2010 World Superbike Brno Results

Ten Kate Honda’s Jonathan Rea and Alitalia Aprilia’s Max Biaggi split the wins at Brno for Round 9 of the World Superbike Championship. Rea completed the difficult task of outpacing the championship-leading Biaggi for the win in Race 1, with the Honda pilot leading every lap. In Race 2 the Irishman put in another impressive ride, but was unable to overthrow the Aprilia for a second time. Meanwhile Biaggi’s championship rival, Alstare Suzuki’s Leon Haslam, went 8-10 at Brno which extends the Italian’s lead in the championship to 68 points.
 
Race 1

After getting a great start Rea quickly distanced himself from the pack. He battled with Biaggi for a short time before making an outside pass to secure the lead and from then on, he never looked back. With a pace that was three-tenths faster than the rest of the field, Rea cruised across the finish line with a two and a half second advantage.

"At the start I didn’t really know what was going on but I ended up going to the front," said Rea. "This race win I’d like to dedicate to my team boss, Ronald ten Kate, who is not here with us this weekend. I just had to capitalize on Max’s weaknesses in some corners, it was a really difficult race out there and very hot."

Biaggi settled for runner-up in Race 1 despite grabbing the holeshot off the start. After he was passed by Rea, the Roman Emperor was also overcome by Yamaha Sterilgarda’s Cal Crutchlow on the second lap, and shortly after BMW’s Ruben Xaus began pressuring him for third.
 
While BIaggi and Xaus battled, Crutchlow began to hone in on Rea up front. Despite his best efforts, the Yamaha rider was unable to match the speed of the #65 Honda. Toward the latter stages of the race Crutchlow’s pace began to drop off and Biaggi was right there to capitalize. After having successfully secured third-place from Xaus on Lap 6, the championship leader was on the rear wheel of Crutchlow with his sights set on second place. On Lap 16 Biaggi made his first pass attempt, but wasn’t able to make it stick. Just two laps later he once again made the pass and wouldn’t give it up after that. Biaggi crossed the finish line in second while Crutchlow claimed his fourth third-place finish of the season.
 
Alstare Suzuki’s Sylvain Guintoli and BMW’s Ruben Xaus had their best races of the year, finishing fourth and fifth respectively. Xerox Ducati’s Noriyuki Haga put in a good defensive ride to hold-off an aggressive James Toseland for sixth.

“I made a strong start in Race 1 but it was difficult to catch Xaus," Noriyuki said. "My tires were not bad during the first half of the race but nevertheless I couldn’t push as I wanted to and Xaus remained there in front of me." 

Haslam struggled mightily and could only muster an eighth-place finish. His poor showing allowed Biaggi to extend his lead in the championship even further. Rounding out the top-10 were Althea Ducati’s Carlos Checa and privateer Ducati rider Lorenzo Lanzi.
 
Brno Race 1 Results:
1. Jonathan Rea (Honda)
2. Max Biaggi (Aprilia)
3. Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha)
4. Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki)
5. Ruben Xaus (BMW)
6. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati)
7. James Toseland (Yamaha)
8. Leon Haslam (Suzuki)
9. Carlos Checa (Ducati)
10. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati)
11. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki)
12. Shane Byrne (Ducati)
13. Broc Parkes (Honda)
14. Roger Hayden (Kawasaki)
15. Matteo Baiocco (Kawasaki)
DNF Michel Fabrizio (Ducati)
DNF Luca Scassa (Ducati)
DNF Leon Camier (Aprilia)
DNF Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki)
DNF Jacob Smrz (Aprilia)
DNF Max Neukirchner (Honda)
 
Race 2

At the start of Race 2 Rea again shot to the front on his Ten Kate Honda but was instantly met with opposition from Biaggi and his Aprilia RSV4. During the first few laps Rea held his own but around Lap 7 his pace wasn’t enough to keep the hard-charging Biaggi at bay any longer. After making the pass, the championship leader separated himself from Rea and checked out. With lap times that were consistently faster than the rest of the field, Biaggi went on to claim his ninth win of the season by nearly five seconds. Rea held on to second place ahead of Ducati Xerox’s Michel Fabrizio.

