Following race two of round ten of the eni Superbike World Championship at Silverstone, U.K., the works Aprilia squad has protested the behavior of the BMW Motorrad team of Marco Melandri. Aprilia contend that the BMW crew were working on their S1000 RR race bike following the display of the three-minute board on the grid for race two, against the official FIM rules.
Observers say that several teams were late on the grid during this period, rushing to change to wet tires and set-up following the decision to declare the second race at Silverstone “wet.” No one is sure what the potential penalties might be for such an infraction.
Currently Max Biaggi leads the Superbike Points Standings for Aprilia with a total of 274, followed by BMW’s resurgent Melandri at 263.5 points, with four events/eight races remaining in the 2012 eni Superbike World Championship. Melandri placed eighth in race two in the wet at Silverstone, Biaggi fading to 11th late in the shortened second race.
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