For the beginning of the second half season, the Superbike World Championship riders will use the Santa Monica racetrack in the reversed direction. This kind of situation, which does not happen very often in motorsports, makes it complicated, as the riders have to adapt to it and also find the proper new set up. And a new surface makes even harder!

To prepare the « Gran Premio di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini » that will take place on September 2nd; it has been decided to reverse the direction. Many spectators are expected for this GP as Valentino Rossi’s hometown, Tavullia, is only a few miles away from the circuit.

Not many racetracks have been used in the past with reversed direction. One of them is Pocono in the United States that is used counter clockwise for the NASCAR races and clockwise for the WKA (World Karting Association) Enduro series. Another one is Montlhery near Paris, France, “turning right” for the races and left for the manufacturers and press tests.

Lausitz tests:

Last week, Shinichi Nakatomi tested at the German venue. His times were the same as during the race last year, which shows some progress because he could use the right tyres last year.

Martial Garcia (team manager): “Nakatomi’s foot is hurting less, which helped us to fine tune the suspension and the fuel injection. For the Misano race, things are hard to predict as the track is reversed. I hope Nakatomi will do as well as he did last year when he was 13th in Superpole, even if this year he could not do any testing there yet”.

Misano May 15 and 16 tests:

Troy Bayliss (Ducati) 1’35”3, Troy Corser (Yamaha) 1’35”6, Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) 1’35”9, Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) 1’36”6, Ruben Xaus (Ducati) 1’36”8, Fonsi Nieto (Kawasaki) 1’36”9, Regis Laconi (Kawasaki) 1’37”1, Michel Fabrizio (Honda) 1’38”2, Marco Borciani (Ducati) 1’39”0, Mauro Sanchini (Kawasaki) 1’39”0

The Santa Monica circuit:

Designed in 1969, Misano was opened in 1972. The circuit’s length was 3488 meters at the time. In 1993, it was increased to 4060 meters (2.52 miles) while track width was increased to 12 meters so that Misano could be homologated by the FIM. In 1997, the circuit infrastructures were revamped to boost its international status and appeal. Misano’s excellent location (the track is 4kms away from Riccione, 15 from Rimini and 130 from Bologna) means that both Grand Prix and World Superbike events have been held there and it is often used as a test track.

World Championship standings:

1-Toseland (Honda) 237 points, 2-Haga (Yamaha) 214, 3-Biaggi (Suzuki) 201, 4-Bayliss (Ducati) 189, 5-Corser (Yamaha) 151…17-Nakatomi (Yamaha) 22