We won’t harp on any longer about the treacherous conditions during Race 2 at Nurburgring, but thanks to photographer Silvio Tosseghini who sent these great photos to Motoblog.it, we can show you an image sequence of James Toseland’s crash at the German track.

The BMW Italia rider who celebrated his 200th WSBK race earlier in the day with a 13th place, was riding in 13th in race 2 when he crashed out his BMW S1000RR and you can see how he tries to protect his right wrist from taking another beating after his long recovery period.

“It’s been a difficult weekend,” wrote Toseland on his personal website. “We’ve had to work much harder than expected on the set-up for this track but I was pleased to finish in the points in race one. Race two was a different story and a crash was the last thing I needed, particularly at this stage in the season. The rumour mill is already in overdrive ahead of next season, so I find that the best way to deal with that is to just ignore the heresy and focus on getting the results. Needless to say that things didn’t go to plan, but on a positive note, at least I now know that I can crash and bounce back. For months I’ve been riding around my injury and approaching the races tentatively to ensure that I don’t setback my recovery and I feel like I don’t have to do that anymore. I’m as determined and hungry as ever to get back to the front of the races, where I believe I belong, so I need to just move on and keep that focus.”

Continue reading: James Toseland's crash sequence at Nurburgring

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When riders are interviewed immediately after a tough race with the adrenaline still pumping through their veins, sometimes they regret what they say in the heat of the moment, and Marco Melandri is no different.

After his words to LA7 commentator saying that the riders were “treated like idiots” and that the race was “scandalous” and “someone could have been killed”, the soon-to-be ex-Yamaha rider backed slightly down on his harsh words, but still stated via Twitter that the race was “no easy and dangerous” and in an subsequent interview with Gianluigi Ragno’s (Misterhelmet) blog on the LA7 website, Melandri commented,

“I’ve got to tell you, I admit to have been impulsive and I apologize for the terms I used when I got off the bike. But I also believe that we can’t pretend that nothing happened and that’s why I went to the Race Direction to propose a solution to be applied in cases like this. They assured me that they will discuss it and perhaps at Imola they’ll have a solution so we don’t find ourselves in similar situation like we had today .

When Eugene Laverty signals that something is wrong and Gianfranco Carloia of the Race Direction speaking to gpone.com said “we acted based on what we saw in the monitors and what the track officials told us. The signal from Laverty was difficult to interpret, and simultaneously Haga kept improving his lap times” and “at a certain point some other riders (like Sykes) made very clear signals, and then we interrupted the race” you have to agree with Melandri that something has to be done to avoid another gross misunderstanding of this kind.

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We’ve got to completely agree with Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty and the majority of the riders who said that race 2 at Nurburgring should have been stopped sooner or at least postponed until after 4pm when the weather forecast said the rain would have stopped, as it did just after the race was red flagged after 13 laps and for the celebrations at the parc ferme and podium.

Just check out the above video to see the torrential conditions that the Superbike riders had to deal with and after the jump you’ll find the highlight video of race 1 which was dry and the rest of the rider quotes.

Carlos Checa - 1st and 8th

“Today’s first race was very special for me, and signifies my first ever SBK win at the Nürburgring. I would like to dedicate this result to Claudio Castiglioni, he was an extremely important figure in the motorcyling world and it is also in part thanks to him that we are here racing these bikes today. The race 1 result was very important in terms of the championship. I knew that it was important to increase the gap between me and Noriyuki in the first half of the race and this small advantage proved useful in the final stages when I began to suffer from a lack of grip. Race 2 on the other hand was one of the hardest races I’ve ever run. We were obliged to try to finish it of course but I was really suffering due to the sheer quantity of water and track conditions, and couldn’t even see as far as the next corner! I’m sorry for those who took risks and I’m also sorry that Biaggi was not racing with us today. I hope he gets better and that we’ll see him back at Imola. But for us it was a very positive day and I’m very happy with the outcome.”

Continue reading: Highlight race videos from Nurburgring and rider quotes

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Race 2 at Nurburgring was so conditioned by the weather that you were left wondering why the Race Direction didn’t decide to red flag it much sooner, taking into consideration the riders safety, instead of waiting for usual three fourths of the race to be over before putting a halt to the whole thing.

The Superbike riders rode in horrendous conditions, pouring rain, the track unable to drain the copious amounts of water falling and almost zero visibility and only the wet weather specialists were able to make something of it and even they signaled for the race to end as the riders began dropping like flies under the intense showers.

In this atrocious situation, it was Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes who took his first maiden win in WSBK’s, inheriting the spot after Noriyuki Haga who had lead the entire race from the beginning and had built up an impressive advantage of over ten seconds before sliding out just two laps before the race was finally stopped.

