WSBK Germany (1): relentless Davies, winner in wear…

Preceded by poleman Tom Sykes on the first lap, Chaz Davies and Jonathan Rea quickly took control of the first World Superbike round at Lausitzring. Serene, the Ducati rider n ° 7 then managed his tires perfectly… and the Kawasaki "Number One" with !

Departure : Author of the pole this morning, Tom Sykes takes a worse start than Jonathan Rea who started in the middle of the first row. Marco Melandri thinks for a moment to realize the holeshot but disappears under braking: the Kawasaki n ° 1 and n ° 66 plunge in the head in the first sequence but Chaz Davies intervenes at the exit !

Starting from sixth place on the German grid, Eugene Laverty completely misses out on the first curve and starts the race in the antepenultimate position! His teammate Lorenzo Savadori is much better placed: the Italian n ° 32 is fifth behind Lowes, ahead of Camier, Van der Mark, Reiterberger, Fores, etc..

Sykes tries to escape from the 1st round and has half a second ahead of the inseparable duo Davies and Rea at the start of the 2nd … But the gap is quickly filled by Davies: the n ° 7 even takes the lead when braking the 10th corner !

Melandri is just a second behind the three Britons at the end of the 2nd loop. Rea steals from Sykes his second place on the first braking of the 3rd lap and immediately sticks to the back of the Panigale. Sykes on the contrary, is joined by the second factory Ducati driven by Melandri.

In the middle of the peloton, Van der Mark is curiously missing in turn 10: "Magic Michael" appears in the grass, inside the rope! VDM quickly inspects the right flank of his R1 then sounds the charge again after losing eight places suddenly. Now 16th, he crossed a Laverty in full recovery (13th)…

Half a second ahead of Sykes being chased by Melandri, Davies and Rea observe each other at the forefront! Leon Camier joins the Top "Funf": the only MV Agusta rider has found an opening on Lorenzo Savadori but must be wary of the stormy comeback of Yamaha n ° 22: Alex Lowes, the star of Suzuka !

A second behind Savadori is Reiterberger: the star of this German stage – in the absence of Bradl too weak to take the start – "Reiti" satisfies his fans. The n ° 21 BMW occupies an impressive eighth place, ahead of Fores and … Laverty, who continues to roll toc !

Back in WorldSBK, like Markus Reiterberger, Davide Giugliano battles with Jordi Torres for fourteenth place and double their number of points. Half a second ahead of the formidable duettists, Leandro "Tati" Mercado must defend his 12th place against Van der Mark.

The 6th lap is launched: Camier and Lowes roll a less loud tone than Sykes and Melandri located four seconds in front of them. The English n ° 2 and n ° 22 are competing for fifth place, not far ahead of the RSV4 n ° 32 of Lorenzo Savadori. Reiterberger occupies a lonely eighth place, Fores, de Rosa and Laverty fight for ninth position.

In front, Sykes beats the fastest lap set by Davies by a thousandth of a second (!). "Major" Tom irresistibly pulls away from "Macio" Marco. The n ° 66 Kawasaki made an effort to bring together the leading duo still composed, in order, by "Chazie" and "Johnny". There are still 14 laps to go…

At the heart of the peloton, Eugene Laverty quickly got rid of Rafaelle de Rosa on BMW then Xavi Fores on Ducati. Three seconds behind this trio, Michael Van der Mark and his Yamaha are also progressing: he authoritatively overtakes Leandro Mercado and his Aprilia, then quickly threatens Jordi Torres and his BMW posted just in front….

Davide Giugliano momentarily leaves the track, at the end of the second long straight line of the German layout. The n ° 34 rejoins the track but leaves it again, this time on purpose. He manages to reach his box and gives up … We will see the Italian on the Honda tomorrow in the second round. And on the last three tests ?

One lap after Giugliano’s gap, in turn 6, De Rosa lost the lead under the nose of Fores. The Spaniard n ° 12 therefore inherits the ninth place! Like his compatriot Giugliano, De Rosa manages to start again, but returns to the pits at the end of his unfortunate lap.

Still leading the race, Chaz Davies keeps his short half a second ahead of Jonathan Rea … Unless it is the ruthless "JR" who quietly keeps his small half a second behind? Watching the two machines move smoothly on the track, MNC thinks there is probably a bit of both….

Eight laps from the end, the German public was struck again: after learning of Stefan Bradl’s forfeit just a few minutes before the start, he saw his second representative, the "wild card" Reiterberger, leave the track. The n ° 21 starts again on the attack, in twelfth position.

Two laps later, Davies slowly but surely moves away from Rea: the n ° 7 accelerates without – too much! – forcing while the n ° 1 seems to be pushing his Kawasaki more to keep pace. In the 18th lap, the gap between the two leaders exceeded for the first time the second.

Unlike "Chazie" who seems to have managed his tires perfectly, Laverty and Van den Mark are losing both ground and places. Aprilia rider n ° 50 is in 10th place with three laps to go, Yamaha rider n ° 60 is 14th, behind Krummenacher.

Now alone in the lead, Davies is visibly enjoying himself at the controls of his Panigale R: his entries while sliding in the first curve of the circuit prove that he has perfect control of his machine … so this first German race too! He tumbles towards his 25th WorldSBK success.

Almost three seconds behind the flamboyant "Welsh dragon", the "green giant" (Rea, "who else"?!) Understands that he will have to settle for a new second place: it will be his fifth his season! He finished only twice beyond: third at Misano despite his collision with Davies, and retirement at Donington Park due to a burst tire…

Placed in the wake of his teammate, but not close enough to take advantage of his aspiration in the four straights and far too far to launch a last minute attack, Tom Sykes accompanies his two rivals on the first German podium in 2017. Bad operation for Tom who lets slip four new points in the provisional !

Put under pressure by Leon Camier and Alex Lowes at the very end of the race, Marco Melandri narrowly avoided (less than a second!) That the German Top "Five" would only be trusted by subjects of his royal majesty Elizabeth II! "God save Marco" … who will start from pole on Sunday, for the fourth time this season !

Forced to hit his tires to get back into the peloton at the start of the race, Irishman Eugene Laverty laboriously finished his race. His best time is similar to those of his little comrades Camier and Lowes, but he ultimately fails in tenth place, very far behind Torres and Fores, further behind his teammate Savadori.

See you tomorrow for the second Superbike round … and for the Supersport race of course !

Result of the 1st WSBK 2017 race at the Lausitzring

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