WSBK Portugal (1): Ninja Jonathan Rea goes green…
Extremely fast in practice and in Superpole, Jonathan Rea confirmed his great form in Portimao by largely dominating the first Portuguese WSBK 2017 round. Unintentionally rid of his teammate and runner-up in the championship Tom Sykes, the n ° 1 Kawasaki rushes towards his third consecutive title.
Departure : Eugene Laverty took off very strongly from his second place on the grid and found himself at the level of poleman Jonathan Rea! But the Northern Irish Ninaja brakes much later and dives into the lead in the first corner! Less incisive, the Irishman is overtaken in the next hairpin by Marco Melandri.
Starting from outside the first row, Lorenzo Savadori is behind his teammate. Ninth on the Portuguese grid, Chaz Davies is already fifth ahead of Xavi Fores, Stefan Bradl, Michael van der mark, Alex Lowes, Leon Camier, etc..
In front, the "Number One" Kawasaki drops its pursuers visibly! In the absence of his teammate and runner-up in the championship, Tom Sykes, the two-time world champion knows he has a big card to play: his lead of 70 points must be able to reach 95 points in half an hour….
At the end of the first lap, Jonathan was two seconds ahead of Laverty, passed in front of Melandri! Van der Mark is lost in the first curve of the 2nd lap and momentarily leaves the track: Torres takes the opportunity to settle in 9th place.
But the Dutch n ° 60 does not give up and ensures the spectacle by recovering his place! His teammate Lowes in turn attacked the n ° 81 BMW and ejected it from the Top 10. Several lengths ahead, Lorenzo Savadori then Chaz Davies overtook Marco Melandri.
At the very start of the 3rd lap, Davies passed Savadori at the end of the straight. The Welshman then aims for Laverty’s other RSV4 Factory posted just in front of his Panigale … but especially monitors the ZX-10R which increases its lead, more slowly but very surely (3.5 seconds!).
Drilled on his private Panigale and Camier on his F4 Reparto Corsa are doing their best to get back on the four Italian factory machines ahead of them, piloted by Davies, Laverty, Melandri and Savadori. Bradl who was struggling to feature in the top 10 falls with his Honda in the 4th lap…
Less swift than at the very start of the race, Jonathan Rea continued to turn faster than all his pursuers: Davies was 4.5 seconds on the 6th lap, Laverty and Melandri at 5 seconds, Savadori and Camier at 6.5 seconds.
Faster than his direct opponents, Lowes moves away from the duo Van der Mark and Torres, and seeks to join Savadori! But Alex did too much and fell into the n ° 6 hairpin, the same one that trapped Davies during the Superpole … His teammate VDM inherited his sixth place, just ahead of Savadori in distress, and Torres.
Four seconds ahead of this rather dissipated peloton, Laverty is also suffering on his own Aprilia. Melandri overtook him on the 7th lap and moved away irresistibly. Marco then circulated two seconds behind his teammate Davies. Rea is out of range, nearly six seconds behind No.7 Ducati…
The halfway mark is crossed (10/20 laps) and "Johnny" manages to maintain his incredible pace: the only driver to turn – well – below 1 ’34, the n ° 1 Kawasaki has on the 11th lap six seconds ahead of "Chazie", himself a little faster than his teammate Marco.
Two and a half seconds behind Melandri, Camier continued his solid first Portuguese race and slipped his MV Agusta under Aprilia de Laverty on the 13th lap. The n ° 2 is definitely faster than the n ° 50 … which quickly hears a 4-cylinder "crossplane" behind it. !
Unable to compete against Van der Mark at the end of the race, Laverty gave him sixth place. The Irish driver grits his teeth and would no doubt like to be able to cover his ears: behind him is already roaring a BMW … No.81. But this time the Irish pilot will resist.
In the lead since the red lights went out, Jonathan Rea slows down – slightly – in the 16th lap but remains a third of a second faster than Chaz Davies! Barring an incident, the two best enemies of WorldSBK are guaranteed to finish on the podium. This is not the case with Marco Melandri…
The Ducati n ° 33 turns less quickly than Camier who has been chasing it for a few laps! The "Hedgehog of Ravenna" wrings his gas handle, crushes his brake lever but nothing helps: "Lioness" crunches him for more than half a second in the 18th lap !
Leon Camier has two laps to try to climb on the Portuguese podium … The English champion (BSB in 2009) is a little miss in the third sector but the Italian champion (GP250 in 2002) is a heat in the long curve to the right which commands the straight line…
While Rea and Davies roll almost quietly towards the checkered flag, Melandri and Camier stay focused until the last few meters of the final lap! The Ducati rider ended up winning, but only by a third of a second … Roll on revenge, from tomorrow on the same circuit !
In the championship, the ruthless "JR" now totals 406 points. The counter of the unfortunate Tom Sykes remains blocked at 311 points while that of Chaz Davies displays 296 … A podium tomorrow and the Ducati rider n ° 7 will seize the second place: the n ° 66 Kawasaki announced a few minutes before the start of this first round that he will not compete in the second either.
Result of the 1st WSBK 2017 race in Portimao
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