Jonathan Rea Wins Second Title, Makes World Superbike History

A full race report from Qatar, will be forthcoming.  But, here is a story from World Superbike race one on Saturday, where Jonathan Rea not only won the championship, but made WSBK history.

http://www.motoamerica.com/jonathan-rea-wins-second-title-makes-world-superbike-history

The season finale of World Superbike in Qatar

The 2016 World Superbike season is complete, after the Sunday race in Qatar at the Losail circuit.  Chaz Davies wins his sixth straight race to cap off the proceedings.

http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/qatar-wsbk-davies-ends-season-with-sixth-straight-win-845170/?s=1''

Stay tuned for the full race report from Qatar, to close out the 2016 WSBK season.

Saturday World Superbike action in Qatar

Some of the stories from Saturday in Qatar, the penultimate race of the 2016 FIM World Superbike season, with the grand finale, to follow, on Sunday.

Davies steals the spotlight in Qatar
http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/davies-steals-the-spotlight-in-qatar-844212/?s=1

Qatar WSBK: Rea denies Hayden pole
http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/qatar-wsbk-rea-denies-hayden-pole-844560/?s=1

Qatar WSBK: Rea crowned champion as Davies wins again

http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/qatar-wsbk-rea-crowned-champion-as-davies-wins-again-844614/?s=1

So, as the Saturday highlights show, Jonathan Rea is the 2016 FIM World Superbike Champion!  Congratulations, Jonathan Rea!  Stay tuned, for the action, from Sunday's finale, and later in the week, a full race report, from Qatar.

Blackmon Wins WERA GNF Yamaha R3 Cup, Talks About It

Congratulations to Jackson Blackmon on his recent victory.  Read about it at the MotoAmerica website.

http://www.motoamerica.com/blackmon-wins-gnf-yamaha-r3-cup-talks-about-it

MotoAmerica Bazzaz Superstock 1000 Video Highlights

We have followed the FIM Superstock 1000 European Cup, all season.  Well, MotoAmerica has their own Superstock 1000 class, and here is a video montage of highlights from the 2016 season.

Eighteen races, eight venues, four different race winners, one champion.
http://www.motoamerica.com/motoamerica-bazzaz-superstock-1000-video-highlights#page-2

Motul To Sponsor MotoAmerica Superbike

Lubricant company will back the 2017 Motul Superbike class.

http://www.motoamerica.com/motul-to-sponsor-motoamerica-superbike

As the sun sets on 2016, the final battle begins

This is it.  The FIM World Superbike championship commences it's final battle of the 2016 season, this coming weekend in Qatar at the Losail circuit under the lights.  Stay tuned for more news, plus, all the action, right here, on 2 Wheelin'.

http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/as-the-sun-sets-on-2016-the-final-battle-begins-842671/?s=1

Haslam to make World Superbike one-off return at Qatar

Leon Haslam makes a one-off return to the FIM World Superbike Championship, for the season finale this weekend in Qatar, riding for the Pedercini Kawasaki team.

http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/haslam-to-make-world-superbike-one-off-return-at-qatar-840962/?s=1

FIM Superstock 1000 Round 8: Spain (season finale) & 2016 STK1000 champion

Seven races down, and one remaining in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup for 2016.  The tension for the championship is so thick, you can cut it with a knife.  Argentina's Leandro Mercado has a mere seven point lead on second place points man, Raffaele De Rosa of Italy.  The fight for the title, is about to commence here at Jerez de la Frontera in Spain.  The Superstock 1000 season finale right here, on 2 Wheelin', is comin' atcha', next!

What a lovely afternoon here in Spain.  We've seen World Superbike.  We've seen World Supersport.  Now, we are ready for the grand finale of the day, and of the STK1000 season.  It is the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup season closer.  Here's the weather report before we get going.  25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit), air temperature.  35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), track temperature.  The air temp, is lovely.  The track temp, not so much.  It's going to be hot and greasy for the riders on their street legal tires during this race.  Leandro Mercado is the only rider from South America to ever win a title in all of World Superbike, across the three classes.  He is the 2014 Superstock 1000 champion.  So, if he wins today, it'll be his second championship in three years.

Mercado tried running Superbike last year in 2015, and it didn't work as planned.  So, he returned to STK1000 and it's gone real well for him this year for the most part.  However, his rival from BMW, Raffaele De Rosa, starts third, while Mercado rolls off ninth on the grid.  We've had really intense competition in this class all year.  How intense?  Get this.  We've had seven different pole position riders in the seven events we've run this year!  How's that for competition?  For the first, (and what will be the only time this season), we have a repeat pole sitter.  Leandro Mercado has had four podium finishes.  Five, for Raffaele De Rosa.

De Rosa had his toughest race of the year at the Lausitzring in Germany, two races ago, when he could only muster an eighth place finish.  The biggest contention this season between De Rosa and Mercado was at Misano in Italy, when the two of them took each other out on the last lap.  Lucas Mahias is the rider with the momentum after winning last time out in France.  We are fifteen minutes away, from a 15 lap race.  Leandro Mercado cannot find a good setup on his Ducati Panigale.  So, the Aruba.it Junior Team is a bit behind the eight ball.  If Raffaele De Rosa can fight for the win, Leandro Mercado will have a hard time trying to earn the Cup.

Maximilian Scheib qualified on pole on his #7 Graphbikes Easyrace SBK Team BMW S1000RR.  But, he has been penalized three grid places.  In the rules for Stock 1000, you must have a dispensation from the FIM to run a thumb operated rear brake on the motorcycle.  Scheib didn't have the proper registration for that part for his motorcycle, and that is a difference between Stock 1000 in the World Superbike regulations as opposed to the Spanish CEV championship.  So, missing paperwork drops him on the grid slightly.  Scheib has been fast all weekend and he could challenge for the race win, as the riders go out on their sighting lap.

Scheib was running a CEV Superbike race here at Jerez a few weeks back, ran out of fuel, and allowed his championship rival Carmello Barelles to come through and take the championship.  Scheib is still second in that championship, but when the CEV series heads to Valencia, Spain for their finale, he won't be as close as he could be.  Scheib has had nine podiums from ten races in European Superbike.  Scheib ran the other Spanish race, the season opener at Aragon way back in April.

Roberto Tamburini on the Aprilia is now the pole man for this race, on the #2 Nuova M2 Racing Aprilia RSV4 RF.  This ruins a pattern of different pole winners and Tamburini will be the only one in this division to have scored two poles in 2016.  Yours truly wished for symmetry, but, that's how the cookie crumbles, or, I guess, how the wheel spins.  Remember, Leandro Mercado had a wreck in the morning warmup and he will be ninth on the grid.  Here are the permutations for who has to do what to win the Cup.

Mercado is champion if... he wins, or finishes second, no matter how Raffaele De Rosa does in the race.

De Rosa is champion if... he wins the race, and Leandro Mercado finishes third or lower.

If De Rosa is second, Mercado has to finish fifth or lower.

If De Rosa is third, Mercado has to finish eighth or lower.

We'll update you as the race goes on.  But, folks, we may have a real development on our hands.  Has Leandro Mercado stopped on course, on the sighting lap?  Is it game over for him already?  Mercado is coasting.  The pit lane closes in two minutes.  Mercado has HUGE trouble even before we get underway!  Folks, this is drama we didn't want to see.  Mercado leads the Cup by seven points.  But, will he even start?  We're getting ready to go and Leandro Mercado is pushing his Ducati trying to get the thing to fire.

The marshals can't assist him until they radio race control and say, "we've got a stranded bike out on the circuit."  If this doesn't put the cat among the pigeons in the final race of the year, I don't know what will.  De Rosa passes by Mercado, probably thinking, "whoa!  I might have this one, in the bag!"  Mercado is still trying to bump start the Ducati.  It is so difficult to maintain your composure when things are going against you.  This will be a shame if he doesn't start.  He'll be absolutely gutted.

Mercado is stranded in Dry Sac corner right now, and he can't find a way to start the motorcycle.  Mercado is understandably fuming!  You would be too if you had the chance to win the championship, and of all things, your motorcycle lets you down.  Bad motorcycle!  We don't use spare bikes in Stock 1000 or Supersport.  If this were World Superbike, he'd have a second chance.  But it isn't.  He'll have to bail on this one.  The marshals should get the bike back to pit lane.  But, pit lane is closed.  They can't bring it in until after the lights go out.

If by some chance he gets going again, Mercado has to start from the lane.  This is going to be so tough, because even if he does get going, he's got 33 other motorcycles to pass.  33 bikes in 15 laps?  In your dreams!  The Aruba team is stranded without a motorcycle on the grid, and some mechanics are running to the garage, to break out the tools.  Aruba mechanic Piero Guidi can't believe it.  Something is wrong with the right hand side of the motorcycle.  The marshals have to try to get the bike on a flatbed truck to get it back.  But, if they can't sort this out in another minute, Mercado will be in tears and destroyed emotionally.  He was so close to being able to be the champ here.

We as fans have been robbed of the title fight we were waiting for, as we look at Roberto Tamburini on pole.  We should point out that even if Mercado is a DNS, then Raffaele De Rosa, he still has to finish eighth at least, to score the title.  Riccardo Russo is second on the grid on the Pata Yamaha.  Mercado is being brought back on a scooter.  But, where is the motorcycle?  Raffaele De Rosa is third and he knows he still has to finish in a certain place to earn the title.  Mercado's title hopes are not done and dusted yet.  Maximillian Scheib is fourth.

What is the delay for getting the motorcycle back?  It's on the service road with the marshals trying to push it.  Lucas Mahias rolls off fifth.  We have another rider who may not make the grid and that's Luca Salvadori on the #123 Team MotoZoo By MotoXRacing Yamaha YZF R1.  Salvadori triggered a massive pileup in qualifying, and the Yamaha caught fire in the accident.  Poor old Florian Marino was unable to finish the season due to his injuries.  Lucas Mahias has done well as a stand-in rider.  Michael Ruben Rinaldi rolls off sixth.  Now, we have news from World Supersport, for next year.  That is, Yamaha will debut their new YZF R6 with the GRT team and the riders for the team will be Lucas Mahias, and Jules Cluzel.

With Leandro Mercado out before the race begins, Michael Ruben Rinaldi will have to block and push Raffaele De Rosa way behind in the order.  The Alfa Romeo 4C safety car drives away which means we have five minutes before the race begins.  Jeremy Guarnoni is seventh on the grid.  We won't get a tie on points.  Either Mercado or De Rosa will be ahead.  Federico Sandi would have rolled off 13th on the grid, but he has a pit lane start for exceeding the engine allocation.  Sandi starts 15th from the lane.

Let's take a look at the first few rows of the grid.  Roberto Tamburini, Ricardo Russo, and Raffaele De Rosa on row one.  Max Scheib starts fourth after qualifying on pole, and being demoted due to the rear brake tech infraction and the master cylinder.  Lucas Mahias, fifth.  Michael Ruben Rinaldi sixth. Jeremy Guarnoni, seventh.  Eighth is Alessandro Nocco.  Mercado should be ninth.  Kevin Calia is tenth.  Marco Facani is eleventh.  Luca Salvadori is missing from 12th.  Federico Sandi will need to start from the lane as mentioned.  Ducati, BMW, and Yamaha are vying for the manufacturer's title.

Ducati holds a 20 point lead over BMW and a 21 point lead over Yamaha.  But, with Leandro Mercado's bike trouble, BMW and Yamaha could creep into the picture.  Mercado will fail to start.  Raffaele De Rosa now needs to finish eighth, to win the championship.  Switzerland's Bryan Leu had an incident with Lucas Mahias earlier in the weekend.  It was a high speed crash.  He's lucky to have emerged unscathed, but starts caboose on the field in 31st on the #92 Team Trasimeno Yamaha YZF R1.  Confirmation has now come from race control.  Leandro Mercado will not start this race.  The championship challenge may be over.

Raffaele De Rosa must finish eighth or better to win the 2016 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup.  Several riders won't start because in Saturday qualifying there was a monster wreck into turn 12 which is the Ferrari corner.  Luca Salvadori's bike had the motor go ka-blammo, and so there was smoke everywhere.  Other riders lost control on the oil spewed out of Salvadori's motorcycle.  Andrea Mantovani was one as were Jack Kennedy, Gregg Black, and Andrea Tucci are all injured and they won't start the season finale.  We wish them all the best.  But, for Ducati, the mood is one of pure misery at the moment.

Mercado had no chance to do anything to take the battle to Raffaele De Rosa.  We have another brief look at the weather conditions.  Now it is 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit), air temperature.  36 degrees Celsius (96 degrees Fahrenheit), track temperature.  OK.  We are set to go in the season finale of Superstock 1000.  Raffaele De Rosa has it all to lose.  He must finish eighth or better with Mercado out.  We see gaps on the grid where Luca Salvadori and Leandro Mercado should have started. 

