WSBK Italy (2): Melandri wins on the Ducati, ahead of his own !
Tenth on the Misano grid for this second WSBK round, Melandri had to fight an impressive Torres who started from pole but suffered a technical glitch at the end of the race. Rea and Sykes finally accompany Marco on "his" Italian podium.
In accordance with the new WSBK 2017 regulations, Jordi Torres (4th in the first round yesterday) places his BMW in pole position this Sunday, ahead of the Ducati of Xavi Fores and the Aprilia of Eugene Laverty. The second line is offered to Randy Krummenacher, Roman Ramos and Lorenzo Savadori.
The men on the podium at Misano on Saturday share the third place: Jonathan Rea settles in front of Alex Lowes and Tom Sykes. Back and thumb injured at the very end of the first race, Chaz Davies is unfortunately not on the Italian grid.
Marco Melandri (fallen but 15th yesterday) places the only factory Ducati at the top of 4th row, ahead of Michael van der Mark’s Yamaha (who did not finish the first round) and Leon Camier’s MV Agusta (11th ). Follow Mercado, De Rosa, De Angelis, Bradl, Menghi, Badovini and Jezek…
Departure : Torres took off from pole position but was overtaken by Fores at the start of the first sequence. Laverty is ahead of Sykes, Rea, Melandri, Krummenacher, Savadori, Lowes and Van den Mark. Before embarking on the long series of three breaks to the right, Sykes is already on the podium. Laverty is doubled in stride by Rea.
Melandri in turn found himself behind Aprilia n ° 50 and passed it when braking the Quercia. Eugene tries to resist inside the Ducati n ° 33 in Tramonto but must bow at the exit of this double right. In front, Fores continues to beat Torres.
The favorites for victory are a few lengths away from the two Spaniards: is Sykes saving his tires for a bleeding final against Rea and Melandri who are also wisely behind? Laverty him, can not keep pace and isolates himself in fifth position.
A second group is led by Krummenacher, two seconds behind Laverty and four seconds behind the leaders. The battle rages on: the Swiss rider then Savadori are overtaken by the two official Yamaha of Lowes and Van der Mark. Camier found a small second from 10th place…
In the 4th lap, Melandri shows slight signs of impatience: the Italian shifts at the end of the straight which leads to turn 8 Quercia but cannot pass in front of the North Irish "Number One", still posted in the wake of Sykes, his English teammate.
Marco managed to overtake Jonathan on the next lap: he shifted to the outside of the Kawasaki in the first corner of the layout in order to dive below in the next corner. A classic attack in Misano, far from easy to place however !
Jordi Torres also wins a place … and therefore takes control of the race! Second for a few seconds, Fores had to give up: his private Panigale died – because of the stifling heat? – but is replaced on the podium by Melandri’s factory Panigale…
The n ° 81 BMW starts the second third of the race ahead of the n ° 66 Kawasaki, the n ° 33 Ducati and the n ° 1 Kawasaki. Marco takes advantage of a slight gap from Tom to jump to second place! Jonathan does not get involved in the fight. Two small seconds behind the double world champion, Laverty defends his fifth place from Lowes attacks.
Flamboyant leader of the first heat – until his rear Pirelli sends him to the ground … – Michael van der Mark is momentarily left behind by his teammate n ° 22! But the Dutchman takes advantage of a weapon pass between the Irishman and the Englishman to return to contact … Camier is also progressing: he is eighth ahead of Savadori and Krummenacher.
In front, Melandri attacked Torres for the first time under braking from Quercia on the 10th lap. The public gets up suddenly … and sits down just as quickly when Jordi manages to regain the lead of the race at the exit of the same turn n ° 8 !
Still third, Sykes does not take advantage of the fight between the two leading men to return to the backsplash of the Ducati n ° 33 … Rea seems to be a little impatient but does not find an opening on his teammate. Torres and Melandri calm things down and move away slightly from the two official Kawasaki.
In the middle of a fight with his own teammate Van der Mark, Lowes loses the front in the second curve of the circuit and must give up … He offers his sixth place to Laverty who is two seconds behind VDM, but has two seconds behind advance on Camier.
Marco Melandri takes the lead for the second time on lap 12 and this time stays ahead of Jordi Torres! Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea are still riding a few lengths behind. The n ° 1 slips his Ninja under the n ° 66 in the pif-paf at the start of the 14th lap … Can the "Number One" join the leaders ?
Against all odds, Melandri fails to get rid of Torres. The Italian turned half a second faster than Rea on the 15th lap! Sykes lets go and is a second behind his teammate at the end of the 16th lap. Fifth, Van den Mark is five seconds behind Tom.
With four laps to go, Melandri left a small gap on Torres. The unfortunate Spaniard was then the victim of a technical glitch on his BMW at the exit of the last corner of the Italian layout. He raises his hand away and has to give up…
The two factory Kawasaki climbed the podium, but were almost two and a half seconds behind the No.33 Ducati. The end of this second round promises to be much calmer than the first, where Davies and Rea fought for victory … almost until the end. !
Marco Melandri kept out of reach in the last laps and finished his race without making any mistakes. Ditto for Jonathan Rea, however put under pressure by Tom Sykes in the last two laps! The English Ninja was no doubt hoping to place an attack on the last corner, but doesn’t get the chance.
Marco Melandri takes his Panigale R to the top of the podium for the very first time, three years after his last World Superbike victory on an RSV4 Factory. In front of his audience, the Hedgehog of Ravenna also signs the 100th victory for an Italian driver in the category…
Three other Italians finished in points: Savadori (6th), De Rosa (7th) and Badovini (11th). In all, only twelve drivers reached the finish of this second round. Besides Torres and Fores, Ramos and Camier were betrayed by their machines. Menghi and De Angelis have fallen.
Second this afternoon, Jonathan Rea took four points from Tom Sykes, his teammate and runner-up in the championship: the "Number One" totaled 296 points against 246 for the n ° 66. Falling in the first round and forfeiting the second, Chaz Davies does not score a single point (185 still so).
Thanks to his victory, Marco Melandri (163 points) recovers the fourth place occupied by Alex Lowes (141) during 24 "small" hours. The famous n ° 33 is only 22 points behind his teammate n ° 7. But the latter is not sure to race at Laguna Seca in three weeks … Championship to follow: stay tuned !
Result of the 2nd WSBK 2017 race in Misano
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