"After the second-place in Race 1 I was satisfied,” said Biaggi. “Even if, to be honest, I expected the maximum on this track. And so it was in the second race: we made some changes to the rear suspension and the gearbox which, as it turns out, worked well. After being behind Rea for awhile, I realized that I was faster and I overtook him. From there on, I just pushed it to the limit without thinking about tire wear and the track proved me right. I want to thank my team. The guys support me and believed in my indications, and this is confirmed by our results. There are still a lot of points at stake, so I won't look back and I'll continue to stay focused race after race. That is the winning philosophy."

Taking the final spot on the podium was Ducati’s Michel Fabrizio after Xaus suffered a lowslide just six laps from the finish line.

“In Race 1 I realized straight away that I had a problem because I wasn’t able to push and then the bike started to vibrate a great deal," said Fabrizio. "At a certain point I wasn’t able to put the bike into gear and so had to come back to the box. It’s a shame because I was gaining on Toseland and thought I could run a good race, maybe even reach the podium. Race 2 went much better. I defended myself and am satisfied with the result, though I was sorry for Xaus of course.”
 
Taking fourth was Sterilgarda Yamaha's James Toseland, who overcame a horrible start to finish in the top-five. Haga came in fifth after being passed by Toseland during the final laps of the race.
 
Following his ninth-place finish in Race 1, Carlos Checa took sixth ahead of Guintoli, who couldn’t duplicate the pace he set during his fourth-place in the first race. Finishing nearly 34 seconds off Biaggi’s pace were Aprilia’s Leon Camier, Ducati’s Shane Byrne and Haslam, who put up his second sub-par result for the weekend in 10th.

Brno Race 2 Results:
1. Max Biaggi (Aprilia)
2. Jonathan Rea (Honda)
3. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati)
4. James Toseland (Yamaha)
5. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati)
6. Carlos Checa (Ducati)
7. Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki)
8. Leon Camier (Aprilia)
9. Shane Byrne (Ducati)
10. Leon Haslam (Suzuki)
11. Lornezo Lanzi (Ducati)
12. Broc Parkes (Honda)
13. Roger Hayden (Kawasaki)
14. Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha)
15. Matteo Baiocco (Kawasaki)
DNF Jacob Smrz (Aprilia)
DNF Ruben Xaus (BMW)
DNF Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki)
DNF Tom Sykes (Kawasaki)
DNF Max Neukirchner (Honda)
 
2010 World Superbike Championship Points:
1. Max Biaggi, 352
2. Leon Haslam, 284
3. Jonathan Rea, 203
4. Carlos Checa, 189
5. Noriyuki Haga, 172
6. James Toseland, 160
7. Troy Corser, 149
8. Michel Fabrizio, 147
9. Leon Camier, 138
10. Cal Crutchlow,138 
 
World Supersport

Ten Kate Honda’s Kenan Sofuoglu put himself back on top of the championship standings with his most recent performance at Brno, taking the victory over Kawasaki’s Joan Lascorz. Sofuoglu’s victory was earned in dramatic fashion after Parkalgar Honda’s Eugene Laverty was forced to retire early from the contest due to a mechanical issue, pushing the Honda rider down in the standings 22 points behind Sofuoglu.
 
Lascorz and Sofuoglu battled until the final lap of the race, with Sofuoglu pulling ahead and crossing the finish line just 0.124 seconds ahead of Lascorz. After taking second-place at Brno, Lascorz moved into second-place in the championship ahead of Laverty. Meanwhile, Triumph’s Chaz Davies secured his third podium of the season with third-place, while Intermoto Czech Honda’s Gino Rea earned fourth for what was his best result of the season so far.

Laverty’s unfortunate mechanical issue is especially costly since it occurred just four races away from the end of the WSS season.
 
2010 World Supersport Brno Results:
1. Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda)
2. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki)
3. Chaz Davies (Triumph)
4. Gino Rea (Honda)
5. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Kawasaki)
6. Robbin Harms (Honda)
7. Miguel Praia (Honda)
8. David Salom (Triumph)
9. Matthieu Lagrive (Triumph)
10. Fabian Foret (Kawasaki)
DNF Bastien Chesaux (Honda)
DNF Danillo Dell' Omo (Honda)
DNF Eugene Laverty (Honda)
DNF Michele Pirro (Honda)
DNF Alexander Lundh (Honda)
 
2010 World Supersport Championship Points:
1. Kenan Sofuoglu, 183
2. Joan Lascorz, 168
3. Eugene Laverty, 161
4. Chaz Davies, 113
5. David Salom, 72