FIM Superbike World Championship competitor Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) left the Nürburgring circuit in Germany with one fourth place race finish to his credit and fifth place overall in the championship fight.

Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) recorded a tenth place in race one and was the top Honda rider after Rea had fallen early in the race while pushing in the front group. Hiroshi also scored a point for 15th in race two. Hiroshi is 18th in the championship rankings, on 51.5 points.

Max Biaggi and Chaz Davies (both Aprilia) won the races in Germany, with Biaggi back in the overall lead on 318 points. Double faller in Germany Marco Melandri (BMW) has an unchanged 308.5 in second place and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) is on 291.5 in third. Carlos Checa is fourth overall on 247.5 points and Rea is just behind on 225.5.

In qualifying Rea was had been fifth on the grid after superpole while Aoyama had been 19th in qualifying. Track conditions were dry and warm all weekend, for one of the very few times in the 2012 season so far.

Rea looked set for two good results in Germany until he became one of many top riders to lose the front at this tricky 5.137Km circuit while negotiating turn six of lap three during the opening race. In race two Rea had to fight hard with Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) for the second weekend in succession, before dropping back to finish a couple of seconds from a podium finish.

The next race is at a modern classic of circuit design, Portimao in Portugal, on September 23.

Cluzel Fights All The Way For Podium Finish

Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda) was unable to convert his fifth pole position of the season into a race win, but came very close to it in his pursuit of eventual race winner Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) at the Nürburgring.

Cluzel was in the hunt for the victory in the 19-lap race, for the whole race distance, but only a couple of small errors late on, and the relentless push of Sofuoglu, stopped Jules from making a last lap passing attempt. Jules was only 0.541 seconds down at the flag and is still second in the championship itself. He trails Sofuoglu by 38 points with two rounds remaining and is now the only rider still capable of overhauling the Turkish rider before the season end. The final podium place went to Fabien Foret (Kawasaki) today.

Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Racing Products Honda) rode to a lonely fourth place after some fast early laps. He could not keep in contention with the leading group as the race timed out and rode on his own to score as many points as possible.

Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda) fell while fighting to stay in the podium positions. He had also fallen in warm-up this morning, but he restarted in the race to finish an eventual 13th, after Russian rider Vladimir Leonov (Yamaha) was disqualified from fifth, and all the riders behind him moved up one place. Lowes dropped to fourth in the points today, on 141.

Gabor Talmacsi (PRORACE Honda) was once more in the fight at the sharp end, trailing the leading group for some time at the beginning. He finished sixth; his best single result to date and is 13th in the rankings.

Ronan Quarmby (PTR Honda) was ninth, one up on his original finishing place, after a race spent fighting an imperfect set-up.

No other Honda riders scored points today, but single-race stand-in rider for the Bogdanka Honda PTR team, Miguel Praia, was close to it, in 16th place. Balazs Nemeth (Racing Team Toth Honda), Dino Lombardi (Team Lorini Honda), Martin Jessopp (Riders PTR Honda) and Imre Toth (Racing Team Toth Honda) finished in that order behind Praia.

Danilo Marrancone (Kuja Racing Honda) was 22nd, Luca Hansen (SMS Racing Honda) 23rd. Roberto Tamburini (Lorini Honda) and Mathew Scholtz (Bogdanka PTR Honda) both fell and no-scored today.

Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team):
Race result: DNF / 4th - Championship position: 5th

“It’s been frustrating again because we had top five pace for race one, but looking at the data, I made a mistake in the corner before the crash. I arrived at a slower speed, but I was carrying a bit more lean angle than on the previous lap. It was a strange crash, but it was a mistake. Race two was OK at the beginning and we were fortunate that two of the front guys crashed out, which gifted us a couple of positions. But we still need to work on the throttle connection and the rideability of the bike off the corner because chassis-wise we’re almost in the ballpark at every race. But getting off the corner, especially when the tyre drops, is our biggest problem and that affects our top speed. It’s been a positive weekend for my riding and the guys are working really hard in the box but, like the previous few rounds, we haven’t been able to convert it into two solid results, so that’s frustrating. Today wasn’t helped by the fact that I spent more time in the bathroom last night than in bed after picking up a stomach complaint, so I didn’t start the day in a good way. But I felt much stronger for race two.”

Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team):
Race result: 10th / 15th - Championship position: 18th

“In the first race we still had the same problem that we’ve had all season, which is out of the corner I cannot open the throttle as I want. The race was critical for the front, as well, and I didn’t have such a good feeling here. But maybe there was another problem because many riders crash on the front. It was difficult and we managed to finish the race in tenth. For race two, the conditions were different and the grip levels went down. I had a big problem out of the corners and I could not go faster than this morning. I struggled a bit, but this was my first race at the Nürburgring and we improved in every session. In the end, we could not reach our potential, but we have some data so I hope we can find some new solutions for the next race in Portugal, which will be another new track for me.”