The final race of the 2016 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, the title decider is now.  Red lights, on.  Red lights, out!  Away we go!  Roberto Tamburini makes a good start.  Michael Ruben Rinaldi does exactly what he needs to, moving straight into second.  He runs side by side with Max Scheib through Curva Expo '92, the first turn on the track.  Watch for the black and white BMW S1000RR of De Rosa in the middle of the pack.  Here comes Jeremy Guarnoni on his Kawasaki ZX10R.  Guarnoni forces Ricardo Russo on his Yamaha YZF R1 to sit up.  There's nearly contact between De Rosa and Luca Mahias as well.

Marco Facani runs wide on his Ducati Panigale R.  De Rosa is safe for the title so far, running sixth.  He needs to be at least eighth to be champ.  The middle of the pack is a sure danger zone for De Rosa right now.  Max Scheib moves up from fourth to second.  Again, he's riding the Graphbikes Easyrace SBK Team BMW S1000RR.  Toprak Razgatlioglu has moved into the top ten.  He is currently ninth.  He's cut his positions in half, running ninth after starting 17th on the grid.  Happy Birthday, Toprak Razgatlioglu.  He turns 20 years old.  The fight for fifth rages between Ricardo Russo and Jeremy Guarnoni.

Alessandro Nocco runs in tenth spot.  We have lost one rider from this race.  Swiss rider Eric Vionnet crashes at Dry Sac.  Game over for the #51 Motos Vionnet BMW S1000RR.  Tamburini, Scheib, Rinaldi, are your top three.  Max Scheib could be a potential rider to give BMW the manufacurer's championship in Stock 1000.  Raffaele De Rosa remains seventh.  He needs a top eight spot, to win the championship.  So, he is right on the mark at the moment but surely would want to gain more ground.  Right now, De Rosa sits on 113 points, two ahead of Leandro Mercado on 111, and 31 points ahead of Kevin Calia on 82 markers.

Max Scheib passes Roberto Tamburini for the lead.  The Chilean rider has been amazingly fast this whole weekend.  Toprak Razgatlioglu has made his way up to eighth.  He's passed Marco Faccani on the #5 Triple-M Racing Ducati Panigale R.  The trouble for De Rosa is, if he falls back behind the two aforementioned riders, he will lose the Cup.  Game over for Sebastien Suchet into the Dry Sac corner, as the Frenchman is forced to retire his #3 Berclaz Racing By MotoXRacing Yamaha YZF R1.  Ricardo Russo in the meantime, makes a pass on Michael Ruben Rinaldi, and Jeremy Guarnoni follows him through.

Oh dear!  Down goes Guarnoni!  Jeremy Guarnoni has just fallen (literally) out of contention to try and do well in this race.  Guarnoni was racing too aggressively through Curva Lorenzo and crashes at Curva Expo '92, the first turn.  It is Toprak Razgatlioglu setting fastest lap so far on lap two at 1:44.440.  De Rosa moves to eighth with the departure of Guarnoni.  He can afford to lose one more spot, but not two more.  Razgatlioglu passes Michael Ruben Rinaldi for fifth.  The battle continues as the riders stream through the right hand turns of Curva Angel Nieto and Curva Peluqui.

We've got quite the order in the top fifteen.  Let's take a look.

1. Max Scheib
2. Roberto Tamburini
3. Riccardo Russo
4. Luca Mahias
5. Toprak Razgatlioglu
6. Michael Ruben Rinaldi
7. Raffaele De Rosa
8. Marco Facani
9. Alessandro Nocco
10. Kevin Calia
11. Federico Sandi
12. Andrea Mantovani
13. Danny Bucham
14. Bryan Staring
15. Andrea Mantovani

A strong showing for Bryan Staring.  It will be his last European motorcycle race.  Lucas Mahias resets fastest lap at 1:44.372.  Staring is headed back to race in his native Australia in 2017.  BMW leads Aprilia, followed by a couple Yamaha's right now.  Raffaele De Rosa will have a go at Michael Ruben Rinaldi.  Lucas Mahias passes team mate Riccardo Russo through Angel Nieto corner.  Mahias' next target will be Roberto Tamburini.  Ducati leads the manufacturer's cup by five points, but they will win or lose, depending on where Rinaldi finishes.  Mahias passes Tamburini for second place.

Mahias has a new contract with Yamaha and will race for them in World Supersport, next year.  Mahias has to pressure Max Scheib now.  We are 1/3rd of the way home, completing lap five of 15.  Raffaele De Rosa is now sixth, having gone around Michael Ruben Rinaldi.  Oh dear.  Poor old Bryan Staring, has retired from his final Superstock 1000 race.  That's a real disappointment.  He was looking so good in the first few laps.  Max Scheib continues to lead this race.  Rinaldi and Faccani scrap for seventh position.  Toprak Razgatlioglu catches Riccardo Russo.  Yamaha defends from Kawasaki.  Facani has passed Rinaldi for seventh spot.

Alessandro Nocco, Kevin Calia, and Andrea Mantovani, are next in line.  Completing the top 15 are Federico Sandi, Danny Bucham, Alessandro Andreaozzi, and Fabio Massei.  Only nine laps now remain in the race and the STK1000 season.  Toprak Razgatlioglu makes a move on Riccardo Russo.  Razgatlioglu has come up from 17th on the grid, to fourth!  Mahias is still in hot pursuit of Scheib.  After their finale, the Spanish CEV Superbike championship will be discontinued, and next year, many teams in that series now, will come across and join the Stock 1000 grid.  Toprak Razgatlioglu moves to third, past Roberto Tamburini.

Russo also passes Tamburini.  Federico Sandi was supposed to start this race in pit lane.  He is up to 16th spot on the #15 Berclaz Racing By MotoXRacing Yamaha YZF R1.  Sandi runs ahead of both Marc Moser and Fedrico D'Annunzio.  Marc Moser on the #32 Triple-M Racing Ducati Panigale R (a team mate to Marco Faccani), and D'Annunzio rides the #41 FDA Racing Team BMW S1000RR.  Faccani and Rinaldi, both on Ducati's scrap over seventh place.  They are doing enough to make it the championship for Ducati.  Danny Bucham loses places on his #83 Pedercini Racing Kawasaki ZX10R to Alessandro Andreozzi on the #121 SK-Racing Team By Barni Ducati Panigale R has made a move.

So has Wayne Tessels, the Dutchman, aboard his #77 MTM/HS Kawasaki Kawasaki ZX10R.  Maximilian Scheib is storming away from everyone in this race.  Toprak Razgatlioglu is running four seconds slower than the leaders.  Federico Sandi is entering the pit lane.  His day may be done.  Ducati is getting nervous, as their two highest placed riders are only seventh and eighth.  The Ducati bosses in Bologna, Italy have to be scratching their heads at the moment.  Mahias sets new fastest lap at 1:45 flat.  1:45.015.  Lucas Mahias seems to be reeling in Max Scheib at the moment.  Only five laps now remain.

Roberto Tamburini is hungry for a podium.  You have to go back to this race at Jerez a year ago, in 2015, to the last time he had one.  Mahias closes in.  The gap is just 7/10ths of a second.  Game over for Alessandro Andreozzi.  He's crashed out here at Jerez at the Angel Nieto corner, going into the stadium section.  Raffaele De Rosa has a comfortable margin over the two Ducati's trying to pursue him.  Two Aprilia's also scrap.  Kevin Calia vs. Alessandro Nocco.  It's the two team mates for Nuova M2 Racing.  Don't take each other out, whatever you do!  That's the cardinal rule in racing.  Andrea Mantovani and Fabio Massei are next in line.  They are both on Yamaha YZF R1's, but racing for different teams.  Massei for Team Trasimeno.  Mantovani for Guandalini Racing Yamaha.

Federico D'Annunzio has made it into the points in 15th.  Let's do another rundown before the race ends.

1. Max Scheib
2. Lucas Mahias
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu
4. Riccardo Russo
5. Roberto Tamburini
6. Raffaele De Rosa
7. Marco Faccani
8. Michael Ruben Rinaldi
9. Kevin Calia
10. Alessandro Nocco
11. Andrea Mantovani
12. Fabio Massei
13. Wayne Tessels
14. Danny Bucham
15. Federico D'Annunzio

The gap is just over a second.  Amazingly, Lucas Mahias would be fourth in the championship despite running just three of the eight races in the season.  Scheib is picking up time and is a second ahead.  Scheib has only run two races and will be 13th in the championship.  Two and a half laps from victory, is the Chilean rider.  Roberto Tamburini makes a move on Riccardo Russo.  Raffaele De Rosa has a grandstand seat for this scrap.  Two laps left in the season.  Toprak Razgatlioglu will likely be on the podium.  Razgatlioglu will take his second podium of the year.

Raffaele De Rosa is two laps away from knowing he will win the championship.  He is content with sixth place.  Ducati will win the manufacturer's cup by four markers over BMW.  Luca Mahias has caught Max Scheib.  We are on the final lap of the 2016 FIM Superstock 1000 European Cup season.  It's all down to this, folks.  Mahias has run another fastest lap at 1:45.392.  We've had three different winners and eleven different podium finishers in Stock 1000 in 2016.  There will be more when the checkers fall at the end of this lap.

Mahias has a 100% success rate of winning races he's entered, including Misano and Magny-Cours.  Mahias is not close enough to Scheib through Dry Sac.  One more chance into Jorge Lorenzo corner, the mosst infamous turn on this whole speedway.  Mahias needs a run through the right hand turns at Criville and Ferrari.  Scheib pulls a gap out on Mahias.  Mahias makes his move down the inside.  Mahias makes the pass.  Will Scheib challenge?  Side by side to the line!  They're nose to nose.  Who wins it?  It's Maximilian Scheib!

Mahias won't maintain his 100% win rate.  Raffaele De Rosa is fifth and wins the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup!

Superstock 1000 Race: #7 Maximilian Scheib     CHI.     BMW S1000RR

Superstock 1000 Cup Champion: #35 Raffaele De Rosa     ITA.    BMW S1000RR

Raffaele De Rosa and Althea BMW win the 2016 FIM Superstock 1000 European Cup!

Right at the final turn of the race, #19 Julian Puffe of Germany, crashes his Agro-on-Benjan Kawasaki ZX10R.  Ducati clinches the manufacturer's cup four points ahead of Ducati.  Max Scheib took pole, lost three places for a brake infraction, and won the race.  Raffaele De Rosa is the champion and will no doubt feel for Leandro Mercado who came up short.  We salute, Raffaele De Rosa, from Naples, Italy, dour 2016 STK1000 champ!

De Rosa celebrates, with a burnout.  Scheib won this race by 89 thousandths of a second!  Don't foget that De Rosa raced a BMW World Superbike at Laguna Seca earlier in the year when Markus Reiterberger was injured.  Some of the riders here in Spain, have caught colds, because of the drastic temperature change between evening and daylight.  Stay well, boys.  De Rosa celebrates with BMW crew chief Ginnetio Bellavacqua.

Lucas Mahias has signed to race World Supersport with GRT Yamaha next year, alongside Jules Cluzel.  That should be good.  Scheib thought he was on the final lap on the penultimate lap.  What an amazing season, and we've had some incredible races.  If Raffaele De Rosa had wrecked, it would have been an embarrassment.  But, he's indeed champion, and that ends what was a wonderful season in Superstock 1000.  Congratulations to Ducati, winning the manufacturer's championship by four points over BMW.

We see BMW, Yamaha, and Kawasaki, on the podium in this final race.  Raffaele De Rosa pulled a Mark Webber/Jack Miller move, drinking the Prosecco from his racing boot, known as a "shoey".  De Rosa is four points in front of Leandro Mercado 115-111.  Bryan Staring, thanks for the memories.  16th in points, with a podium in Germany.  Staring heads back to race motorcycles in his native Australia.  Ducati wins the manufacturer's championship by a mere four points 145-141 over BMW.  Only 35 points between the five manufacturers after eight races.

So glad you could join us for the entire Superstock 1000 Cup in 2016.  We continue next year in Superstock.  We finish the World Superbike season in Qatar.  But, for now, it's goodbye, from Jerez de la Frontera, in Spain, and congratulations, Raffaele De Rosa!  So long, everyone.

        

Superstock 1000 finale

Yours truly continues to work on the race report for the FIM Superstock 1000 season finale held at Jerez de la Frontera, in Spain.  Should post it, some time tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

FIM World Supersport: Spain & 2016 World Supersport Champion

We have not seen a rider in World Supersport, successfully defend a championship, for a decade.  But now, it could happen again.  Kenan Sofuoglu could not win the championship last time out in France.  Can he do it today, in Spain?  This is the penultimate round of the 2016 FIM World Supersport Championship, coming up, next!

