Category: Superbikes

1. ALEIX ESPARGARÓ TO JOIN APRILIA

   Posted on 12:22pm Monday 27th Jun 2016

   Aleix Espargaró, Spanish rider born in Granollers on 30 July 1989, will ride an Aprilia RS-GP in the MotoGP World Championship. The agreement signed with Aprilia Racing is for two years, covering the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
   
   Bringing Espargaró on board is part of Aprilia's development plan - which aims for an increase in competitiveness, in line with the progress already demonstrated this year - and it reaffirms the Piaggio Group's commitment to an excellent technological and sport project aimed at making the Aprilia brand a protagonist on the track and on the road.
   
   Aleix Espargaró was the Spanish champion in the 125 category in 2004. After a series of placements in the 125 and 250 categories, in 2009 he made his début in the top class where he drew attention during the 2012 season astride the ART (the CRT bike developed by Aprilia Racing), finishing the season as the best rider in the category. This excellent result was repeated the next season as well, again on the ART - Aprilia Racing bike. Overall, in MotoGP, he has taken two pole positions and a podium finish, as well as seventh place in the rider standings (his personal best) for the 2014 championship season.

   

2. Jacobsen wraps up Misano round with podium finish

   Posted on 9:00am Monday 20th Jun 2016

   A third-place finish was the result of today’s eighth-round World Supersport race for Patrick ‘PJ’ Jacobsen, who put together a fighting performance in front of the Italian crowd at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’. The race was won by Kenan Sofuoglu ahead of pole-sitter Federico Caricasulo (Bardahl Evan Bros. Honda Racing).

   The young American rider had a good launch from third place on the grid and maintained his position into turn one. The following lap, Jacobsen made a successful move on Sofuoglu at the super-fast Turn 11, while on lap seven he overtook Caricasulo to move into the lead.

   Jacobsen held in front until the penultimate lap, when he began experiencing a loss of grip that hindered his pace and then he was unable to defend his position. He was eventually overtaken by race winner Sofuoglu on the penultimate lap and then by Caricasulo before the chequered flag to round out the podium of today’s race, the last before the long summer break for World Supersport.

   PJ will return to the track before mid September, though, as he will take part in this year’s edition of the Suzuka 8 Hours race, which takes place at the end of July.

   

3. Podium for van der Mark as Hayden crashes out of opening race at Misano

   Posted on 9:00am Sunday 19th Jun 2016

   Michael van der Mark has returned to podium ways by taking third place at the end of the 21-lap opening race of the weekend at Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’ in Italy, where the eighth round of the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship is currently underway. His Honda WorldSBK Team mate Nicky Hayden crashed out of third place in the early stages of the race.

   In what was an ultra-close Superpole 2, Nicky Hayden claimed sixth place on the grid despite being only 0.084secs away from third place. Michael van der Mark impoved on his FP2 lap time by half a second to take the tenth slot on the grid.

   Both Hayden and van der Mark enjoyed a great start to the race and were running fourth and fifth on the opening lap. They were promoted to third and fourth when Giugliano crashed out but shortly afterwards, it was Hayden who low-sided at the last turn before the completion of lap two. Once in third place, van der Mark rode a superb race and maintained a competitive pace up to the chequered flag, claiming his fifth podium of the season despite a strong comeback by fourth-placed Chaz Davies.

   Race two will be contested tomorrow from 13:00 local time (GMT +2) and will be preceded by the traditional 15-minute morning warm-up at 9:25.

   

4. European Junior Cup action to resume in UK

   Posted on 6:00pm Friday 27th May 2016

   The third round of the 2016 WIL Sport European Junior Cup, powered by Honda, is set to get underway this afternoon at the Donington Park Circuit in central England, with great anticipation for what will surely be another exciting battle for honours in the entry level series of WorldSBK.

   One and half months ago, Hannes Soomer claimed his first-ever European Junior Cup win at the TT Circuit Assen. The Estonian rider was able to pull away onboard his Honda CBR650F at halfway distance to cross the finishing line with a three-second gap over France’s Dorian Laville (Team Laville Mi&Do) and Spain’s Mika Perez (Granshagen Racing Team), who completed the podium in second and third, respectively. Soomer is currently leading the standings, although with the same number of points as Perez (36).

   Opening race winner at Aragón, Harun Cabuk (KNN54 – TMF) and Giuseppe De Gruttola (SK-Racing Team) will be looking for redemption, with other young riders expected to get in the mix for honours. Reigning Champion in the FIM Europe Women’s Cup Champion Avalon Biddle (Avalon Biddle Racing) has a healthy lead in that class this season after almost clinching a top 10 overall finish in the Netherlands.

   Donington Park’s European Junior Cup race (scheduled at 10:30 GMT+1 on Sunday 26th May) can be watched live on EuropeanJuniorCup.com

5. Honda WorldSBK duo aiming for British success at Donington Park‏

   Posted on 5:31pm Wednesday 25th May 2016

   Honda WorldSBK Team’s Nicky Hayden and Michael van der Mark are ready to tackle the seventh round of the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship, which takes place this weekend at Donington Park. The circuit, located in the heart of UK on the border between Leicestershire and Derbyshire, hosted the very first event of the series back in 1988; this year will be the twenty-fourth time that World Superbike racing has been staged at this iconic venue.

   Two weekends ago, Nicky Hayden claimed his maiden WorldSBK win after what was a perfect display of riding skills and race craft in wet conditions at the Sepang International Circuit in race two. He is now looking forward to riding again at Donington Park for the first time since 2009, when MotoGP had its last event at the track. His best result around East Midland’s hills is a fourth place scored in 2004. With the great feeling shown onboard his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP #69 in Malaysia, Nicky is eager to keep the momentum going as the season reaches its halfway point.

   Michael van der Mark has had contrasting fortunes at Donington Park in recent years. He was victorious in World Supersport 2014 in a close last-lap battle with title rival Jules Cluzel, while in his debut World Superbike year last season he had to pull out from both races. The 23-year-old Dutchman is aiming to return to his early-season form, which saw him on the rostrum three times in the first four races, and to improve on his current tally of four podium finishes in 2016.