WorldSBK Thailand: Bautista dominates, Rea gains, Yamaha entertains

The second round of WorldSBK 2019 took place this weekend in Buriram. Site does the accounts at the end of the three Superbike races in order to establish the overall podium of this Thai meeting. With three more victories on his Ducati, Alvaro Bautista continues to impress…

This year, the World Superbike riders are competing in three races per event! A first round on Saturday, the new "Superpole" race of 10 laps on Sunday morning, followed in the afternoon by the traditional second round. So lots of action, lots of points distributed (62 max) … But in the end, who won? ?

In order to establish the podium for each of the thirteen events of the 2019 WSBK championship, Site adds up the scores of each driver. This weekend in Buriram, the new terror of World Superbike struck again: Alvaro Bautista and his Ducati had a more than perfect weekend…

• WorldSBK Calendar :
• MNC special file :
• MNC special file :
• BMW, Ducati, Honda or Yamaha :

A month ago in Australia, Bautista lost to Rea during qualifying. Winner of the three races – all the same -, the Ducati rider n ° 19 had also turned a suspicion slower than the "Number One" of the discipline during the Superpole race (10 laps).

This weekend in Thailand, the Spanish "rookie" inscribed his name at the top of all timesheets and in front of all the best lap times, both in practice and in the race. He thus proves that his successes at Phillip Island were not just the result of his good knowledge of the circuit or of exceptional form….

As a reminder, Alvaro finished fourth in the 2018 Australian Grand Prix, replacing his compatriot Jorge Lorenzo on the official Desmosedici. But three weeks earlier, he had placed "only" 8th in the Thai GP at the controls of his GP17 prototype. This year in World Superbike, he won everything !

In this – all – start of the WSBK 2019 season, Bautista is collecting victories and awards. The statistics are all the more frightening as the organizers of the championship have decided to consider the Superpole races as rounds in their own right….

Bautista panics – news – statistics

“We realized that the quality of a race as close as the Tissot-Superpole Race was the perfect definition of our thrilling racing experience,” said Gregorio Lavilla, Executive Director Sport and Organization of WorldSBK. have decided to further promote the Tissot-Superpole Race and include its results in statistics and historical data ".

Thus, "the start of the Tissot-Superpole race will be counted as a start in WorldSBK", indicate the WSBK officials. Ditto for victories, podiums and the fastest laps! On the other hand, the pole position granted for the second round to the winner of the Superpole race is not counted as a Superpole … The victorious driver will have to be satisfied with a watch.

After the first two 2019 overseas races and thanks to his six straight wins, Alvaro Bautista is already beating Jonathan Rea’s best start to the season. In 2017 as a reminder, the Kawasaki rider had five consecutive victories before being beaten by Davies during the second round in Aragon..

The domination of Bautista this year is all the more brilliant as the boy has a superb style on the handlebars of his Panigale. Its entries in curve in particular are of any beauty, while gliding, while in control. In comparison, Rea shows up – has to show up? – much more academic, less aesthetic at the controls of his ZX-10RR.

In the box, on the grid or on the podium – all the way up! -, Bautista seduces just as much: always smiling and playful, he also scores big points with the public. We can imagine that his success – he is only the fourth Spaniard to win a pole after Carlos Checa (10), Ruben Xaus and Fonsi Nieto (1 each) – will encourage his compatriots to follow the World Superbike more … without winning. MotoGP of course !

Some observers point out, however, that the Ducati greatly simplifies the task of the former Grand Prix rider … Rea’s right-hand man, Kevin Havenhand, chirped at the end of the second round: "I’m not saying the Ducati is fast in a straight line, but that it takes off its own stickers ", he noted, photo in support.

The Ducati at full speed

The Panigale V4R does indeed accelerate – a lot? – stronger than its competitors and reaches significantly higher top speeds: 309.5 km / h in the race for Alvaro Bautista (the fastest on the field), against 302.5 km / h for Jonathan Rea, often dropped despite the phenomenon of aspiration…

"In the long straight, Ducati wins almost 0.3 seconds over Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki," Kenan Sofuoglu said from the track. But "the circuit has two long stretches. If you have a fast bike, that‘s an advantage. Bautista is almost half a second ahead only on the straights".

Would the Ducati bring its rider its victories on a silver platter? Certainly not. If so, Chaz Davies, Eugene Laverty and Michael Rinaldi should shine as bright as Bautista. Which is far from being the case at the moment…

Undoubtedly frustrated at not riding as fast as his new teammate, Davies just made a mistake in the first round, losing stupidly – easy to say behind his keyboard! – the front in the large pin n ° 3. The "Welsh Dragon" was able to regain the track to pocket the last point of 15th place.