We are set for round eleven of twelve in the FIM World Supersport Championship.  Here are our post time weather conditions.  Air temperature is 19 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit), and track temperature is 26 degrees Celsius (78 degrees Fahrenheit).  We have an eastern wind at six kilometers an hour, three miles an hour.  So many people are in the paddock before we get started.  Two races now remain in the championship, and that means only 50 points are on offer.  It is almost guaranteed, that with a 42 point edge on his Puccetti Kawasaki team mate Randy Krummenacher, Kenan Sofuoglu will be crowned champion after today's race.  Then again, we said that in France.  He crashed into Estoril corner.

So, anything can happen.  The manufacturer's championship could also be locked up.  Kawasaki leads Honda by 39 points, and MV Agusta by 42 points.  Sofuoglu is looking to be the first back-to-back Supersport world champion since Sebastien Charpentier did that, in 2005 and 2006.  WSSP rider Gino Rea is not racing today, but is in the broadcast booth with WSBK announcers Greg Haines and Steve English.  Randy Krummenacher is the only rider who can stop Kenan Sofuoglu.  Randy Krummenacher's only WSSP win this year came at the season opener in Australia at Phillip Island way back in February.  He is the only man who can stop his team mate, Sofuoglu, from winning the title.

Krummenacher was fastest in morning warmup.  We have not seen an internal team mate battle between Krummenacher and Sofuoglu.  Roberto Rolfo will start from pit lane for exceeding the engine allocation for his MV Agusta as he went on to use an eighth motor in the morning warmup.  Krummenacher was fastest in the warmup as mentioned.  We have the championship up for grabs for the European Supersport Cup.  Gino Rea is dealing with a broken hand at this point after a crash in qualifying.  He got into a wreck in qualifying with Hikari Okubo and is not racing today.  The bikes are out for sighting laps at the moment.

Gino Rea had an operation on his hand but is out for the finale.  He'll have to wait, recover, and focus on 2017.  Axel Basani should win the European Supersport Cup in this race today, after it's conclusion.  Alessandro Zaccone, however, is the highest placed European Supersport Cup rider on the starting grid, rolling off sixth.  Kenan Sofuoglu earns his 30th career WSSP pole.  Kenan Sofuoglu can easily secure the world championship if he finishes in the top eight places.  Sofuoglu is on pole.  Randy Krummenacher is second.

All the Kawasaki ZX6R's have been strong this weekend.  Jules Cluzel starts third.  Niki Tuuli on the Yamaha YZF R6 is fourth.  Completing the top five is Kyle Smith.  Alessandro Zaccone is sixth.  P.J. Jacobsen, Federico Caricasulo, Illiya Michalchik, and Axel Bassani complete the top ten.  Zulfahmi Khairuddin is 11th, and in 12th, Ayrton Badovini.  P.J. Jacobsen is facing tough times.  He has not won a race this year, and the talks with teams in Moto2 for him to have a deal for next year, have fallen through.

Most riders on the Supersport grid are unsure of where they will be for next year, with the exception, probably, of Kenan Sofuoglu, who will return to the Puccetti team.  Illia Mychalchyk is ninth.  Yours truly, has been misspelling his name all year, as it is spelled with Y's and not with I's.  Axel Bassani is tenth.  Eleventh will be Zulfahmi Khairuddin.  Once again, in 12th, it's Ayrton Badovini.  The safety car pulls away.  We are five minutes from the start.  Nacho Calero is 14th.  Calero starts inbetween Kyle Ryde and Luke Stapleford.  Remember, Zulfahmi Khairuddin, and Nacho Calero, are team mates.  Calero scored a point at Motorland Aragon, the first European race of the year.

Triumph are coming along well, and might be stronger for next year.  Spanish rider Xavier Pinsach rolls off 16th.  Kyle Ryde and Luke Stapleford have both come to FIM World Supersport from the British Supersport Championship and have done very well.  Once again, today could be the day, for Kenan Sofuoglu to become the first back-to-back Supersport champion, in a decade.  Lorenzo Zanetti is now racing an MV Agusta for GRT, a different team.  We have a 31 bike field for WSSP today at Jerez.  The last rider on the grid, due to Roberto Rolfo starting from pit lane, is South Africa's Dorren Loureiro.

Loureiro is from Johannesburg, South Africa, riding the #20 Wilsport Racedays Honda CBR600RR.  Kawasaki needs a 25 point cushion over rivals from Honda, MV Agusta, Yamaha, and Triumph, to score the manufacturer's championship.  Some riders nearly touch, on the warmup lap.  Be careful, boys.  Jules Cluzel and Zulfahmi Khairuddin very nearly touch.  The points situation looks like this.  Sofuoglu leads by 42 markers over Randy Krummenacher, 171-129.  Jules Cluzel is third, on 116 points, 55 back.  Fourth spot is held by P.J. Jacobsen, 62 markers behind, on 109 points.

Sofuoglu looks to become a five-time World Supersport champion, and the first back-to-back champion in the class, as mentioned, since Sebastien Charpentier in 2005 and 2006.  We update the weather conditions on the warmup lap and they've gone up a degree each.  20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit), air temp.  27 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit), track temp.  Having experience here at Jerez is very valuable.  Roberto Rolfo and Kyle Ryde, both of them will actually start from the pit lane.

31 riders, set for a start here at Jerez.  It's time, to bring the action, World Supersport style!  Red lights on, and... red lights, out!  We're underway, on the short run to turn one here at Jerez!  Kenan Sofuoglu and Niki Tuuli both make flying starts, and the top three is already pulling clear of the rest of the field.  Kenan Sofuoglu has the race lead at the moment.  Ksyle Smith moves up from fifth to fourth as P.J. Jacobsen looks for a way around his competition.  Everyone has started cleanly as Robbie Rolfo gets away from the pit lane.  Sofuoglu leads followed by Krummenacher, Tuuli, and Jacobsen.  They fly down the back straight towards Dry Sac for the first time.

Krummenacher looks straight across to Kenan Sofuoglu saying, "watch out, buddy.  I'm on to you.  You won't get away easily."  Niki Tuuli is having another competitive run already.  Remember now, he ran in the top three in France last time out and he set fastest lap of the race in both the German round at the Lausitzring, and last time out at Magny-Cours.  Krummenacher has a bit of a slip up in the Angel Nieto corner.  Oh no.  Poor old Kyle Ryde will not even be able to start this race.  He will take no further part in World Supersport at Jerez!  The team was changing the engine on his bike and they didn't get it done in time.

Niki Tuuli is running the high line through turn one, trying to put a move on the leading Kawasaki's.  Randy Krummenacher, though he's second, he's riding very defensive lines at the moment.  Krummenacher will have a hard time passing because his team mate, Kenan Sofuoglu, is a demon on the brakes.  If you don't make a move on Kenan Sofuoglu, he can get his head down, and pull away.  Other riders in other motorcycle road racing categories, have that same ability, that if they aren't challenged early on, they can leave everyone else racing, in the dust.  P.J. Jacobsen has moved up to fifth, to clear away from a great battle between Axel Basani and Jules Cluzel.  Basani is already the highest place rider in the Euro Supersport Cup, in this field.

Randy Krummenacher turns the first fastest lap of this race at 1:44.376.  Let's have a look at the top fifteen riders.

1. Kenan Sofuoglu
2. Randy Krummenacher
3. Niki Tuuli
4. Kyle Smith
5. P.J. Jacobsen
6. Jules Cluzel
7. Axel Bassani
8. Federico Caricasulo
9. Alessandro Zaccone
10. Ayrton Badovini
11. Zulfahmi Khairuddin
12. Xavier Pinsach
13. Illia Mykalchyk
14. Christian Gammarino
15. Nacho Calero

Niki Tuuli, while we were covering the top 15 rundown, has lost ground to both Kawasaki's.  Here at Jerez, unlike in the last two races, the Kawasaki's have an advantage over the Yamaha.  Randy Krummenacher is beginning to get impatient with Kenan Sofuoglu.  Manuel Puccetti, team boss, is pretty calm, as his two riders scrap.  The cardinal rule in racing is simple.  Don't take your team mate out.  Krummenacher believes he's being held up by Sofuoglu.  Tuuli, in the meantime, resets fastest lap at 1:44.355.  This battle between Kenan Sofuoglu and Randy Krummenacher, is very similar to the factory Kawasaki's of Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea that we see in World Superbike.

Worrying about his competition, has caused Sofuoglu to run way deep into the corner.  Although, he may be letting Krummenacher and Niki Tuuli by, for a brief while.  We update the championship standings as the race goes on.  Right now, Kenan Sofuoglu leads Randy Krummenacher by 33 points, 187-154.  Jules Cluzel stays third, 61 points behind, on 126.  Fourth place Kyle Smith is a second and a half behind right now.  So he will not pose a threat to Sofuoglu.  It is interesting, because the animosity between team mates here between Krummenacher and Sofuoglu, may be more present than it is with Rea and Sykes in World Superbike.  The irony there is, Krummenacher is set to step up to Superbike in 2017, while Kenan Sofuoglu stays in Supersport.

Oh no!  We have drama!  Randy Krummancher falls off the bike!  This is a gift, to Kenan Sofuoglu, unless Krummenacher can rejoin the race!  It does not seem likely, and even if he does, Sofuoglu should have the championship wrapped up.  Into turn one, the front end of the motorcycle washes away from Krummenacher and pitches him off.  There's a small bump in that corner and that is what unsettled the motorcycle.  So, Niki Tuuli is now your new race leader.  Once again, we update the points table after Krummenacher's wreck.  Sofuoglu leads on 191 points and the gap now is 62 points, with Krummenacher on 139, Cluzel 66 points back on 125, and Jacobsen 69 back on 122.

Sofuoglu knows he's got the title.  So, will he fight for a race win with Tuuli?  Stefan Hill has also crashed out of this race, on the #35 CIA Landlord Insurance Honda CBR600RR.  Krummenacher is trying to rejoin the race, but he's already gone a lap down.  Tuuli has finished on the podium.  However, we have not had a Finnish rider win in this class before.  There's a three way scrap for third between Kyle Smith, P.J. Jacobsen, and Federico Caricasulo.  Axel Bassani will wrap up the European Supersport Cup honors, in sixth place.  Jules Cluzel languishes in seventh just ahead of Ayrton Badovini and Zulfahmi Khairuddin.

Kenan Sofuoglu retakes the lead from Niki Tuuli.  Sofuoglu raises his left hand for some reason, and lets Tuuli back into the lead at Dry Sac.  That's a sportsmanship move more than anything.  Sofuoglu has a faster bike than Tuuli does.  It is all over for Randy Krummenacher, who runs a lap down in 29th spot.  Axel Basani is comfortably in sixth, after starting tenth.  Ayrton Badovini has made a pass on Jules Cluzel.  Cluzel goes inside Badovini through Sito Pons corner.  This time last year, Cluzel had a leg injury.  Cluzel has not had a good year this year, at all.

Cluzel has passed Badovini and is now hot on the heels of Axel Bassani.  Randy Krummenacher comes to pit lane.  Game over.  Cluzel passes Axel Bassani on the inside.  Axel Basani is taking no prisoners and is pushing to the front.  Khairuddin, Zaccone, and Mykhalchyk follow.  On lap nine, halfway through the race, Kenan Sofuoglu has managed to take the lead away from Niki Tuuli.  That was coming out of the Angel Nieto corner and down into the next corner, named for another famous rider, Alex Criville.  The gap has widened by a second and a half back to Kyle Smith in third.  Sofuoglu is trying to break away from Tuuli.

Can Tuuli keep up with a motorcycle that has been a lot faster than he has around Jerez de la Frontera?  We have ten laps to find out.  Also, it is indeed official.  Kenan Sofuoglu is the 2016 FIM World Supersport champion!  Sofuoglu has nothing left to prove.  He's got the championship.  So, he can try to go for the win.  Tuuli is going for it.  Remember, Tuuli faded over the final couple circuits in Germany back in September.  The gap back to Kyle Smith is just under a second.  Jules Cluzel has managed to hold sixth.  Ayrton Badovini, Alessandro Zaccone, and Zulfahmi Khairuddin, complete the top ten.

With respect to Randy Krummenacher, you have to go back to Imola in May, to find the last time he didn't score points, in another race that was a bit of a shemozzle.  Nine laps to go, and Kenan Sofuoglu is feeling the heat from Niki Tuuli.  Tuuli takes the lead, as Sofuoglu looks back over his shoulder.  He must get the feeling that someone is going to overtake him pretty soon.  Under braking he was looking down at the dashboard on the motorcycle, too, to find out what gear he was in.  Most riders take the approach to Dry Sac in first gear.  He probably punched the transmission into second gear, and had no drive into the corner.

Most of the bikes like the MV Agusta, Honda, and Yamaha, all have a long first gear.  The same would be true with the Kawasaki.  Sofuoglu could have transmission trouble.  Kyle Smith is right behind Sofuoglu now, and was fastest of the top three on that previous lap.  Kyle Smith is gaining on Kenan Sofuoglu more than Sofuoglu is on Niki Tuuli.  The owner of Illiya Mykalchyk's motorcycle, former WSBK rider David Salom, has a birthday today.  He is 32 years old.  Happy Birthday, David Salom.  Zulfahmi Khairuddin is having a good showing and knows Jerez well from racing here in Moto2 and Moto3.

