WSBK Great Britain (1): Sykes triumphs for the ninth time !
Author of a new pole record this afternoon at Donington Park, Tom Sykes won his ninth race in a row at home. On the contrary, his big rivals Jonathan Rea and Chaz Davies had a disappointing first round. The two friends Haslam and Lowes stand on the podium…
The magnificent blue sky of the Superpole has given way to heavy and threatening clouds! The rain is threatening but what worries the drivers the most on the grid is the wind blowing very hard on the Donington Park circuit. Carving good trajectories in fast curves promises to be complicated…
Departure : Chaz Davies storms off his third place on the grid and places his Ducati ahead of the official Kawasaki of Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea. Starting from eighth position, Leon Haslam won a few riders – his friend Alex Lowes in particular – and came out fourth at Redgate ahead of Marco Melandri, Leandro Mercado, Eugene Laverty, Xavi Fores, Micahel van der Mark, Leon Camier, etc..
During the first lap, the six leading men separated from the peloton led by Laverty and his Aprilia n ° 50. Davies widens in the penultimate corner Melbourne but remains able to keep the upper hand over his two opponents – on the track as in the championship…
Rea passes Sykes by shifting down the Craner Curves descent! The n ° 66 tries to retaliate from the following breakout Old Hairpin but deviates from the trajectory and gives another place to Haslam who reaches the podium! Melandri misses and points to seventh place at the end of the 2nd lap, just behind Laverty.
In front, Davies tries to escape by setting the fastest lap in the race but Rea is on the same pace. Sykes recovers third place under the heavy braking of Melbourne Hairpin: the English Ninja is then a second and a half behind his Northern Irish teammate.
Two seconds behind Tom and Leon, Leandro Mercado is joined by Eugene Laverty and Marco Melandri. Michael van der Mark got closer to this trio on the 4th lap and led Leon Camier in his wake. Xavi Fores closes the Top 10, but is threatened by Savadori, Torres and Ramos…
In the lead since the first lap, "Chazie" does not manage to distance "Johnny" by more than a second. "Major Tom" on the contrary, separates from the "Pocket Rocket": the current leader of the British Superbike now turns a second slower than the three men – very – strong of the World Superbike.
Almost three seconds behind Haslam, Mercado holds the top of Marco Melandri! Michael van der Mark gets rid of Leon Camier and Eugene Laverty, but does not go back – for the moment – on the Italian and the Argentinian placed a second in front of him.
Maintained under pressure by Jonathan Rea since the 3rd lap, Chaz Davies loses the lead in the final Goddards pin! The Ducati official offered the lead of the race to his best enemy and set off again beyond the points, in sixteenth position … Rea’s lead over Davies was 74 points before this first English round. It is likely to increase cruelly.
Much faster than the "Number One" near the halfway point, Tom Sykes reduced to nothing the gap between him and Jonathan Rea on the 12th lap … Leon Haslam was dropped to eight seconds but the famous No. 91 remains on the third step of the podium !
Dominated by Mercado during the first half of the event, Melandri passed the No. 36 Aprilia in the first curve of the Redgate circuit and aggressively launched into the Craner Curves sequence. The rear tire of his Ducati n ° 33 leaves a clear mark on the track, proof that the "Hedgehog of Ravenna" puts on heavy gas.
Still sixth, Michael van den Mark in his turn approaches "Tati" Mercado. Leon Camier and Alex Lowes who follow a second apart are also aiming "their" Top "Five". The two Spaniards Fores and Torres fight for ninth place but are chased by Chaz Davies who turns as fast as the two leading Kawa…
Sykes just passed Rea for the first time at the end of the 13th lap, but the n ° 1 quickly took over the reins of the race. The n ° 66 does not insist and matches his tempo on that of his target: there are still 10 laps to go and Tom is used to attacking in the very last minutes…
The wildcard Leon Haslam continued his formidable single-handed race, chaining times worse than the two leaders, of course, but still better than his pursuers, namely Melandri who was one second ahead of Van der Mark and two small seconds over Mercado. .. followed by Lowes !
Bradl, riding the only Honda Fireblade, joined the pits six laps from the end. The German driver is all the more disappointed to abandon this race as it is the first one he is competing without his teammate Nicky Hayden. The spirit of the late Kentucky Kid Legend nevertheless hovers on the track, and the n ° 69 pulullent on the fairings and combinations…
Sykes tried his luck again at the end of the 17th lap, still braking the Melbourne hairpin. Tom passes Jonathan Rea then takes care to break the speed of "Johnny" in the Goddards hairpin to set off alone to attack "his" Donington Park track.
In two laps, "Major Tom" completely distances his teammate! The domination is such that we are worried about Jonathan Rea: the times of the double world champion suddenly rise by a handful of seconds. Clearly, something is wrong with the Kawasaki # 1…
On his 20th visit to Craner Curves, Jonathan Rea loses the back of his ZX-10RR! The highside is fortunately not too violent for the pilot, but it ruins any hope of reaching the track. Before leaving, "JR" takes a look at his rear tire which probably won him the first bubble of his season..
There are less than three laps to go and Tom Sykes now has the track clear. The 2013 world champion is racing towards his ninth victory in a row on the Donington Park circuit: we have never seen such success on the same circuit in World Superbike !
If Leon Haslam is almost guaranteed to finish second in this first round, Marco Melandri must for his part remain perfectly concentrated: Alex Lowes made an incredible comeback in the very last laps and finds himself a big second from the Italian to the starts the "Final Lap"…
Ducati rider n ° 33 held on … until he came out of the penultimate corner where he bit into the grass at nothing – because of the wind ?! – and must release the gas to get back on the asphalt! The n ° 22 Yamaha, who didn’t ask for so much, easily overtakes his rival and accompanies his great friend Haslam and his compatriot Sykes on the podium. !
Lowes’ teammate Michael van der Mark places the second official Yamaha in the English Top 5. Leon Camier tumbles two seconds later under the checkered flag at the controls of his MV Agusta. Leandro Mercado gets a nice seventh place, Chaz Davies a courageous eighth, far ahead of Torres and Fores.
See you tomorrow to follow the Supersport race, then the second Superbike round, almost live on the Site. Stay connected !
Result of the 1st WSBK 2017 race at Donington Park
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