REA SIGNS OFF IN STYLE WITH TWO PODIUMS AND SUPERPOLE WIN

2011-10-16 12:55
Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) ended an often challenging 2011 season with two third place finishes in the 22-lap FIM Superbike World Championship races at Portimao having started from pole position each time. World Champion Carlos Checa (Ducati) and Marco Melandri (Yamaha) won the races in front of a weekend crowd of 86,000, but with his two podium scores Rea put himself into the top ten, finishing the year ninth overall despite missing several races through injury.

Rea was only 1.363 seconds behind Melandri in race two, with Eugene Laverty (Yamaha) second. A late attempt to pass Laverty was rebuffed and Rea had to settle for a close third, his fifth podium in a year that delivered him two race wins.

Experienced rider Karl Muggeridge (Castrol Honda) was brought into the team this weekend to substitute for injured regular Ruben Xaus and thus Ruben finished the year 17th overall. Normally riding a less highly tuned Honda in the IDM Championship Muggeridge struggled to learn the circuit in the early part of the weekend, but still qualified 19th, with three riders behind him. In the races he worked hard to score 18th and 17th places, but missed out on the points scoring positions.

ELLISON ENDS UP ON THE PODIUM AT FINAL ROUND

James Ellison (Bogdanka PTR Honda) saw a possible second turn into a still-satisfying third place at the Portimao circuit as he was unable to chase down race winner Chaz Davies (Yamaha) in the final laps, and was himself passed by eventual race and championship second place rider David Salom (Kawasaki) on the very last lap.

Ellison had qualified tenth on the grid for a race held in glorious conditions and he had to work his way forward from seventh at the end of lap one. Seventh was also his eventual championship classification after 12-rounds, with the highest ranked Honda rider of all being 2002 champion Fabien Foret (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda). In finishing 12th in the 20-lap race today, Fabien ended his season third overall and eight points behind Salom.

Sam Lowes (Parkalgar Honda) was on course for a late challenge on race winner Davies, but he fell on lap ten as he was easing his way towards his fellow Briton. Lowes ended his full rookie season sixth overall and scored six podiums in 12 races.

Florian Marino (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) started well and was up to third in the early laps, but dropped back as the hot temperatures took a toll on his set-up and he finished fifth, his second best finish of the year and good enough to put him eighth in his rookie season.

Local rider Miguel Praia (Parkalgar Honda) overcame his midfield starting position of 13th to go eighth, having mounted a great recovery in the latter stages. This was his fourth eighth place of the season and he finished 13th in the final rankings.

Misfortune found Gino Rea (Step Racing Honda) once again as he forgot to reset his electronics system after the start and he was kicked out of the seat as his rear tyre lost traction, causing him to run off. The closely following Broc Parkes (Kawasaki) could not avoid him and damage to his bike eventually forced him to retire. Rea recovered to go 14th in the race, and 11th overall in the final standings.

Balazs Nemeth (Team Hungary Toth Honda) went tenth in the race and 15th in the championship. Alexander Lundh (Cresto Guide Honda) was a strong 13th today, one place behind Foret, while Pawel Szkopek (Bogdanka PTR Honda) scored a single point for 15th. Lundh finished his year 16th overall.

Robbin Harms (Harms Benjan Racing Honda) suffered a puncture and another DNF, ending a promising season 12th overall. Imre Toth (Team Hungary Toth Honda) retired but ended the season 19th in the points.

HONDA RIDER COMMENTS:

Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda)
Race result: 3rd/ 3rd Championship position: 9th
"It's always good to get on the podium in each race and it has been such a journey this year; ups and downs and having fought hard to overcome two injuries. To come back to the top step of the podium at Imola was probably my highlight, because of how hard we had to work to get there. The last few races have been good and the bike is a pleasure to ride. I am enjoying it so much that I wish the 2012 season started tomorrow."

Karl Muggeridge (Castrol Honda)
Race result: 18th/17th Championship position: No score
"The was a very busy weekend. I was thrown in the deep end and I did not expect I would have so much trouble learning the track and I really struggled with that at first. I missed a bit of track time because we had some minor issues with the bike, but by the second race I found my way. I just needed more time but by race two I got to race a bit and I enjoyed myself."

Fabien Foret (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda)
Race result: 12th Championship position: 3rd
"It's been one of the toughest weekends of the season and we really didn't expect to have the grip problems that we had today. It seems especially bad in the last race, which is always the one you remember. But our first race this season was difficult too, so we started badly and we've ended badly. There have been some great moments in between this year, but also some more difficult ones. I'm 50% happy and 50% frustrated because it could have been different and much better. We also lost second place in the championship, but there isn't much difference between second and third because winning is the most important thing. Anyway, I want to thank the team for the time we've had this year. There is a great relationship between us and it's my great wish to spend one more year with them."