Smith is only 2/10ths behind Sofuoglu through the right hand turns at Nieto and Peluqui.  Will Kyle Smith be close enough to try and pass him?  Will Sofuoglu throw all he has at trying to get past Niki Tuuli?  Kyle Smith now resets fastest lap at 1:45 flat.  1:45.070.  Wait.  Smith is even faster now.  1:44.897.  Jules Cluzel loses a spot to Ayrton Badovini, and is now eighth.  Kenan Sofuoglu may be picking up the pace again, and his issues with the motorcycle are just intermittent.  Sofuoglu actually lowers the fast time to 1:44.871.  P.J. Jacobsen runs fourth at the moment.  Sofuoglu is now attacking Tuuli into Angel Nieto corner!  This pressure has been turned up even more.  Kenan Sofuoglu retakes the lead and Kyle Smith wants to also have a go at Tuuli.

Six laps remain.  The plot thickens.  Kyle Smith is sideways into Jorge Lorenzo corner and wobbles a bit.  One of the brake handles on Kyle Smith's bike is damaged.  But there is a safety feature in that, to prevent the front brake from being locked and forcing riders to be flung over the handlebars like they were in MotoGP a fewyears ago and also in the glory days of the wickedly fast 500cc Grand Prix bikes.  There's a real four way battle for sixth place going on between Cluzel, Bassani, Mychalchyk, and Badovini.  Kenan Sofuoglu has opened a gap over Tuuli and Tuuli opens another tenth on Kyle Smith.

Game over for Nacho Calero, crashing in turn one.  Jules Cluzel is caught right in the middle of the ESS fight and Ayrton Badovini is also right there.  Lorenzo Zanetti is the rider for GRT as the factory squad ran out of motors, and Zanetti is subbing for Gino Rea.  All of the MV Agusta bikes have struggled in this race.  Illia Mychalchyk was really roughed up by Jules Cluzel and almost fell off the motorcycle!  Three laps left and P.J. Jacobsen has caught Kyle Smith.  Niki Tuuli is making inroads on Kenan Sofuoglu with only three laps left.  We are not sure where Kyle Smith or P.J. Jacobsen will end up, next year.

Game over for Federico Caricasulo, who drops out of the race, from 11th spot.  We recycle the order and Illiya Mychalchyk and Ayrton Badovini, move up, allowing two new riders to enter the top ten in the forms of Christoffer Bergman and Lorenzo Zanetti.  Let's review the top fifteen again before we end this race.

1. Kenan Sofuoglu
2. Niki Tuuli
3. Kyle Smith
4. P.J. Jacobsen
5. Axel Bassani
6. Jules Cluzel
7. Ayrton Badovini
8. Illiya Mychalchyk
9. Christoffer Bergman
10. Lorenzo Zanetti
11. Alessandro Zaccone
12. Xavier Pinsach
13. Zulfahmi Khairuddin
14. Luke Stapleford
15. Hikari Okubo

It is the penultimate lap.  With one lap left, here's the points situation.  Sofuoglu leads on 196 points.  He now has the championship all but secure, 67 points ahead of team mate Randy Krummenacher, who is out, on 129 points, with Jules Cluzel on 126 and P.J. Jacobsen on 122.  We now see Zulfahmi Khairuddin dropping through the order.  Stapleford and Okubo move up and Khairuddin looks like he will be the final point scorer in 15th, for one single point.  Tuuli and Sofuoglu are separated by half a second.  If Tuuli ends up second, that's nothing to sneeze at.  He'll have three straight second place efforts.  Axel Bassani and Jules Cluzel scrap for fifth.

It's the last lap.  The five-time World Champion will likely win his sixth WSSP race of 2016, the 38th of his career, and he'll likely win this race.  The polesitter at Jerez has always won the race and the championship.  Sam Lowes did in 2013.  Michael van der Mark in 2014.  Kenan Sofuoglu, last year, and Kenan Sofuoglu again, this year.  Niki Tuuli is still second, but Kyle Smith and P.J. Jacobsen close up.  Kenan Sofuoglu will defend a world title for the first time, and win his fifth FIM World Supersport championship as we've already mentioned.

An amazing title defense for Sofuoglu.  Five-time World Champion, Kenan Sofuoglu wins!  Kawasaki is the manufacturer's champion.  Axel Bassani is the 2016 European Supersport Cup champion!  Roberto Rolfo stops on the track right at the end.

World Supersport Race: #1 Kenan Sofuoglu     TUR.     Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki ZX6R
   
World Supersport Champion:  #1 Kenan Sofuoglu     TUR.     Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki ZX6R     

Congratulations, Kenan Sofuoglu!  Five-time World Champion.  Kawasaki are the manufacturer's champs.    One more race to be run for World Supersport, at the Losail circuit in Doha, Qatar, coming up in ten days from now.

FIM World Superbike Round 12: Spain

We've reached the penultimate race of the 2016 FIM World Superbike season, and, the final races in Europe, for the year.  The venue, is Circuito de Jerez, which celebrated it's 30th anniversary last year, opening in 1985.  We are in Europe for the final time this year, as mentioned.  Two rounds, four races left.  The question is, will Jonathan Rea win the title in race two on Sunday?  This track has been on the WSBK calendar since 1990, it went away for a while, and returned in 2013.  Built in 1985, and modified, in 1992.  The track is 4.4 kilometers equaling 2.7 miles (2.748 miles to be exact).  Last year, the wins were split between Tom Sykes and Chaz Davies.

We are readying for a 20 lap Saturday race.  Sykes and Rea on the front row along with Davide Giugliano.  The atmosphere is building.  The weather is lovely.  The temperature increases.  19 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit), air temperature.  32 degrees Celsius (89 degrees Fahrenheit), track temperature.  Track temperature is going to affect tire choice as we get set for race one at Jerez.  Which compound supplied by Pirelli, will the teams go for?  Kawasaki virtually has the manufacturer's championship in the bag.  They are 85 points ahead of Ducati.  This is round twelve, races 23 and 24.  There are three tire compounds for the rear.  An A compound, B compound, or C compound tire.

The general rule is:

Tire compound A is quicker, but has more degradation as the race goes on.
Tire compound B is more durable but might not get going quickly enough.

Chaz Davies starts sixth and could not find the sweet spot during Super Pole.  Davies will have to take care around the first few turns today.  The Kawasaki team mates have put a lock on the top two grid places, for the fourth time in the last five rounds.  Tomorrow, after race two, we will know if Jonathan Rea becomes the first back-to-back World Superbike champion, since the great Carl Fogarty did the double in 1998 and '99.  Fogarty did the honors with one round remaining, in '99 at the Hockenheimring in Germany.  Rea leads his Kawasaki team mate Tom Sykes by 48 points coming into this weekend.

If that lead is 50 points, it will be enough for Rea to seal the deal, and the championship crown is his.  However, should it go differently, let us imagine the following scenario.  Let's just say, if Tom Sykes swept both races, with the exact same order of Chaz Davies second, and Jonathan Rea in third, the margin would be 30 points.  It could go either way after we finish here in Spain and head to the finale in Qatar.  Rea won the championship here at Jerez last year.  No one would really want to see the title fight go to the wire in Qatar.  Jordi Torres is the only Spaniard in WSBK to have finished on the podium in his home event.  He took the Aprilia to second, last year, just behind Chaz Davies in race two last year.

One Spanish rider has won a race held in Spain in World Superbike.  Ruben Xaus is the only Spaniard to have accomplished that, nine years ago, in 2007, when he won at Valencia.  Three Spaniards start this race.  Jordi Torres for BMW, Xavi Fores, for Ducati, and Roman Ramos for Kawasaki.  It must be noted that the only two blokes to have ever won at this track on the current grid are Chaz Davies and Tom Sykes, if you can believe that.  Jerez is the only track in WSBK where Jonathan Rea hasn't won a race yet.

Alex Lowes rolls off fourth on the Yamaha.  We have trumpeted their praises all year as far as their qualifying efforts.  Alex Lowes has managed two top fives, two fifth place efforts, in Malaysia and in the U.S. at Laguna Seca Raceway.  Lowes could be the cat among the pigeons in this race.  We'll have to wait and see.  Folks, yours truly is about to blow you away with a stat.  Check this one out.  The top eleven riders on this grid, would you believe it, are all under the previous track record set here at Jerez!  Unreal! Davide Giugliano is getting back on the pace even though he says he's not fit enough yet to be quick on the bike, as he of course, is Chaz Davies' team mate on the factory Ducati, at least 'til we finish the season in Qatar.

Tire choice, again, will be critical, because as the track begins getting greasier and the riders fight for grip, it will be harder and harder to set consistent, fast laps.  Simple question.  Do you (with respect to tires), go for durability?  Or, do you go for speed?  It's a real catch 22.  We mention Davies, Sykes, and Rea, all the time.  But, watch out for Nicky Hayden, simply because he's very good at tire management.  Alex Lowes has found this track suits the Yamaha.  The Yamaha YZF R1, that bike has a lack of power compared to the others from Kawasaki, Honda, Ducati, MV Agusta, Aprilia, or BMW.  But... you don't need sixth gear in the transmission on this track.  So, a little less top end power isn't a situation to panic about and say, "oh no!  I'm losing steam!  I can't keep up with the rest of these chaps!"

The Yamaha struggles with low end torque and low end power.  But, it could capitalize here.  Will Giugliano keep up with everyone?  His shoulder is still bothering him.  If he has a strong race, well, kudos to him for sticking it out and going for it.  It'll come down to turn one.  We also need to look out for some of the second riders at Honda and Aprilia, riders like Michael van der Mark, and Leon Camier.  They could go for it, too.  Two keys to this race.  Take care of your tires, and, maintain consistent lap times.  The riders are taking their bikes on the sighting lap.  We need to watch for what Chaz Davies is going to do.  Nicky Hayden knows this track from his MotoGP days.

Michael van der Mark had a dead battery on his Honda CBR1000RR earlier in the weekend.  So, he's been a shade on the back foot before this race.  We had a few other minor tech hiccups for other riders.  Friday morning, an engine issue for Sylvain Guintoli on his Yamaha.  We could see a good battle between the top contenders, today.  Something we haven't really seen this year.  We should have some wildcard riders starting this event, or maybe the wildcard guys are just the riders who have not been at the sharp end of the field yet this year.  We're also going to study how the championship outcome ebbs and flows in this race.  So, lots to do as we have this race to look forward to, in a few minutes.

Let's look at some individual contenders, and their grid slots.  Jonathan Rea, second place.  He is one podium away from history and scoring 85 total.  Tom Sykes scores his eighth pole of 2016, and the 38th of his WSBK career.  Eight watches.  Are there eight time zones?  I don't know.  Again, Alex Lowes qualifies fourth.  Davide Giugliano qualifies third.  He's had a tough few weeks, and it's great to see him on the front row as he tries to get a ride for 2017 and beyond.  Nicky Hayden qualifies in the top five, sandwiched between Alex Lowes and Chaz Davies.  Interestingly, Aruba Ducati and Kawasaki Racing Team are level with each other on fastest laps set in the 2016 season.  As teams, Aruba Ducati, and KRT, have ten fastest laps apiece.

Jordi Torres starts seventh on the BMW.  Now, with respect to Kawasaki and Ducati, the two motorcycles can have similar performance in lap time.  It is how they make those times work and achieve them, that is different.  There are subtle differences in places on specific tracks, where the two bikes are weaker or stronger than the other, in terms of what kinds of lap times they can turn.  Xavi Fores rolls off eighth.  Jordi Torres has seemed to run quite a bit stronger at Althea BMW than Markus Reiterberger has this year.

Torres seems to have more consistency than Reiterberger has this year.  Setting fast lap times is important, but tires are what makes the motorcycle.  Can you make a tire last for 20 laps at Jerez?  Can you make it last for 25 laps at other tracks?  Leon Camier rounds out the top ten.  He had a big 100 mile an hour wreck on Friday morning, and another in Friday afternoon practice.  Alex Lowes is making his 75th start.  Michael van der Mark and Jordi Torres will start their 50th races in the Sunday Jerez race.  Anthony West rolls off 12th.  It is possible for him to race either in World Superbike with Pedercini on the Kawasaki, or in World Supersport, on a Yamaha YZF R6.

You heard the news here on 2 Wheelin', and that is, the new Yamaha YZF R6 has been released, for 2017.  Markus Reiterberger on the sister Althea BMW rolls off 13th.  This track is very narrow and there is a 5% climb into the first corner.  Lorenzo Savadori rolls off 14th.  Pirelli has sent in the tire sheet.  What's the plan with who runs which tires?  Let's find out.  The vast majority of the grid has gone with the B spec tire.  This is a medium compound tire that is going to settle into it's own a little slower.  It will be more consistent.  Alex Lowes will use the A spec rear and so will Nicky Hayden.  Chaz Davies is using the A spec front tire.  Most are on the B spec, front and rear.

