07-13 Czech Republic – Brno – WorldSBK Rep. Czech (1): 60th victory for the god Rea! – Used KAWASAKI

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WorldSBK Rep. Czech (1): 60th victory for the god Rea !

07-13 Czech Republic - Brno - WorldSBK Rep. Czech (1): 60th victory for the god Rea! - Used KAWASAKI

The first round of the 2018 Superbike World Championship in Brno marks the end of the first half of the season … Jonathan Rea, triple world champion and – wide – leader of the provisional, the famous with dignity by winning her 60th success in the category. One more than ” King ” Carl Fogarty so.

Time passes, records pass and Tom Sykes surpasses himself! having beaten world champion Carlos Checa in qualifying in Brno, "Mister Superpole" takes advantage of WorldSBK’s return to the Czech circuit to sign a new pole position ahead of – triple – champion Jonathan Rea.

The n ° 66 Ninja sets a new Superbike lap record (1 ‘57.687) and scores the 45th pole of his career. But Tom is mainly chasing after victory: he has won only one race this season (Assen 2) while his teammate, the ruthless "JR", is already at five….

Third fastest this morning in qualifying, Marco Melandri won the first two races of the season on his factory Ducati (Phillip Island 1 and 2) but has not made it into the Top 10 in the last three races … The n ° 33 must imperatively react.

Likewise, Alex Lowes (Yamaha n ° 22) and Eugene Laverty (Aprilia n ° 50) will be keen to transform their good tests. Conversely, Michael van der Mark intends to continue his recent momentum: the Dutch n ° 60 and his R1 have won both British races. !

Raised to the first row of the starting grid at Donington Park two weeks ago, Loris Baz (BMW n ° 76) must this time be content with the middle of the third row. Our only representative in SBK is preceded by Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia n ° 32) and the vice-champion Chaz davies … The n ° 7 Ducati will be a good hare to pursue !

Tenth on the line, Leon Camier (Honda n ° 2) is likely to be a fierce rival for our adorable "Bazooka" … Michael Rinaldi, best time of the very first test session on Friday morning, is also aiming for big points this Saturday … provided that his Ducati n ° 21 holds up (see the video of his engine failure in FP3 above)! Small disappointment for Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawa n ° 54), second in the second English round and only 15th on the Czech grid…

Departure : Jonathan Rea got off to a great start and took the lead ahead of Tom Sykes, Alex Lowes, Marco Melandri, Eugene Laverty, Michael van der Mark, Chaz Davies, Lorenzo Savadori, Loris Baz, Michael Rinaldi, etc. The very undulating nature of most of the circuit limits overtaking on the 1st lap. You have to wait for the start of the next loop to see "VDM" steal Laverty’s fifth place..

Jordi Torres fell in his second lap in the tricky turn n ° 5. Furious at him – at his motorcycle, at an opponent? -, the "Spanish Elvis" will fortunately have a second chance tomorrow Sunday. Meanwhile on the track, the Rea, Sykes, Melandri and Lowes quartet pull away from the peloton…

Rea sets the best time and attacks the 3rd lap head in the handlebars: the "Number One" of the discipline quickly moves away from his three pursuers! Behind Tom, Marco and Alex, "Magic Michael" also produced his effort and approached the podium.

Raised in sixth position, Chaz Davies and his factory Ducati precede the two Aprilia Factory and the BMW of our dear Loris Baz. But before the 3rd lap is completed, the marshals wave the red flag … The fall of MV Agusta n ° 81 damaged an "airfence" which must be replaced.

Torres manages to repatriate his F4 RC in his box and intends to start the attack again. Its mechanics are busy replacing, checking, correcting damaged parts … The other teams are surprised by the interruption of the race, but much less overwhelmed..

Second start: The original starting grid is reconstituted. Only change: Rinaldi is relegated to last position because he could not take part in the formation lap. The pilots are in place, are hot … some are a little too hot elsewhere and burn out the start! It was actually a red light malfunction that deceived them. We must organize a third departure !

Third departure: 18, 17, 16 … The first Czech race is relaunched for 16 laps! Sykes started better from pole position and took the lead ahead of Rea. But "JR" brakes his teammate in turn # 4 … Lowes tries to stay in contact with Ninja # 66, followed by Melandri, Davies (!), Van den Mark, Laverty, Camier, Baz , Savadori, etc.

