Marco Melandri’s double victory at Brno at the weekend sees the Italian rider more than halve Max Biaggi’s lead in the World Superbike Championship standings, while BMW head up the manufacturers’ reckoning for the first time.

An emotional Melandri has lauded his double World Superbike Championship victory at Brno as ‘unbelievable’ as he slashed Biaggi’s series lead and helped lift BMW to the top of the manufacturers’ standings for the first time.

The Italian was in superb form during both races as he bided his time to strike in the crucial final stages, Melandri winning both races despite only leading three laps over the course of the whole day.

Battling the tricky track conditions of the first race, Melandri steadily worked his way up from a low of eighth, moving from sixth to first in consecutive laps to notch up the first of his two successes.

“Race one was already amazing. At the beginning the conditions were very difficult as it was wet. As we were riding with slicks we just tried not to lose too many positions, but in the first few laps I struggled a lot.

“While I was trying to improve my position I made two mistakes because I still was not feeling comfortable. When I saw I was eighth I said to myself I needed to be quiet and keep my rhythm to catch the front guys. It was not easy to overtake them, but when I took the lead with one lap to go I knew I just needed to keep pushing as much as I could. I knew I was faster than the others.”

Melandri was made to work harder for his victory in race two as he became embroiled in a race-long tussle with Tom Sykes, but a pass on the final lap would be enough to secure his and BMW’s first-ever double triumph.

“Race two was even more difficult, as Tom was having a great race and I had to spend a lot of energy trying to catch him. The tyre was working very well today, and I was able to keep the gap very small. Every time I tried to pass Tom he was braking so hard that it was nearly impossible.

“Once I finally passed him, I made a mistake and Tom passed me back. It was really tough to catch him again. Actually I did not expect to win, but doing that here twice today is just amazing.

Slashing Biaggi’s lead from 48 points to 21 points with five rounds remaining, Melandri was thrilled to have already taken five wins this season – more than any other rider.

Coming in the week that BMW announced it is moving its factory operation to the satellite BMW Italia team in 2013, the German manufacturer is also now leading the manufacturers’ standings for the first time since it made its WSBK debut in 2009.

“I am living my dream today. Securing my first double victory here in Brno on this race track is something special for me. I am so happy because I already have five victories this season and nobody expected that.

“Seeing BMW leading the manufacturers’ championship is unbelievable and it makes me proud. I was also able to close the gap to Max in the riders’ championship. But the season is still long, and we plan race by race.

“I want to thank everybody at BMW Motorrad and in the race team who work so hard every day and put so much effort in the project. It was so unbelievable and emotional to see them smiling and happy. Now I just want to celebrate this result.”

 

Results from Brno:

Race one:

1. Marco Melandri ITA BMW Motorrad S1000RR 41m 59.808s
2. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +1.360s
3. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +1.948s
4. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R +2.494s
5. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +3.832s
6. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +7.139s
7. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR +11.293s
8. Michel Fabrizio ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR +11.945s
9. Maxime Berger FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +18.988s
10. Jakub Smrz CZE Liberty Effenbert Ducati 1098R +19.117s
11. Chaz Davies GBR ParkinGO MTC Aprilia RSV-4 +22.938s
12. Alex Polita ITA Red Devils Ducati 1098R +1m 05.646s
13. Norino Brignola ITA Grillini Progea BMW S1000RR +1m 05.733s
14. Leon Camier GBR Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1m 08.248s
15. John Hopkins USA Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1m 12.120s

16. Lorenzo Zanetti ITA PATA Ducati 1098R +1m 13.057s
17. Viktor Kispataki HUN Prop-tech Honda CBR1000RR +3 laps
18. David Salom ESP Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +3 laps

Not Classified

19. Jonathan Rea GBR Honda WSBK CBR1000RR 18 laps completed
20. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Honda WSBK CBR1000RR 10 laps completed
22. Leandro Mercado ARG Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 10 laps completed
22. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Ducati 1098R 4 laps completed
23. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR 0 laps completed

Fastest lap
Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R 2m 00.741s

 

Race two:

1. Marco Melandri ITA BMW Motorrad S1000RR 40m 12.837s
2. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +0.140s
3. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R +6.801s
4. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +9.840s
5. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +11.775s
6. Chaz Davies GBR ParkinGO MTC Aprilia RSV-4 +11.950s
7. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR +12.547s
8. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +13.088s
9. Leon Camier GBR Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 +18.141s
10. Michel Fabrizio ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR +25.332s
11. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Ducati 1098R +28.458s
12. Jonathan Rea GBR Honda WSBK CBR1000RR +29.254s
13. Jakub Smrz CZE Liberty Effenbert Ducati 1098R +29.513s
14. John Hopkins USA Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 +34.875s
15. Maxime Berger FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +41.861s

16. Lorenzo Zanetti ITA PATA Ducati 1098R +42.139s
13. Norino Brignola ITA Grillini Progea BMW S1000RR +1m 15.743s
17. Viktor Kispataki HUN Prop-tech Honda CBR1000RR +1m 41.325s

Not Classified

19. Alex Polita ITA Red Devils Ducati 1098R 10 laps completed
20. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR 9 laps completed
21. David Salom ESP Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 7 laps completed
22. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Honda WSBK CBR1000RR 4 laps completed

DNS Leandro Mercado ARG Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R

 

Championships standings (after nine of 14 rounds):

1       Max Biaggi Aprilia Racing 272

2       Marco Melandri    BMW Motorrad 251

3       Tom Sykes Kawasaki Racing 213

4       Carlos Checa       Althea Ducati 205

5       Jonathan Rea      Honda WSBK 187

6       Leon Haslam       BMW Motorrad 160

7       Eugene Laverty   Aprilia Racing 148

8       Sylvain Guintoli   Effenbert Liberty Ducati 110

9       Davide Giugliano Althea Ducati 99

10     Chaz Davies        ParkinGO MTC Aprilia 93

11     Michel Fabrizio    BMW Italia GoldBet 87

12     Jakub Smrz Liberty Effenbert Ducati 85

13     Leon Camier        FIXI Crescent Suzuki 66

14     Ayrton Badovini   BMW Italia GoldBet 57

15     Maxime Berger    Effenbert Liberty Ducati 57

16     Loris Baz    Kawasaki Racing 43

17     Hiroshi Aoyama   Honda WSBK 38

18     Niccolò Canepa    Red Devils Roma Ducati 33

19     Lorenzo Zanetti   PATA Ducati 30

20     Joan Lascorz       Kawasaki Racing 17

21     John Hopkins       FIXI Crescent Suzuki 14

22     David Salom        Pedercini Kawasaki 9

=      Leandro Mercado Pedercini Kawasaki 9

24     Peter Hickman     FIXI Crescent Suzuki 7

=      Matteo Baiocco    Barni Ducati 7

26     Bryan Staring      Pedercini Kawasaki 6

27     Alex Polita  Red Devils Roma Ducati 4

28     Norino Brignola   Grillini Progea BMW 3

=      Mark Aitchison    Grillini Progea BMW 3

30     Joshua Brookes   Crescent Fixi Suzuki 1

Photo courtesy BMW