Annoyed on Saturday afternoon when he returned to his box, "Chazie" was even more depressed the next day because of a technical glitch which prevented him from completing the second round. Eighth in the Superpole race, he left Thailand with three more points on the clock…

Then again, some fans – of # 7 – argue that Davies’ jig serves him up. But that cannot really explain his worries: admittedly, Chaz is taller and heavier than Alvaro (1.83 m for 70 kg against 1.69 m for 58 kg according to the MotoGP files). But these last two years, the n ° 7 had no trouble dominating the "jockey" Marco Melandri (1.66 m for 62 kg)…

We must save pilot Davies

On the other hand, Site must remind its readers that Davies was slowed down in his preparation this winter by two back injuries. But who knows if the 2011 Supersport world champion is not yet suffering – in silence – from some after-effects ?

Stealthily this weekend, as during his magnificent overtaking of Melandri and Van der Mark on the same braking (!), We believed to find the vice-world champion Superbike (2015, 2017 and 2018), the great rival of Rea … in vain.

"If only the races could look like this!", Jokes Chaz, posting on social networks a photo of himself, far ahead of his new teammate … but during a test session! "Whatever the results sheets say, we have taken a step forward in Thailand".

The former top rider of the Ducati Aruba team agrees that this weekend has been "difficult for me in the garage but, I thank my guys and the team. We will try to move this puzzle forward in Aragon!" A track on which he obtained excellent results, whatever his mount: podium in 2012 on the RSV4, doubled in 2013 with the S1000RR and four victories on the 1199 Panigale…

This weekend in Buriram, the driver behind the unbeatable Bautista in the race was Rea, again a thrice ! The n ° 1 Kawasaki thus continues to garner the maximum number of points that the n ° 19 Ducati leaves within reach of his opponents….

Winner of the last 11 races of the 2018 season (!), Jonathan Rea gets used to the idea that his place is now on the second step of the podium! Never since his transfer to Kawasaki, the ruthless "JR" had been similarly distraught.

The "Number One" relegated to second position

"He has never gone beyond six unsuccessful races," said the statisticians of the Superbike World Championship on Saturday night. It happened twice, in 2016: Rea was beaten in the summer by Davies, Sykes and the late Hayden, and dominated by Davies (6 wins in a row!).

What does Rea need to go find Bautista? The electronics of his Kawasaki are not called into question: always very fine, it allows for example "JR" to achieve excellent starts. It even seems thinner than that of the Ducati, as its great starts in the first round and in the Superpole race tend to prove..

The Ninja chassis seems just as valid: Rea seemed more incisive in the entry of the curve, faster at the chord point and not much slower at the exit. No, it was in the straight lines that the green man was taxed by the red rocket…

For once, Kawasaki should welcome changes to the maximum revs in the officials’ table. For information and in accordance with the regulations, the Bologna V4 is currently allowed to take 16,350 rpm, the new version of Akashi’s 4-legged 14,600 rpm and the new Munich 4-in-line 14,900 rpm…

At the end of the first heat, however, Jonathan Rea indicated that he had to work on his nose gear: due to the stifling temperatures (in the air as well as on the track) and the two grueling braking events on the Thai track, the front tire tired of his Ninja no longer allowed him to ride as hard as he wanted in the winding portions, where Rea was just falling behind.

Rea himself appeared exhausted after his first fight on Saturday afternoon. A hand-to-hand fight against Bautista! After catching his breath and his wits on ring strings gates of the closed park, the "Number One" returned to the "clash" of this weekend…

It’s clashe – a little – in World Superbike

"Alvaro widened. I slipped inside and unfortunately our paths crossed. I was relieved to see that he was still racing," summed up the Kawasaki rider. For his part, the Ducati rider did not hide his astonishment: "I braked on the inside. In this turn, we go a bit wide. He climbed up the rope and touched me. It can be seen clearly".

Wow! How on earth did keep the bike upright here? Incredible skills

– Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK)

The contact between the Spanish "rookie" and the Northern Irish champion in Turn 3 did not ultimately affect the result … But if Bautista hadn’t miraculously managed to – had the chance to – stay on his wheels, Rea would have won the race and today is only a small point behind.

On his own Panigale V4 R, Eugene Laverty had a lot less luck … Or more exactly, no brakes at all as he tumbled into the last corner of the third lap! As in Imola in 2017, the Irish rider was forced to jump off his motorcycle. Gloups.

“Still in shock,” “Yudjine” posted a few minutes later. "For the fourth time in my career, I came into a bend without brakes and had to jump to 200 km / h", recounts the Ducati Go Eleven team rider in spite of himself….

