2011 Nurburgring World Superbike Race 2 Result: Downpour Throws Up Unexpected Winner

Results of World Superbike race 2 at the Nurburgring:

Pos No. Rider Country Bike Diff
1 66 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki ZX-10R  
2 50 S. GUINTOLI FRA Ducati 1098R 4.063
3 96 J. SMRZ CZE Ducati 1098R 22.759
4 4 J. REA GBR Honda CBR1000RR 28.497
5 58 E. LAVERTY IRL Yamaha YZF R1 38.374
6 33 M. MELANDRI ITA Yamaha YZF R1 45.326
7 86 A. BADOVINI ITA BMW S1000 RR 47.030
8 7 C. CHECA ESP Ducati 1098R 50.032
9 91 L. HASLAM GBR BMW S1000 RR 53.586
10 121 M. BERGER FRA Ducati 1098R 55.261
11 17 J. LASCORZ ESP Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'12.805
12 11 T. CORSER AUS BMW S1000 RR 1'15.468
13 44 R. ROLFO ITA Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'40.323
RET 41 N. HAGA JPN Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1 Lap
RET 100 M. TAMADA JPN Honda CBR1000RR 1 Lap
RET 2 L. CAMIER GBR Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2 Laps
RET 8 M. AITCHISON AUS Kawasaki ZX-10R 3 Laps
RET 84 M. FABRIZIO ITA Suzuki GSX-R1000 8 Laps
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You've got to feel for the man. If I were him I'd want to do something nasty to race direction. What were they thinking? That was a rediculous race.

I really felt gutted for Nori because he really deserved the win, but he threw it away himself.
A few rounds before he crashed out the commentator said "why Haga is taking so many risks with a lead of 5.6 seconds is something only he himself knows".
When he crashed, he had extended his lead to over 10 seconds.
At first i thought he maybe couldn't see his pit-board, but there was a short period where conditions were better.
It was only a question of time when he would crash, and he gambled too high.
I was sitting in turn 4, and Nori did slide several times he came around that corner, whereas most other riders were much more careful.
Conditions were insane, the riders had to fight with sliding rear tires even on the straight after T4.
I agree that race direction should have stopped the race much earlier, although this wouldn't have helped Nori since the race results only count when at least two thirds are completed.
An earlier abortion would have meant a restart (but it still would have been the right decision IMO).
I'm just glad nobody got seriously hurt, i hope JT is ok and there is nothing with his wrist!
And i'm also glad for Sykes, great way to respond to the news that Kawasaki is sacking PBM and him.

Have you raced in the rain? It's not so simple to take it easy. Sometimes, the tyres only work when you push hard... so someone can appear to be defying the laws of physics because they suddenly have a burst of confidence and start pushing hard. Remember Rossi at Donnington a few years back? For example, pushing hard you can still trail brake in the rain. If you try to do it half-heartedly, bang, you're sliding on your backside.

It's also a matter of luck. Everything can seem fine, then you hit a slightly deeper puddle (which you couldn't see) and you are on the ground so fast you don't even get to think about saving it. To be safe from that sort of scenario, you have to slow down not by .5s, but more like 5s/lap.

It's why wet races are so spread out...

You have a lot of good points there. Maybe i was too harsh to Haga.
Maybe this was the only way he could get his Aprilia to work.
But from my layman's perspective, it seemed that he was taking significantly more risks than the other riders. As I said above, he had several moments alone in the corner Toseland later crashed out of.
There was a short period where conditions seemed to improve, after that i think it would have been better to take the 5s/lap penalty, since conditions were extremely bad:

But of course it's easy to talk smart from my position.
And no, while i ride regularly in the rain to work, i haven't raced at all. :)