Effenbert-Liberty Ducati duo Sylvain Guintoli and Jakub Smrz completed the podium, and suprisingly Jonathan Rea came in fourth despite a high speed crash, limping across the finish line.

Eugene Laverty took fifth after an intense and almost race long battle with team mate Marco Melandri. Following the Yamaha duo was BMW Italia’s Ayrton Badovini, while Carlos Checa had a horrible start and ended up in 12th, however with all the crashes from riders in front of him he salvaged a very safe 8th spot. Leon Haslam also crashed out, but managed to rejoin and finish in 9th ahead of Maxime Berger.

Continue reading: Tom Sykes wins red flagged race 2 at Nurburgring

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Carlos Checa took a firmer grip on the 2011 World Superbike championship today even before the race began, as title contender and reigning World Champion Max Biaggi had to withdraw from the 10th round at Nurburgring sidelined with a fractured left foot.

With Biaggi out of the running, the Althea Racing rider who was already leading the championship by 62 points, took another dominating and solitary ride in race 1 and his 11th victory of the season

While the first place podium was already decided after lap three, the battle for second went down between Marco Melandri and Noriyuki Haga, which saw the Yamaha rider who despite a mistake at the halfway mark end up more than three seconds behind Haga, but Melandri regrouped and overtook the Pata Aprilia rider with five laps to go and kept the position while keeping the fighting Japanese rider at bay to take second. Haga’s third place gave him his second podium finish of the season.

Continue reading: Carlos Checa takes comfortable win in race 1 at the 'Ring

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While Misano’s warm-up practice was warm and sunny, World Superbikes at Nurburgring was wet and a washout.

With these difficult conditions, lap times were high and BMW’s Leon Haslam came out on top of the timesheets with a best lap of 2.10.764.

Sylvain Guintoli on his Effenbert branded Ducati was second, while Troy Corser took third followed by wet weather specialist Tom Sykes. Following the Kawasaki rider was Maxime Berger, Max Melandri, Jonathan Rea who announced yesterday that he signed on for another season with Castrol Honda and Joan Lascorz.

Closing out the top ten were Jakub Smrz and Mark Aitchinson. Pole man Carlos Checa was just 13th, prefering to do only a few laps and save himself for the races. Max Biaggi did not take part in the practice. The injury that he picked up on Friday to his left foot, has now become a full fledged fracture after yesterday’s Superpole when one of the metatarsals cracked while shifting, his taking part in today’s double header is now seriously in doubt.

Continue reading: Leon Haslam leads in wet warm-up practice at Nurburgring

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WSBK’s may now be under the the same umbrella as MotoGP, but they still work better, because they’ve already posted a highlight video of today’s Superpole action at Nurburgring that saw the seemingly unstoppable Carlos Checa take another pole position while breaking the track lap record.

Max Biaggi is thinking of bowing out of tomorrow’s round (we doubt it) because of his foot injury that makes shifting gears very difficult.

Here’s what some of the Superbike riders had to say after qualifying:

Carlos Checa - 1st

“Yesterday we learned a lot and the changes we made between yesterday and today’s sessions brought the right results. We’re really happy with the work completed, we’ve improved the bike and the lap times have come. In the first Superpole phase I was having a little difficulty but the second and third sessions went better and I was able to take pole. The Nürburgring is one of those tracks where it’s difficult to make passes so it’s certainly an advantage to start from the front here. Tomorrow I will be aiming to make the best possible start and do all I can to fight for the win; I think we’ll see two really exciting races.”

Continue reading: Nurburgring Superpole highlight video and rider quotes

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There’s no stopping Carlos Checa.The Althea Racing rider devasted the field with his new Superpole record at Nurburgring, stopping the clock at 1.54.144 in SP3 and dropping four tenths from the previous record, but he had to keep Yamaha’s Eugene Laverty at bay throughout the three Superpole sessions.

Laverty will take off right beside Checa, while injured Max Biaggi battled to third and Marco Melandri grabbed fourth but at little less than seventh tenths off pace. All four front row starters have won races this year and have another pace compared to the rest of the field.

Coming in fourth and heading the second row, sees the welcome return of a rejuvenated Nori Haga followed by Tom Sykes on the PBM Kawasaki with BMW’s Leon Haslam right beside him. Sylvain Guintoli who almost didn’t make it past SP2 took eighth, after using up all his qualifying tire allotment in the previous two stints.

Castrol Honda’s Jonathan Rea was ninth after Guintoli pushed him out of 8th in SP2 with a last flying lap. Jakub Smrz ended up 10th followed Pedercini’s Mark Aitchison and Michel Fabrizio who crashe out in SP1 trying to tag Carlos Checa.

