Beware ... the Ducatis have had their air restrictors removed for Imola. Source: SPEED
Imola this weekend marks round seven of 15 in this year's Superbike World Championship. With the Indian race at Buddh possibly likely to end up as an off-season test, this Sunday may indeed be the mathematical half-way point in the championship battle.
We have witnessed many a classic battle around this traditional "old style" venue.
WHAT
Round 7 of the 2013 eni FIM Superbike World Championship at Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, ITA.
WHEN
June 29-30, 2013
LIVE and Exclusive in HD on SPEED:
Saturday 29 June at 10:45pm EST
Sunday 30 June at 7:30pm EST
STORYLINES
Panigale-power unleashed
Ducati and Checa have the runs on the board in recent years here at Imola. Ducati have won eight of the last nine WSBK races contested here, and Checa has won five of the last six here. Both are without a win so far this season. But Checa is now 100-percent fit after carrying a shoulder injury all season and, even more importantly, the air restrictors have been removed from the 1200cc Panigales, under the parity rules between the 1200cc twins and the 1000cc fours. That will unleash their true potential at what is probably their strongest circuit.
Track knowledge crucial
Imola is not the style of circuit where you ride from the white line on one side of the track to the other the whole way around. Just like Phillip Island and Suzuka, you have to have the bike pointed in exactly the right direction for the entire lap, or you lose precious tenths of seconds because you just can't make a gain to cover the loss. Combine that with the circuit's quite undulating nature (uphill 9.38%, downhill 9.10%) and the 22 corners (13 rights and 9 lefts) - the most of all circuits on the WSBK calendar - 4,936 metres is a fairly long "very on the edge" lap. Mentally it's a difficult circuit, which why it is so satisfying/enjoyable to get it right for the two, 21 lappers on Sunday. For the numbercrunchers, that's an amazing 462 corners per race!
Nitro Nori back in the saddle
The "Samurai of Slide", "Nitro" Noriyuki Haga is returns for a one-off ride this weekend, replacing Vittorio Iannuzzo aboard the Grillini Dentalmatic BMW. This weekend marks 20 months since his last World Superbike race. The last time Nitro Nori raced here was in 2011 when he came away with two second places, behind Jonathan Rea in Race 1 and Checa in Race 2. He won Race 1 back in 2009. Haga makes it a dozen WSBK race-winners that will line up on the grid on Sunday.
Variety victorious
Twelve races into championship, we've had three different manufacturers win races (Aprilia 5 races, BMW 4, Kawasaki 3), while five different riders have won races (Laverty 4, Sykes 3, Melandri and Davies 2 each, Guintoli 1). On the strength of that, it's going to be a great Sunday night!
RIDER RUNDOWN
Sylvain Guintoli has been the championship leader since he won the season opener at Phillip Island. He hasn't won since, but he has been extremely consistent: six 2nds, two 3rds, two 4ths, one 6th. What has kept him in the lead is that he has scored points in every single race. Fabrizio and Neukichner are the only other riders in championship to do so.
Tom Sykes left Phillip Island with two 5ths to sit fourth in championship, then scored no points in Race 2 at Aragon and Race 2 at Portimao last time out. But his three wins, two 2nds and three 3rds have kept him well within striking distance of Guintoli, heading to Italy just 28 points down on the Aprilia rider. Tom has taken the last five Superpoles on the trot. Can he make it 6? Yes. He was on pole here last year and took his first ever Superpole here in 2010. Two days of testing at Aragon on June 13-14 was a success, concentrating on engine development and chassis settings. He'll be looking for nothing less than a clean sweep at Imola to help erase the thought of that sighting lap crash in Race 2 at Portimao, and close the gap to Guintoli down to less than a race win (25 points).
Coming second in Race 1 and won Race 2 at the season-opener, Aprilia's Eugene Laverty left Phillip Island as joint title leader with teammate Guintoli, both on 45 points. Six races later he sits third, 39 points behind his teammate, and he has some work to do having never been on a WSBK podium at Imola!
Post-Portimao has been the first time all year that BMW's Marco Melandri has been able to train without any injury resrictions. He sits fourth in championship, 57 points from the lead. Looking for a strong weekend to close that gap down, but has never had good results at his home track. He'll be pulling out all stops to change that.
Chaz Davies loves Imola, just like all the other riders, and fancies a podium this weekend !
Loris Baz will benefit from two extra days' experience on Kawasaki's ZX10R, as well as the improvements from testing itself. He's taken one podium this year (Assen, Race 2), hasn't finished lower than eighth, and has just the one DNF (Phillip Island, Race 2). He's ready to step up to the next level, and don't forget he's only 20-years-old.
Jonathan Rea has only two podiums this year, a second in Race 1 at Assen and a third last time out at Portimao. Two DNFs sees him with less than half of Guintoli's points haul of 213, down in 7th on 105 points.
Michel Fabrizio will have the horns out this weekend at his home race! Lots of pressure on himself I think. He's one of just three riders to score points every race, though.
Davide Giugliano's four DNFs is an indicator of how hard he's been trying, and it will be no different this weekend at an Italian round!
Frenchman Jules Cluzel is still coming to terms with the Suzuki, which is getting better all the time. He could have his best weekend of the season so far.
His teammate Leon Camier came third here in 2011 in Race 2 on the Aprilia. He didn't have a good weekend last year on the GSX-R, with a DNF and an eighth.
Max Neukirchner has been consistently disappointed with the bike and its electronics performance, which is holding him back. Like the factory boys, his private Ducati should be better off this weekend without the air restrictor, on much more of a Ducati track with a good rider on it.
2013 hasn't been so great for Carlos Checa, with just seven point scores from 12 races. He's now 100-percent fit for the first time since the opening race, while a parity ruling has removed the air restrictor that has been taking the edge of the Panigale's performance. Carlos has won five of the last six races here, so he should have a good weekend. Not that it'll do much for his championship hopes.
His factory Ducati teammate Ayrton Badovini will be typically "on it" like mad, as another Italian riding on home soil!
Leon Haslam was fast here last year, qualifying fourth on grid and backing that up with a pair of thirds. Hopefully his leg doesn't give him any grief and has a cracker of a weekend.
Catch the World Superbikes at Imola LIVE in HD, Sun 30 June from 7:30pm EST, exclusively on SPEED (512).
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