It was a fantastic weekend for the Nolangroup. Jorge Lorenzo wins at Misano (X-lite X-802), unexpectedly beating Casey Stoner (Nolan X-802), who took pole position and then finished third.
At Nurburgring, Carlos Checa (X-lite X-802) took the Super Pole and won Race 1 ahead of an unbridled and in great shape Marco Melandri (Nolan X-802). In Race 2, in very wet conditions, our two flag bearers led a stylish race, brilliantly supported by their X-802’s; their aim was to emerge unscathed from difficult and dangerous track conditions. They brought home a 6th (Melandri) and 8th place (Checa) – 7th Badovini (X-lite X-802).
JORGE LORENZO
"Today has been an incredible day for us. I have delivered a good race; it was a very tough and long one. Most importantly we have won again and also reduced a little bit, our gap to Casey. I want to dedicate this victory to Wayne who returned to Misano this weekend and I want to say thanks to all my team for their hard work. Now we have two weeks before Aragon, I hope to continue in this shape in my country. Tomorrow we will try the 1000cc Yamaha again; I am looking forward to riding my future bike. This has been one of the best days of my career!"
CASEY STONER
“At the beginning of the race I was cautious as there were a few spots of rain. Once this cleared up I was pretty comfortable behind Jorge, I didn’t feel the need to push and then the tiredness suddenly hit me. It was hard to find the braking points and change direction on the bike, there was nothing wrong with the tyres, nothing wrong with the bike, the team did a great job and gave me a fantastic package. I’m just worn out. After the past few races I’ve had to put in a lot more effort in Laguna and Brno, riding a lot harder than I normally would. This together with the neck injury from Assen, which I’ve been struggling to recover from due to lack of training from the hectic race calendar, has finally caught up with me. For the second half of the race I was just too tired, simple as that. I’m very grateful to have finished on the podium. All credit to Jorge, he had a fantastic race, hopefully by Aragon I’ll be fully fit and recovered.”
The ranking sees Casey Stoner still leading the Championship with 35 points ahead of Jorge Lorenzo.
Next Round is September 18th at Aragon.
CARLOS CHECA
“Today’s first race was very special for me, and signifies my first ever SBK win at the Nürburgring. I would like to dedicate this result to Claudio Castiglioni, he was an extremely important figure in the motorcycling world and it is also in part thanks to him that we are here racing these bikes today. The race 1 result was very important in terms of the championship. I knew that it was important to increase the gap between me and Noriyuki in the first half of the race and this small advantage proved useful in the final stages when I began to suffer from a lack of grip. Race 2 on the other hand was one of the hardest races I’ve ever run. We were obliged to try to finish it of course but I was really suffering due to the sheer quantity of water and track conditions, and couldn’t even see as far as the next corner! I’m sorry for those who took risks and I’m also sorry that Biaggi was not racing with us today. I hope he gets better and that we’ll see him back at Imola. But for us it was a very positive day and I’m very happy with the outcome.”
MARCO MELANDRI
"Race 1 wasn’t easy so I’m very happy with my podium. I got off to a good start but I wasn’t so fast for the first few laps. I made a mistake and lost the front while braking and went wide so I lost a lot of time. I then caught Eugene and eventually Noriyuki but Carlos was too far ahead. I have to thank my team, they worked hard again and did a great job all weekend! In race 2 I tried to keep going and finish without crashing. I had an issue with the electronics on the bike and the display wasn’t working well so I was extra cautious in order to stay up. I feel it was an incorrect judgment of the rider’s safety to complete two thirds of the race in these conditions. I am very disappointed, in my opinion the race should have been stopped at the beginning for safety reasons."
Carlos Checa maintains his lead in the overall standings with 74 points ahead of Marco Melandri, who stands second.
Next round is September 25th at Imola.
