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wednesday 04 april 2012. £1.99
THE WEEK IN SPORT
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Rea’s Imola despaIR
Jonathan Rea somersaults through the air in a dramatic highside in qualifying in the WSB round at Imola. He walked away just bruised but there was no hiding the disappointment of the Honda team at his failure to emulate anything close to his impressive race one win last season.
WSB
WSS
BSB
BSB
So close for Lowes in WSS
Kirkham a match West takes for Laverty moto2 ride
MCN has discovered radical plans to spice up WSB that could see two rounds run over a single hour-long race with a compulsory pit stop – plus proposals for road bike style brake lights on superbikes. Page 98
It was a brilliant ride by Sam Lowes, but not quite brilliant enough to secure a long overdue first World Supersport win. However, his runner-up finish to French ace Fabien Foret means he’s second in the championship. Page 101
BSB kicks off this weekend at Brands Hatch and Michael Laverty was again the pace-setter at last week’s two-day Cadwell Park Samsung Honda test. Team-mate Jon Kirkham was just 0.2s off Laverty’s best. Page 94
ama
Hancock wins Villopoto has NZ Speedway GP title in the bag American Greg Hancock started the Speedway GP season in the same winning form as he finished 2011. The defending world champion dominated the first-ever New Zealand GP. Britain’s Chris Harris finished 11th out of the 16 riders.
Ryan Villopoto clinched his second consecutive Monster Energy AMA Supercross title after winning Saturday’s race in Houston on a Kawasaki with four rounds to go. His closest rival James Stewart crashed his Yamaha early in the race.
GoLD aND GooSE
WSB pitstops, brake lights?
SGP
GoLD aND GooSE
mpafoto.com
Full story begins page 100
Anthony West walked out on his Italian Supersonic BMW team to take a ride in Moto2 with the QMMF Racing Team, replacing fellow Aussie Damian Cudlin. Lorenzo Lanzi or Tommy Bridewell could join Supersonic. Page 92
WSB
Sykes’ double Imola podium Factory Kawasaki man Tom Sykes showed he is a WSB title contender for 2012, finishing runner-up twice to Carlos Checa and setting a new lap record at Imola. Page 102
motoGP
‘if i’m in the top eight regularly i’ll be doing a good job’
Cal Crutchlow on his prospects for the 2012 MotoGP season.