WSBK 2021 SALT LAKE CITY: GOLBET ITALIA QP FP1 REPORT

The BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet Superbike Team has completed the first on-track session at Toeele’s Miller Motorsports Park, the circuit hosting the sixth round of 2012 World Superbike season. Michel Fabrizio and Ayrton Badovini finished Qualifying 1 with a thirteenth and a fourteenth place respectively, while in Free Practice 1 they were eleventh and fourth. The morning’s torrential rain forced both riders to ride on a wet track, while in the afternoon the bettering of the weather – except for a very strong wind that blasted on the track – made Qualifying 1 a dry session.

The improved conditions allowed Michel Fabrizio and Ayrton Badovini to test as previously planned, which included the evaluation of new parts and set-up. These new solutions were not satisfactory for the two riders, who tomorrow will get back on the BMW S 1000 RR with its previous configuration, as used from Assen onwards. At the end of the 45 minute qualifying session Michel Fabrizio finished with a thirteenth place and a lap time of 1’50.877 just ahead of Badovini, who was fourteenth with a lap time of 1’51.042. Both riders got positions inside the top-16. The final list of riders gaining access to Superpole will be decided in tomorrow morning’s Qualifying 2.

Serafino Foti – BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet Superbike Team Sporting Director

“Today we had some new parts to be tested which, unfortunately, we couldn’t do it in the morning due to the rain. We then spent most of the afternoon session on the trial and the feedback we got wasn’t what we were hoping for. Because of this we will revert back to the bike configuration we had in the last three rounds but we’re still confident as both Michel and Ayrton finished Qualifying 1 in the top-16.”

Michel Fabrizio #84 – FP1 11th (2’06.841 ) – QP1 13th (1’50.877 )

“Today hasn’t been easy. The morning rain partially ruined our plans and in the afternoon we tried some new set-up geometries which didn’t feel comfortable. Tomorrow we’ll go back to the bike set-up from the last events.”

Ayrton Badovini #86 – FP1 4th (2’05.298 ) – QP1 14th (1’51.042 )

“I’m happy that today we managed to ride on the dry track, at least in the qualifying session, because we could do some set-up testing. Tomorrow we’ll continue working on it and we’ll do our best to get the best possible starting position”.

WSBK 2012 DONINGTON: GOLDBET ITALIA RACEDAY REPORT

BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet Superbike Team completed the fifth round of 2012 World Superbike season. Michel Fabrizio and Ayrton Badovini finished race 1 with a 10th and 11th place, while in the second race they crossed the line in 13th and 6th respectively. Sunday’s first SBK race started at noon on a dry track. Michel Fabrizio, who started from 11th on the grid was 12th at the end of lap one, maintained a consistent race pace during the first half of the race before the pain in his right limited his performance for the remaining laps. He was the 10th rider to take the chequered.

Ayrton Badovini, had a small collision with Jakub Smrz at turn 1 and consequently lost positions and found himself 18th at the end of the first lap. Once “Speedy” got back into his rhythm, he managed to make a comeback to an eleventh final place. The race was won by Marco Melandri, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Team rider, which brought the first podium top step for the BMW S 1000 RR. Melandri finished ahead of his team mate Leon Haslam in second, therefore bringing not just the maiden victory for the German manufacturer in the Superbike World Championship but also a ‘1-2’ finish.

Michel Fabrizio jump-started race 2 and therefore the “Gladiator” was awarded a ride-through penalty. Michel rode through the pit-lane at the end of lap 4, getting back on track in twentieth position and finishing the race with a thirteenth place.

Ayrton Badovini, who made a fairly good start from the third row, kept his race pace and, despite suffering from early wear of the soft front tyre, finished sixth.

Andrea Buzzoni – BMW Motorrad Italia General Manager

“It was an historical day for BMW Motorrad. I would like to truly congratulate our colleagues at the BMW Motorrad Motorsport Team and Bernhard Gobmeier for the well deserved success and the reward for the amazing work they have done. This victory shows that the BMW is highly competitive, which was already evident, and finally has been recorded in results despite the incredible end to race 2. I’m happy that Marco Melandri set a milestone in our history. Our team, for various reasons, is still not getting the competitiveness from our package, apart from the sixth place. In racing you need patience, determination and enthusiasm, always. We will continue to work hard and with a lot of oomph to get back where we belong. The team is strong”.

