Round 6 of the World Superbike championship saw two entirely different races, the first dominated by Michel Fabrizio and the second a three way thriller with Leon Haslam taking a spectacular victory on the bumpy Kyalami circuit

Here’s what some of the riders had to say after the South African race with the issue of tire grip as being the most common complaint amongst the riders.

Leon Haslam (3rd and 1st):

“What an amazing day! The second race was one of the best races I’ve ever been involved in and definitely one of the hardest. Jonny and I had a real ding-dong and it was bar-to-bar stuff for almost the whole race. I passed him a few times, but he always got me back and the longer the race went on I could feel him working out where I’d pass and how he’d stop me. In the end, I had to pass at a different place and this time I made it stick and held on to the flag. To win a race like that is quite an emotional thing and I have to give a big thank you to the whole team for all their work this weekend. The bike in the second race was an improvement over race one. We had a few issues in race one, so changed the balance by making a bit lower in the front and higher in the rear. I still had some issues with it, but it was better and allowed me to fight for the win. After the drama of race two, it’s hard to remember what happened in race one. I didn’t get a good start and had to make up a lot of ground as best I could. I wasn’t completely confident in the front end, so could not push hard enough to catch Michel (Fabrizio) and Carlos (Checa), but I was happy to get on the podium. Today was a tough day, but I’m very happy to have extended my championship lead and I’m looking forward to the next round in USA.”

Michel Fabrizio (1st and 8th):

“I’m really happy with the win in the first race, happy for Ducati of course but above all happy for myself. I really needed a result like this after several difficult race. It wasn’t easy however, I had to make an intelligent race, doing all I could to maintain the second of advantage that I had over Carlos. It was a great race but also a very tiring one! Race 2 went very differently; the level of grip immediately began to drop after only three or four laps and it became impossible to catch the leading group that continued to gain on me. Anyway with the points taken in race 1 today I’ve gained a position in the overall standings and now I’ll turn my attention to the next event at Salt Lake, a track I really like.”

Jonathan Rea (5th and 2nd):

“I got a good start in the first race but just couldn’t hold the other guys as I didn’t find any grip. But even when I dropped down to ninth with quite a gap in front, I didn’t give up on a single corner or a single straight. I was able to maintain pretty consistent laps which allowed me to catch and pass the others at the end. We made a small change for race two and then I got a blinding start. From there I found it easy to go to the front but it was really difficult to make a break. In the end, Haslam made a lunge and I had to settle for second. All in all, I would have taken your arm off if you’d offered me those results this morning and I’d like to thank the team for keeping my spirits up – it wasn’t looking too clever after warm-up. I’m really looking forward to Salt Lake City now that we’re back on the podium.”

Max Biaggi (4th and 3rd):

“It was a great race in the places that counted. Haslam, Rea and I overtook each other which I think made for a great show. Both from second and third place I tried several times to overtake but it is really very difficult here - there is practically one line which everyone has to follow. Haslam was very fast and raced well, keeping to his lines. But for me a podium is really a good result, this third place on a circuit which is really very very complicated for us is to be accepted with satisfaction. In light of the two races, considering the fourth place in race 1, I’d say that one of the transfers we feared the most came out well. The gap from the top moves a bit back and forth, but the championship is still very long. I think we can be satisfied with this weekend in Africa and now I can’t wait to arrive at the next races to show our true potential. The guys on the team have done a great job, but tracks like this one bring out the best experience in our competitors. In particular we still need to work on acceleration which makes things a bit difficult for us coming out of the mid-slow turns”.

Carlos Checa (2nd and 5th):

“The races took place on a difficult circuit. In Race 2 I wasn’t immediately able to find grip and the four cylinders started to get away. It’s difficult to catch those guys because in acceleration they have the advantage. In Race 1 on the other hand everything went well, and with good grip we were able to make up some points to Haslam. My performance was the same in both races but the position was different. We need to improve in our acceleration and hope that the regulation gives us a hand in this respect. It’s evident that our bikes are inferior and we hope a solution can be found. However it was overall a positive weekend.”

Cal Crutchlow (8th and 4th):

“We did the best job we could today at a track that the bike is not best suited to. Like a lot of riders today I seemed to lose a lot of grip very early in the races making it a struggle to keep on the pace. Having said that I was pleased overall with the second race, we were battling for a win and showing good pace throughout to hold on for points. It’s a difficult circuit and we’ve done well, the team did a really good job and we’re looking forward to getting to Salt Lake City. The track at Miller will suit our bike a bit better so I’m confident we can achieve some good results.”

James Toseland (7th and 6th):

“The team are a bit bewildered after today, we lost grip on the tyres so quickly in the two races it was a challenge to keep up race pace. Considering I had my big crash only a week ago, getting a sixth and seventh finish is not bad for the championship for me. The differences that people have had today in grip level is incredible, some riders seemed to lose performance dramatically between the two races. I am a little frustrated but I certainly haven’t had as bad a day as some riders. Over the weekend my neck got better and better, it was a bit sore still on Friday but it was fine today. A big thank you to the team who did a fantastic job this weekend, we’re looking forward to a rest now before Salt Lake City in a couple of weeks.”

Jakub Smrz (9th and 9th):

“I made a good start in both races, but I lost a few positions in the first laps. I stayed with the leading pack, but I couldn’t close the gap to the riders battling for the podium and lost ground. I’m nonetheless satisfied, we were among the fastest all weekend long. I just hope I’ll be able to improve my results at Miller Park in the U.S.”.