Jordi Torres will also use the A spec front tire.  Roman Ramos is 15th.  In 16th, it is Alex De Angelis on the Aprilia.  Swtiching gears to World Supersport for a moment.  When we bring you coverage of WSSP from Jerez, two major riders are ruled out of action due to injury.  No Alex Baldolini and no Gino Rea, in the WSSP race.  Josh Brookes rolls off 17th.  Alex Lowes and Nicky Hayden will use the A spec rear Pirelli tire.  Five minutes to go before we get started as the Alfa Romeo 4C safety car, drives away and starts it's pace lap.  Luca Scassa rolls off 18th.  In 19th, it is Peter Sebestyen.

We are ready to bring the action at Jerez.  Giugliano in third, and in the top two places, the Kawasaki's of Sykes and Rea.  We have two wildcard riders at the end of the grid.  Karel Pesek from the Czech Republic is a wildcard on a second Toth Yamaha to Peter Sebestyen, and caboose on the field, is Frenchman Matthieu Lussiana.  One interesting thing about Jerez, is that it is a common track for testing in all forms of worldwide motorcycle racing.  We see test sessions here for World Superbike, World Supersport, MotoGP, Moto2, and Moto3.  Everyone, no matter what kind of bike they ride, is able to set record lap times in test sessions here at Jerez.

Update on the weather.  Air temperature = 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit).  Track temperature = 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit).  We look at points.  The two Kawasaki boys are in this championship fight.  48 points separates them.  Rea on 426 points.  Sykes on 378 points.  Lots of sliding has been common, but, today the pace should be very consistent.  Tom Sykes can't win the championship this weekend.  He could have a shot at the Qatar finale.  Sykes has to do all he can today, to chip away at Jonathan Rea's lead, because if he doesn't, then it's Rea's championship if he wins the Sunday race.

For now, let's get ready for the Saturday WSBK race at Jerez.  It's time, to bring the action!  Watch for Davies on the Ducati, too.  Kawasaki wants the manufacturer's title, too.  They will race their new ZX10RR bike, next year.  Who will have the advantage?  Red lights on.  Red lights, out!  Away we go!  Oh dear!  Nicky Hayden has had a horrible start!  Jonathan Rea is leading as we head for turn one.  Alex Lowes goes after Tom Sykes and the two Ducati's also mix it up.  Chaz Davies makes a move inside Davide Giugliano.  You have three Ducati's liner stern.  Davies fourth, Giugliano fifth, and the satellite bike of Xavi Fores, in sixth for Barni Racing.

Alex Lowes has placed the Yamaha YZF R1 into third.  Davies tries to defend from Lowes into Sito Pons corner, named after the famous Spanish motorcycle racer.  Davies cuts underneath Alex Lowes under braking into Dry Sac.  Nicky Hayden recovers, and we see both the Kawasaki bikes and the Ducati's running together.  Nicky Hayden makes a pass on Davide Giugliano.  Oh dear!  We've got a yellow flag, and two riders down.  Saeed Al Sulaiti, and Luca Scassa, have both crashed out.  Davies passes Alex Lowes.  Chaz Davies has to keep in touch with the green bikes, because he'll have no chance if those two whistle off into the distance.

Jordi Torres makes a move inside Davide Giugliano for seventh, and, oh no!  It's gone pear shaped for Ducati!  Giugliano has gone down, and so has Xavi Fores!  One Aruba bike, done.  One Barni bike, game over!  We watch Jonathan Rea pressing Tom Sykes.  Giugliano has recovered.  But Fores and Alex Lowes become the third and fourth retirements from race one here at Jerez.  Sykes is pushing through another legendary corner name, the Aspar corner.  Davies knows in the back of his mind, mathematically he's still in the fight.  So, what does he do?  He slices inside Jonathan Rea, for second spot!

Davies splits the Kawasaki's into Angel Nieto corner.  You can tell this speedway is a palace for motorcycle fans, because a good number of the corners, are named after famous 2 wheel racers.  We will be able to see, through riding style, the differences between the green bike (the Kawasaki), and the red bike (the Ducati), and how these athletes handle their 230+ horsepower two wheeled stallions.  Nicky Hayden on the Honda, sets fast lap of the race so far at 1:41.893.  Davies rides into the corners with a wider line than the Kawasaki boys do.  Just as we explain Luca Scassa falling out, speaking of falling out, Alex Lowes takes a huge tumble on the Yamaha!

They're dropping like flies.  The soft compound Pirelli tire, is more aggressive in how it handles the track, and maybe the bike just snapped away from Alex Lowes causing him to fall down.  Paul Denning and Andrea Dossoli, the brain trust at Yamaha Pata Racing have to be humphing and harumphing right now after this incident.  Nicky Hayden is right behind the top three by a second.  We've seen five spills in the opening laps, because this track at Jerez, is getting greasier every lap.  It's treacherous out there.  Anthony West was tumbling the order, and maybe he could have crashed.  But, he's rejoined the race at Dry Sac.

New fast lap for Sykes.  1:41.467.  Deja vu, because Sykes and Davies won this thing last year, (both races respectively), and now, we see a rematch.  Sykes' late braking style, and Davies' outright corner speed, these factors are giving us a great battle.  Sykes can defend by being late on the brakes and then Davies, he hustles his way right to the rear tire of Tom Sykes' ZX10R.  Updating the points, it's now a 39 point spread between Rea and Sykes... 442-403.  Davies sits on 365, 77 points out of the lead and 38 behind Sykes.  Sykes won the championship here at Jerez in 2013.  At that time, there was a sizzling battle between Eugene Laverty and Marco Melandri.

Davies takes the lead after starting sixth on the grid.  Even if Davies wins this race, Kawasaki has the manufacturers cup sewn up.  In replay we watch, and the earlier crash, was actually two isolated incidents where Xavi Fores and Davide Giugliano, hit the deck, separately.  Michael van der Mark has gotten around Jordi Torres for fifth.  Honda leads BMW.  We have riders like Gianluca Vizziello and Peter Sebestyen up into the points paying places in the top 15 right now.  Anthony West who wrecked earlier, he has managed to get around wildcard Karel Pesek.  Saeed Al Sulaiti, Luca Scassa, Davide Giugliano, Xavi Fores, and Alex Lowes.

Nicky Hayden is fourth using the alternative rear tire.  His last lap was a 1:42.1 and Jonathan Rea had a 1:42 flat.  Nicky Hayden wants more podiums.  We see Jordi Torres on the BMW S1000RR still in hot pursuit of Michael van der Mark on the Honda CBR1000RR.  Torres struggled spinning his rear tire earlier in the weekend.  But, during the race, his BMW's traction control seems to work fine.  Last time by, Sykes was 4/10ths of a second quicker than was Jonathan Rea.  Chaz Davies is setting consistent 1:41.5 lap times.  The softer Pirelli tire fits his riding style, and we'll see how he gets on as this race continues.

Kawasaki has run real well here at Jerez over the years.  Back in 1990, Raymond Roche did the double here at Jerez for Ducati.  Back then, Jerez was the WSBK season opener and Roche was WSBK champ in 1990 as well.  It took 24 years before another French rider won the championship in WSBK, when in 2014, Sylvain Guintoli earned the championship.  Davies has lost 4/10ths of a second.  Davies' lead is 1.2 seconds over Sykes.  As we close in on half distance, Nicky Hayden's pace is improving.

French wildcard rider Matthieu Lussiana has crashed out of this race on motorcycle #94, the ASPI BMW S1000RR.  He has crashed into turn 13, the Jorge Lorenzo corner.  Karel Pesek of the Czech Republic is the last rider now remaining in this event.  At the end of the next lap, lap ten, we'll be halfway home.  We have movement in the midfield too as Josh Brookes has gone by Lorenzo Savadori.  Alex De Angelis has also passed Savadori.  Romano Ramos remains in the points and thus, two of the three Spaniards who started, are.  Peter Sebestyen has passed Gianluca Vizziello.  The question remains, can Nicky Hayden get past Jonathan Rea.

The gap is 9/10ths of a second.  Rea had many victories riding with Honda before he moved to Kawasaki.  The gap is closing.  Famously, Jonathan Rea struggled most in both 2015 races here at Jerez even though he won the championship, finishing fourth in both races.  Nicky Hayden begins to charge, and Chaz Davies picks up a couple tenths on Tom Sykes.  It's the battle of the Aprilia's into Jorge Lorenzo corner, in replay.  Alex De Angelis goes around Lorenzo Savadori.  Savadori has to deal with passing Roman Ramos who has had a tough race in the Saturday opener here at Jerez.

Ramos had engine and electrical issues with his bike, and, for the first time in his career he lost both knee pads, one in the morning, and the other, in the afternoon.  Ramos, chasing the Aprilia riders, is on the GoEleven Kawasaki ZX10R.  Josh Brookes is just ahead.  Brookes is the fastest rider in this group, and he is now in tenth place.  We are now halfway home.  Ten laps complete.  Ten remaining.  Chaz Davies now leads Tom Sykes by 2.4 seconds.  Hayden is 1.2 seconds behind Rea.  What will happen to the performance of the alternative front tire after the next lap is completed?  It may be coming towards it's falloff point.

Roman Ramos passes Lorenzo Savadori for 12th.  Keep an eye on the Yamaha and BMW battle which is Jordi Torres vs. Sylvain Guintoli.  Guintoli is faster than Torres right now.  Kawasaki has everything nearly sewn up, as they are in perfect position now, to wrap up a second consecutive manufacturer's championship in World Superbike.  If things stay the way they are, Kawasaki will lead Ducati by 80 points.  Anthony West and Gianluca Vizziello have swapped places.  "Ant" is now 15th and in the last points paying position.  Davies turns a 1:42 flat lap time, and it is undoubtedly faster than either of the Kawasaki riders right now.

Sylvain Guintoli has gotten around Jordi Torres for sixth spot.  If positions stay as they are, the gap between Rea and Sykes for the championship, shrinks by four, from 48 points, to 44.  Alex De Angelis has caught Josh Brookes.  Anthony West has made another move, going around Peter Sebestyen for 14th.  We know the Aprilia RSV4 is often the fastest motorcycle in a straight line, but as De Angelis and Brookes head for Sito Pons corner, De Angelis won't be close enough.  The BMW S1000RR is another bike that is very quick in a straight line, and the two BMW teams could have some performance still to use, in the finale in Qatar when we get there.

Among the top three riders, Chaz Davies is faster than the two Kawasaki riders.  Davies ran a 1:42.315.  Rea, a 1:42.421, and Sykes, a 1:42.580.  The gap is 1.6 seconds.  Will Jonathan Rea have time to catch Sykes?  Davies would still have a mathematical chance of winning the championship, if the order stayed as is.  Sykes could reduce the lead, but of course, Rea and crew chief Per Arriba, concentrate on the whole points total across both races of the weekend.  Rea has more pace than Sykes, but he won't be able to bridge a 1.8 second gap before the end of race one here in Spain.  Roman Ramos is right behind Alex De Angelis, and De Angelis had some good finishes when he ran here at Jerez in Moto2.

Things may stay status quo to the end.  Sykes is ahead of Rea, at Kawasaki.  Hayden is ahead of Michael van der Mark at Honda.  In the meantime, Jordi Torres is falling into the clutches of Leon Camier.  The MV Agusta is gaining on the BMW.  Camier is going to make a brave man's move inside Torres at Dry Sac.  Fair and square racing, as Torres leaves Camier racing room.  BMW has no grip for their bike on the power exiting the corners.  This symptom plagued them in Friday practice as well.  Sylvain Guintoli is three seconds ahead of Leon Camier, in seventh.  So, the MV man may not catch the Yamaha.  If the rumor mill is indeed true, in 2017, Sylvain Guintoli could be team mates with Leon Camier at MV Agusta.  We'll see what develops in that case.

Four laps now remain in race one.  Alex De Angelis is still trying to get around Josh Brookes.  But, as is so often true in racing, catching is one thing, passing is another.  Michael van der Mark has eaten a second out of the advantage his Honda team mate Nicky Hayden holds.  Nicky Hayden is the only rider (now that Alex Lowes has retired from this race), on the softer A compound Pirelli rear tire.  Michael van der Mark is gaining on Hayden.  1:43.4 for Hayden, while van der Mark runs a 1:43 flat.  This is a fight for fourth in the race and the world championship.

Hayden has to keep van der Mark at bay.  van der Mark doesn't care though, because he'll race for Yamaha next year, while MotoGP veteran Stefan Bradl joins Hayden at Honda.  Chaz Davies leads by four seconds with two laps left.  Ducati has found what they need with Davies' Panigale.  He's not having to over stress the bike.  He crashed three or four times earlier in the year if you recall.  The gap between Hayden and van der Mark is 7/10ths of a second.  Has van der Mark done enough?  Just two good overtaking spots here at Jerez.  He'll have to make a move into the Jorge Lorenzo corner on the last lap.