Rea starts the second lap with almost a second ahead of Sykes. This one is harassed by Lowes! Melandri wisely stays behind the two Englishmen. Van den Mark passes Davies on the first long curve of the circuit and aims for the second – first on the track! – Factory Ducati.

The only driver to turn – well – below 2 minutes, "Johnny" quickly isolated himself at the head of the race. Melandri passed Lowes at the start of lap 3 and lodged in Sykes’ rear wheel. Lowes on the contrary is caught and quickly threatened by his own teammate Van der Mark.

Very fast and super diligent, Marco passed Sykes at the very start of the 4th lap! The n ° 33 Ducati was already two big seconds behind the triple n ° 1 Kawasaki. Deprive "god" Rea of ​​a 60th World SBK success – one more than "King" Carl Fogarty! – very much like an impossible mission…

More than five seconds behind the leader, but two short seconds behind Sykes then third, Laverty and Davies entertained the public – sadly sparse on the edge of the long Czech circuit … – by competing for sixth place. Camier and Savadori have a front row seat but cannot join in the fun.

Since the start of the race, Melandri has allowed Rea to pass on average half a second per lap. Sykes himself yields a few tenths of a second to the Italian, so that the first two steps of the podium seem to be attributed to the approach of halfway. Unless the Pirelli suddenly lose grip ?

The third place on the contrary is coveted by three men: Sykes on his ZX-10RR, Lowes and Van der Mark on their R1 … But none of the three really starts hostilities. Conversely, Davies on his Panigale and Laverty on his Aprilia are having a blast: the brothers-in-law do not hesitate to rub their fairings !

The struggle between Welsh and Irish is beautiful. Unfortunately for them – and fortunately for us spectators! -, their formidable fight allows Camier and Savadori to pick them up! Lorenzo attacked Leon on the brakes at the very start of the 10th lap. The Englishman regained his eighth place at the end of the long turn n ° 1 but the Italian insisted a few turns later and passed definitively.

Far from all this uproar, Rea goes back and forth in two short minutes. Melandri always gives him back a few tenths, Sykes himself loses ground on the Italian, Lowes does not match the pace of his compatriot … The gaps in the lead continue to gradually increase. Only Van der Mark progresses and overtakes his teammate on the 11th lap !

Behind the two official Yamaha, Laverty broke away from his teammate Savadori, Davies and Camier. The Aprilia No. 50 spins half a second faster than Alex posted three seconds in front of him. But there are still five laps to go…

Loris Baz, who was struggling to keep in contact with Toprak Razgatlioglu and tenth place, fell at – relatively – low speed in turn 13. The "Savoyard Cheetah" lands on its feet, gets back on its motorbike and rejoins the track. He will be able to finish the race but, for the first time this season, will not score a point….

The podium remains sadly frozen in the last laps: Jonathan Rea, whose lead exceeds five seconds, allows himself to slow down slightly at the very end of the race. His victory, over Marco Melandri and Tom Sykes mainly, is clear and flawless.

For the first time this year, Michael van der Mark took fourth place … Particularly frustrating today – especially given his double at Donington Park – this result has the merit of giving him pole position in the second round. scheduled tomorrow, Sunday.

Maintained under pressure until under the checkered flag, Alex Lowes managed to keep his fifth place against Eugene Laverty who equaled the best result of his 2018 season .. unfortunately marred by his injury at Buriram. Injured in Aragon, Leon Camier ensures an encouraging ninth place.

Remained in its box at the bottom of the Kawasaki box in Donington Park, the flag celebrating the 60th victory of the "God" Rea in World Superbike is finally hoisted: the "Number One" Kawasaki beats the "King" Fogarty (59 victories over Ducati) and becomes the most victorious rider in World Superbike.

The triple world champion – the only one to have stacked three titles in a row as a reminder – is also delighted with his excellent operation in the championship: his runner-up Chaz Davies finished this first Czech round in a disappointing eighth place and this evening has 81 (four – twenty one) points behind the ledader…

Result of the 1st WSBK 2018 race in Brno

07-13 Czech Republic - Brno - WorldSBK Czech Rep. Czech (1): 60th victory for the god Rea! - Used KAWASAKI

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