Silverstone was all sunshine and lollipops yesterday for Carlos Checa, Althea Racing and Ducati. Checa took a win for his 100th Superbike race, Ducati has 301 wins in its booty, while Genesio Bevilacqua, the general manager of Althea may be happy on the outside, but is seething regarding the usual claims and laments that the Ducati twins are again at an advantage.

I think that our rivals should clarify their declarations as they continue to insist that they believe us to be at an advantage when the opposite is in fact true,” said Bevilacqua. “What we bring to the floor is our strength as a team, a great rider and a bike that has less acceleration. We also lose at least 12km/h of top speed at every track. I would therefore like to see more respect being paid when it comes to the hard work of our team and our rider. We will continue to work to achieve our objectives and Ducati’s objective.”

Bevilacqua’s statement may have something to do with the fact that Checa’s bikes were thoroughly inspected twice during this weekend, but were cleared from any technical hanky-panky.

Carlos Checa - (1st and 1st)

“It was a wonderful day. I didn’t believe that it would be possible to win here, but we managed to do it twice over! To achieve the 300th win for Ducati is an important result and we are all very happy to have been able to repeat this in race two. I thank everyone involved, my team, Ducati and all the sponsors. I also heard that I have now completed 100 SBK races. I didn’t know this but the important thing is that I still feel young and am not yet 100 years old! We have a good advantage for now but as we all know, it is hard to build up points and easy to lose them. We now head to tracks where I have had some good results in the past but we are taking it one step at a time; nothing is a given. It’s been a fantastic weekend that I will remember forever. Now the team can go on holiday in a more relaxed state of mind.”

Eugene Laverty - (2nd and 2nd)

“Yes I’m happy with the 40 points today. Not a victory but two second places are quite good. In race one Carlos went by me and pushed on but I had some limits with the bike so I couldn’t really catch up. In the end, second place was more than enough. In race two I really wanted to push for a victory, especially to cheer up my brother John in hospital, but I’m sure he’s happy with my results. I had a better second race, I changed the tyre and there was an improvement. In the later part of the race I tried to move my body position on the bike and began to close in on Carlos, but when I did, he reacted. He had the edge on us today so he would have been extremely difficult to beat”.

Marco Melandri - (3rd and 3rd)

“In race one, I had a very unstable bike, I didn’t have a good feeling from the beginning of the race and struggled with a lack of rear grip. I lost a lot of time with Hopkins and Haga in front of me and it wasn’t easy to get by. We changed the tyre before race two to get better grip on the left side, but I hit a stone with my knee on the straight and it caused me to lose a lot of time on that lap. I started to improve then and saw I could catch Camier . I was struggling to keep Max at bay but I pushed to stay ahead. I’m happy with my double podium today. Now I’m looking forward to some holidays and I hope to come back stronger than ever.”

Leon Haslam - (4th and 8th)

“In race one I was really happy with the start. I was able to get myself into the position I wanted to be in and ran with the leaders. I was really pushing for the podium and battled to keep with Marco Melandri, but I was really struggling to pass him and stay in front. I was happy to be running close to the front and the lap times were OK. I just narrowly missed out on a podium. In race two I was having a few issues with the bike and I was forced to adapt my riding style to try and ride around it. I got to the point where I was able to run consistent lap times, but by then the leaders had gone. Now we have the summer break, so I am just looking forward to spending some time at home and preparing in the gym for the next races.”

John Hopkins - (5th and 7th)

“I didn’t know what to expect from the race as I had never really raced in the competitive end of WSB when I was there before. My plan was to go out, ride my own race, and make the best of it, as we will have had some good laps here before we return later in the year for BSB. I had a couple of issues towards the beginning of the race as I seemed to be lower on power and then unfortunately we had a rear brake failure. My riding style means I run it on corner entry, then the apex then on corner exit and I know some riders don’t use it that much, but that’s just my style so by mid-race I was trying to re-ride the track around not having it. We have had a great weekend so far and I am a racer so the competitive side of me wants to be higher, but saying that if someone had told me before the weekend I would have finished fifth, I would have been happy with that. In race two I was losing out on the straights and there was nothing I could do, but I want to thank the team for the opportunity and I am looking forward to Brands Hatch now.”

Joan Lascorz - (7th and DNF)

“We had one good result and one unlucky one, but my bike felt even better in the second race than the first one. It was unfortunate that Toseland collided with me because his footpeg went into a water hose on my bike and it ran the cooling system dry, which meant I could not finish. I think I could have had a top six if that had not happened. I was seventh in race one and that is not so bad having qualified 19th. We have to improve in qualifying but it is good to know that I can make a good race pace on the bike when things work out.”

Maxime Berger - (8th and 12th)

“I really enjoyed the first race. After a good start I found myself in a group of four to five riders and we fought side by side to overcome. I forced my pace several times, but then I decided not to risk a fall and I finished eighth. My best result ever in World Superbikes. In race two, the track temperature was warmer; the bike was sliding a lot from the tyres. I tried to keep a good rhythm and I could be in the top ten, but when I was about to pass Lascorz, his bike started to lose water from the radiator. The water came on the visor of my helmet and my windshield and I had to turn off the gas losing some positions. Remains the satisfaction of having the best results this weekend and finally brought home a good amount championship points. I have to thank once again my team to give me a real fast bike. Now I will take a few weeks vacation and get ready for the remaining four races of this championship.”