It is the final lap.  Chaz Davies looks for his eighth race win of 2016.  Davies runs slightly wide into the final turn.  But he is now just one win shy of the number tallied by Jonathan Rea this season.  Davies wins race one at Jerez!  But, Kawasaki has now won their second straight World Superbike manufacturer's championship!  Michael van der Mark finishes a tenth of a second behind Hayden.  Ducati won the battle.  But, Kawasaki won the war.

World Superbike Race 1: #7 Chaz Davies     GBR.     Ducati Panigale R

Race two is coming up.

We move on to the Sunday race here in Spain.  In order to clinch the 2016 FIM World Superbike Championship, Jonathan Rea needs merely six points.  Again, if Rea clinches today, he becomes the first back-to-back World Superbike champion since Carl Fogarty accomplished the feat in the late 1990s.  Let battle commence, here in Spain!  Between them, the legendary Grand Prix motorcycle racers who have corners named after them here at Jerez, have 26 championships!  Absolutely amazing.

Can Chaz Davies do the double?  This is it.  Take a deep breath.  We are ready to possibly decide a title, and a race, at Jerez de la Frontera.  Will Jonathan Rea be champ?  Post time weather conditions are not much different than on Saturday  23 degrees Celsius (73 degrees Fahrenheit), air temperature.  35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), track temperature.  A hotter track may influence tire choice.  We have another 20 lap race, coming up.  Chaz Davies is pretty much out of contention for the rider's championship.  Kawasaki has won both the manufacturer's and team's titles.

90% of the hotel rooms were booked for this race weekend.  Congratulations to Kawasaki winning the teams and manufacturer's titles.  They have also won the manufacturers championship in World Supersport.  Folks, we cannot divulge who won World Supersport yet.  That's another race report, and will be coming soon.  Stay tuned.  You have to go back to September 1999, to the Hockenheimring in Germany, when Carl Fogarty scored his second straight world championship.  Jonathan Rea and Per Arriba, his crew chief, are looking to seal the deal.  Tom Sykes and his crew chief Marcel Twinke have plans of their own, surely.

Sykes was fastest in the morning warmup.  Chaz Davies is running his seventh and last engine of the season.  We saw lots of different riding styles in yesterday's race.  Davies runs sideways into the final corner like a dirt tracker.  We saw yesterday some variety in tire choice, and a change in temperature from cool to warm.  The subtle differences in the A and B spec tires, were not really noticeable.  Who can find the confidence in the front end?  We saw lots of crashes on Saturday.  Well, this is common at Jerez as the track gets slick.

Saeed Al Sulaiti said that Dominic Schmitter triggered a wreck between Al Sulaiti and Luca Scassa in the race yesterday.  Jordi Torres has been smoking the rear tire on his BMW even with traction control on the motorcycle.  We are prepping for the sighting laps.  You've got 20 minutes if you want to grab a beverage before the race begins.  The race could go either way.  Rea could win the title today, or have to wait until the finale.  How will the Kawasaki's find pace through the race to challenge Davies on the Ducati?  If Rea wants the title, he needs to win.

Tom Sykes knows any title hopes he has, rest on Jonathan Rea running into trouble.  Race pace is a major deal.  We saw Davies consistently lapping in the 1:41s on Saturday.  Jonathan Rea rolls off second.  Nicky Hayden had a rear suspension issue, dropping the ride height on his Honda CBR1000RR.  This caused Hayden to have to battle his team mate, Michael van der Mark and he could not take the fight to Jonathan Rea.

Jonathan Rea is second.  Davide Giugliano is third on the grid.  Here at Jerez, if a rider opens a margin, it's hard for his competition to bridge it and make up ground.  Chaz Davies rolls off sixth.  He'll have to duplicate his performance from yesterday.  Alex Lowes starts fourth.  He has to hope he can finish today after crashing out on Saturday.  Tom Sykes performed well even though he didn't have the pace.  Leon Camier has had a tough weekend, but has had the pace on his MV Agusta.  Nicky Hayden rolls off fifth.  Eight on the grid is Xavi Fores.

Fores crashed yesterday along with Davide Giugliano.  Jordi Torres scored a podium here at Jerez last year.  But, that was on the Aprilia as opposed to the BMW.  Pirelli's tire selections have more variety for today's race.  Kawasaki uses the C spec harder compound front tire.  B spec rear tires for the green bikes.  Davide Giugliano has a softer A spec tire on the front of his Ducati.  Nicky Hayden on the Honda is also using the C spec tire.  Sylvain Guintoli is ninth.  Leon Camier rounds out the top ten.    
        
Michael van der Mark is 11th.  No real difference between A and B spec tires.  The C spec is slightly harder and handles a tad differently.  Anthony West is 12th.  West and Torres went through Super Pole 1, and also in Super Pole 2.  Markus Reiterberger is 13th.  He's had a tough year this year due to injury.  Lorenzo Savadori is 14th.  The BMW S1000RR has been a consistent bike this year.  Roman Ramos completes the top 15.  Alex De Angelis is 16th on the Aprilia.  17th is Josh Brookes.  18th, Luca Scassa.  Karel Abraham is not here.  He has a fever.  So, Josh Brookes is the only Milwaukee BMW on the grid this weekend.

In 19th, it's Peter Sebestyen, and he scored his first ever World Superbike point in the Saturday contest.  The Ioda team won't be testing after this race.  Yes, there was a test on the Monday after Jerez.  Ioda is not sure what bike they will use in 2017.  Will they stay with Aprilia?  Will they switch and race a BMW?  GoEleven may run a second motorcycle in the 2017 WSBK season.  Rolling off 20th it is Gianluca Vizziello.  Rumors fly, too, of another Yamaha bike that could join the grid.  We'll have to wait and see.

Dominic Schmitter is 21st.  22nd is Saeed Al Sulaiti.  23rd is Karel Pesek.  Karel Pesek is a former MotoGP level racer, and is the younger brother of motorcycle racer Lucas Pesek.  Karel Pesek is Peter Sebestyen's team mate at Toth Yamaha this weekend.  They have had four riders.  Imre Toth, Pawel Szkopek, Peter Sebestyen, and Karel Pesek.  The safety car powers up the hill.  Five minutes until we race.  Matthieu Lussiana is shotgun on the field.  The only way for him, is up, quite literally.  What's up in the UFO?  The UFO is the enclosed glass room under the bridge that the riders pass through. 

You can see, in that vantage point, the first four or five corners, up to the Sito Pons turn.  So, we give a shout out to the fans digging the racing action in the UFO!  There is a bar for the VIPs up there, too.  Giugliano, Sykes, Rea, across the front row.  Win the race, and take the title fight to Qatar.  That's Sykes' mission.  The bikes are on their warmup lap.  44 points between Rea and Sykes.  Davies is 72 points behind.  But, he could still be in with a shout here.  We update the weather conditions before the red lights go out here in Jerez.  23 degrees Celsius (73 degrees Fahrenheit), air temperature.  37 degrees Celsius (98 degrees Fahrenheit), track temperature.  That is the hottest track temp we've seen all weekend.

We are right on the cusp of a tire drop off.  Recall on Saturday, we saw lots of wrecks early.  Jonathan Rea has never won here at Jerez.  We see the project managers for the teams looking on.  Yoshimoto Matsuda for Kawasaki, and Ernesto Marinelli, for Ducati.  We're ready for a start.  Red lights on.  Red lights out!  Away we go!  Tom Sykes gets the advantage headed for the first corner as Markus Reiterberger also gets an unusually good getaway on the BMW.  Chaz Davies moves up, and Jonathan Rea will be down in fourth if he's not careful.  Sykes and Davide Giugliano are side by side.

Three wide!  Giugliano in the middle of that sandwich is the hot dog about to fly out of the bun!  Good start for Nicky Hayden too, on the Honda.  Nicky Hayden made a stellar move and Alex Lowes is pushed wide on the Yamaha YZF R1.  Sykes leads as Jonathan Rea tries to have a go at Chaz Davies.  Nicky Hayden is surely in the right place at the right time.  Davies blocks Sykes and goes for the lead.  Sykes is strong under braking.  Davies charges from sixth to first on lap one.  Poor old Peter Sebestyen!  He scored points on Saturday.  But, it's game over on Sunday as Sebstyen wrecks.  Jonathan Rea makes a move on Tom Sykes into the first corner.

No dice.  Rea can't push his way through.  Davide Giugliano started on the front row, but has since fallen way down to eighth place.  No one jumped the start.  That's good to hear.  Jonathan Rea is keen to win the championship today and seal the deal before the final race.  If the order stays as it is now, we'd see the fight go to Qatar.  More news on the Qatar race at the end of this report.  Rea has to win today to clinch the title.  But it will be a tall order.  Chaz Davies already sets fast lap at 1:41.492.  If Davies holds on to win, he'll have won the same number of races in 2016 as Jonathan Rea has.  Can Nicky Hayden maintain good lap times and challenge the front runners?  He's ahead of Alex Lowes on the Yamaha.

Oh dear.  Leon Camier has fallen in turn eight.  No dice for MV Agusta and Camier.  Michael van der Mark and Jordi Torres move up.  Davide Giugliano breaks into the top ten.  Davies lowers fastest lap to 1:41.767.  Alex De Angelis has ditched his Aprilia in the gravel.  A classic turn one low side wreck for De Angelis and he held on for the ride for quite a while before letting go of the motorcycle.  Jonathan Rea takes a different line than Tom Sykes, to generate more speed on corner exit.  De Angelis has rejoined the race.  It's not game over for him, thankfully.  Rea is carrying that big speed into the Criville and Ferrari corners.  Then, shoot out of Lorenzo corner to complete the lap.

Chaz Davies said that he doesn't really enjoy racing at Jerez, and has come here for 16 years, but now he finally understands how to ride the track.  Alex Lowes and Sylvain Guintoli run fifth and sixth, the two Yamaha team mates.  The Yamaha can use it's tires effectively.  Again, game over for Alex De Angelis.  Too much damage to keep racing.  Davies still leads.  Tom Sykes knows how crucial points are.  He lost the championship in 2012 by half a point to Max Biaggi, and to Sylvain Guintoli in 2014.

Xavi Fores battles with Michael van der Mark and Jordi Torres.  Davide Giugliano is dropping like a stone, running behind Roman Ramos and Markus Reiterberger.  Rea can't use the speed of his bike to get by Sykes.  Chaz Davies has dropped his pace back into the 1:42 range.  Michael van der Mark goes around Xavi Fores for seventh.  Fourteen laps left.  We are working lap seven.  Three laps to halfway.  21 of 24 riders are running.  Karel Pesek is the last rider in the race.  We've lost from the race, Sebestyen, Camier, and De Angelis.  Chaz Davies and the Kawasaki riders are in the 1:42 range, as the tires are beginning to fall off.

Lorenzo Savadori passes Davide Giugliano.  Jordi Torres smokes the rear tire again.  Maybe it is oil that burns off from inside the crankcase.  That can happen on a Superbike.  Chaz Davies can open a gap if the Kawasaki boys scrap with each other.  Jordi Torres has caught Xavi Fores.  Torres cuts like a knife through butter to make a pass on Xavi Fores.  Torres and Fores played ping pong with each other earlier in the weekend, and not due to competition, but due to humor, Jordi Torres had Xavi Fores in tears of laughter for their antics at the ping pong table.  What a blast that must have been!  Davide Giugliano drops to 15th, losing a place to Josh Brookes.

Saeed Al Sulaiti has crashed and then picked up the bike.  Rea and Sykes continue to battle, but Sykes just has the edge and Rea has to decide, when do I make the move?  The Kawasaki's have lost touch with Chaz Davies who leads by two and a half seconds.  Xavi Fores has also fallen down.  Oh dear.  A tech issue for Xavi Fores.  He's out of the race.  He wrecked at Dry Sac down at the end of the back straight.  Anthony West and Markus Reiterberger have moved into the top ten.  The Yamaha team mates are in a battle of their own too, as Sylvain Guintoli closes up on Alex Lowes.

Tom Sykes holds a tight line into turn five.  Rea moves in and Sykes cannot get around.  Rea holds on.  Sykes has to make the move, now.  Sykes cannot make it yet.  Try into turns one and two.  Ten laps left.  If it stays this way, the margin headed into the season closer would still be 48 markers. Sykes now has an opportunity to go for it into Dry Sac.  Rea holds on as he has more mid corner speed than Sykes does.  Sylvain Guintoli, meanwhile, has passed Alex Lowes in the battle of the Yamaha's.  We are halfway home in race two.

