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WSBK: Melandri Draws Near With Brno Brilliance
Marco Melandri injected new life into the 2012 Superbike World Championship with a double victory at Brno.
Media Release  |  Posted July 22, 2012   Brno (CZE)
Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) made a real play for the 2012 eni FIM Superbike World Championship title today by putting in a double win of the highest quality, overcoming Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) in both 20-lap contests at the classically sculpted Brno circuit. This was Melandri’s first double as an SBK rider and the first double for the official BMW team. In front of a three-day crowd of 63,129 and despite rain appearing in the morning, Melandri started from the second row in each race to overhaul long time leader Sykes. The English rider was full of fight at one of his favorite tracks, particularly in race two, but could not contain Melandri, who successfully pegged back the championship lead of Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) to a much more manageable 21 points, while in a historic day for BMW the German squad now heads the Manufacturers’ standings, by two points from Aprilia.

Race 1

Melandri worked his way through from a mid-pack position in a race that started with many wet patches on the circuit, but finished in blazing sunshine. Sykes finished second and his teammate, 19-year-old French rookie Loris Baz third, after a confident early few laps in tricky conditions. Any chance Sykes had of getting back at Melandri for the win was dashed when he and Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) collided entering a corner near the end of the race and Rea crashed out spectacularly. Checa was fourth and Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing) fifth, with Biaggi a distant sixth. Another great ride came from Maxime Berger (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing Ducati) who led for some time in tricky early conditions and finished the race ninth at his team’s home round.

Marco Melandri: “It was an amazing race. At the beginning everyone was careful because it was wet and they were on slicks. Then I was seventh or eighth but was catching the other guys and all I had to do was keep my rhythm. When I went in front with one lap and a half to go I just had to keep pushing without thinking of the others because I knew I was faster than them.”

Tom Sykes: “It was a shame to not lead the lap that counts, but I’m happy to be back on the podium with Kawasaki. At Brno you spend a lot of time on the side of the tire but we did a great job and came away with 20 points. Unfortunately we gambled at the beginning of the race with a softer front tire so I wasn’t able to attack the corners from 10 laps onwards, and when Marco passed me I had no answer.”

Loris Baz: “It’s great and I can’t believe it! The race was just perfect for me, I knew we had a good pace in the wet so just tried to do the best possible. Then my race pace was quite good compared to the other guys, we just had some problems with the front. The last lap was not easy but I am really happy, the team did a great job”.

Results: 1. Melandri (BMW) 20 Laps/108.060 km in 41'59.808 average 154.383 kph; 2. Sykes (Kawasaki) 1.360; 3. Baz (Kawasaki) 1.948; 4. Checa (Ducati) 2.494; 5. Laverty (Aprilia) 3.832; 6. Biaggi (Aprilia) 7.139; 7. Haslam (BMW) 11.293; 8. Fabrizio (BMW) 11.945; 9. Berger (Ducati) 18.988; 10. Smrz (Ducati) 19.117; etc.
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