Sam Lowes (Parkalgar Honda)
Race result: DNF Championship position: 5th
"I fell at turn five, and it was a strange one, because I just lost the front end. I must have done something wrong to crash and I am disappointed because I knew that I could fight for the win when I went fastest in warm-up this morning. I felt really good and Chaz and I broke everyone else early on. I wanted to finish the season with a win, because I felt I could have done it here. I feel as if I have had a very strong end to the year, despite this fall, because I have had three podiums recently."

James Ellison (Bogdanka Honda)
Race result: 3rd Championship position: 7th
"I really enjoyed that, but in the last couple of laps it was tough. We did put 25 laps on a front tyre in qualifying and practice to see if it would go the distance. We had to use the soft one so it wasn't a tyre gamble, but it was pushing the front towards the end. I am happy with a podium end to the season and also with getting the fastest lap of the race - it shows what we can do."

Florian Marino (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda)
Race result: 5th Championship position: 8th
"I was losing a lot in the corner speed because I could not get the same performance as the other guys, so I had to push so much on the brakes that sometimes I had to take a different line to try to stay fast. It was hot today and I think everybody had the same problems with the grip and the mission became staying on the bike without crashing. In the race I got some big warnings from the front and the rear, so I tried to keep going. We finished far from the front, but fifth is OK."

Gino Rea (Step Racing Honda)
Race result: 12th Championship position: 11th
"For this round only we had to turn all the electronics off on the grid for the start, but as I got off the start I had to go round another rider and forgot to push the button to turn the traction control back on, so when I opened the throttle it just flicked me out of the seat, but luckily I stayed on. It is frustrating because although we qualified average we knew our race pace would be all right. I apologised to Broc Parkes who ran into me, but it was not a case of me being too erratic on the first lap, I just forgot to switch the right engine map back on."

Miguel Praia (Parkalgar Honda)
Race result: 8th Championship position: 13th
"We had an electronic problems in warm up and made no laps and that made starting with the right pace very difficult. After the first five or six laps my pace was good and was then the performance was stable all the way through. I went for a different choice of front tyre and I had not used it all weekend. I recovered as many places as I could, but eighth was it."

Robbin Harms (Harms Benjan Honda)
Race result: DNF Championship position: 12th
"This morning we finally got everything working and I felt very confident for the race. In the race I made up some positions and I was working my way to the top ten. After one lap I had a very strange feeling in the front and I lost all grip. I tried to continue, but almost crashing made me enter pit-lane. A flat front tyre was the problem."


RESULTS

SUPERSPORT
RACE : (Laps 20 = 91,840 Km)
POS / RIDER / NAT. / TEAM / MOTORCYCLE / GAP
1 / C. DAVIES / GBR / Yamaha ParkinGO Team / Yamaha YZF R6 / 35'31.062
2 / D. SALOM / ESP / Kawasaki Motocard.com / Kawasaki ZX-6R / 1.253
3 / J. ELLISON / GBR / Bogdanka PTR Honda / Honda CBR600RR / 1.415
4 / L. SCASSA / ITA / Yamaha ParkinGO Team / Yamaha YZF R6 / 5.522
5 / F. MARINO / FRA / Hannspree Ten Kate Honda / Honda CBR600RR / 21.658
6 / R. TAMBURINI / ITA / Bike Service R.T. / Yamaha YZF R6 / 24.49
7 / M. ROCCOLI / ITA / Lorenzini by Leoni / Kawasaki ZX-6R / 25.506
8 / M. PRAIA / POR / Parkalgar Honda / Honda CBR600RR / 32.271
9 / V. LEONOV / RUS / Yakhnich Motorsport / Yamaha YZF R6 / 32.66
10 / B. NEMETH / HUN / Team Hungary Toth / Honda CBR600RR / 32.68
11 / V. IANNUZZO / ITA / Lorenzini by Leoni / Kawasaki ZX-6R / 34.732
12 / F. FORET / FRA / Hannspree Ten Kate Honda / Honda CBR600RR / 35.109
13 / A. LUNDH / SWE / Cresto Guide Racing Team / Honda CBR600RR / 51.652
14 / G. REA / GBR / Step Racing Team / Honda CBR600RR / 54.002
15 / P. SZKOPEK / POL / Bogdanka PTR Honda / Honda CBR600RR / 54.4

Fastest Lap: 3 James Ellison 1'45.638 156,489 Km/h
Lap Record: 2010 M. Pirro 1'45.180 157,170 Km/h
Best Lap: 2010 K. Sofuoglu 1'44.683 157,920 Km/h

FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS:
1 DAVIES 206, 2 SALOM 156, 3 FORET 148, 4 PARKES 136, 5 SCASSA 134,
6 LOWES 129, 7 ELLISON 99, 8 MARINO 89, 9 TAMBURINI 80, 10 ROCCOLI 71,
11 REA 69, 12 HARMS 59, 13 PRAIA 51, 14 IANNUZZO 44, 15 NEMETH 42

FINAL MANUFACTURERS POSITIONS:
1 YAMAHA 251, 2 HONDA 230, 3 KAWASAKI 197, 4 TRIUMPH 36.