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

“I am happy for second place in the championship and I was able to enjoy the race. I was able to pass Sofuoglu, but I did two mistakes in the last two laps and it was too much to try and make up to be in a position to pass him on the last corner. I had a great bike I just lost time in the first split, and then came back in the last sectors. I could have passed him, but I finished second, so obviously I am a little bit disappointed. The track was not easy, but very enjoyable. It was my first time here and it was possible to win the race.”

Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda):
Race result: 14th - Championship position: 4th

“All weekend we have been having a few little issues. Not big, but just missing that last little bit. For the race it was the best it had been all weekend. I had lots of problems in the rear, but not many on the front. I made on mistake and it costs me. It has been a difficult weekend for me and I hurt my arm when I fell this morning, but I felt I was in with a shout. I have two races to go, the next one at Portimao, which is a track I love, so I will be going there to ride hard.”

Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Racing Products Honda):
Race result: 4th - Championship position: 5th

“I was hoping to run with the front guys. I got a good start and went with them, but it was difficult to say up front and I was just missing something. I could not stay up front mostly in needing a little bit of punch out of corners. I dropped back and then it was just a lonely race. I pushed my limits to see what I could do but unfortunately we could not be at the front, which is where we want to be.”

Gabor Talmacsi (PRORACE Honda):
Race result: 6th - Championship position: 13th

“My best race result and our best weekend all round because we qualified on the second row in seventh and finished sixth, which was an excellent result for us. I am so happy because every time we have improved the bike and we still have two more rounds to go, so I am very confident.”

Ronan Quarmby (PTR Honda):
Race result: 9th - Championship position: 8th

“It was OK in the race, but we just never had the right set-up all weekend. We never got it done and we did not quite know which way to go. I was struggling for grip in the race and I could not turn the bike and not getting drive out of the corners so I though to myself that I just needed to get some points. I finished ninth and took some points and it all counts towards the championship total. I gained a few points and hopefully by the end I can get up to sixth position in the championship.”

Mathew Scholtz (Bogdanka PTR Honda):
Race result: DNF - Championship position: 24th

“What can I say? It seems that the bad luck keeps following us this season. Another rider tried to pass me and clipped my handlebar and that was it. Anyway, I'm already looking forward to Portimao and can't wait to see what the track is like there.”

Martin Jessopp (Riders PTR Honda):
Race result: 19th - Championship position: 39th

“Starting at the back I took the gamble of going round the outside and got past a few guys. It took me a couple of laps to get past the next rider, but the group in front had got away. I was matching their times and kept the same gap. It would have been nice to qualify better as I have the same pace as the lads in front and my end of race pace was good. We'll work on qualifying at Portimao.”

Miguel Praia (Bogdanka Honda PTR):
Race result: 16th - Championship Position: N/A

"It was a good, but hard race. I was fighting for a point, but in the end had to settle with 17th after a very hard battle right until the end. We've made progress all through the weekend and I'm happy with my World Supersport return. I'd like to say thank you to Bogdanka and Mike Piasecki. It was a pleasure to work together. The team worked very well and it's just a shame I wasn't able to say thanks with some points but we've all done our best and it was a good weekend."

World Superbike and World Supersport 2012
Round 12: Nürburgring – Germany

Superbike Race 1

Rank	Rider (Team)
1	M. BIAGGI (Aprilia Racing Team)
2	E. LAVERTY (Aprilia Racing Team)
3	C. DAVIES (ParkinGO MTC Racing)
4	T. SYKES (Kawasaki Racing Team)
5	L. CAMIER (FIXI Crescent Suzuki)
6	S. GUINTOLI (PATA Racing Team)
7	L. HASLAM (BMW Motorrad Motorsport)
8	L. ZANETTI (PATA Racing Team)
9	A. BADOVINI (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet)
10	H. AOYAMA (Honda World Superbike Team)
11	M. BERGER (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing)
12	C. CHECA (Althea Racing)
13	J. HOPKINS (FIXI Crescent Suzuki)
14	L. LANZI (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert)
15	B. MCCORMICK (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing)

Superbike Race 2

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

Supersport

Rank	Rider (Team)
1	K. SOFUOGLU (Kawasaki Lorenzini)
2	J. CLUZEL (PTR Honda)
3	F. FORET (Kawasaki Intermoto Step)
4	B. PARKES (Ten Kate Racing Products)
5	A. BALDOLINI (Power Team by Suriano)
6	G. TALMACSI (PRORACE)
7	G. TALMACSI (PRORACE)
8	D. LINORTNER (Gerin-Skm Racing Team)
9	R. QUARMBY (PTR Honda)
10	M. ROCCOLI (Team PATA by Martini)
11	R. LANUSSE (Kawasaki Intermoto Step)
12	F. MARINO (MSD R-N Racing Team India)
13	S. LOWES (Bogdanka PTR Honda)
14	A. ANTONELLI (Bike Service R.T.)
15	J. METCHER (Rivamoto Junior Team)