WSBK preview: Misano

The 2012 World Superbike title resumes at Misano this weekend after a last-start trip to America, with just 30 points separating the top five riders in one of the tightest championship battles on record.

The Misano Adriatico layout – which has recently been renamed Marco Simoncelli Circuit in honour of the late MotoGP star – is always an acid test for riders, with sweltering weather conditions a massive test of staying power.

But with temperatures expected to be mild for this year’s round – albeit humid -- all the signs point towards another cracking round of a season which has already saluted six separate winners – equal to the total amount in 2011.

Aprilia’s Max Biaggi will defend an 18-point lead at Misano, with red-hot Marco Melandri (BMW) and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) equal second. Jonathan Rea (Honda) and Carlos Checa (Ducati) complete the top five.

Checa has the most wins on the board in 2012 – four – but three DNFs have also been damaging, while at the other end of the spectrum Biaggi has been the only front-runner to finish all 11 races in what has been a solid, if unspectacular campaign.

But that could all change at the 4.226km Misano, as Biaggi always rises to the occasion on the San Marino circuit irrespective of how he’s faring the championship, while his fellow Italian Melandri is delighted to be heading home after his recent breakout form on the factory BMW.

“It is the first time I will arrive in Italy after having won a race with BMW, so I expect many fans to turn out,” said Melandri. “I am definitely proud to come to Misano after what we have achieved in the last two rounds.

“At the last three rounds, we had three completely different types of tracks and our RR worked well on all of them. Misano is another different track, so it is going to be interesting to see how competitive we can be there.

“Misano has many stop and go corners. As such, it is going to be much more important to have a good position on the starting grid than it was in Salt Lake City.”

Misano also holds particularly warm memories for Rea, who took the first of his 10 World Superbike victories there in 2009. However, his last two visits have not been so kind and the 25-year-old from Northern Ireland suffered a serious wrist injury during warm-up last season, which put him out of action for three months.

“The last few races have been pretty good really, so we’re hoping to be able to take that positive momentum forward into the Misano round this weekend,” said Rea. “The The last couple of visits to Misano have not been good, but I don’t want to be dwelling in the past because we’ve got the bike working really well now – as we’ve shown at Donington and Miller, where it wasn’t so good before.

“I love going to Misano, and it’s also the last chance this season to meet the passionate Italian fans, and that’s always a special treat.”

Leon Haslam (BMW) and Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) are also potential race winners – Haslam was close to breaking through at Donington two rounds ago – while Ducati privateers Sylvain Guintoli and Davide Giugliano will be keeping the factory riders honest.

Guintoli is already a race winner this year, and Giugliano has impressed as a rookie teammate to Checa.

WORLD SUPERSPORT
Australia’s Broc Parkes (Honda) has to start working his way out of a lean season at Misano if he is to remain in World Supersport contention.

The Newcastle rider is on 42 points after five of 13 rounds, 39 behind Turley’s Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki), with Sam Lowes (Honda), Jules Cluzel (Honda) and Fabien Foret (Kawasaki) in positions 2-4.

But Misano couldn’t have come at a better time, as Parkes won at the circuit last year, defeating Foret and Lowes in a thriller.

Melbourne’s Jed Metcher (Yamaha) is the second Aussie World Supersport rider and currently 15th in the standings.

Live coverage on SPEED starts from 7.30pm on June 10.

CURRENT WORLD SUPERBIKE STANDINGS (AFTER SIX OF 14 ROUNDS):
1 Max Biaggi, Italy, Aprilia 160.5
2= Marco Melandri Italy, BMW 142.5
2= Tom Sykes, Great Britain, Kawasaki 142.5
4 Jonathan Rea, Great Britain 141
5 Carlos Checa, Spain, Ducati 130.5
6 Leon Haslam, Great Britain, BMW 103
7 Sylvain Guintoli, France, Ducati 95
8 Eugene Laverty, Great Britain, Aprilia 86
9 Davide Giugliano, Italy, Ducati 64
10 Jakub Smrz, Czech Republic, Ducati 61.5