2010 World Superbike Imola Preview

Round 12 of the 2010 World Superbike Championship is fast approaching and with it the final match of the series. Just two rounds remain as the WSB paddock travels to the Imola circuit in Italy, where Championship leader Max Biaggi will attempt to rebound from his mediocre performances in the last four races. The Roman Emperor will seek to re-establish his winning form in front of his home crowd and tighten his grip on the championship title before the final round. The Italian will face stiff competition, however, as multiple riders in the field have stepped-up their game and taken wins. In the last three rounds Biaggi has given up 10 points to his competition. While he still leads by a mammoth 58 points, there are still 100 possible points available to any rider. Get ready, because the entire season has boiled down to these last few races!
Biaggi has had an extremely impressive season to date, including a total of nine wins and four double victories. In addition to racing at his home circuit and having a substantial lead in the series, Biaggi - along with teammate, Leon Camier – have put the Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team at the top of the manufacture standings ahead of Suzuki. Most importantly, Biaggi will have the opportunity to shut the door early on his competition at Imola. If Biaggi manages to maintain more than a 50-point lead over Alstare Suzuki’s Leon Haslam after Race 1, he will guarantee the championship victory a round early.
 
“I will be a reckless book keeper,” Biaggi said. “I'll battle without ever holding back but, at the same time, always bearing in mind the rankings situation and the importance of every single point. Experience teaches me that, to win the World Championship, I need to be constantly focused, never leaving anything to chance. This is why, even more than the other weekends, it will be so important to find the best setup right from the first practice. Imola is a track with a few too many bumps, so we'll have to work hard to stay in the positions that count."
 
Meanwhile, Camier will not be participating in Round 12 and is currently nursing an injured wrist that he recently had surgery on. The English rider is hoping to make a return in the final round at Magny Cours in France.
 
Running third in the championship is Honda Ten Kate’s Jonathan Rea, who had a brilliant performance in the most recent round in Germany. The Irishman posted a 1-2 result and closed the gap on Haslam by 22 points. Although it’s impossible for him to catch up to Biaggi, Rea still has an excellent shot at making it into the top-two. With a total of four race wins throughout 2010, Rea has already outdone Haslam, who has managed three.
 
"I've been enjoying myself on the Isle of Man since that good weekend in Germany, which made it six pretty good races in a row,” Rea said. “I'd really like to carry on that podium run at Imola this weekend, although the races last year weren't so good. But we worked on a new area of the bike during the Imola test in the summer - we really thought outside the box - and made some pretty good progress. We'll start with something between that and the Nurburgring settings on Friday morning and work methodically from there, without getting carried away.”
 
Althea Racing Ducati’s Carlos Checa is 64 points behind Rea and now remains focused on defending his fourth-place in the championship. Checa is only seven points ahead of Yamaha Sterilgarda’s Cal Crutchlow, who recently put in a phenomenal run at Silverstone for the double victory. Recently, Checa had a strong performance at Nurburgring where he finished second in the first contest. The Ducati rider fell significantly short of this result in the second bout, however, taking a DNF while Crutchlow finished fourth.
 
"I'm really looking forward to this round," said Cal Crutchlow. "I have unfinished business here from last year, I had a great pole position start in Supersport but crashed out so I need to make sure I get a victory here this weekend! I was fastest rider in the test here earlier in the year, so I'm confident we can do well."
 
Xerox Ducati’s Noriyuki Haga was another rider who successfully made a return to the top steps in Germany. The Japanese rider posted his second win of the season and now sits just 15 points behind Crutchlow. While the Ducati rider has experienced some difficulties this season, he is poised for a sixth-place finish in the championship, and is within striking distance for a top-five result.
 
Crutchlow’s teammate, James Toseland, had an extremely disappointing showing at Nurburgring, where he DNF’d and took eighth in the second race. Prior to Germany the English rider was sixth and two points ahead of Haga; now he is seventh and trailing Haga by 15 points. Compounding these difficulties is the fact that Toseland struggled during testing at Imola earlier this year.
 
"I had a difficult test here earlier in the year," said Toseland. "We've come a long way since then and have improved our setup so I'm confident that we can achieve more and be fighting at the front. I'm going to give it 100% as always, I definitely want to be on the podium here."
 
Haslam’s Suzuki teammate, Sylvain Guintoli, is running eighth in the series and has been performing well recently. Despite good results, the podium has eluded him all season long. The good news for Guintoli is that Camier – who is only five points behind – will not be racing in the upcoming round, which gives the Frenchman some breathing room in the championship. It won’t be much though as Ducati’s Michel Fabrizio is just nine points behind.
 
Supersport

Action in the World Supersport Championship will get especially heated in the final two rounds as Ten Kate Honda’s Kenan Sofuoglu and Parkalgar Honda’s Eugene Laverty fight for the title. The two are 12 points apart with Sofuoglu currently leading. All he needs to do for the title is follow Laverty across the finish line for the next two races.
 
"I have been training hard in very hot weather to prepare for this race in Imola,” said Sofuoglu. “It's been a very good season so far and now we are getting towards the end, so we want to keep it going. Imola is one of my favorite circuits and I was able to get a very fast lap time during our test their in July so I am really looking forward to the weekend.”
 
Meanwhile, ParkinGO Triumph’s Chaz Davies needs to finish third in the remaining races if he wants to surpass Kawasaki Motocard.com’s Joan Lascorz for third by only one point. Lascorz will not be racing in the final rounds due to the injuries he sustained during a major crash at Silverstone.