Sykes Piles On More Points

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) scored a fourth and a fifth place finish today to gain valuable championship points and retain third place overall. KRT rider Loris Baz went eighth in race two.

Sykes had high hopes of repeating his recent race winning form in what were perfect riding conditions at the Nürburgring but despite the hard work and long runs the team did using the softer rear compound tyre in practice Tom lost rear traction midway through the first race and was forced to drop positions, finishing a distant but battling fourth. Baz had fallen with only three laps remaining, losing his chance of a definite dry weather top five finish, just behind his team-mate.

Historic hat-trick for team Kawasaki SRC at Le Mans 24 Hours race

Kawasaki SRC team has written history this weekend, winning the prestigious 24 hours race in Le Mans for the third consecutive time.

Kawasaki is now the first manufacturer in ten years time to win this race three times in a row. Let alone winning the race, the team also set a new distance record, which is the icing on the cake.

Davies takes his and his team's first SBK race win

Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing Aprilia) claimed his and his team's first ever SBK race victory with an impressive display over 20-laps, winning by over three seconds easing up, after top contenders Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) and Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) had crashed out of podium positions.

Camier podiums at Nurburgring WSB

FIXI Crescent Suzuki's Leon Camier raced to the team's maiden WSB podium during race two of this afternoon's 12th round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship event from Nurburgring in Germany.

Camier didn't get a good start from seventh on the grid in the second race and was in 12th position at the end of the first lap, but the Englishman kept his head and clinically and methodically picked his way through the field to move up into a podium position by lap 13. Camier then made a pass on the Aprilia of Eugene Laverty to take second place from the Irishman, a position that Camier held for the next four laps. Laverty made his way past the FIXI Crescent Suzuki rider, after Camier nearly high-sided at the final chicane and lost ground, but the Suzuki star never gave up and challenged for second place all the way to the line in the final two laps. He finished just 0.200 seconds from P2, but was delighted to have given the team its first podium of the season, which is an indication of the hard work the whole crew have put in this year.

Front-runner Sofuoglu wins in Germany

Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Lorenzini) won his fourth race of the season today, securing victory by 0.541 seconds over second place rider Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda) in the 19-lap FIM Supersport World Championship race at the Nürburgring.

Sofuoglu's win was of the start-to-finish variety as he extended his championship lead over Cluzel, with Kenan now sitting on 198 points to the French rider's 160. Third in the race was Fabien Foret (Kawasaki Intermoto Step Racing) who moved to third in the championship after podium challenger Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda) fell. Lowes restarted to finish 14th but he is now fourth overall in the points, four behind Foret. Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Racing Products Honda) was fourth today, 2012 rising star Vladimir Leonov (Yakhnich Motorsports Yamaha) went fifth but was disqualified post-race for a technical infringement.

Fourth for Rea at Nurburgring

Jonathan Rea finished fourth in today’s second World Superbike championship race at the Nurburgring in Germany after crashing out of race one unhurt. The races were won by Max Biaggi and Chaz Davies as Rea’s Honda World Superbike team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama took two points-scoring finishes.

Starting from the outside of row two, Rea made a good start to race one but lost the front end of his Honda CBR1000RR at turn six early in the race. In race two, the 25-year-old became embroiled in a battle for a podium slot but was unable to sustain his challenge in the closing laps.

Aoyama benefitted from several riders crashing out of race one but still maintained his steady improvements on his first race weekend at the 5.137km Nurbugring circuit to take a top ten finish.

A small change to his bike for race two did not bring the additional rear grip he was seeking for the second 20-lap outing, however, and the 30-year-old Japanese rider finished in 15th place.

Effenbert Liberty Racing Team

The Wsbk Championship was staged on the trilling track at the Nürburgring giving fans even during the 12th round a lot of emotions and adrenaline. The Effenbert Liberty Racing Team back on track after having used the weeks following the race at Silverstone to reorganize its human, technical and logistical resources, and for this purpose it chose not to take part in the Moscow Grand Prix, also in view of programming the 2013 season, has once again demonstrated its tenacity and determination.

A weekend to remember for the Aprilia Racing Team at the Nürburgring.

The “single-brand” podium in Race 1 was the result of the perfect performance that the mechanics and riders put in during all the sessions.

Pole man Max Biaggi got off to a brilliant start, staying locked onto Sykes in the first few laps. With a furious pace, the Corsair overtook the Brit, succeeding in creating a significant lead which he maintained all the way to the chequered flag. The podium was completed with Laverty and Davies' Aprilias, a first for the Italian brand. With Melandri's crash contributing to the situation, Max started the second race as leader in the rider standings.

In Race 2, after a good start, Max took a devastating slide into the stones, but he managed to keep his RSV4 running and rejoined the race with his bike visibly damaged, trailing his rivals from a distance (26 seconds) in dead last position. From that moment on Max Biaggi dug deep and gave it his best, breathing life into a race from times gone by and coming back with courage and skill place after place to finish in thirteenth, adding three precious points to his championship. This now places him 9.5 points in front of Melandri, the closest contender who had a DNF in Race 2 due to a crash.