"Once in the career of a pilot, it can happen", estimates Laverty – who is worth twice two, four … "Twice, it is rare. Three times, it is that I had to to be a real bastard in a previous life. But four times !? ", he wonders in awe. Would he be the most disgusting pilot the Earth has ever worn ?

"It’s in days like this that I realize how lucky I am to have Alpinestars and Shoei protecting me", skilfully slips the Irish rider who was celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day the next day … but did not have better luck so far !

It crashes – also – in World Superbike

On Sunday, Eugene could not drive! His motorcycle exploded the day before was not ready Sunday morning for the Superpole race, despite the support of the Ducati factory. Ascent for the second race, his Panigale was not allowed to return to the track due to technical problems. Who could give Mister Laverty a four leaf clover? ?

On a lesser level, Alex Lowes is also lacking a bit of luck: without this phenomenal Bautista, the No.22 Yamaha would undoubtedly be the star of the start of the season. He is indeed the only driver – from last year – to put pressure on quadruple world champion Jonathan Rea !

With his three third places in Thailand, the 2013 British Superbike champion climbs to third place in the provisional classification. He has so far accumulated 69 points, against 124 for Bautista (out of 124 max!), 98 for Rea, 61 for his teammate Van der Mark and 54 for his colleague Melandri.

As Eric de Seynes, the French general manager of Yamaha Motor Europe rightly points out: "Fortunately, Yamaha is here to fight!" And we thank the Iwata firm for providing powerful R1s to four talented pilots !

Melandri in particular, stood out again this weekend by attempting, for example, an original overtaking on Davies in turn n ° 9: the Italian driver cut to the shortest and broke the trajectory of the Welshman, visibly very surprised, not to not say irritated, by this maneuver.

Likewise, the new neck-and-neck battles – literally! – between Marco Melandri and Leon Haslam delighted the vast Thai public. But the former Grand Prix star didn’t even need competitors to put on a show: seeing him handle the violent guiding of his Superbike at the end of the straight as well as possible was as entertaining as it was agonizing. !

Melandri, the macho, hot, "show" !

Fortunately for Yamaha riders, this curious instability of the R1 at very high speed only concerns n ° 33. Would Melandri settle anyhow too singularly his motorcycle? MNC remembers that the "Hedgehog of Ravenna" had been confronted with the same problem on his Panigale "V2" last year. That hadn’t stopped him from holding out on Rea on Philip Island … But at what cost ?!

Titled last year on the R6, Sandro Cortese confirmed in Thailand that he had the R1 well in hands gloves. Like his colleagues from Iwata and his better-placed rivals, the German driver tripled his bet at Buriram by completing the same Top 7 in all three races. WorldSBK hierarchy was clear, crisp and respected in Buriram !

At the helm of his all-new BMW, Tom Sykes has too briefly seemed able to upset the established order. At the very start of the first race, the n ° 66 climbed to third place! But its end of the race, like its end of the weekend, were much more discreet.

Betrayed like Davies by his mechanics in the second round, the 2013 world champion did not add any points to the seven collected on Saturday. Tom still passes in front of Chaz in the championship. His team-mate Markus Reiterberger scored as many points as him over the whole of the two days.

The German Superbike and Superstock 1000 champion (last year, on the occasion of the last year of this category) is not yet at the level, but he is diligent and knows he can do better. He has already done it: for the record, "Reiti" had finished fifth in the first round of 2016 of Buriram on the old generation of the S1000RR.

BMW in break-in, Honda in withdrawal

Finally, Honda is still a red lantern, despite the very official involvement of the HRC! But what are the engineers in Tokyo doing? And what are their pilots doing? Leon Camier was unlucky in Thailand: he could not avoid guest driver Thitipong Warokorn, who fell in front of his wheels in the seventh lap of the Superpole race (hence the red flag).

The English No. 2 could not get up on his own from his fall and had to watch the second round of his box, "due to a sprained right knee with avulsion of the tibial spine", the team said. medical on site. Hit in the spine, the Thai pilot would have two broken vertebrae, but his spinal cord would be unharmed. Phew !

With only 13 riders at the finish of the second round, it was enough to score three points this Sunday in WSBK, to stay on its wheels and reach the finish! Well, we also had to qualify, which is not given to everyone … Alessandro Delbianco and his CBR1000RR (which gives around twenty km / h to bautista in a straight line) did it. !

WorldSBK Ranking 2019 after Thailand

WorldSBK 2019 result: 1st race in Thailand

WorldSBK 2019 result: Superpole race in Thailand

WorldSBK 2019 result: 2nd race in Thailand

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