WSBK Nurburgring Superpole final results:

1. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’54.144
2. Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike Team) Yamaha YZF R1 1’54.512
3. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’54.743
4. Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team) Yamaha YZF R1 1’54.818
5. Noriyuki Haga (PATA Racing Team Aprilia) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’55.113
6. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’55.223
7. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1’55.237
8. Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’55.249
9. Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) Honda CBR1000RR 1’55.321
10. Jakub Smrz (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’55.598
11. Mark Aitchison (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’55.625
12. Michel Fabrizio (Team Suzuki Alstare) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’56.177
13. Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’55.633
14. Maxime Berger (Supersonic Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 1’55.811
15. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team) BMW S1000 RR 1’56.101
16. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’56.162
17. Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1’56.401
18. James Toseland (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team) BMW S1000 RR 1’56.637
19. Roberto Rolfo (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’56.996
20. Makoto Tamada (Castrol Honda) Honda CBR1000RR 1’57.950

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Carlos Checa re-took command this morning during World Superbike’s QP2 at Nurburgring. The Spaniard slipped in a stunning 1’55.030 lap in the final minutes of the session to dispose of Eugene Laverty by almost four tenths of a second and who had been leading the timesheets up to that moment.

Noriyuki Haga finally made an appearance in the top three with his Pata Aprilia after his 13th place in QP1, which finally lifted the hopes of his team manager Marco Borciani.

Max Biaggi slipped to fourth, but he’s nursing a suspected fracture and ligament damage to his left foot that he picked up after hitting some flying debris from another rider’s crash yesterday. And today his RSV4 died in the pitlane and he ended up being pushed by a helpful Jonathan Rea.

Continue reading: Carlos Checa takes command in QP2 at Nurburgring

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It’s been quite awhile since we’ve seen Max Biaggi on top the charts on a Friday, but the Aprilia Alitalia rider did just that in this afternoon’s QP1 at Nurburgring.

The defending World Champion overhauled Carlos Checa in the last minutes with a best lap of 1.55.524 that left the current points leader in second and 0.149s adrift.

Marco Melandri definitely likes Nurburgring because after his second hour on the track he was up to third and was just 0.295s off pace from Biaggi, followed by Michel Fabrizio in fourth who binned his Suzuki at the beginning of the session. Eugene Laverty who wants to ride in MotoGP for Yamaha Tech3 next season came in fifth.

Sylvain Guintoli was another rider who confirmed his feeling with German circuit by taking sixth, while team mate Jakub Smrz who was third this morning found himself down in 12th. Jonathan Rea was seventh again, followed by rookie Maxime Berger on the Supersonic Ducati.

Continue reading: WSBK Nurburgring: Max Biaggi steps up pace in QP1

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Today’s first free practice at Nurburgring for the World Superbike riders started on damp track and several riders didn’t hit the tarmac until the halfway mark when the German circuit started to dry out completely, and it was points leader Carlos Checa who closed out on top of the time charts with a best lap of 1.57.296 pipping Kawasaki Racing Team’s Joan Lascorz by just 0.078s on his last flying lap.

Jakub Smrz led most of the one hour session and he finished third and would have probably been closer to the top if a crash in the final minutes of the practice session didn’t leave him four tenths of a second adrift. Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki Alstare) took fourth, followed by Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia), Sylvain Guintoli and Castrol Honda returnee Jonathan Rea was 6th after missing three rounds due to injury.

Marco Melandri on his first time at Nurburgring was eighth with Leon Haslam and Tom Sykes closing out the top ten.

Makoto Tamada who is replacing injured Ruben Xaus in Castrol Honda was 19th and three seconds off pace, while both Pedercini riders, Roberto Rolfo and Mark Aitchison suffered from technical problems on their Kawasaki’s.

Continue reading: WSBK Nurburgring: Carlos Checa leads in the drying conditions

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Carlos Checa heads into this weekend’s 13th World Superbike round at Nurburgring with a pretty impressive 62 points over reigning World Champion Max Biaggi and he’ll be looking to gobble up even more of those 200 points that remain.

During the month long break Carlos has kept himself active, participating in a triathlon in Spain and spending time in Italy, where he had the opportunity to climb to the Castore peak of the Monte Rosa mountain range and take in spectacular views from 4220m,

“Having taken this important result for Ducati at Silverstone, and seeing as I am a mountain climbing enthusiast, some of my friends invited me to join them at Monte Rosa. One of the things I really wanted to do was take Ducati’s 300 victory flag to the highest point in Italy. So we took it up to the Castore peak, at 4220m. A great day and a wonderful experience at high altitude! I enjoyed the holidays, carrying out various activities, training but having fun at the same time. I now feel ready to face the next challenge: Nurburgring.”

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