WSBK Spain (1): Melandri’s Ducati gives Rea victory
Jonathan Rea had never won a Superbike race in Jerez. It is now done, but the triple WSBK champion (2015, 2016 and 2017) can thank the Panigale n ° 33 for having simplified the task…. Congratulations to Guintoli who finished first private pilot !
Departure : Marco Melandri got off to a good start from pole position but Jonathan Rea took off from second place a little better and passed the Italian on first braking. Just behind them, Michael van der Mark and Tom Sykes literally elbow each other and get in the way of the second corner.
Alex Lowes took the opportunity to hoist his Yamaha in third position ahead of Kawasaki n ° 66 and the second factory R1! Fores is sixth ahead of Davies, Savadori, Ramos and Mercado. Guintoli and Laverty fight for eleventh place.
Unfortunately, at the exit of hairpin n ° 6, Badovini and De Rosa crash almost at the same time. The red flags are waved by the marshals to allow the intervention of the ambulance which takes charge of Ayrton but lets Rafaelle slip away on a scooter.
The other pilots go back to their boxes and wait impatiently for the new start to be given. The race will count one lap less than expected (19 therefore). The initial starting grid is retained. Only De Rosa and Badovini’s machines, too damaged, will not be able to start again.
Second start: Rea got off to an even better start, making it easier for him to get ahead of Melandri on first braking. Sykes crosses the next sequence much more calmly, ahead of Davies, Lowes, Van der Mark, Laverty, Savadori, Guintoli and Fores.
Alex Lowes pulls aside in the n ° 6 hairpin but keeps his sixth place. Two corners later, it was his teammate Michael van der Mark’s turn to widen, but he too kept his own fifth place. Yamaha Riders want to do well, and it shows !
"Johnny" completes the first lap just ahead of Marco. "Major Tom" is put under pressure by "Chazie" but holds on. Laverty is very hot at the top of the fast Sito Pons curve and disrupts the rest of the peloton: Savadori settles in a solitary seventh place, far ahead of Guintoli who is battling against Fores, Ramos, Mercado and Laverty !
The official Kawasaki and Ducati overtook the two factory Yamaha in the second lap. Savadori is a big second behind Van der Mark and a big second also ahead of "Guinters". But our Ninja n ° 05 has a better pace than the RSV4 n ° 32….
Davies wins a place at the very end of the 3rd round: the Welshman has just overtaken his great English rival in the championship! Frustrated at losing ground, Sykes attacks to the max … and even momentarily leaves the track at the entrance (!) Of the 7th break. The ZX-10R narrowly crashes…
Guintoli steals his seventh place from Savadori on an authoritarian braking at the end of the pit straight, down to earth MotoGP style! The 2014 WSBK champion is 3.5 seconds behind his replacement at Yamaha Michael van der Mark … The Dutchman rolls in the wheel of Lowes, himself returned to the level of Sykes.
Melandri attacks Rea at the end of the 6th turn and passes! Marco plunges his head behind the bubble of his Ducati in the last sequence of super fast rights. In the following lap, Davies in turn won over the three-time world champion in the first – and big – braking of the circuit. But Rea retaliates at the end of the same loop and recovers second place.
The n ° 33 Ducati and the n ° 1 Kawasaki turned half a second faster than their pursuers two loops in a row and isolated themselves in the lead. Davies remains under direct threat from Sykes and the inseparable duo Lowes – Van der Mark try to stay in contact with the third step of the podium…
Our international Guintoli did not manage to get back on the two Yamaha: they preceded him by four seconds from the 10th lap. More annoying, Savadori keeps his RSV4 n ° 32 in the aspiration of the ZX-10R n ° 05 and suspicious on his seventh place … Fores and Ramos complete the Top 10.
Ahead, Jonathan Rea sets the fastest time in the race while there are still eight laps to go. Under pressure, Marco Melandri does not beat the record for "Number One" in the following lap, but manages to turn a little faster than his pursuer! In the 13th lap, the ruthless "JR" descends for the first time under 1 ’41…
Fifteen seconds behind the red leader, Laverty took advantage of a small gap by Ramos on the third corner of the 14th lap to grab tenth place in the race. Guintoli is still in seventh place and starts to move away from Savadori…
Titled against the clock for several laps by "Johnny", Marco left the track at the start of the 15th lap! The poleman nods, slaps and prostrates himself on his tank: his Ducati abandons him while he occupied the head of the race and responds solidly to the attacks – from a distance – of Rea !
Four laps from the checkered flag, Jonathan Rea therefore inherits the lead. His lead over Davies and Sykes is comfortable: two seconds. The three-time Superbike World Champion – now, never seen before! – just have to insure to get his very first victory in Jerez…
The show is far from over, however: two seconds behind the "Number One", the Ninja n ° 66 is only a few lengths behind the Ducati n ° 7. Beyond the second step of the podium, it is the second place of the 2017 championship that is played on the track !
Davies and Sykes embark on a pair of Superpole-worthy tricks! Admittedly, Tom is not close enough to Chaz to attempt an attack, and the duel is less gripping than the recent Dovizioso-Marquez battles in Grand Prix. But it must be recognized that Rea’s dolphins do not spare !
Jonathan Rea winds "quietly" towards his first success on the Andalusian circuit, his 13th victory of this 2017 season and the 51st of his career in World Superbike. A second later, Chaz Davies wins over Tom Sykes: the gap between the two men in the provisional falls to five points !
Alex Lowes largely wins his duel against his teammate Michael van der Mark. but the performance that most thrills the Blues – from France, not from Iwata! – is the sixth place of Sylvain Guintoli at the controls of a Kawasaki ZX-10RR which he only discovered yesterday morning !
Krummenacher’s replacement finished first private driver of this first Spanish round, far ahead of the Aprilia "Factory" of Savadori and Laverty: bravo Guinto! And strongly the second round, that he will start from the first row…
See you tomorrow, then, to follow the new adventures of "Guinters" … and attend the? Fingers crossed !
Result of the second WSBK 2017 race at Magny-Cours
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