WSBK Italy (2): Davies and Ducati are too strong at Imola
Even relegated to the bottom of the third row of the starting grid, Chaz Davies confirmed this Sunday that he was the best on the Imola circuit! The Welshman takes a second and clear victory on Ducati land, ahead of his two championship rivals, Rea and Sykes over Kawasaki.
Fourth in the first round yesterday when the red flag was waved, Tom Sykes and his n ° 66 Kawasaki will start from pole position this afternoon! Xavi Fores on his Ducati n ° 12 and Leon Camier on his MV Agusta n ° 2 will accompany the English Ninja on the front row.
Official Yamaha No.60 and No.22 of Michael van den Mark and Alex Lowes will take second place, ahead of Kawasaki No.40 of Roman Ramos. The three drivers on the podium will be relegated to third place: Marco Melandri (3rd in the race) will start ahead of Jonathan Rea (2nd) and Chaz Davies (winner).
Finally, we note that Jordi Torres is back on the track: bedridden (in the WC?) By a nasty gastro yesterday, the BMW Althea n ° 81 rider will be able to participate in this second round. He must start from the very last place on the Italian grid…
Departure : Tom Sykes takes advantage of his pole position to lead ahead of Xavi Fores, Marco Melandri, Leon Camier, Jonathan Rea, VDM, Roman Ramos, Alex Lowes, Nicky Hayden, Eugene Laverty … Chaz Davies finds himself at a distant eleventh place, but buckles the 1st lap in ninth position.
At the back of the peloton, Ayrton Badovini is missing … The engine of his Kawasaki n ° 86 failed at the exit of the Variante Alta! The red flags are hoisted to allow the marshals to clean the track. The pilots return to the pits. Everything needs to be redone … for Sykes, but needs to be improved for Davies! The race will be one lap less than expected (18).
Second start: Tom Sykes’ Kawasaki rears up when the red lights go out but the n ° 66 is still ahead of Leon Camier, Xavi Fores, Marco Melandri, Jonathan Rea and Chaz Davies at the entrance to Traguardo. Rea climbs to fourth position upon exiting Tamburello. The Top 10 is completed by Alex Lowes, Michael Van den Mark, Eugene Laverty and Roman Ramos.
While Sykes and Camier move away in the lead, Rea then Melandri pass in front of Fores. Jonathan overwhelms Marco in the break to the right leading to Variente Bassa and has to cut the chicane! The Ninja n ° 1 raises his hand and lets pass a few motorcycles – including a Ducati n ° 7 … – so as not to be penalized.
Melandri in turn misses the Villeneuve turn and is passed by his teammate Davies! The "Welsh Dragon" is two seconds behind Camier who manages to follow Sykes. Unfortunately for MV Agusta and his fans, "Lioness" falls and gives second place to "Chazie".
Rea climbs on the podium in the 3rd lap passing Melandri. The Italian rolls a little over his boots and loses two new places by widening: Fores and Lowes enter the Top 5. Van den Mark, Laverty, Ramos and Hayden complete the Top 10 … Lowes momentarily leaves the race. track in Acqua Minareli and gives way to fifth place to Marco !
In front, Tom was under the pressure of Chaz: the Ducati n ° 7 turned half a second faster than the Kawasaki n ° 66 so that the gap fell under a second at the end of the 5th lap. Third to two seconds behind Chaz, Jonathan spins as fast as his best enemy.
Fores and Melandri are fighting for fourth place but cannot hope to reach the podium: the private Ducati n ° 12 and the official n ° 33 are five seconds behind "Number One", third on the track. Van den Mark defended his sixth place dearly against his team-mate Lowes. Laverty and Ramos observe…
Davies goes on the braking attack of the Variante Bassa which controls the – not very – right line of the Imola pits. Ducati n ° 7 jumped while biting on the vibrators but completed the 7th lap in the lead and fled alone in the lead! In a single turn, Chaz takes his lead to one second…
A suspicion less swift than Davies, Rea also goes back visibly to Sykes. The ruthless "JR" joined his teammate at the end of the 10th lap which marked the start of the second half of the race. Inseparable, Fores and Melandri are relegated to more than seven seconds from the factory Kawasaki, almost 10 seconds from the leader !
Dropped more than 20 seconds from Davies, Van den Mark and Lowes continue to provide the show! Laverty and Ramos are in the front row … Passed by Alex, Michael is immediately attacked by Eugene and is in eighth place. Fortunately for him, Roman lets go…
Rea easily passed Sykes on the 11th lap and separated from him just as easily on the next lap. But the English Ninja refuses to give up the throttle and manages to get back into contact on the 13th lap! Slower at the end of the course, the n ° 66 does not leave the asp of the double world champion and wide leader of the provisional…
Likewise, Melandri remains firmly anchored to the backsplash of the Ducati de Fores. The famous n ° 33 runs scrupulously in the same tempo as the Spanish n ° 12 and perhaps waits for the last lap to try to steal the fourth place ?
Far behind, Lowes and Laverty are almost guaranteed to finish sixth and seventh. Van den Mark on the other hand, was neglected by Ramos but joined by Torres and Mercado: the n ° 81 BMW and n ° 36 Aprilia decided to spice up the last two laps of the n ° 60 Yamaha. !
As Chaz Davies rolls – almost – quietly to a second straight victory – his third in 2017 – Jonathan Rea is finally keeping Tom Sykes at a safe distance. Beaten by nearly four seconds, the two factory Kawasaki n ° 1 and n ° 66 accompany the unbeatable Ducati n ° 7.
Fourteen seconds after the double winner (!), Xavi Fores manages to defend his fourth place against Marco Melandri. It took another 17 seconds to see Alex Lowes cross the finish line, two short seconds ahead of Eugene Laverty. Congratulations to Jordi Torres who steals Michael van den Mark his eighth place in the last lap.
Chaz Davies takes advantage of his Italian double to overtake Tom Sykes in the provisional classification … 161 to 160! The Ducati rider reduced his lag behind the comfortable leader by ten points: Jonathan Rea no longer had three victories ahead of n ° 7 Ducati (74 points …).
But the next distribution of points is scheduled in two weeks for the British: the World Superbike will go to Donington Park where Sykes has been undefeated for four years! What to revive the championship? Answer to follow, almost live on MNC: stay connected !
Result of the 2nd WSBK 2017 race in Imola
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