BMW MOTORRAD ITALIA GOLDBET SBK TEAM - MOTORLAND ARAGON - RACE

The lights went out to signal go at Alcañiz's MotorLand Aragón for the eighth World Superbike round Sunday races. Ayrton Badovini finished race one in the gravel after fighting to the last lap for a third position finish, while Michel Fabrizio finished sixth after an outstanding recovery. The two BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet Superbike Team riders finished race two in ninth and eleventh places respectively. Lorenzo Baroni took a third podium step finish in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup race, scoring his second consecutive top-three finish this season so far. Sylvain Barrier could not complete the race due to a crash and consequent retirement three laps later.

Race one saw Ayrton Badovini display an amazing on-track performance, that unfortunately led to a DNF due to a crash on the last lap - turn four - after an overtaking attempt on Tom Sykes for a third position finish. Michel Fabrizio made a fantastic recovery following a run off track caused by Jakub Smrz's crash. After crossing the line at the end of the first lap at the very bottom of the classification, Michel finished in sixth place.

Ayrton and Michel both had an uphill struggle when neither made a good start to race two and fell to tenth and fourteenth positions by the end of lap one. After a hard fought race Badovini and Fabrizio finished ninth and eleventh.

Lorenzo Baroni  took a third place - his second podium finish in a row in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup race, while Sylvain Barrier , after a crashing on the third lap at turn 16, the tight hairpin placed at the end of the 1km long downhill straight, was forced into early retirement. The French rider, despite the DNF, is still at the top of the standings with 75 points, now with only a single point advantage on the runner-up. Lorenzo Baroni moved up to fourth place and now is only 19 points adrift from his team-mate.

Serafino Foti, BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet Superbike Team Sporting Director, said:

"It's been a strange weekend. We had a bike battling for a podium finish in race one and that is a positive thing. It can happen though, that an attempt to overtake can turn into the last thing you wanted to see, but that's racing. Michel ran wide at the first turn of the race but he was able to recover up to the sixth place. The Race 2 start didn't put us in a good position. Ayrton climbed up to ninth place despite some chatter at the front. Michel unfortunately had a lack of grip due to the slight temperature decrease and couldn't do better than an eleventh place. Overall we're positive because we proved the team and the bike can be competitive. The negative side is that we didn't get what we expected."

"I'm totally unhappy about Sylvain's Superstock 1000 race and wasting his points advantage with a crash that could have been avoided. Unfortunately it did happen and now we need to move forward and to try to get it back at the next round at Brno. Lorenzo's race was good as he got a third place and is now only 19 points from the top of the standings."

Michel Fabrizio #84 - Race 1 6th - Race 2 11th: "It was an unlucky day. Race one was compromised by Srmz's crash, although I was able to make a good recovery. It's a shame because my pace was good, while in race two I got a bad start and that ruined my plans."

Ayrton Badovini #86 - Race 1 RET - Race 2 9th: "I am still happy about the weekend, despite the results and the wasted opportunity. We were always fast. In race one we could have done well while in the second race I crossed the finish line with only a ten second gap from the winner even with some small issues. That shows how big a step forward we have made. I want to apologise to Sykes as it was not my intention to put him in a dangerous position. At the same time I want to thank the team because they rebuilt the bike in just one hour. They're formidable."

Race 1 1- Max Biaggi (Aprilia) 39’51.188 2- Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) + 0.278 3- Carlos Checa (Ducati) + 9.462 6- Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team) + 27.597 7- Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport)+ 29.032  RET - Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team)

Race 2 1- Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport)  39’59.200 2- Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) + 0.042 3- Chaz Davies (Aprilia) + 0.446 6- Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport + 7.491 9- Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team) + 10.828 11- Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team) + 21.955

Superstock 1000 Race: 1- Bryan Staring (Kawasaki) 24’28.928 2- Jeremy Guarnoni (Kawasaki) + 8.073 3- Lorenzo Baroni (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team) + 11.320 4- Eddi La Marra (Ducati) + 14.630 RET - Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team)