Serafino Foti – BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet Superbike Team Sporting Director

“Personally I’m not happy with this weekend. I feel we deserve more than this. The team has done an amazing job, as always, but it looks as though a series of ever changing circumstances meant we haven’t been able to get the results we expect. We’re working very hard. We need to stay focused to give our best in order to put an end to this spell at Miller Motorsports Park. I wish to congratulate BMW Motorrad Motorsport for the outstanding result obtained today.”

Michel Fabrizio #84 – Race 1 10th – Race 2 13th

 ”In race 2 my start was quick, maybe too quick as I got a ride-through. While I was riding into the pit-lane there was a misunderstanding with a marshal. I thought that they wanted me to stop but it was not so, and I lost 5 more useful seconds. It’s a shame about the jump-start. Without that I would have had the chance of a good race. I’m not demoralised. I will be more charged up than ever for the US round.”

Ayrton Badovini #86 – Race 1 11th – Race 2 6th

 ”Race 1 started uphill after the collision at the start. That cost me a lot of time and forced me into a catch-up race. For race 2 we tried a soft front tyre but it wore out as soon as we got into the second part of the race, so I raced conservatively to get the best result possible. We come out of this weekend with a clear view of what we have to work on for Miller”.

WSBK 2012 DONINGTON: JAKUB SMRZ TAKES QP1

Liberty Racing’s sponsor Effenbert will definitely be happy that in this afternoon’s first qualifying practice at Donington Park was lead by Jakub Smrz. The Czech rider in the final minutes of the session upped his game and posted a best lap of 1.29.336 that left Jonathan Rea in second and just 0.057s adrift, but the Honda rider suffered another crash at the Foggy Esses that ruled him out of another chance of bettering himself.

Lap times dropped considerably from this morning with Carlos Checa racing up to 3rd after this morning’s 11th spot and he was followed by two Leon’s, Haslam and Camier who provisionally qualified fourth and fifth respectively. This morning’s leader Tom Sykes dropped to sixth, but he was just 0.383s from Smrz. Michel Fabrizio finished in seventh with Aprilia’s Max Biaggi right behind him. Two other Italian’s closed out the top ten, Davide Giugliano and Ayrton Badovini on their Ducati and BMW machines. The GoldBet rider also suffered a crash in this session

Marco Melandri finished 11th after an error on his last flying lap dropped him out of the top ten and he was the last rider to be within a second from Smrz, while Eugene Laverty was only 16th.

WSBK DONINGTON PARK QP1 RESULTS

• 01. Jakub Smrz – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – 1’29.336
• 02. Jonathan Rea – Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 0.058
• 03. Carlos Checa – Althea Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.171
• 04. Leon Haslam – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR – + 0.268
• 05. Leon Camier – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 0.278
• 06. Tom Sykes – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 0.383
• 07. Michel Fabrizio – BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet – BMW S1000RR – + 0.582
• 08. Max Biaggi – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 0.637
• 09. Davide Giugliano – Althea Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.641
• 10. Ayrton Badovini – BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet – BMW S1000RR – + 0.650
• 11. Sylvain Guintoli – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.889
• 12. Marco Melandri – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR – + 0.909
• 13. Chaz Davies – ParkinGO MTC Racing – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 1.056
• 14. Hiroshi Aoyama – Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 1.186
• 15. Maxime Berger – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 1.203
• 16. Eugene Laverty – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 1.241
• 17.. Peter Hickman – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 1.568
• 18. Lorenzo Zanetti – PATA Racing Team – Ducati 1198 – + 1.699
• 19. Niccolò Canepa – Red Devils Roma – Ducati 1198 – + 1.863
• 20. Loris Baz – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 2.289
• 21. Mark Aitchison – Grillini Progea Superbike Team – BMW S1000RR – + 2.667
• 22. Leandro Mercado – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 3.470
• 23. Gary Mason – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 4.748

WSBK 2012 MONZA: BMW MOTORRAD ITALIA GOLDBET SUPERBIKE TEAM QP REPORT

BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet Superbike Team finished the first day at Monza positively by achieving first place in Qualifying 1 with Michel Fabrizio in Superbike and with Sylvain Barrier in Superstock 1000. Michel Fabrizio, after finishing in second place the morning’s Free Practice 1, improved his performance and got the first place at the end of Qualifying 1, thanks to a 1’42.327 lap time. Michel also recorded a maximum speed of 334.8 on the finishing straight today, equalling the speed record that was set last year on this track.

