seventh, past Lorenzo Zanetti. McCormick passes someone else, too. But, Leon Haslam gets a ride through penalty for jumping the start. He hasn't had good luck this season at all.
Sykes is going to go by Biaggi. Well, maybe not this time. If the race were to end now, Sykes would move into second in the standings. Brett McCormick runs fastest lap of the race. Not sure of the time he's set. Two laps complete out of 16 that will now be run. Johnny Rea is coming, as Sykes hits P1. McCormick battles Sylvain Guintoli. Leon Haslam is out of the race. He'll be back for race two. Guintoli passes Rea. He's coming, and so is McCormick. Johnny Rea runs wide allowing McCormick to pass. Tom Sykes continues to lead by a second.
Carlos Checa now passes McCormick. Guintoli is right up on Biaggi. Biaggi runs wide and Guintoli gets second. Tom Sykes remains in the lead. Checa and McCormick are going to have a chance. Michele Fabrizio runs wide. Leon Camier is languishing in thirteenth. Sykes needs to fly to gap Biaggi. Brett McCormick is just 2.7 seconds off the lead. Sykes and Guintoli both run 1:59.9 second laps as Biaggi runs 2/10ths slower at 2:01. Biaggi could be in trouble. Guintoli is good in the wet, and he'll need to go for it. He doesn't have a contract for next year.
The Ducati will have an advantage for it's tires over the Kawasaki as it begins to mist out on the track. It's drizzling. Carlos Checa wants by Biaggi. McCormick and Checa want to pass Biaggi. Next year, Ducati will have a new, faster bike. Can Biaggi hold off Checa. Johnny Rea ran wide and Checa makes the pass on Biaggi. Brett McCormick passes Max Biaggi. McCormick is losing speed compared to Biaggi. Checa is catching Guintoli by half a second. Race one is half over. Sykes' bike is beginning to twitch. The rear tire is going away.
McCormick still has troubles with Biaggi. Tom Sykes has to book it, now. Guintoli runs wide and lets Checa pass for second. Checa might be able to catch Tom Sykes. Sykes runs a 1:58.5 and is half a second slower as Checa runs a 1:58 flat. Biaggi runs a 1:59.2 and McCormick is slower at a 1:59.5. Brett McCormick will at least get a top five. Loris Baz battles Michele Fabrizio. Fabrizio passes Baz. Portimao is a very difficult track for a rider to get a hold of.
Checa is going after Sykes now. Carlos Checa wanted a ride at Kawasaki but didn't get it. This is a battle royal! Checa runs a 1:57.1. Sykes is 8/10ths behind. Checa wants this. Tom Sykes needs to hold off Checa for at least half a lap. The Kawasaki is a faster bike. This is a cat and mouse contest. Loris Baz passes Michele Fabrizio and a battle goes on between Leon Camier and John Hopkins. At the sharp end, Checa gets better power out of the corners because of the low end torque. But, the Kawasaki has the advantage on the straight.
The Ducati can really stay in a lower rev range because it's a V Twin whereas the Kawasaki is a four cylinder. This is the ride of Tom Sykes' career. Checa wants a win. He doesn't have a chance at the title. Tom Sykes is going to win this race. Just one lap left. Can Checa pass? Sylvain Guintoli sets another quick lap. If Checa has any chance, he'll make a desperation move. Sykes has to stay in it. Hit the accelerator hard. Checa has better mid corner speed. There's a kilometer left. It's too late for Checa though. Sykes really knows how to maneuver the bike.
Tom Sykes wins it!
#66 Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki ZX-10R
Race two is on deck. This championship could be similar to 1993, the last time that Kawasaki won a World Superbike championship with Scott Russell beating Carl Fogarty.
For race two, there will be better weather. It will be dry, but a lot cooler. Sykes and Biaggi will battle for the title. Tom Sykes is on pole. Melandri will not start race two apparently. Lorenzo Zanetti just has three Superbike races left before moving down to Supersport next year.
At the start, Tom Sykes gets a clean start and Laverty takes the lead. Sykes comes back, or tries to. Max Biaggi is well placed. Chaz Davies also had a good start. This is another 22 lap race. Davide Giugliano has a wobble as Laverty is flying. Brett McCormick is eleventh ahead of Hiroshi Aoyama on the Honda. The rear tires are soft compound for this race. It's dry, but the track is much cooler. It's a real gamble on tires. Chaz Davies is now second and Max Biaggi comes up behind Tom Sykes. The soft tires are stickier and softer, but less durable.
The designations of compounds are SC0, SC1 and SC2. Lorenzo Lanzi has come up to thirteenth. Eugene Laverty is going well. Tom Sykes has a problem. Smoke comes out of the Kawasaki. He's got a top end issues. He's broken a ring which means oil is coming out. Now, he's out after getting a mechanical black flag! Sykes is out of contention for the title now! So, after winning race one, it's definitely gone pear shaped for Kawasaki. So, no repeat of 1993, at least not after this race.
