WorldSBK Rep. Czech (2): Lowes wins his first race by "chaos"
Rea ” Knock Out ”, Sykes on the mat, Melandri on the ropes: the second round of the World Superbike 2018 in Brno sounded great riders … The combative Alex Lowes on the contrary managed his fight perfectly against his partner Michael van der Mark and wins for the first time in WSBK !
Winner of the two Superbike races at Donington Park two weeks ago, but "only" fourth yesterday of the first round in Brno, Michael ven der Mark has the chance to put his Yamaha n ° 60 in pole position this afternoon on the Czech grid.
Arrived behind the Dutchman on Saturday, Alex Lowes (Yam n ° 22), Eugene Laverty (Aprilia n ° 50) place their machine on the first row, followed in second row by Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia n ° 32), Chaz Davies (Ducati n ° ° 7) and Leon Camier (Honda n ° 2).
What does Brno have in store for Sunday?
Take a look at what to expect from today at !
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK)
The third place is reserved for the podium riders: third in the race, Tom Sykes installs his n ° 66 Kawasaki in front of the n ° 33 Ducati of Marco Melandri (2nd) and the Kawasaki "Number One" of Jonathan Rea (winner for the 60th) times in WSBK, never seen before!).
Eighth in qualifying at the controls of his BMW n ° 76, Loris Baz unfortunately fell in the first heat. Our – only – compatriot must therefore start from 10th place, ahead of STK1000 champion Michael Rinaldi (Ducati n ° 21) and former MotoGP rider Yonny Hernandez (Kawasaki n ° 68).
Race 2 is a GO at Brno!
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK)
Departure : Van der Mark and Lowes take off perfectly from the front row and lead ahead of Laverty, Melandri, Davies, Sykes, Rea, Camier, Savadori, Fores, etc. This order is kept throughout the 1st lap … But from the first braking of the 2nd lap, Lowes attacks and passes his teammate !
In the first sequence of the four "left-right" of the Czech route, Melandri tries to pass Laverty but the Irishman resists the Italian! The n ° 33 takes advantage of a gap of n ° 50 in the big pin n ° 11 to climb on the provisional podium.
One lap gone and there’s a battle at the front!
It’s who leads!
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK)
Alex starts the 3rd lap half a second ahead of Melandri who has just passed Van der Mark on the brakes. Davies overtook Laverty and in turn aimed for the Yamaha n ° 60 … But the event at the start of the race was Rea’s fall and then abandonment. !
HUGE DRAMA for Championship leader as he crashes out of Race 2!
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK)
In a fight against his teammate Sykes, the three-time world champion strangely fell during acceleration … The race management decided to conduct an investigation. Rea will applaud Sykes from the side of the track a lap later. Atmosphere.
The race therefore continues without the – very wide – leader of the championship: Rea had a monumental lead of 81 points over Davies before the start of this second Czech race. What will the situation be in 15 laps? Mystery and Pirelli Balls.
15 laps to go! leads from !
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK)
After crashing out managed to rejoin the race and currently sits in 18th!
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK)
Back in Lowes’ wheel, Melandri gets lost in turn 9, at the end of the very winding portion of the "stadium"! The n ° 33 Ducati crosses the gravel pit and starts again in 18th place. Jordi Torres is 19th, but MV Agusta rider heads for the pits and hands the red lantern to Melandri.
Sykes stumbles in turn on the 7th lap! Ninja # 66 loses the rear of his ZX-10RR in Turn # 11. Fortunately, "Major Tom" is not sent into orbit by his Kawa: the latter goes "low-side", slides wisely on the side for several meters and stops just before the gravel. Clinging to the handlebars, Sykes picked up his machine and set off again in 17th position. In front of Melandri then !
What a DRAMATIC race for crashes out of Race 2!
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK)
Lowes and Van der Mark find themselves alone in the lead, three seconds ahead of Davies. However, the two official Yamaha are then a little faster than the factory Ducati. An R1 is likely to win. But which ? Laverty occupies a solitary fourth place. The Irishman is chased by the Italians Rinaldi and Savadori who turn half a second faster than him…
Eleven seconds behind the leaders, Fores, Camier and Baz are engaged in a fierce battle for seventh place. Just a second from this turbulent trio are Hernandez, Razgatlioglu and Ramos. There is definitely no shortage of action on the track! But halfway through the race is just over…
8 laps to go and it’s a 1-2 for the duo!
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK)
Dropped more than thirty seconds behind Lowes and Van der Mark, the unfortunate Melandri was then the fastest driver on the track. Instead of fighting for victory, the "Hedgehog of Ravenna" wanders desperately on the track in 18th place. A second faster than Tom Sykes, Marco stole 17th place from him on the 12th lap. The first point is ten seconds further away.
The race continued smoothly for the two official Yamaha: with six laps to go, Alex kept his short half a second ahead of his teammate Michael … The two men are known for their solid ends of the race. But which one will be the most bad this time ?
Last lap is underway!!!
Will take the win?
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK)
Chaz Davies will have to settle for third place: his delay reached four seconds. Three seconds behind the vice-world champion and runner-up in the provisional 2018, Eugene Laverty always precedes Michael Rinaldi and Lorenzo Savadori. Or Savadori and Rinaldi rather, from the 14th round !
Our Loris Baz is struggling to stay in the Top 10: overtaken by Razgatlioglu, the only BMW driver on the grid must be wary of Ramos and Gagne who turn a little faster than him. Hernandez on the contrary dropped the case. Mercado completes Top 15, but three-second lead over Melandri may not be enough…
In front, far ahead, Alex Lowes is a suspicion swifter than Michael van der Mark. The No.22 substantially increases his lead in the 17th lap: the Dutch No.60 is more than a second ahead and loses the aspiration of his compatriot…
WHAT A RACE !! grabs his 1st ever win!
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK)
The 2013 British Superbike champion completed the last two loops without failing and won a little over two seconds ahead of his teammate. This is the first WorldSBK victory for Lowes, and the third for the next-gen R1 … in four races !
The falls of Ninja # 1 and # 66 and straight from his own teammate # 33 greatly facilitated the task of the "Lucky Number Seven" who had not been on the podium since Imola. The 16 points corresponding to his third place reduce his delay against Rea to 65 points: 205 to 270. A chasm, always.
Spray it!!!
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK)
Arrived in the Czech Republic on equal points with Tom Sykes, Michael van der Mark also takes advantage of the blunder of the Englishman: his counter now indicates 196 points, against 179 for Sykes, 157 for Melandri and 154 for Lowes, last driver to have scored points in each race.
Eleventh in this 14th race of the season (out of 2- in total), Loris Baz gained five points, but lost a place in the provisional. Our "Savoyard cheetah" is 10th, one point behind Lorenzo Savadori and tied with Leon Camier (72 points each).
The next distribution of points will take place in two weeks in Laguna Seca (United States), at Nicky Hayden’s home, everyone regretted and celebrated by his town Owensboro via a statue inaugurated this weekend … The American event is now the one by Jack Gagne who replaces the "Kentucky Kid" within the Honda Red Bull team. "To be continued"…
Result of the 2nd WSBK 2018 race in Brno
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