Davies leads by 4.2 seconds.  Michael van der Mark passes Alex Lowes.  These two, will be team mates at Yamaha, next year.  Sykes just can't get past Jonathan Rea.  If it stays as is with eight laps left, the points are as follows.  Rea leads Sykes by 48 points 462-414.  Chaz Davies will be on 395 markers, 67 points behind, in third, and also, 19 points behind Sykes.  How close will Sykes be to Rea?  He carries speed through the Sito Pons corner.  Chaz Davies continues to lead.  Should Sykes crash, Rea will be world champ.  Fastest lap again for Davies at 1:42.817.  Nicky Hayden pulls in two tenths on Tom Sykes.

Lorenzo Savadori passes Markus Reiterberger.  Gianluca Vizziello may score a single point as he did in Germany a couple races ago.  If Rea picks up 20 points for second, and Tom Sykes falls behind Nicky Hayden, then, Rea is champion.  Davies is 6.3 seconds ahead of the Kawasaki's.  Hayden edges closer to the Kawasaki's.  Markus Reiterberger has taken his BMW off the road at the Sito Pons turn.  He's dropped to 14th.  Chaz Davies has this one in the bag for the win.  He leads by 6.7 seconds.  Since the summer break, Davies has won every dry race.  Mathematically though, going to the finale, Davies is 67 points in-arrears, so he's out of contention for the title.

Incidentally, both Jordi Torres and Michael van der Mark have made their 50th career WSBK starts in this race.  Sykes winding in Jonathan Rea.  Nicky Hayden takes in a tenth and a half through sector three.  We know there is animosity between the team mates at Kawasaki, Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes.  The same is true for their World Supersport team of Kenan Sofuoglu and Randy Krummenacher.  As they came through the latest split point, there's nothing in it between Sykes and Rea at the moment.

Rea could be struggling here and the track conditions are not suiting him, even with four laps left.  Jerez is the only track on the World Superbike calendar where Jonathan Rea has not won.  Nicky Hayden has raced here in MotoGP and done lots of testing here.  Three laps to go now.  Make that two.  If Rea is second, he gets the title.  Through Criville, Ferrari, and Jorge Lorenzo corners.  Chaz Davies proceeds to start another lap.  This isn't over yet.  Two laps to go.  Make that a lap and a half.  Hayden is going to have trouble making a move on Sykes.  Chaz Davies dominated this race.  We haven't seen him, because we are more concerned about the championship battle.

Davies is going to have this race in the bag.  It's the final lap.  Davies leads Rea by 7.4 seconds.  Sylvain Guintoli and Michael van der Mark run fifth and sixth.  The Yamaha's are having their best dry race of the year.  Hayden can't make a move on Tom Sykes.  Sykes needs a clean run out of Aspar and out of Angel Nieto corner.  Chaz Davies scores his fourth double of 2016.  Davies is unstoppable in Spain.  He wins!  Jonathan Rea is second.  48 points, just as it was going into this weekend.

World Superbike Race 2:  #7 Chaz Davies     GBR.     Ducati Panigale R

Davies does the double.  The championship fight, goes to the finale, in Qatar at the Losail circuit, in two weeks.  We'll see you then.  It's going to go down to the wire!  Don't miss it!

 

Karel Abraham MotoGP return confirmed

This just in!  This just in!  Karel Abraham moves back over from World Superbike, and will return to MotoGP in 2017 with the Aspar team.

http://www.motorsport.com/motogp/news/karel-abraham-motogp-return-confirmed-839893/

More MotoGP coverage, to come as soon as possible.

World Superbike Sunday action at Jerez

In the second race of the weekend for World Superbike at Jerez de la Frontera, in Jerez, Spain, Chaz Davies, does another double, sweeping both of the weekend's races.

http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/jerez-wsbk-davies-doubles-up-again-with-crushing-win-839381/?s=1

Stay tuned for a race report. Jonathan Rea has a 48 point lead in the championship over his Kawasaki team mate Tom Sykes, with 50 possible points on offer headed for the season finale in Qatar, in two weeks.

Saturday World Superbike action from Jerez

Here's what has happened during the weekend so far in the penultimate round of the FIM World Superbike championship from the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in Jerez, Spain.  Kawasaki dominates qualifying.  But, Chaz Davies and Ducati, have stolen the thunder after the first race of the weekend, and Davies has gotten a hat trick as far as the win column. 

Stay tuned, because yours truly hopes to have full race reports from all three WSBK classes, coming up, sometime next week.  In addition, look for a report tomorrow on the Sunday racing.

Sykes first man through to Tissot-Superpole 2

http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/sykes-first-man-through-to-tissot-superpole-2-838705/?s=1

Jerez WSBK: Sykes leads dominant Kawasaki 1-2 in qualifying

http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/jerez-wsbk-sykes-leads-dominant-kawasaki-1-2-in-qualifying-838915/?s=1

Jerez WSBK: Davies takes third straight win in Race 1

http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/jerez-wsbk-davies-takes-third-straight-win-in-race-1-838973/?s=1

Yamaha reveal 'radical' new YZF-R6 for 2017

Don't always share articles on new bikes.  But, this is an article from Motorcycle News, on the 2017 Yamaha YZF R6.

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/new-bikes/2016/october/2017-yamaha-yzf-r6-revealed/

Anthony West looking at WSBK and ARRC for 2017

Anthony West, a former MotoGP rider, is looking at options for 2017.  More than likely he will either race in FIM World Superbike, or in Asia in the Asian Road Racing Championship.

http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/anthony-west-looking-at-wsbk-and-arrc-for-2017-837590/?s=1

The Hunt for Rea is on

Previewing the penultimate round of the 2016 FIM World Superbike championship this weekend in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.

http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/the-hunt-for-rea-is-on-837420/?s=1

2016 MotoAmerica Night of Champions Announced

This Friday night, October 14th, is the awards ceremony for the 2016 MotoAmerica season champions.  More info, HERE.

http://www.motoamerica.com/2016-motoamerica-night-champions-announced

2017 MotoAmerica Race Schedule Expands To 10 Rounds

Two more new races have been added, for the 2017 MotoAmerica season at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California, and at Pittsburgh International Race Complex in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

http://www.motoamerica.com/2017-motoamerica-race-schedule-expands-to-10-rounds#page-3

The full schedule, is in the article, and also, right here.

2017 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Race Championship (Provisional Schedule)

• Round 1: Circuit of The Americas, Austin, Texas, April 20-23
• Round 2: Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia, April 28-30
• Round 3: Virginia International Raceway, May 12-14
• Round 4: Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, June 2-4
• Round 5: Utah Motorsports Campus, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 23-25
• Round 6: Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, California, July 7-9
• Round 7: Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, California, August 11-13
• Round 8: Pittsburgh International Race Complex, August 25-27
• Round 9: New Jersey Motorsports Park, Millville, New Jersey, September 8-10
• Round 10: Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Alabama, September 15-17

Pramac MotoGP ride "good option" for 2018 - Davies

Could Chaz Davies, stay with Ducati, but move to MotoGP from World Superbike, in 2018?

http://www.motorsport.com/motogp/news/pramac-motogp-ride-good-option-for-2018-davies-832823/

Lorenzo set "really competitive" times in Mercedes F1 test

Jorge Lorenzo did very well testing a Mercedes Formula 1 car, as mentioned yesterday.  Very few people have been able to succeed in racing on both two wheels, and four.  John Surtees, Mike Hailwood, and Kevin Schwantz, are some who have.  Will Lorenzo go car racing after his MotoGP career?  That remains to be seen.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/lorenzo-set-really-competitive-times-in-mercedes-f1-test-835903/?s=1

Lorenzo makes "dream come true" with Mercedes F1 test

Recently, last Thursday, MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo had the thrill of a lifetime, getting to test a Mercedes Formula 1 car at Silverstone.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/lorenzo-makes-dream-come-true-with-mercedes-f1-test-835481/?s=1

FIM Superstock 1000 Round 7: France

This is the seventh race of the season for the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup.  Raffaele De Rosa is trying to take the cup away from Leandro Mercado, the man who currently holds the lead in the Cup standings.  We are set for the latest 15 lap dash for cash in Stock 1000, the penultimate race of the cup season.  It's time for Superstock 1000, just past 2PM local time here in France, as we've already seen an awesome double victory for Chaz Davies in World Superbike.  Will we see more Ducati success in Stock 1000?  Stay tuned to find out.  It's a little breezy.  Let's have a look at the weather.  18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit), air temperature.  28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit), track temperature.  This is the 25th, the silver anniversary of Superbike in France.

Folks, there's been some drama.  Luca Mahias has pole for today's race.  Raffaele De Rosa wants to go for the win and just hope that Leandro Mercado has problems. Mercado is aware he could win the cup, here in France, but does not want to think about it, wanting to be realistic.  Leandro Mercado has a 14 point lead over second place, and Ducati leads BMW in the manufacturer's cup by 27 points.  Don't rule out Kevin Calia on the Aprilia.  He of course, rides the #74 Aprilia RSV4 RF for Nuova M2 Racing.  Calia could win the title, too.  He starts at the back, though.  It's realistically Mercado vs. De Rosa.  We've seen De Rosa and Mercado take each other out.  There is no unassailable lead in this series.

If De Rosa gets away at the front when this race starts, the key deal for him is, he has to keep the lead.  That way, we can go to the finale of the cup, and have a humdinger of a title fight on our hands.  A very relaxed run for these boys up to the grid, unlike in some races.  We saw in Germany with Stock 1000, there were people falling off their motorcycles in the wet at the Lausitzring.  Five minutes for warmup laps and adjustments as the bikes roll off pit lane, before forming up on the grid.  It looks like a cavalry charge.  I know what you are thinking.  Race start... stampede!  No.  Not now.  In Stock 1000, you can change tires up until the time the three minute board is shown.

However, Stock 1000 riders use road legal tires, not racing tires.  Let's clarify something while we have time.  That is about this new series setting up for next year, the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship.  Lucas Mahias is on pole, and he replaces Florian Marino who is still recovering from having a broken leg.  Supersport 300 is a subject we have brought up in the blog entries of WSBk from France, a few times.  It will be a launchpad for younger riders to get into the big leagues.  We have had great racing in Stock 1000 this season and after we're done here, at Magny-Cours, we have one more race as these blokes will contest the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in Spain, two weeks from now.

Imola and Misano had some dramas.  Raffaele De Rosa has finally exited the pit lane.  Who are you supporting?  Is it Argentinian Leandro Mercado and Ducati, or, Italian, Raffaele De Rosa, and BMW?  Lucas Mahias is pole man.  He came into World Supersport late in 2015, and has won one race.  He got pole and a lap record.  He's hit the ground running.  Raffaele De Rosa has had superb rids earlier in the season.  But, he has had trouble, too.  Roberto Tamburini topped the morning warmup and starts fourth.  But he has not shown anything this year.  Jeremy Guarnoni on the Pedercini Kawasaki ZX10R is another man on the front row of this grid.

Guarnoni is the defending champ in Stock 1000 here in France.  He won this race, last year, aboard a Yamaha YZF R1, and took that motorcycle's first win in Stock 1000.  Raffaele De Rosa is second.  The BMW struggles in the wet.  So, thankfully we have dry conditions.  We've seen De Rosa have issues in the wet, just as we've seen it in World Superbike for Markus Reiterberger and Jordi Torres.  Roberto Tamburini starts fourth on the Aprilia.  He won the first race of 2015, at Motorland Aragon in Spain.  Tamburini could have won the cup in 2015, but lost out to current World Superbike racer, Lorenzo Savadori.  He threw it down the road at the opening race at Motorland Aragon on the last lap of that one, too, if you remember.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi rolls off fifth.  Poor old Tamburini, has speed.  But it is tough to be off your game and you find yourself in the danger zone.  Leandro Mercado is sixth.  Alessandro Nocco is seventh.  British rider Jack Kennedy has said the stock bikes, with the street tires and the different electronics, are more difficult to ride, in some cases, than a racing spec Superbike.  Kennedy was a front running rider in World Supersport and has been a fixture in British Superbike the last few seasons.  Jack Kennedy has actually taken over from American veteran Bobby Fong, who has had harder times trying to fund traveling to Europe and doing these races.

We'll watch Jack Kennedy and see how he does.  Eighth, next to Alessandro Nocco is Riccardo Russo.  Ninth, Toprak Razgatlioglu.  Razgatlioglu had two nasty injuries earlier in the year.  Marco Facani is next on the grid.  Michael Ruben Rinaldi has had his motorcycle rebuilt.  He hit oil that was laid down in the warmup, and crashed at Grand Courbe, the first corner.  Gregg Black rolls off 11th.  Black has done well this year and is a good motorcycle endurance racer, too.  Next to Gregg Black is Alessandro Andreaozzi, and on the outside, Sebastien Suchet.  Suchet ran real well in Germany.

His best finishes were two seventh place efforts at Imola in May, and at the Nurburgring, last time out.  Five minutes to the start, as the Alfa 4C safety car moves away.  We've had a big crowd here in France for the races.  Andrea Mantovani is 14th on the grid.  We have the potential of another French rider being in contention to win.  Lucas Mahias is that rider.  Mantovani had a wreck in the warmup and has a contusion to his right hand and right elbow.  He'll have to ride through that, as we get set to roll off for 15 laps of action, at Circuit de Nevers.

