World superbike preview: Sepang

The Superbike World Championship heads to the Sepang circuit in Malaysia for the first time this weekend (June 7-8) for round six proceedings.

The sweeping 5.548km layout, located 50km south of Kuala Lumpur, is one that championship leader Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) hasn’t raced at before -- but the 28-year-old Brit has always done well at new circuits on the calendar, including Moscow and Istanbul over the past two seasons.

And Sykes, who is coming off a majestic clean sweep in the last round at Donington – her maintains the race one win was the best of his career -- did complete a test session at Sepang in 2011, while Jonathan Rea (Honda) has the same status as his arch-rival, having tested there in 2010.

Rea currently sits second in the standings, is tied in points with Frenchman Baz (Kawasaki).

The Aprilia Racing Team pairing of Sylvain Guintoli and Marco Melandri has vast experience at Sepang at the grand prix level, and the two long straights may well suit the RSV4 Factory machines. Guintoli is still well positioned in the title race in fourth position, while Melandri desperately needs a good performance after another difficult round at Donington. Melandri stood on the podium at Sepang in 2007, as he crossed the line in second place in the MotoGP race behind winner Australia’s Casey Stoner.

Despite being a new circuit for the eni FIM Superbike World Championship, many other riders have knowledge of the Sepang track: Chaz Davies (Ducati), Leon Haslam (Honda), Eugene Laverty (Suzuki), Toni Elias (Aprilia) and Claudio Corti (MV Agusta).

Aussie Bryan Staring, who is set to make his world superbike debut at Sepang with Iron Brain Grillini Kawasaki after aborting the first attempt a Donington with injury, is the only EVO class entrant to have contested a race in Malaysia before. The battle for best in the new category is going to be as open as ever, with David Salom (Kawasaki), Niccolò Canepa (Ducati), Leon Camier (BMW) the main protagonists. The Bimotas of Ayrton Badovini and Christian Iddon are also extremely competitive, but are not yet able to score points until they meet homologation requirements.

In world supersport, of the top 10 riders in the title race, six of them have already raced at Sepang in the past, with the most successful on the Malaysian track being Roberto Rolfo (Kawasaki). The experienced Italian rider, currently ninth in the standings, was third in the 250cc Grand Prix race in both 2001 and 2002, while in 2010 he stood atop the Moto2 podium.

Unlike his teammate Lorenzo Zanetti, the current points leader Michael van der Mark (Honda) will have to learn the track during the racing weekend, likewise his closest rival in the standings Florian Marino (Kawasaki) and fourth-placed man Kev Coghlan (Yamaha).

Van der Mark has to look out for the likes of Jules Cluzel (MVAgusta) and Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki), both eager to do well on a track they have knowledge of from the past. The Frenchman’s points situation is much more encouraging than the Turk’s as Cluzel lies at the moment in third place, 28 points shy of the leader, while Sofuoglu sits in seventh with a significant 52-point gap from the top.