Eugene Laverty also leaves the Nürburgring with a smile on his face. Two second places (in Race 1 behind his team mate and in Race 2 behind ParkinGO Aprilia rider Chaz Davies) mean that Eugene is now lying in a solid sixth place in the championship. The rider from Toomebridge demonstrated stability and speed, contributing to Aprilia taking the lead in the manufacturer rankings.

Aprilia podium lockout gives Biaggi 21st career win

In the eni FIM Superbike World Championship round at the Nürburgring in Germany Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) pulled off one of his coolest and most assured wins to re-take the lead in the championship fight.

Top competitors fall leaving Barrier the clear winner

Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet STK Team) was always in competition for the win at the Nürburgring but was finally gifted the victory after three of his main rivals fell one-by-one.

First off was Eddi La Marra (Barni Racing Team Italia Ducati) then Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Kawasaki) and finally pole man Bryan Staring (Team Pedercini Kawasaki).

Kevin Coghlan (DMC Racing Ducati) capitalised on the bad luck up front to take a second place finish, with Markus Reiterberger (Team alpha Racing BMW) third.

In the championship La Marra leads on 119 points, Barrier has 113, Staring 86 and Guarnoni 82.

Van der Mark takes the lead after strong win

Michael Van der Mark (EAB Ten Kate Junior Team Honda) set a new lap record of 2 minutes 02.736 seconds to win the ten-lap UEM Superstock 600 European Championship race at the Nürburgring, and in doing so take the lead in the championship, all despite riding with a plate and screws in his recently injured collarbone.

Van der Mark now leads Riccardo Russo (Team Italia FMI Yamaha) by two points in the championship, 169 to 167. Russo was second in the German round, 1.814 seconds back on front-runner van der Mark, while Franco Morbidelli (Bike Service R.T. Yamaha) took the last podium place on offer.

In the thick of the battle for the world championship

After the Superbike début in Russia, the factory derivatives head for the round at the Nürburgring, the historic name that brings to mind the undertakings achieved by great champions on the old Nordschleife track. For Max Biaggi this will be a decidedly particular round, both due to the Championship situation and because it was precisely on this German asphalt that the Corsair suffered an injury in 2011 which effected the rest of his season.

With three rounds left in the Championship, Max is in the thick of the battle for the final victory. The difficulties of Silverstone and Moscow reopened the top end of the championship standings, but they were unable to dampen the tenacity of the five time world champion. At the Nürburgring Max Biaggi wants to get back to battling for the win.

The Russian weekend ended with a crash, but Eugene Laverty garnered a good feeling in the races at Moscow Raceway. His sights ever set on the podium, the rider from Toomebridge seems to have reached a promising feeling with his RSV4 in the various conditions, and in Germany he will put forth his best effort to confirm this impression.

BMW Motorrad Motorsport on top for home round

BMW Motorrad Motorsport heads to its ‘home’ round at the Nürburgring this weekend in a position of real strength in the 2012 Superbike World Championship, with a commanding lead in both the Riders’ and the Manufacturers’ standings.

Following Marco Melandri’s successful exploits at the inaugural WSBK round at the Moscow Raceway just a fortnight ago – where he celebrated a double podium and his sixth race win of the year – the hard-charging Italian took over the lead in the overall classification from rival Max Biaggi and now heads up the rider standings by a healthy 18.5 points.

With a 26.5 points lead in the Manufacturers’ Standings, it is a great time for BMW Motorrad Motorsport to celebrate its home round at the Nürburgring. However, according to Head of Race Operations Andrea Dosoli, it will be ‘business as usual’ for the team, as it aims to consolidate its advantage in both championships as the series enters these important final three rounds.

Nurburgring beckons Honda riders

Jonathan Rea and Hiroshi Aoyama will take different approaches to this weekend’s (7-9 September) 12th round of the 2012 World Superbike championship at the Nurburgring in Germany.

For Rea, the 5.137km circuit nestling in the Eifel mountains has been a happy hunting ground since his SBK debut in 2009 and the 25-year-old took three podiums, including two wins, in his first four races there. Last year marked Rea’s return to racing following a three-month injury layoff, but he still took a fourth place in atrocious conditions in race two.

FIXI Crescent Suzuki set for 'THE RING'

FIXI Crescent Suzuki has made a cross-European road-trip to the famous Nürburgring in Germany for the 12th round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship this coming weekend.

Leon Camier and John Hopkins will both be heading to the German circuit aiming to build on the promising performances last time out in Russia. Camier is still suffering the after-effects of a huge crash from the last event, but is determined to not let this hamper him at the 5,137m track, whilst Hopkins is planning on improving on his recent best results, by going for top-fives in Germany on his Yoshimura-powered GSX-R1000.

Sykes boosted by latest race win and memories of his first

WSBK, Nürburgring, Germany, 3 September 2012

Tom Sykes and Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) have each won races this season with the most recent going to Sykes at the previous round. Tom now returns to Germany, the site of his first SBK win.