2012 World Superbikes - round 4

Ahead of the racing, Effenbert Liberty Racing's Sylvain Guintoli put his Ducati 1098R on pole after setting the best time in the rain-affected Superpole session. Kawasaki's Tom Sykes was once again on the front row, finishing second in Superpole. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) and Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) completed the front row of the grid. Mark Aitchison (Grillini Progea BMW) qualified 22nd.

Race 1 was cancelled due to torrential rain after only three laps. Aitchison was amongst a group of four riders who crashed in the wet conditions of the opening race, made worse by the varying track surfaces at Monza (certain sections of the track dry faster than others) and concerns over the durability of the Pirelli wet tyres in such mixed conditions. John Hopkins' (Crescent Fixi Suzuki) horrendous luck continued when he broke bones in his right foot in his accident. The rain came down again after the red flag, making a full-wet race possible, but following consultation with riders, the first race was cancelled altogether.

Following two delayed starts and two warm up laps that reduced the overall distance to 17 laps, race 2 eventually started under a declared dry track, albeit minus Guintoli, whose bike suffered a mechanical failure on the second warm-up lap. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia), Sergio Gadea (Kawasaki Racing) and Aitchison were also non-starters, the Aussie unable to come up for the main event after his earlier crash.

With no Guintoli ahead of him, Sykes was the early leader, opening a 2+ second gap over Checa and Max Biaggi (Aprilia RacingTeam) by the conclusion of the first lap. Two laps later, Sykes had extended his lead to more than six seconds, with both Checa and Biaggi dropping back, allowing Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) and Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) to move into the podium positions. Behind Sykes, the star of the race was Leon Haslam. After qualifying a dismal 13th, the Brit had moved his BMW up to seventh by the end of lap 1, then proceeded to carve through the front runners to be in second place by lap 5, battling with Laverty.

With the race barely 15 minutes old, the rain came down again, eventually leading to the red flag being brought out after eight laps. The race winner was Sykes, who was more than 9 seconds ahead of Haslam when the race was called. Behind Haslam, Laverty completed the podium, with Melandri and Biaggi rounding out the top five.

"My second win for Kawasaki but my first this year and it was nice to get that one under the belt," said Sykes after the abridged race. "It is a shame that it is only half points but we put on a good show in eight laps and I hope I put on a good show for the Italian fans.

"This was my first podium at Monza so that is good and the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R has been working fantastically well. From the green light the feedback on my bike was fantastic and I was able to go about my business in a good way and keep out of trouble. I had a great start and got myself into the lead and as Elvis once said, 'It's now or never'."

In the shortened race, only half-points were allocated, which saw no major changes to the top of the championship table. Biaggi still leads from Checa, although Sykes, in third, has closed the gap significantly. Guintoli's DNF means Melandri is now fourth in the championship, just ahead of Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) and Haslam.

MONZA WORLD SUPERBIKE RESULTS
(Race one cancelled)

Race two: 8 laps
1 Tom Sykes Kawasaki 14'08.800
2 Leon Haslam BMW +9.709
3 Eugene Laverty Aprilia +10.119
4 Marco Melandri BMW +10.294
5 Max Biaggi Aprilia +10.527
6 Jonathan Rea Honda +10.638
7 Carlos Checa Ducati +10.899
8 Davide Giugliano Ducati +12.195
9 Jakub Smrz Ducati +13.199
10 Ayrton Badovini BMW + 19.372
DNS Mark Aitchison BMW
Fastest lap: Sykes - 1:44.707

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (AFTER FOUR OF 14 ROUNDS)
1 Biaggi 97.5
2 Checa 95.5
3 Sykes 91.5
4 Melandri 72.5
5 Rea 70
6 Haslam 68
7 Sylvain Guintoli 66
8 Laverty 64
9 Smrz 42.5
10 Giugliano 51
24 Aitchison 1

The next round of the 2012 World Superbike Championship will be held at Donington, UK on May 11-13.

Images: 2SNAP