Troy Corser - (9th and DNF)

“In race one I got a great start. I actually had a little incident at the first corner - I collided with another rider which did cost me a bit of time and to be honest I was lucky not to go down. I fought hard and managed to get to the front of the group and I felt well on the bike. The grip level dropped off as the race progressed, and it caused me to slide and spin the rear tyre. I just managed the situation the best I could and brought it home. In race two we had an issue with the bike which we are currently looking into. That sadly brought an early end to the race for me. We are not sure exactly why the issue occurred at the minute but it does seem bizarre at this stage because we only made minor changes between races. The changes we did make seemed to improve the package but sadly we couldn’t take advantage of that. I have a couple of days off before going back to serious training. I still do not feel 100 per cent fit on the bike after my injury.”

Ayrton Badovini - (1oth and 10th)

“This was a defensive race: sometimes this happens during a championship.” Ayrton said after the debrief with his engineers. “I was not 100% after two crashes, both in terms of psychological and physical condition. I had some pain in my wrist, among other things, which I think is dislocated. We are happy with the bike, for which we collected data and information that will help us to further development. Now we go on the summer break, we will reinvigorate and come back even more competitive in September for the final stage of the season. I want to thank the whole team this weekend which was able to give me two good bikes despite the two falls. ”

Max Biaggi - (11th and 4th)

“Analysing the weekend and the first race, I can say that I’m satisfied with the fourth place in Race 2. It’s a shame I had to start from the back. I stressed the tyres in order to catch up with the leading pack and that prevented me from being incisive at the end even though I really gave it my all, so much that I was able to get in front of my team mate who is quite fast here. Even in Race 1 I could have done better, but with the bent brake lever and the technical problem with the clutch I had little choice but to grit my teeth and pick up as many points as I could”.

James Toseland - (12th and 13th)

“On Friday morning I had concerns for the weekend due to both physical and psychological stresses. I’m therefore very happy to have been able to complete both races. I had no grip in Race 1 but the bike was fine in the second. Beyond the result, for me it was important to finish both races after five months off track. It has boosted my morale because the fracture was really bad and now I’m coming through it. ”

Leon Camier - (15th and 5th)

“I’m just obviously so disappointed and really sorry for all the fans out there that came to support us. I really thought a podium or two was on the cards for definite. I felt really strong in the first race, made up a load of places and was starting to think about passing Laverty for 2nd when we had an issue with the bike. I kept going and I know the fans were cheering me on every time I went past so thank you to them! Second race, start went well but had no grip at the end. I couldn’t hold my line and I was pushing and pushing to try and keep up but then I would make a mistake. So frustrating, especially at my home race, but that’s how it goes sometimes.”

Michel Fabrizio – (DNF and 9th)

“I am disappointed with how things worked out today. I think the crash in race one was probably a bit my fault. I high-sided on lap one, maybe because I was pushing a bit too hard and a bit too soon. I hurt my right collarbone and gave my right hip and thigh a pretty good bang, so I was a bit battered and bruised for race two. Because the track temperature was quite hot, we chose a hard front tyre for the second as we felt that a soft one would get destroyed too soon. But the front was a bit too hard and I just couldn’t get any mid-corner grip after just a couple of laps. From then on, it was a struggle to maintain my position and when I got passed by a few riders I couldn’t do anything about it. I kept pushing as hard as I could and finished a frustrating ninth place. It was a pity, because I had qualified on the second row of the grid and, as I know that my race-pace is normally very good, I was looking forward to at least top-four finishes and maybe even a podium. Racing is like this sometimes and I have to put today behind me, enjoy the upcoming break; and then look forward to better times in the next round at the Nurburgring.”

Noriyuki Haga - (DNF and DNF)

“I’m sorry, we had the chance to hit a big result. I’m sure if it wasn’t for the slip during race 1 I would have fight for the podium until the end. Unluckily the bike ended up damaged and we got back on track with the forklift . But after a few miles I had to give up. I just hope to be done with the bad luck and I’m only willing of hitting big during the last four rounds of this championship.”

Alex Lowes - (DNF and DNF)

“Race one was going OK, even though I made a bad start. I made some passes on other riders, was really enjoying it. I went into one of the corners a little bit fast, and slowed down too much in the middle of the corner, then got on the gas too much on the exit, so it was really my fault. It was a big crash and I felt pretty beaten up. In race two I had not much confidence and feeling on the second bike. The team worked really well and in some parts of the weekend we were pretty fast, but at the end of the weekend crashing out never helps a lot. The team and bike deserve to be a lot higher up, but I am taking some positives away because we had some positives.”

Fabrizio Lai - (DNF and 16th)

“It was a very difficult weekend because it is the first time at Silverstone, first time with this team this bike and all of it was very complicated. Today in race one I used a soft tyre and, before I fell, it was not giving me the best grip even after three laps. In race two I chose a harder tyre and it as very good in the corners, but then the problems was in the rear and I did not have the traction I wanted. I used more traction control to finish the race. I am sorry for this result for the team, all the people and myself.”

Tom Sykes (DNS)

“I woke up feeling like I had been run over by a bus and because we do not want to cause any further potential damage to my ankle we decided not to race. I also have a lot of pain and stiffness in my neck, back and shoulders. After qualifying on the fourth row because I could not make it into Superpole, I was not going to get anything too much out of this weekend, and the risk was a little too much. I do not want to speculate on my ankle injury until I see a specialist tomorrow.”

(no votes)

0 comments