WSBK Spain (1): Davies still winner, Kawasaki still champion !
Starting from sixth place on the grid, Chaz Davies once again transcended in the race, winning the first Spanish round of Superbike hands down. Sykes and Rea complete the podium to secure Kawasaki second straight world title.
Departure : Jonathan Rea takes off much better than poleman Tom Sykes. Kawasaki n ° 1 and 66 are followed by Yamaha n ° 22 from Alex Lowes, Ducati n ° 7, 34 and 12 from Chaz Davies, Davide Giugliano and Xavi Fores, Honda n ° 69 from Nicky Hayden, Yam n ° 50 by Sylvain Guintoli, BMW n ° 81 by Jordi Torres and Honda n ° 60 by Michael van den Mark.
In the opposite straight line – downhill, while the pit lane is uphill – Chaz overtakes Alex but the R1 takes its place in front of the Panigale in the following sequence! Jordi then Michael successively overtake Sylvain a little later during the 1st round.
Sykes overtakes Rea at the end of the first loop and starts the second lap just ahead of the "Number One" of the discipline who keeps the pressure on his teammate and runner-up in the championship. Fores and Giugliano were eliminated from the race, both losing the front in the first corner, but without touching each other. !
As at Magny-Cours, Davies takes advantage of the magnificent fight between the two Ninjas: he finishes the 2nd loop between Sykes and Rea … Lowes in his turn falls and gives way to Hayden: the American is at a small second of the head. A few lengths behind, Torres and VDM move away from Guintoli.
Tom Sykes sets the fastest time in the race on the 3rd lap but Chaz Davies only concedes a few hundredths of a second. Rea him, turns half a second slower and loses contact on Ducati n ° 7 which attacks Kawasaki n ° 66 at the last corner of the 4th lap !
In the next two laps, Davies gradually distances Sykes, caught by his teammate Rea. Hayden is one second behind the reigning world champion, but almost two seconds ahead of Van den Mark, past Torres. Guintoli is 1.5 seconds away from this duo and must beware of Camier…
At the end of the 8th lap, the gaps between the four leaders reach a big second but Davies has a better pace than Sykes: his lead exceeds two seconds two laps later! Rea is still a step below and is himself two seconds behind Sykes at the start of the 11th lap.
Hayden is also dominated: the n ° 69 rolls two seconds behind Rea, but two seconds in front of his teammate Van den Mark … Fortunately, Guintoli ensures a minimum of spectacle by going up on Torres: the "Frenchie" besides stings its sixth place in the "Spanish Elvis" in the 12th round.
Like Guintoli, Camier is significantly faster than Torres, which helps spice up the halfway point. Likewise, while Reiterberger occupies a solitary ninth place, a fine battle for the next place opposes Brookes and De Angelis. Fallen, Matthieu Lussiana is unfortunately out of the race.
Alone in the lead, Chaz Davies and his factory Ducati drive a little faster than the two official Kawasaki. At the end of the 15th lap, the Welsh n ° 7 cumulates almost four seconds ahead of the English n ° 66, and nearly six seconds over the North Irish n ° 1.
Almost twenty seconds behind the leader, Camier easily overtakes Torres: the n ° 2 MV Agusta climbs to seventh position, three short seconds behind our national n ° 50 on his Yamaha that Leon can no longer hope to catch in just four laps. Van den Mark on the contrary, could well win a place…
In the very last loops, in fact, the Dutch n ° 60 got back on his teammate, the "legendary" American n ° 69! With two laps to go, Nicky is only seven tenths of a second ahead of "Magic Michael". This gap, the 2006 MotoGP champion manages to maintain in the penultimate lap, but not in the next !
In the final loop, in fact, Hayden sees Van den Mark approaching dangerously, so much so that the two Fireblades are only separated by four tiny hundredths of a second when crossing the finish line, 13 seconds after the masterful Davies, the resistant Sykes and patient Rea…
By accompanying Chaz to the podium this Saturday, Tom and Jonathan offer Kawasaki the double in the constructors’ world championship: the Akashi firm – which has not come down from the podium all year – totals 552 points, against 442 for Ducati definitely beaten while there are still three races to go (one tomorrow in Jerez, two in two weeks at Losail).
In the drivers’ standings, Jonathan Rea sees his lead reduced by four points against Tom Sykes (44 therefore). To seal his second WSBK coronation tomorrow, the "Number One" will have to score six more points than his teammate the "number sixty-six"…
Given the dominance of Chaz, Tom and Jonathan this Saturday – but also throughout the season, as the British have shared nine out of 23 podiums! -, a single combination will give "the ruthless JR" access to the 2016 title: Rea will have to beat Davies then Sykes…
See you tomorrow for the second Superbike round (start at 1pm), and for the Supersport race (11:20 am)! In the SSP category too, Kawasaki will play for the title, along with its n ° 1 driver Kenan Sofuoglu. Business to follow on site: stay connected !
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