Lascorz Impresses at Brno, Farmer to Ride at Silverstone

2011-07-11 09:38
The Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team of Joan Lascorz and Tom Sykes experienced very different race day fortunes when round eight of the World Superbike Championship took place at Brno in the Czech Republic at the weekend.

Aboard the Paul Bird Motorsport Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R, Spanish rider Lascorz recorded a pair of top ten placings but for Yorkshireman Sykes, he was unable to transform his qualifying pace into results and had to settle for a best result of tenth in race one.

Lascorz had to overcome set-up issues in qualifying and was only 19th on the grid, one place ahead of Aussie former World Champion Chris Vermeulen, while Sykes had qualified on the second row.

Joan proved remarkably adept at passing other riders in each race and he scored ninth in race one and eighth in race two, results he felt were good in the circumstances of starting each hot and physical race from the fifth row of the grid. Unfortunately Tom saw good starts and strong pace in the early stages drop off to put him tenth in race one and 14th in race two.

For Vermeulen, race one was a battle to finish after he re-injured his left elbow in a practice fall on Friday and after consultation with the Penrith-based team, it was decided he should pull out of the second race.

Joan Lascorz: "To go from 19th into the top ten twice is very good in the circumstances. They were hard races and I had to pass a lot of other riders. We made an improvement in race one by changing the traction control a little and in the second race I only changed the suspension a small amount, based on my experiences of race one. The tyres were the same and I felt very good through the second race."

Tom Sykes: "I knew it would not be the easiest of weekends but when it came to qualifying I could make it count. We got on the second row which is what we are aiming for each time but in the races, I did not think they would be quite that hard. I'm far from happy with these results as I am sure most of the team isn't but we are all in it together. I'm not going to let it knock my confidence and I will give it my all at the next race."

Chris Vermeulen: "I have been struggling all weekend since the crash on Friday morning. My elbow had really swollen up and my back was sore after race one so together with the team we took the decision not to take any more risks and not ride in race two."

Paul Bird: "It's been an eventful weekend and I'm pleased for Joan who rode brilliantly to score a pair of top ten results from row five of the grid. We tried a few things with Tom's bike this weekend and it didn't really work so we now know to go back to the settings we had at Aragon where he was strong. We are now looking forward to the race at Silverstone in two weeks time and hope to be challenging for podiums at our home round."

Meanwhile, Ulsterman Keith Farmer will make his international debut at the Silverstone round of the World Superbike Championship when he rides a Paul Bird Motorsport-prepared Kawasaki ZX-10R in the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup.

The former Supermoto champion from Clogher is managed by PBM and has impressed on his debut season in road racing whereby he currently leads the Metzeler National Superstock 600 Championship with four victories in the six races held to date.

It is hoped that Silverstone will be the first of a number of wild card appearances for Farmer who will race at selected other rounds later this season, in between his British Championship duties.

Results - Race One
1, M Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team)
2, M Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team)
3, C Checa (Althea Racing)
4, M Fabrizio (Team Suzuki Alstare)
5, E Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike Team)
6, A Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team)
7, L Camier (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team)
8, L Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport)
9, J Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team)
10, T Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team)
18, C Vermeulen (Kawasaki Racing Team)

Results - Race Two
1, M Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team)
2, M Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team)
3, C Checa (Althea Racing)
4, M Fabrizio (Team Suzuki Alstare)
5, E Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike Team)
6, A Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team)
7, L Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport)
8, J Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team)
9, S Guintoli (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing)
10, N Haga (PATA Racing Team Aprilia)
14, T Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team)
DNS C Vermeulen (Kawasaki Racing Team)

Championship Standings (after Round 8)
1, C Checa 293pts
2, M Biaggi 263
3, M Melandri 240
4, E Laverty 168
5, L Haslam 137
6, L Camier 134
7, M Fabrizio 134
8, A Badovini 106
9, N Haga 99
10, J Rea 94
12, J Lascorz 88
14, T Sykes 84
20, C Vermeulen 14

Source: Cartersport Motorsport Media

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