Will Leandro Mercado claim the cup title this afternoon?  Raffaele De Rosa, is set to try and stop that force.  Can Lucas Mahias win his home race?  It is the penultimate race for Superstock 1000 2016, here in France.  Grab a favorite beverage, settle back, and check this one out.  Many French wildcards are in this race, and we've got 34 motorcycles, ready for a start.  Kevin Calia, will be caboose on the field, having not set a time in qualifying.  They move away on the warmup lap.  On the warmup lap, you can do what you wish and you don't have to stay in your grid spot, getting ready for a start.

The top three in points mathematically have a chance for the cup win.  Mercado leads on 102 points, with Raffaele De Rosa, 14 markers behind on 88 points.  Kevin Calia is a further 24 points back, on 77.  Michael Ruben Rinaldi, with 53 points, is 49 points behind, and is virtually eliminated from contention.  No change in the weather conditions from when we prepared for the start.  Same temperatures for both ambient, and track temp.  Kevin Calia might have a shot, if he makes a good start and can be dicing with Mercado and De Rosa.  A high percentage of these races have red flags if riders make a mistake.  Let's hope this one does not turn into a demolition derby.  In Germany, we had a few wrecks, but nothing like the pileups we saw earlier in the year, especially in the opener of the season at Imola.

Kevin Calia basically must beat the two top men in the cup, to have any hope of gaining on them before we head to the finale.  We have had just five riders lead races this year.  De Rosa, Mercado, Rinaldi, Mahias, and Russo.  Mahias won the race at Misano, leading the most important last 1/3rd of a lap he's ever led.  Now there's a statistic for you.  Dear me.  One rider will start from pit lane, and we will have 33 on the grid.  Mercado wins the title, if he wins the race, and De Rosa finishes fourth or worse.  So, let's go racing, in Superstock 1000, for the penultimate time, this year!

Red lights on.  Red lights, out!  They are away at Magny-Cours!  De Rosa gets a great start as Jeremy Guarnoni and Leandro Mercado also are fighting for the lead headed for Grand Courbe.  Roberto Tamburini on the Aprilia also gets a great start as bikes go three wide in the midfield.  Gregg Black runs wide.  So far so good.  34 bikes and riders might actually get through the first corners unscathed here.  It is a clean start up through Estoril for the title contenders.  Raffaele De Rosa holds the lead.  There are some yellow flags on course.

Someone, may have gone down.  It looks like Alessandro Andreaozzi has wrecked, and this wouldn't be the first opening lap shunt that has been experienced by the the rider of the #121 machine.  The SK Racing Team by Barni Ducati Panigale R, may be headed for the house.  One of the Triple M Ducati's may have had a slight touch through 180, but no harm no foul.  Andreozzi rejoins the fray, immediately.  So, no worries.  We may have seen another fallen rider, though.  Dutchman Rob Hartog ditched his #47 Team Hartog - Jenik - Against Cancer Kawasaki ZX10R.  Andreozzi was the one who went into the lane at the end of the warmup lap.

Luca Mahias leads this race.  Toprak Razgatlioglu on the Kawasaki is up to fourth spot.  Gregg Black tries an inside move.  Not this time.  Razgatlioglu has not performed the way everyone has expected him to in Stock 1000 this year.  Two Kawasaki's battle for third.  No, you aren't seeing a Sykes/Rea battle here.  Razgatlioglu passes Jeremy Guarnoni.  Two Italian teams, that are different, run each bike.  Guarnoni for Team Pedercini, and Razgatlioglu, for Puccetti Racing Team.  Mahias has a close call under braking.  This race is really close so far.  We are just on the second lap.  Jack Kennedy, the Irishman, is up from 15th on the grid, to 11th.  Kennedy is right behind Gregg Black at the present time.

Kennedy is aboard the Agro On-Benjan Kawasaki ZX10R today, replacing American Bobby Fong.  Leandro Mercado is eighth while Raffaele De Rosa runs second.  If it stays this way, it would be a two man race for the title, with two points between Mercado and De Rosa, headed to the closing race of the year in Spain.  Kevin Calia and Michael Ruben Rinaldi would be too far behind to make inroads on the championship.  Calia is in the pit lane at the end of lap one.  Having your bike in the lane, running for a championship, is not a good sign.  It is a two man race.  Game over for Calia.  Will we see team orders from the aruba.it Ducati junior squad?

The Ducati's are on the back foot here this weekend in Stock 1000.  Mahias runs fastest lap of the race so far, turning a 1:40.130.  For the manufacturer's cup, we will see a three way fight, between Ducati, BMW, and Yamaha.  Mahias' fastest lap is a new record.  We see a battle now, between Jeremy Guarnoni, and Ricardo Russo.  Guarnoni doesn't see Russo, and they nearly touch!  Russo moves to fourth, but maybe Jeremy Guarnoni has something to say and wants to pass him back.  Russo uses all the curbs into the chicane on the back straightaway before Lycee.

Jack Kennedy may have been off the road, losing four places.  There is also a ride through penalty assessed by the stewards to Italian Federico Sanchioni, aboard the #13 Punto Moto Corse by Clasitaly Kawasaki ZX10R.  Sanchioni has made his way through the lane, but he's probably cut corners and gained an unfair advantage on his competitors.  He has cut the Nurburgring chicane, and if you do that, you must rejoin through the access road, instead of going across the runoff area, and thus, Sanchioni is penalized.  Leandro Mercado runs right behind Michael Ruben Rinaldi.  Toprak Razgatlioglu has reset fastest lap and he's gaining on Mercado and De Rosa.

Razgatlioglu resets fast lap at 1:39.923.  Toprak Razgatlioglu dives in on the brakes and wants to move Raffaele De Rosa out of the way.  De Rosa has to have the championship in mind.  Don't do anything silly.  Razgatlioglu is second and now, he wants to go for the lead and get around Lucas Mahias.  Leandro Mercado has gotten around Michael Ruben Rinaldi and has gone up to seventh place.  Lucas Mahias continues to lead.  Let's have a quick look at the complete top ten running order.

1. Lucas Mahias
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu
3. Raffaele De Rosa
4. Ricardo Russo
5. Roberto Tamburini
6. Jeremy Guarnoni
7. Leandro Mercado
8. Michael Ruben Rinaldi
9. Gregg Black
10. Sebastien Suchet

Tamburini is still sandwiched between Russo and Guarnoni.  He passes Guarnoni and moves into fifth as the standings above, indicate.  "Tambu" is recovering from a bad start.  Sanchioni has a penalty for jumping the start, and must serve it within three laps.  Let's hope he hits pit lane or if not, he will be disqualified from the race.  Sanchioni runs 28th overall at the moment.  Raffaele De Rosa is losing time to the leaders.  He needs to be in this scrum, in order to have any hope of continuing to be in championship contention.  We are working lap six of 15.  Next lap is halfway.  Jack Kennedy has fallen to 15th, running behind Andrea Mantovani, Alessandro Nocco, Marco Facani, and Luca Vitale.

As we look farther down the running order we find Marco Faccani, Luca Vitale, Wayne Tessels, Bryan Staring (who had that awesome second place in Germany last time out), Fabio Massei, Marc Moser, and Eric Vionnet, completing the top 20.  Julian Puffe from Germany runs right behind Luca Salvadori at the moment.  Then comes Andrea Tucci, French wildcard Romain Maitre, and Switzerland's Bryan Leu, completing the top 25.  We see a huge battle developing for fourth, fifth and sxith between Russo, Tamburini, and Guarnoni.

Jeremy Guarnoni won this race last year, from pole.  Poor old Kevin Calia has indeed retired from this race.  Game over for rider #74.  Calia will not win the title.  Ten laps now remain.  His Aprilia team mate Roberto Tamburini is applying the blowtorch to Ricardo Russo though.  The fluidity of this race track makes it hard to make a bold move.  If it stays this way, Mercado would lead De Rosa in the cup by seven points with one race left at Jerez in Spain.  Wayne Tessels is now plummeting down the running order.  Game over.  Tessels is out of this one.  He has just crashed out going through the final chicane after Lycee.

The top three are right together and Guarnoni looks to challenge Russo.  For Guarnoni, discretion is the better part of valor.  Oops.  Wayne Tessels is not out.  He's rejoined this race.  Guarnoni makes a pass on Russo into the 180 and makes it stick.  Russo turned too deep into 180 and Guarnoni made the pass.  Tamburini wobbles the Aprilia but stays in the saddle.  The two Ducati's of Leandro Mercado and Michael Ruben Rinaldi are closing up on this battle we're watching.  We are right at halfway, or thereabouts.  Raffaele De Rosa is closing up on the top two of Lucas Mahias and Toprak Razgatlioglu.

Razgatlioglu is the 2015 Superstock 600 champion.  The points right now, see just a seven point margin between Mercado and De Rosa.  111-104.  Mahias is opening a 1.3 scond gap over Razgatlioglu and De Rosa.  De Rosa has now passed the Kawasaki.  De Rosa needed to pull off that move.  Another point for De Rosa, means three points in the championship fight.  111-108.  Mercado runs seventh.  Razgatlioglu is not done with De Rosa yet.  Toprak Razgatlioglu is not close enough into Imola to get around De Rosa's BMW.  If these two blokes crash, Mercado could be promoted into a position where he'd have enough points to win the cup, not necessitating further speculation for the season finale.

This is another reason for De Rosa to really watch his step.  Mercado is chasing Ricardo Russo through Golf corner.  Just six laps left now.  Mercado is relying on other people to hit problems so he can scavenge points.  De Rosa must feel like he's skating on thin ice, because Razgatlioglu is right behind him.  Lucas Mahias is 2.2 seconds ahead of these two.  Roberto Tamburini still holds fourth spot.  Lucas Mahias on the Yamaha YZF R1 leads this race by 2.7 seconds.  He's whistled off into the distance.  If he stays on the bike, he's got the French round of Superstock 1000, in the bag.  Raffaele De Rosa continues to hold off Toprak Razgatlioglu.

In the midfield, we have two four way battles to talk about.  One is between Sebastien Suchet, Gregg Black, Andrea Mantovani, and Alessandro Nocco for ninth spot.  Then, for 13th spot, we have a battle brewing between Marco Facani, Luca Vitale, Jack Kennedy, and Bryan Staring.  The major scrum is between De Rosa and Razgatlioglu, with just four laps left.  This is the first time (despite having to recuperate from injuries earlier in the year), we have been able to see Toprak Razgatlioglu ride the Kawasaki the way he's wanted to.  Razgatlioglu will be in Superstock 1000 next year. 

Raffaele De Rosa has to be careful.  He has to try and pick up points, and hope he can get a podium for Althea BMW.  Again, if both of them hit the deck, then Leandro Mercado would place himself perfectly for a title win.  Oh no.  Poor old Jack Kennedy has just crashed out of this race, folks.  He's collided with Marc Moser, at the Adelaide hairpin.  It's a shame for Jack Kennedy.  But, if a local yellow flag waves at one of the key overtaking spots, Raffaele De Rosa can use that to his advantage over Toprak Razgatlioglu.  Luca Vitali has also wrecked at Adelaide.  Marc Moser on the #32 Triple M Racing Ducati Panigale, is out of this race.

Leandro Mercado is seventh, not making inroads on the chaps at the front.  Lucas Mahias will start the final lap.  Toprak Razgatlioglu has passed Raffaele De Rosa.  The lead for Mercado would still be seven points headed for the finale.  Alessandro Nocco has just moved ahead of Andrea Mantovani.  Can Raffaele De Rosa gain back four points to stay with Mercado in the fight for the cup?  He's making a move on Toprak Razgatlioglu as yours truly writes this sentence!  De Rosa passes Razgatlioglu.  Razgatlioglu has better drive out of the Adelaide hairpin!

Razgatlioglu continues to hold De Rosa at bay.  De Rosa is pushing and he's not done yet!  De Rosa thought he was through and now, Razgatlioglu, gets him back!  No dice.  Marco Sbaiz, a lapped motorcycle, is ahead.  Sbaiz, the Italian, on the #26 BWG Racing Kawasaki ZX10R.  De Rosa won't give up.  He's having a go into Lycee!  He needs the points.  He might have them.  No!  Razgatlioglu shuts the door, again!  Lucas Mahias has won this race!  But, De Rosa is third, with Razgatlioglu is second.  Leandro Mercado goes into the finale at Jerez, with seven points in hand over De Rosa.

Superstock 1000 Race: #144 Lucas Mahias      FRA.     Yamaha YZF R1

One race now remains in Superstock 1000.  The eighth and final round of the cup, at Jerez de la Frontera, in Spain, next weekend.  Stay tuned, for all the action, here, on 2 Wheelin'.