Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) went second in the 2012 FIM Superbike World Championship points’ rankings today after he scored a second place finish in the second 24-lap race at the newly re-named Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

Max Biaggi (Aprilia) scored a double win, but the other main championship hopefuls ran into varying degrees of trouble, all of which which helped Rea move up to his best championship position of the year so far.

In the first 24-lap race of the afternoon Rea led for 16 laps as he went for the win, but as rear grip dropped down on his hard rear tyre he could not keep up his pace and he slipped down the order as the last few laps timed out. He was eventually fifth. Rea had qualified second on the grid.

In race two Rea was never lower than fourth and ended up second thanks to a great display of determination mixed with strong defence in the last few laps as he tried successfully to keep the following Leon Haslam (BMW) behind him. This was Jonathan’s fourth podium score of the year.

In the championship Biaggi is now 38.5 points ahead of Jonathan, 210.5 points to 172. Behind Jonathan, Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) has 164.5 and Marco Melandri (BMW) 155.5.

Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) just missed out on points in race one, finishing 16th after qualifying 20th. In the second race he scored good points for 12th and is 16th in the overall championship fight, with 34.5 points. The championship now has a two weekend break before action recommences at the lavishly appointed Motorland Aragon circuit in Spain, with race day falling on Sunday 1 July.

Cluzel Goes Second Overall as Lowes Suffers Misfortune

Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda) was second in qualifying at the sixth round of the 2012 FIM Supersport World Championship race in Misano and followed that up with a strong second place behind race winner Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) in the 22-lap race. His sequence of seconds was completed when he leapfrogged fellow Honda rider Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda) to move into second place in the championship fight.

Cluzel had been Sofuoglu’s shadow throughout the entire race and had a couple of tries at drawing alongside and passing in the final laps, before realising he was taking too many risks and had to settle for second.

Lowes had secured his fourth pole position of the year in qualifying before going on to find some technical issues affecting his race day performance. He eventually fell and restarted to finish 18th, scoring no points. Lowes is now third in the championship, with Sofuoglu on 106, Cluzel on 84 and Lowes on 76.

A messy start to the 22-lap race saw many riders make contact and some run wide, a factor which affected many of the top Honda riders’ final results.

Roberto Tamburini (Lorini Honda) qualified 11th, but finished a charging fourth, despite being caught up in the early melees. He is now seventh overall, one place behind Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Racing Products Honda). A front row qualifier, in fourth, Parkes was hoping for a strong Misano weekend but had to fight back from some early dramas and a slight lack of outright race-winning pace to go fifth in the race.

Raffaele de Rosa (Team Lorini Honda) was 11th after qualifying 14th at his home circuit on race day. Hungarian team-mates Balazs Nemeth and Imre Toth (Racing Team Toth Honda) were 12th and 13th respectively. The last Honda rider in the points was new PRORACE team rider, Gabor Talmacsi, who was 21st on the grid, but 15th in the race. Martin Jessopp (Riders PTR Honda) fought off the pain of a recently broken left collarbone to finish 19th, one place behind Lowes.

Ronan Quarmby (PTR Honda) fell while moving back up the field after being pushed wide on lap one, losing the front on the entry to the Quercia corner on lap seven. Valentine Debise (SMS Racing Honda) entered the pits while Mathew Scholtz (Bogdanka PTR Honda) crashed out after contact with another rider.

Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team):
Race result: 5th / 2nd - Championship position: 2nd

“The bike was very good in race one and race two. In race one things were really good until the tyre went off. We did not do enough laps on the bigger profile rear tyre to use it for the race, so in race two we stayed with the 190 profile rear and used the soft option, the ‘A’. I am quite happy that in the hot conditions, in the summer, our bike can use an A tyre. I got stuck behind Tom to start in race two and also Davide Giugliano was being quite aggressive on circuit so I got a bit out of my rhythm, but stayed calm, regrouped and made a nice pass on Tom. I had to ride a clean race because Leon Haslam was ‘+0’ on my pit board all the time, so it was good to take a podium and finish second. I do not look at the championship position right now; we are just trying to go round-by-round. My guys are working calmly in the pits so to come to a circuit where we struggled last year and do well means I am quite looking forward to Aragon, then to finish Aragon, to get married and then come back to the rest of the circuits where I am quite strong.”

Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team):
Race result: 16th / 12th - Championship position: 16th

“It’s been another difficult weekend for me. In race one we struggled a bit and I got stuck with some slower riders. When I got past the gap to the next group was too big and the tyre started to lose a lot of grip. In the second race it was difficult to feel the bike, maybe because of the higher temperature. It was a hard race but we got some points in the end. It was not so bad but position-wise I’m not so happy. I’ll try to think about what can do to make it better for the next race in Aragon and I will do my best there.”

Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda):
Race result: 2nd - Championship position: 2nd

“I tried to catch Kenan because it seemed possible but he was too fast in some places; I was faster in some other places. In the end I tried to take too many risks and I made two mistakes, which allowed him to stay in front. But I am really happy because this is my third time on the podium and I am second in the championship, which is good for me, the team and for the future. I hope to continue like this, but next time to be first!”

Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda):
Race result: 18th - Championship position: 3rd

“I had a good start and took the lead but I had to adjust my clutch straight away which wasn't easy. After five or six laps I got settled into a rhythm and started to make my way up to third position. After the crash I had to turn the electronics off because of a damaged sensor. The right foot peg was damaged and so was the brake lever so it was really difficult but I got back up and continued, bringing the bike home in the end.”

Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Racing Products Honda):
Race result: 5th - Championship position: 6th

“I got punted in the first corner and was down in about 13th. I was so far back that I had to try and ride through half the pack. Then one guy crashed with another in front of me so I had to go around the outside of him. By the time I got going it was too late. We are a struggling a little bit because we have not been 100% on the pace all weekend.”

Roberto Tamburini: (Lorini Honda)
Race Result: 4th - Championship Position: 7th

“My race was not so bad, taking fourth. My start was pretty good but another rider pulled across in front of me, so I had to close the gas. I had a few good passes to battle for the podium but I had to push very hard and in the end their tyres were used up a lot. I am happy the team made a good job and I want to go on in a good way.”

Ronan Quarmby (PTR Honda):
Race result: - DNF Championship position: 9th

“The whole reason whey I did not get the position at the start was that another rider decided to make a big move on everyone and rode into Parkes. Then Parkes ran wide and I had nowhere else to go except off the track. If that had never happened, I think I would have had a chance for a really good result because my pace was strong. It was a positive weekend before that so I do not want to dwell on the past.”

Imre Toth (Racing Team Toth Honda):
Race result: 13th - Championship position: 16th

“I made a good start but after eight or ten laps my front tyre was not very good so was having front slides. Finally, we brought home some points. I am not happy, but not so bad either in this race. I hope we can continue in a good way for Aragon.”

Martin Jessopp (Riders PTR Honda):
Race result: 19th - Championship position: 36th

“I am just happy to finish to be honest, after breaking my collarbone recently. I did not know if I could even ride this weekend so I said I would try for three laps of practice and see how it went. So to bring it home in the race; I was happy with that. I learned the track at least.”

Mathew Scholtz (Bogdanka PTR Honda):
Race result: DNF - Championship position: 33rd

“I was feeling good and fighting for a point scoring position when another rider ran a bit wide and as he got back on the racing line, he clipped my front wheel with his rear wheel and there was nothing I could do. It's not the end of the weekend we were expecting but we're moving on to Aragon which is a track that I know and I'm confident we can have a good weekend there.”

World Superbike and World Supersport 2012
Round 07: Misano – San Marino

Superbike Race 1

Rank	Rider (Team)
1	M. BIAGGI (Aprilia Racing Team)
2	C. CHECA (Althea Racing)
3	D. GIUGLIANO (Althea Racing)
4	T. SYKES (Kawasaki Racing Team)
5	J. REA (Honda World Superbike Team)
6	C. DAVIES (ParkinGO MTC Racing)
7	E. LAVERTY (Aprilia Racing Team)
8	S. GUINTOLI (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing)
9	J. SMRZ (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert)
10	L. CAMIER (FIXI Crescent Suzuki)
11	A. BADOVINI (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet)
12	L. HASLAM (BMW Motorrad Motorsport)
13	M. BERGER (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing)
14	M. FABRIZIO (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet)
15	M. BAIOCCO (Barni Racing Team Italia)

Superbike Race 2

Rank	Rider (Team)
1	M. BIAGGI (Aprilia Racing Team)
2	J. REA (Honda World Superbike Team)
3	L. HASLAM (BMW Motorrad Motorsport)
4	M. MELANDRI (BMW Motorrad Motorsport)
5	A. BADOVINI (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet)
6	M. FABRIZIO (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet)
7	T. SYKES (Kawasaki Racing Team)
8	L. BAZ (Kawasaki Racing Team)
9	J. SMRZ (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert)
10	M. BAIOCCO (Barni Racing Team Italia)
11	M. BERGER (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing)
12	H. AOYAMA (Honda World Superbike Team)
13	N. CANEPA (Red Devils Roma)
14	J. HOPKINS (FIXI Crescent Suzuki)
15	L. CAMIER (FIXI Crescent Suzuki)

Supersport

Rank	Rider (Team)
1	K. SOFUOGLU (Kawasaki DeltaFin Lorenzini)
2	J. CLUZEL (PTR Honda)
3	A. BALDOLINI (Power Team by Suriano)
4	R. TAMBURINI (Team Lorini)
5	B. PARKES (Ten Kate Racing Products)
6	S. MORAIS (Kawasaki DeltaFin Lorenzini)
7	J. METCHER (Rivamoto Junior Team)
8	F. FORET (Kawasaki Intermoto Step)
9	V. IANNUZZO (Power Team by Suriano)
10	A. ANTONELLI (Bike Service R.T.)
11	R. DE ROSA (Team Lorini)
12	B. NEMETH (Racing Team Toth)
13	I. TOTH (Racing Team Toth)
14	D. LOMBARDI (Team PATA by Martini)
15	G. TALMACSI (PRORACE)