Half a point gives Max Biaggi the Championship
The closest ever finish in the history of the Superbike World Championship took place at Magny-Cours today when Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) finished the race fifth and in doing so he ended up the season 0.5 points ahead of Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team). Sykes did all he could in winning race two, while Biaggi did just enough by finishing fifth, the final points reading Biaggi 358 and Sykes 357.5. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) was second in the 23-lap race, with Sylvain Guintoli (PATA Racing Team Ducati) third. Biaggi's team-mate, Eugene Laverty was fourth in the race, but the other championship hopeful Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) crashed out of contention. He finished third in the points in any case, on 328.5. This was Biaggi's second Superbike World Championship success, having won the title with Aprilia in 2010.
Guintoli wins Race 1 and championship fight is blown wide open
An amazing penultimate race in the 2012 championship season, held in wet conditions, saw early contender Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) fall on lap two and his two remaining championship rivals, Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) score podiums for second and third respectively. Sylvain Guintoli (PATA Racing Team Ducati) continued his amazing form in privateer guise with a clear win, by over six seconds from Melandri and by over 16 seconds from Sykes. This was Guintoli's third win of the year. The results tees up a fabulous season finale, with Biaggi now only 14.5 points ahead of Sykes, and 18.5 ahead of Melandri, with 25 points still on offer for a win in the last race of the year.
Supersport: Cluzel sends local crowd wild with his fourth win of 2012
Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda) took his fourth win of the year today at Magny-Cours as he made the best of a wet track and then a drying line around the 4.411k, circuit. The French rider underlined his second place in the championship with Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda) third overall in the points after finishing second today. Third place at Magny-Cours eventually went to Dan Linfoot (MSD R-N Team India Kawasaki) after he was knocked off by an attempted pass from new champion Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Lorenzini). Linfoot restarted to finish fourth but Sofuoglu was penalised 25 seconds and thus Linfoot was eventually third and Sofuoglu fourth. In the final championship table, Sofuoglu has 231 points, Cluzel 210, Lowes 172 and Fabien Foret (Kawasaki Intermoto Step) 171. Honda won the manufacturers' Championship by 14 points from Kawasaki.
Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet STK Team) survived a wet track and the pressure of racing for the championship at his home round to finish second at Magny-Cours and give himself an eventual clear championship win. His French countryman Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Kawasaki) rode with confidence and pace in the wet to win the race, but main championship challenger Eddi La Marra (Barni Racing Team Italia Ducati) fell very early and lost his chance to get back into the race. Another potential champion Bryan Staring (Team Pedercini Kawasaki) fell early and rode hard to try and get back into contention. He finished fifth in the race and eventually fourth in the championship. The final points read Barrier 153, La Marra 130, Giarnoni 123, Staring 122.
Superstock 600: Honda rider van der Mark wins after combative final round
The UEM Superstock 600 European Championship went to Michael van Der Mark (EAB Ten Kate Junior Team Honda) after he won an incredibly close final race of the year against his only rival Riccardo Russo (Team Italia FMI Yamaha). The pair made contact many times as they jostled for position in the early periods and only on the final couple of laps in the 12 lap race did van Der Mark make his advantage sure, winning by 1.226 seconds. The final points score was van Der Mark 219, Russo 207. Local rider Mathieu Marchal (Coutelle Racing Team Yamaha) came out on top in a three-rider fight for the final podium place. Third overall in the championship is Belgian rider Gauthier Duwelz (Team MTM Racing Yamaha) who was ninth today.
KTM European Junior Cup: Austria’s Lukas Wimmer is the Champion
Austrian
Lukas Wimmer emerged the winner of the 2012 KTM European Junior Cup on
Sunday after the second of two races in France’s Magny Cours after a
dramatic finish that involved both Wimmer and his only challenger for
the title, Spain’s Gaston Garcia. A drying track meant the conditions were far from ideal and by the end of the eight-lap race it was French rider Giullaume Raymond, third in Saturday’s penultimate race who topped the podium. Ukranian Ilya Mikhalchik who had led in the early stages finished second. Fifth went to Jean-Francois Demoulin (France) while wildcards Paul Haquin (France) and Daniel Mettam (New Zealand) completed the top 7. 8th was Aussie Sepp Scarcella ahead of Italian Federico Fazzina and Javi Orellana was 10th. Jamie Patterson, Josh Harland, Christian Vidal, Brandon Kyee, Adrian Pasek, Artur Wielebski and Kaz Hashmi all crashed without injury in a race that many have said was the most enthralling of the season. Wimmer has proved to be the most outstanding rider of the season, delivering some thrilling finishes but also deploying tactics that frequently either put him on top of the podium or out of the points. He won four races, was second once and third in the final race but finished three times out of the points. Final Championship Standings - all riders on the KTM 690 Duke machines 1, Lukas Wimmer, Austria 136 (Cup Champion) 2, Gaston Garcia 111 3, Javi Orellana 81 4, Christian Vidal 73 5, Artur Wielebski 72
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