World Superbike
The Bel-Ray sponsored Althea Ducati team comes to the historic Nurburgring race track in Nurburg, Germany, for the twelfth round of the 2012 World Championship series. With only fourteen rounds in the series, this event will help set the stage for the final two races that will close out the championship. 2011 champion Carlos Checa has suffered from unfortunate incidents this season and finds himself fourth place in the series, seventy-five points behind the championship leader. Strong results in the remaining races will help him close that gap as he hopes to finish on the podium in the championship results. Teammate Davide Giugliano has performed well in his rookie season in the World Superbike class and is currently tenth-place in the series points standings. Both racers have won at the German track in the past, a result they hope to repeat this weekend.
Checa spoke about his previous results in Moscow and his optimism for a good race this weekend. “Unfortunately Moscow didn’t exactly go to plan and now we need to make up for that at the Nurburgring. I feel prepared and ready for the challenge and hope that data from last year’s race will be able to he help us do equally well this year. We’ve seen a lot of wet weather this season and will probably have rain in Germany too – the important thing is to adapt to the weather and track conditions, and do our job at the highest possible level.”
Giugliano considers this track one of his favorites with fine memories, something he spoke about prior to this weekend’s event. “I’ve always liked the German track and have some good memories, particularly of last year when I won the Stock 1,000 race. During recent rounds we’ve worked really well during the practice sessions but then in the races I haven’t been able to put it all together and score the kind of results that I know I am capable of. So I hope that I can use everything I’ve learned until now to get back on the right path and take some solid results in this final phase of the championship, starting this Sunday.”
World Motocross
The 2012 FIM Motocross World Championship series comes to Faenza, Italy, for the penultimate round of the series. Bel-Ray backed Tommy Searle is still within mathematical contention for a championship but only victory this weekend will extend the series to the final round.
MX1
Bel-Ray backed CP377 Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit racers Christophe and Sebastien Pourcel come to Italy battered and bruised from previous competition. Sebastien was unable to compete at the previous round while Christophe was unable to finish the first moto and didn’t even start the second moto. This unfortunate result dropped him to fourth in the standings, sixteen points out of a podium position. With another week to heal their injuries both racers are looking for good races this weekend.
MX2
Coming into this weekend’s event Bel-Ray backed Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit racer Tommy Searle is sixty-five points behind the championship points leader in second place. He comes to Italy looking for victories in both motos with hopes of misfortune for the current leader in order to extend the championship chase one more round. He must score a minimum of sixteen points more than the points leader Jeffrey Herlings to keep his championship dreams alive.
AMA National Motocross
The 2012 AMA National Motocross series concludes this weekend at a new facility. The Lake Elsinore Motocross Park in Lake Elsinore, California, is prepped and ready to bring a close to this exciting season.
The WMX series will come down to the wire as the Bel-Ray sponsored Rockstar Energy Racing Suzuki racer Jessica Patterson comes to Lake Elsinore with a slim five-point lead. Patterson has been recovering from a broken hand suffered mid-season and has shown the strength and determination that brought her championships in the past by riding in pain to salvage points. She will need to finish in front of her championship rivals this weekend if she hopes to take the number-one plate back.
In the 250-class, Patterson’s Rockstar Energy Suzuki Racing Teammates Blake Wharton and Jason Anderson arrive at Lake Elsinore comfortably inside the top ten in the points standings. They have both scored consistent results all season and are hoping to finish strong and take that momentum into the off-season testing as they prepare for 2013. Both racers are returning to the team for another year in 2013 and they look to improve on their 2012 results. Also scheduled to race the 250-class in Lake Elsinore are Bel-Ray racers AJ Catanzaro and Chris Duymich.
In the 450-class, Bel-Ray sponsored Andrew Short of Chaparral Honda racing is third-place in the series' points standing. An unfortunate second-moto DNF last weekend in Pennsylvania closed the gap between Short and the fourth-place competitor. Avoiding the same fate again this weekend should score him a top finish and a podium in the championship standings. Joining Short in the 450-class are several Bel-Ray Elite racers including the Driven-to-Ride duo of Derek Anderson and Tucker Saye, and New Jersey’s Dakota Kessler.
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