Sylvain Guintoli (10th and 15th):

“Well today should’ve been a lot better than it turned out and I am very disappointed. The first race was not so bad, except that I lost a lot of time in two particular corners and could could not catch the front guys. OK, this is new track for me, but I think I should’ve been able to cope with it better. The second race was a disaster! I had no grip and no feeling in the brakes. I had made a good start, but Sykes touched me and I lost position. Then I started having problems with the brakes. It felt as if they had no power and that’s not a good feeling to have when you racing at high speed at a track like this. It’s been a weekend to forget and I hope that I will be able to get on the pace at the next race, though it will once again be a new track for me.”

Luca Scassa (12th and 11th):

“Definitely a good weekend, started in the best way until the first qualifying. Kyalami although has a uneven track and that required extra work to our engineers. In both rounds I was missing the starts, in race 1 by my mistake and in race 2 in the first curve with a collision. I am still happy for the two fast comebacks, with my race pace I could easily end up taking the top 10 but the handicap of which I mentioned earlier have made the difference. I rode with a difference of less than a second faster than the lap record of the track, a great satisfaction which awards the fantastic job done by the team. Between 15 days we will go to the U.S. were I have great expectations because I know the layout of the track. In 2007 I acquired experience when I ran in Superbike. Thanks to my engineers, Danilo Soncini and Bruno, my manager, I owe everything to them!”

Troy Corser (12th and 7th):

“Race one was really tough. I couldn’t get the grip I needed from the front or the rear tyre and I couldn’t push at all. I lost the feeling from the tyres which affected my confidence, so I couldn’t have gone any faster without crashing. We made some changes in race two which definitely improved the bike, and I could run consistently fast while remaining in control. The S 1000 RR was spinning and moving but I was happy with the performance. We have some things to work on for sure but I am confident.”

Ruben Xaus (14th and 11th):

“My start today in both races was not great. I was hoping to make some positions up early in the race but that just didn’t happen. I had to work really hard to get through the field and passing is not easy here. In race two the bike was a lot better, we made some changes to the set-up and that allowed me to run consistent lap times. I had a hard battle with Haga and I worked really hard to defend my position. I tried my best today – it was another step forward for me and the team and I am confident for the next race.”

Tom Sykes (16th and 14th):

“A very tough one out there today but I made it count when we have good grip. Again we have not been able to make it work out the way we want over race distance, which is frustrating for us all, but it something we are keeping working on. Realistically, we have come away with more points on the board and we cannot fix things overnight. We have to sit tight and take the results when we can.”

Noriyuki Haga (17th and 10th):

“In Race 1 after about ten laps the performance of the rear tyre dropped dramatically. There wasn’t much I could to improve. I’m disappointed of course because with no grip you don’t really get anywhere. In the second race, having made some small changes to my bike but deciding to go with the same tyre, I had a better overall feeling and, from more or less mid-race, unlike race 1, I was able to push increasingly hard. The problem was that those ahead of me had already built a significant lead; I needed a few more laps to be able to catch some of them.”

Chris Vermeulen (18th and 16th):

“In the first race we made some changes to the bike based on work we did in warm-up and it made the ultimate performance better. But front tyre durability was a real issue and we have not had that all year. I struggled in the later parts of the race. In race two I got held up in the first couple of corners but started to come through and towards the end the lap times were strong. We have really improved the bike and we are on a direction to help us go fast and improve tyre durability.”

Max Neukirchner (19th and 17th)

“Race one was just a continuation of the problems we’ve have had all weekend but we were able to improve the bike a little for a better feeling in the second race. However, I still couldn’t push hard enough to pass the guys in front of me. Over the last few laps, we also had a bit of a problem with weight transfer on the bike, which we also had in race one. Now we have to hope we have learned something that we can take to Miller in America, which I missed last year, but I got two podium finishes there in 2008.”

Broc Parkes (DNF and 18th):

“A difficult weekend and we were still struggling with chatter up until today. It was the first time that we could start to work without so much chatter. In Superpole yesterday and in race one today we had an electrical problem. In race two I had to take the second bike and we had a big problem with no grip and we are not sure why right now.”

SBK Standings after Round 6:

1.Leon Haslam-Suzuki 222
2.Max Biaggi-Aprilia 207
3.Jonathan Rea-Honda 141
4.Carlos Checa-Ducati 141
5.James Toseland-Yamaha 125
6.Noriyuki Haga-Ducati 106
7.Troy Corser-BMW 105
8.Michel Fabrizio-Ducati 95
9.Cal Crutchlow-Yamaha 86
10.Leon Camier-Aprilia 82
11.Sylvain Guintoli-Suzuki 77
12.Shane Byrne-Ducati 62
13.Jakub Smrz-Ducati 61
14.Ruben Xaus-BMW 42
15.Tom Sykes-Kawasaki 37
16.Lorenzo Lanzi-Ducati 26
17.Luca Scassa-Ducati 25
18.Max Neukirchner-Honda 23
18.Chris Vermeulen-Kawasaki 5
19.Sheridan Morais-Aprilia 3
20.Andrew Pitt-BMW 3
21.Roger Lee Hayden-Kawasaki 2
22.Joshua Brookes-Honda 2
23.Broc Parkes-Honda 1
24.Matteo Baiocco-Kawasaki 1

(no votes)

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