Monza, Italy – 12th of May

RACE 1

Aprilia-BMW match finished in a dead heat in the Monza racetrack: the two european brands won a race each, leaving the japanese empty-handed (Kawasaki was one of the favourite).

In race 1 Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) led the others, followed by Marco Melandri (BMW) and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki). Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia), the championship leader, lost some metres, but he soon reached the best racers and he even led the group during the first half of the race, then Melandri gained the upper hand. We saw lots of on-going changes of position during this race.

Last lap is really exciting because Melandri, Sykes and Laverty took turns for the first positions, while Sylvain Guintoli is a bit outstripped, followed by Chaz Davies (BMW) and Michel Fabrizio (Aprilia).

RACE 2

In race 2 Laverty was in first place followed by Sykes, Giugliano (Aprilia) and Melandri. A violent skid made the racer from the Althea Racing team to lose some positions.

As in race 1, Guintoli went to first place, was overtaken by Laverty, then went in the lead again. Laverty knows his companion would have another advantage in case of victory; moreover he won twice in 2011, so he'd like to win for the third time in Monza.

So he tried to reduce the gap and he succeeded in doing this. Melandri couldn't do anything against the Aprilia racer. Tom Sykes is second, although an overtaking on Guintoli (fourth). Fabrizio and Giugliano were third and fourth with their independent Aprilia.
Guintoli is still the leader with 137 in the world championship, Laverty is at 124 points and Sykes 119. Melandri is fourth with 96 points.

After the race the Aprilia team complained about the overtaking made by Sykes: he has been penalised with one position less. So Guintoli is third and Sykes fourth. In the world championship the French has 141 points and the Kawasaki racer 115.
Two hours after the decision has been cancelled and the original rank has been restored.