SUPERBIKE
RACE1 : (Laps 22 = 101,024 Km)
POS / RIDER / NAT. / TEAM / MOTORCYCLE / GAP
1 / C. CHECA / ESP / Althea Racing / Ducati 1098R / 38'13.293
2 / S. GUINTOLI / FRA / Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing / Ducati 1098R / 2.86
3 / J. REA / GBR / Castrol Honda / Honda CBR1000RR / 8.481
4 / M. BIAGGI / ITA / Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / 11.963
5 / J. LASCORZ / ESP / Kawasaki Racing Team / Kawasaki ZX-10R / 13.333
6 / M. MELANDRI / ITA / Yamaha World Superbike Team / Yamaha YZF R1 / 18.96
7 / M. BERGER / FRA / Supersonic Racing Team / Ducati 1098R / 20.489
8 / T. SYKES / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike / Kawasaki ZX-10R / 25.32
9 / L. HASLAM / GBR / BMW Motorrad Motorsport / BMW S1000 RR / 26.695
10 / J. SMRZ / CZE / Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing / Ducati 1098R / 26.801
11 / M. FABRIZIO / ITA / Team Suzuki Alstare / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / 27.115
12 / L. CAMIER / GBR / Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / 28.563
13 / A. BADOVINI / ITA / BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team / BMW S1000 RR / 31.765
14 / T. CORSER / AUS / BMW Motorrad Motorsport / BMW S1000 RR / 31.822
15 / N. HAGA / JPN / PATA Racing Team Aprilia / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / 31.866

Fastest Lap: 3 Sylvain Guintoli 1'43.453 159,794 Km/h
Lap Record: 2010 M. Biaggi 1'42.774 160,850 Km/h
Best Lap: 2011 J. Rea 1'41.712 162,530 Km/h


RACE2: (Laps 22 = 101,024 Km)
POS / RIDER / NAT. / TEAM / MOTORCYCLE / GAP
1 / M. MELANDRI / ITA / Yamaha World Superbike Team / Yamaha YZF R1 / 38'11.326
2 / E. LAVERTY / IRL / Yamaha World Superbike Team / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1.075
3 / J. REA / GBR / Castrol Honda / Honda CBR1000RR / 1.363
4 / C. CHECA / ESP / Althea Racing / Ducati 1098R / 2.648
5 / S. GUINTOLI / FRA / Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing / Ducati 1098R / 3.355
6 / L. CAMIER / GBR / Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / 4.709
7 / M. BIAGGI / ITA / Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / 6.514
8 / J. LASCORZ / ESP / Kawasaki Racing Team / Kawasaki ZX-10R / 14.441
9 / A. BADOVINI / ITA / BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team / BMW S1000 RR / 19.128
10 / M. BERGER / FRA / Supersonic Racing Team / Ducati 1098R / 25.527
11 / N. HAGA / JPN / PATA Racing Team Aprilia / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / 26.4
12 / D. GIUGLIANO / ITA / Althea Racing / Ducati 1098R / 26.646
13 / J. SMRZ / CZE / Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing / Ducati 1098R / 26.963
14 / M. FABRIZIO / ITA / Team Suzuki Alstare / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / 30.209
15 / L. HASLAM / GBR / BMW Motorrad Motorsport / BMW S1000 RR / 30.951

Fastest Lap: 2 Joan Lascorz 1'43.553 159,640 Km/h
Lap Record: 2010 M. Biaggi 1'42.774 160,850 Km/h
Best Lap: 2011 J. Rea 1'41.712 162,530 Km/h

FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS:
1 CHECA 505, 2 MELANDRI 395, 3 BIAGGI 303, 4 LAVERTY 303, 5 HASLAM 224,
6 GUINTOLI 210, 7 CAMIER 208, 8 HAGA 176, 9 REA 170, 10 BADOVINI 165,
11 LASCORZ 161, 12 FABRIZIO 152, 13 SYKES 141, 14 SMRZ 127, 15 CORSER 87.

FINAL CONSTRUCTORS POSITIONS:
1 DUCATI 529, 2 YAMAHA 450, 3 APRILIA 422, 4 BMW 275, 5 KAWASAKI 228,
6 HONDA 194, 7 SUZUKI 169.

Source: Honda Pro Image

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