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PANICHI WINS SECOND POWERCUP RACE IN SIX DAYS
He kept his cool at the German Sachsenring circuit to extend his championship lead to 19 points ahead of closest rival Sebastien Legrelle, who rode the wheels off his BMW K1200 R to climb from 10th on the grid to third at the chequered flag. Spain''s Arturo Tizon was second. He had led during the last quarter of the race but couldn''t quite prevent the more experienced Panichi getting past for the final lap-and-a-half. Fourth was reigning BoxerCup champion Thomas Hinterreiter. Tizon tried hard to break away from the field and catch Panichi in the early stages. On lap three he lapped quicker than the Italian''s pole position time and actually clocked the fastest lap of the race with 1m 31.904. The high-speed dual between Tizon and Panichi threatened to leave the others behind. But it didn''t happen. Local rider Rico Penzkofer had other ideas and worked wonders to close the gap on the leaders. Behind him was VIP rider Jürgen Fuchs, Hinterreiter and Spaniard Sergio Fuertes. Suddenly, the two-man confrontation became a seven-rider free-for-all that was covered by less than two seconds. Legrelle made the most of the new brakes fitted to the BMW K1200 R bikes and pulled off some spectacular manoeuvres, worthy of a MotoGP race, as he backed the rear end of the bike into most of the corners. There was much place swapping for third, right up to the last lap. Unfortunately for Legrelle, he had agreed with his team that his lapboard would be sited on the bridge above the line and they managed to get it slightly out of sync. He thought there was one lap remaining... and there wasn''t! Panichi may just have ridden his race of the season, bagging another 25 points and extending his title lead to 19 points over Legrelle. With just two races remaining (at Brno and Valencia) Panichi could well wrap up the title and keys to a brand new BMW 6 Series at the next race in Brno in three weeks time. But Legrelle is still battling hard and after his performance in Germany who can predict the outcome? The series will almost certainly go down to the wire at last round in Spain in November. Roberto Panichi (BMW Motorrad Italia - Dream Car): ''I tried to break away very early in the race, doing some good fast laps, but Tizon came with me. He managed to get past me and then the others arrived so I had to get a gap again at the front. I always prefer to lead and be on my own, riding my own lines. The Donington win last Sunday was difficult but this was even harder as there are now many riders who cannot win the title, but who want to win races, and take risks to get those wins. The lead is 19 points, so I''m happy with that.''
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