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.
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