WSBK 2012 Round 2 - Imola (SPOILERS!)

[gm2]

yeah.. but it was laverty that did 210 at that aragon test.

doesn't mean they have the Imola set up quite right yet.

[ducpainter]

Rea's bell is still ringing...

I hate even seeing a high side (shudder)

[Goat_Herder]

Glad to see Biaggi and the Ape coming back down to earth.  But Kawakasi setting the pole with 0.5 second to spare?  WTF?!?!?

[MadDuck]

It's already shaping up to be a great season. 

[fastwin]

Race one results... SPOILER ALERT!!!





















http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2012/04/01/checa-wins-imola-race-one/

[fastwin]

And race two...
























http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2012/04/01/checa-doubles-in-imola-world-superbike/

[Raux]

wow.

1199 has potential

[Speeddog]

And in the blink of an eye, Max's lead evaporates.

Rea's tire after race 1:

[gm2]

Rea's tire after race 1:

...sooo, honda has some work to do.

even though it's so fundamental it's always interesting how different tracks suit different bikes.  ...obviously the RSV4 doesn't like Imola as much as PI.  wait til we get to monza.

brilliant work from haslam.  so you snapped your leg 5 weeks ago eh?  and thank god chaz finally finished a race.  poor guy.

looks like yoshimura need to call the guys in california.

[thought]

good race... pretty impressed by haslam, it's crazy that it's only been 5 weeks since that leg broke.

[zarn02]

I do believe the 1199 would have won it's opening SuperStock race, had they not had that wicked smash-up crash, and had to restart.

Good times watching Checa do the double, and nice to see Sykes and Haslam up at the sharp end.

And that's a hell of a knackered tire.

(GP at Qatar will be equally exciting next weekend, right? )

[wantingaduc]

Keep in mind that first off I'm pumped to Carlos do the double and top the points after 2 races.

That said, how about Haslam on the BMW. Did Corser even podium the bike last season?
Way to go Sykes and team green. Except for the fragged rear tire, he might have kept his shit together up front. He looked solid holding off the BMW.

Damn this is already shaping up to be a crackin season.

Now if we could just get Rossi and Hayden, the Ben and Colin and the aliens into WSBK we could fold up the MotoGp tent and get on with the racing.

jimi

[fastwin]

Not so good for Lascorz... ugh. Hope he's OK.

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2012/04/02/lascorz-injured-in-testing-crash/

[Spidey]

Yup, the usual guys up front.  'cept I expected to see more Melandri.  Good to see that BMW finally got their electronics a bit more sorted.  Now they can actually last a race.  And I'm amazed that the 1198R is still that competitive.  It's a couple of years old now. 

Jeebus, that Kawi is FAST in a straight line.

Sykes held it together well in that last race.  I thought Haslam was going to eat him up.  That said, I'm not sold on Sykes.  He's been around for a while--and until now--hasn't done anything impressive.  Maybe his machinery has always been bad.  Even the year he was Ben's teammate, everyone said that Yami was REALLY hard to ride fast.  They didn't get it sorted out 'til later.

I hate to say this, but the chicane is less fun now that they've put up those barriers.  By "less fun", I mean "less carnage".  Speaking of carnage, that move by Haslam that forced Guintoli into Davies was HARSH.

[BastrdHK]

Harsh, but Guintolli could've saved it like Haslam did.  Disappointing for him since he was feeling good and had his confidence up......there goes that.

Absolutely love how Checa played the Italian crowd in Race 2 passing in the Ducati section for the lead....genuine celebration.....really nice to see him get into it.  I loved watching Bayliss dominate, but Checa's style is sooo smooth he is inspiring to watch 

+1 on MotoGP....will watch b/c the buildup is exciting for the new season, but it will fade fast as Stoner, Lorenzo, Pedrosa lead the parade....WSBK is the hot ticket, for sure