Eugene Laverty is ahead. He doesn't have to slow down. He's not in contention for the title. Chaz Davies runs fast lap at 1:44.9. Biaggi, Rea, Guintoli, Camier, Baz, McCormick, and Badovini are in the top nine or ten spots. Davide Giugliano is being hounded by Lorenzo Lanzi. Guintoli battles Leon Camier. They both run at 1:45 flat. Max Biaggi provisionally would have a 30.5 point lead going into the last race. Chaz Davies crashes! He's out of it. Davies just laid the bike down.
Eugene Laverty wants another win. He's won before, but not on an Aprilia. Sylvain Guintoli is fourth, passing Leon Camier. Carlos Checa recovers to tenth place. Laverty is leading now by 3.8 seconds! Laverty was thirteenth in race one, a bad result. Johnny Rea battles Max Biaggi. Rea has to get past Biaggi earlier in the lap. The Aprilia has the speed advantage over the Honda. But, Rea gets him! Honda overtakes Aprilia in a straight line! Say what?! Davide Giugliano retires his Ducati. Rea has passed Biaggi fair and square. The two bikes are just a kilometer apart in speed.
Leon Camier is up to fourth on his Suzuki GSXR1000. Laverty runs a 1:45.5 as does Biaggi, but Rea has a 1:45.1. He's four tenths quicker. Leon Haslam has pitted. BMW has really sunk these last two races. They're throwing the championships away. Ugh! Aprilia are going to be the creme de la creme of the series at least for now. Johnny Rea, and Leon Haslam will ride for Honda next year and have a new bike planned for 2014. It'll be a four cylinder. The Fireblade bike is long in the tooth, but it still works.
Carlos Checa passes Loris Baz. He's running in the 1:45.3 range. This race is nearly half over. Biaggi runs a 1:45 flat. Camier, a 1:44.7. Laverty and Rea both run 1:45.1. Ayrton Badovini runs wide letting Checa by. Leon Camier is taking time out of the margin between he and Biaggi. Marco Melandri is still being checked. He's got a bruised right kidney after that wreck in race one. Race two is half over as mentioned. Checa is sixth, passing Ayrton Badovini.
Biaggi runs a 1:44.9. It's his quickest lap of the race. Carlos Checa is moving up with Ayrton Badovini still holding on. Laverty's gap on Rea is shrinking just a bit. Eugene Laverty still leads. He'd open leads up when he was running Supersport as well, a few years back. Leon Camier is going pretty well. There's about eight laps to go. Laverty and Rea both run 1:44.9 with eight laps left. Will Rea stay with Honda? Likely. He's got that sweetened deal, riding Casey Stoner's bike in MotoGP for the time being, too.
Max Biaggi has to finish this race to stay in the championship hunt. Rea, Biaggi, and Camier are catching Laverty by 6/10ths. Camier runs his personal best at 1:44.6. Camier could get a podium. Johnny Rea is gapping Max Biaggi, slightly. The gap is now 2.7 seconds between the top two or three. Camier is reeling in Biaggi, staying with him. Can Camier get by Biaggi? It looks easier on TV than it is. Six laps to go. Johnny Rea opens a gap on Biaggi. Laverty leads. Biaggi must keep Camier at bay.
Carlos Checa is sixth with Ayrton Badovini and Loris Baz following. Laverty still runs 1:45 laps. Rea runs a 1:45 flat. Camier is coming closer to Max Biaggi. Leon Camier really wants Biaggi to yield. Camier has a bit more corner speed while Biaggi slows him down. Did Camier scare Biaggi? He very well could have. Three laps left now. Can Camier catch Biaggi? Camier is not done with Biaggi, while Laverty is checking out. Camier slides past Bioaggi, but no. Go, man, go! Biaggi runs wide! Biaggi gets back by. One more shot for Camier, for the podium!
Johnny Rea is closing, too. Leon Camier runs wide and is out of contention. Now, It's still a battle between Rea and Laverty. Rea is going to have to push like there's no tomorrow. One lap to go. Will Laverty and Aprilia win? He's going to get his first WSBK victory more than likely. Leon Camier gives up. There's got to be a mechanical issue with the Suzuki GSXR1000. Rea is on Laverty. Down the hill, Eugene Laverty wins it! Biaggi gets third. Two Aprilia's on the podium!
#58 Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia RSV4 Factory
Just one more race in the 2012 FIM World Superbike Championship. It will be in France at the Magny Cours circuit in less than two weeks. Stay tuned for an exciting conclusion for SBK 2012!
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