2012 World Superbikes - Round 9

The Italian led over the finish line for only three laps out of 40 - two in race one and once in the second - but it was enough to bring up his and BMW's first double win in WSBK competition. In doing so, Melandri has reduced Max Biaggi's (Aprilia Racing Team RSV4) championship lead with five rounds remaining.

Davide Guigliano (Althea Racing Ducati 1098R) showed early pace in qualifying, but come the Superpole sessions, Melandri, Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team RSV4), Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati 1098R) all ran under the 1'59 mark. At the end of Superpole 2, Kawasaki Racing Team's Tom Sykes was the fastest, and due to Guigliano's Ducati leaking fluid on the track and bringing down several riders in that session, Superpole 3 was cancelled due to the delay caused by the clean up.

Sykes's default pole position was his seventh so far this season. The front row of the grid was completed by Checa, Laverty and Guigliano. Melandri started from the second row of the grid, as did BMW Motorrad team mate, Leon Haslam, Honda Racing Team's Jonathan Rea and BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet's Michel Fabrizio. Championship leader Biaggi was an uncharacteristic 14th on row 4 of the grid. Front end chatter problems and an incorrect tyre choice in Superpole 1 meant the Italian veteran didn't have the confidence to push hard in the qualifying session.

RACE 1
Race one started in tricky conditions after rain throughout the preceding night and morning. Maxime Berger (Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R), polesitter Sykes and his team mate Loris Baz (Kawasaki) made the early running while Melandri picked his way back through the field from outside the top 10. Berger actually held a narrow margin over Sykes from lap 3 to 6, before Sykes wrested back the lead.

As the track dried and the pace started to pick up, Sykes and Rea took their places at the head of the pack, but it was a tight struggle, with less than one second separating the top five. Baz in particular was impressive in the drying conditions, after showing little form since he joined the factory Kawasaki squad at the Donington round of the championship.

Melandri moved into third position after passing Checa on lap 17, with Laverty and Baz still in the mix. The last three laps were frenetic, with Rea crashing out after a collision with Sykes, Melandri eventually scooping up Sykes on the penultimate lap, and Baz outmuscling Checa on the same lap to finish third, his first WSBK podium. Laverty finished fifth, while Biaggi recovered from his poor grid position to finish sixth. Haslam, like Biaggi, suffered tyre and front end chatter problems throughout the race and had to settle for seventh.

RACE 2
In race two, Sykes again had clear air in front of him for the majority of the race, leading all bar one lap. However, after the scramble of race 1, this second stanza was much more settled, and soon developed into a two horse race between Sykes and Melandri. The Italian was rarely more than a second behind Sykes for most of the race, before making his move on the final lap. Melandri held on for a thrilling 0.140-second victory.

Baz proved he's better on a wet track, never threatening the leaders in race 2, while Haslam suffered a gearbox problem that limited his ability to match the efforts of his team mate at the head of the field. More than six seconds adrift of the leading pair at the chequered flag, Checa was a clear third ahead Biaggi and Laverty. This was the first time Biaggi has failed to finish on the podium at Brno since 2008.

After the race, Melandri was justifiably ecstatic with the double win, and the extra impetus it has given him for the championship: "I am living my dream today. Securing my first double victory here in Brno on this race track is something special for me," said Melandri. "I am so happy because I already have five victories this season and nobody expected that.

"Race one was already amazing. At the beginning the conditions were very difficult as it was wet. While I was trying to improve my position I made two mistakes because I still was not feeling comfortable. When I saw I was eighth I said to myself I needed to be quiet and keep my rhythm to catch the front guys.

"Race two was even more difficult, as Tom (Sykes) was having a great race and I had to spend a lot of energy trying to catch him. Every time I tried to pass Tom he was braking so hard that it was nearly impossible. Actually I did not expect to win, but doing that here twice today is just amazing."

For his part, Sykes, who hasn't won a race this year, took some consolation from his ability to maintain a strong pace for the bulk of both races.
"In race one I felt the hit when Jonathan Rea and I collided," Sykes said of the race 1 incident, which wasn't acted on by race stewards. "Jonathan went for a gap that unfortunately was not there.

"We started very strong in race two and the lap time was good, then the tyre dropped a little bit in performance but the very small adjustment we made after race one meant that the tyre felt very consistent. I made my own race out in front alone and I think I am quite good at managing it and it seemed to work. We started to go a little bit faster towards the end but I felt a little bit of attack from Melandri.

"Hopefully we can carry this forward. Having the Ninja ZX-10 working so well at the end of the race is such a good breath of fresh air. It has proved a few people wrong."

Sykes has now moved up to third in the standings on 212.5pts, ahead of Checa (204.5) and Rea (187). The next round of the 2012 championship is at Silverstone on August 3 - 5.


2012 WORLD SUPERBIKE RESULTS - BRNO

Race one: 20 laps
1 Marco Melandri BMW 41'59.808
2 Tom Sykes Kawasaki +1.360
3 Loris Baz Kawasaki +1.948
4 Carlos Checa Ducati +2.494
5 Eugene Laverty Aprilia +3.832
6 Max Biaggi Aprilia +7.139
7 Leon Haslam BMW +11.293
8 Michel Fabrizio BMW +11.945
9 Maxime Berger Ducati +18.988
10 Jakub Smrz Ducati +19.117
Fastest lap: Checa - 2:00.741

Race two: 20 laps
1 Marco Melandri BMW 40'12.837
2 Tom Sykes Kawasaki +0.140
3 Carlos Checa Ducati +6.801
4 Max Biaggi Aprilia +9.840
5 Eugene Laverty Aprilia +11.775
6 Chaz Davies Aprilia +11.950
7 Leon Haslam BMW +12.547
8 Loris Baz Kawasaki +13.088
9 Leon Camier Suzuki +18.141
10 Michel Fabrizio BMW +25.352
Fastest lap: Sykes - 1:59.728

CURRENT WORLD SUPERBIKE STANDINGS (AFTER NINE OF 14 ROUNDS):
1 Biaggi 271.5
2 Melandri 250.5
3 Sykes 212.5
4 Checa 204.5
5 Rea 187
6 Haslam 160
7 Laverty 148
8 Guintoli 110
9 Giugliano 99
10 Davies 93

Images: 2SNAP, courtesy of IRPR