Ayrton Badovini, on the other hand, took fifth place in Qualifying 1 with a time of 1’42.690. He was particularly competitive in the second part of this afternoon’s qualifying after improving the feel of the front of the bike during the first half of the session with the help of technicians and engineers.

In the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup Sylvain Barrier and Lorenzo Baroni claimed first and third place respectively at the end of Qualifying 1, also taking provisional front row slost for the Sunday race. Barrier, just after setting the lap-time of 1’46.340 that gave him the first position, had a crash at the ‘Lesmo 2’ turn suffering a left shoulder dislocation which puts his participation in the next two days of racing in question.

Andrea Buzzoni – BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet Superbike Team Director

“Today’s result sees four BMW riders in the first five spots, giving BMW Motorrad great satisfaction. Today’s performance proves the effectiveness of this programme and efforts from both the technical crew and riders. Today there was a clear demonstration of the competitiveness of this project and the commitment on a technical, human and financial side. Now we must keep our concentration high to achieve the next goal represented by the two Sunday races.”

Serafino Foti – BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet Superbike Team Sporting Director

“It’s been a positive day as both Michel and Ayrton were quick right from the start and the team worked in a formidable way attitude-wise and made the right choices. We’re happy and we are enjoying today’s result, waiting to see what the weather has in store for us. We’re not completely happy with how the things went for the Superstock 1000 guys. The results match the expectations but Sylvain’s crash put his on-track participation in jeopardy”.

Michel Fabrizio #84 – FP1 2nd (1’43.049) – QP1 1st (1’42.327)

 ”I’m happy, after the bad luck experienced in race 2 at Assen and I have got my confidence back. I knew I could have been fast and I’m happy to have proven it on the track. We started in a good way this morning. We haven’t made any big change in the set-up as the one we found at Mugello seems to work well on very different track layouts. Now we just have to wait and see how the weather will turn out tomorrow, although the forecast predicts rain.”

Ayrton Badovini #86 – FP1 5th (1’43.893) – QP1 5th (1’42.690)

“Today went well. I managed to climb up some positions in the last part of qualifying after experiencing some lack of feeling at the front of my bike. Thanks to Dino and my crew I got back to a way of riding I like. I could even have got a better result but on my fast lap I was slowed down by a rider in front of me who made a mistake at “Variante Ascari”. We have found the right direction and because of that I can say I’m happy with the results.”

WSBK 2012, THE MONZA GP

MAX BIAGGI ARRIVES IN MONZA AS RANKING CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER AND IS READY TO ENTERTAIN FANS IN THE TEMPLE OF SPEED.

EUGENE LAVERTY, WHO ENJOYED A DOUBLE WIN AT MONZA IN 2011, IS ANXIOUS TO CONFIRM HIMSELF AFTER HIS FIRST PODIUM WITH APRILIA.



Monza, 2 May 2012 – The Aprilia Racing Team arrives in Monza in excellent condition. The Brianza track, historically favourable to the characteristics of the RSV4, is also the ideal hunting ground for Max Biaggi and Eugene Laverty.
The Corsair is coming off of a weekend in Assen which, although fraught with difficulties, delivered the rider leadership position to him. Monza, with its treacherous braking zones and mind boggling accelerations, is a much loved track by the five time world champion, who took a double win in 2010, as well as being favourable to all the four cylinder bikes.

The uncertain weather that hovers over the weekend is contrasted by Max's absolute determination to redeem the tarnished performances at Imola and Assen.

In any case it will be no easy task, as Max Biaggi confirms: “I'll make no secret of the fact that Monza is a track that both I and the RSV4 like. We can definitely fight for victory, but we also must consider the performances we've been seeing in the first few rounds. Various riders have made a qualitative leap forward, so the battle for first place has gotten very tight and there could be a surprise around every corner. Assen put us back into the leadership position, but we suffered quite a bit both during practice and in the races. Doing well here in Monza, in front of our fans, would be very important for the season”.

Eugene Laverty also has good reason to look forward to Monza optimistically. The memory of his troubles early on in the season has faded now, replaced by much fresher images of the Northern Irish rider's first podium with Aprilia in Assen. The fastest track in the championship has already seen him win.

“I was happy with my debut podium on the Aprilia at Assen following a tough start to the season. The team were very supportive and never lost faith in my ability so it was nice to reward them with a podium finish. I'm really looking forward to Monza as the Aprilia is very fast in a straight line. I had a double victory at the circuit last year so I'd love nothing more than to do the same again this time around”.