WSBK Qatar (1): Marseillaise and great hope for Guintoli

Sylvain Guintoli made excellent use of his powerful RSV4 to win in the first round of the WSBK 2014 final. The n ° 50 rider gave Aprilia his 4th constructor title and was only three points behind the champion Sykes… First Superbike race Davide Giugliano started very well from his pole position but was quickly overtaken by Tom…

Sylvain Guintoli made excellent use of his powerful RSV4 to win in the first round of the WSBK 2014 final. The n ° 50 driver gives Aprilia his 4th constructor title and is only three points behind the champion Sykes…

First Superbike race

Davide Giugliano started very well from his pole position but was quickly overtaken by Tom Sykes, Sylvain Guintoli and Jonathan Rea. The n ° 65 takes 2nd place in the second corner. Sykes is therefore ahead of Rea, Guintoli, Baz, Giugliano, Haslam, Davies, Laverty, Melandri and Canepa (first Evo). Guarnoni and Barrier are 16th and 17th.

"Bazooka" and his official Ninja overtake Guintoli and his factory RSV4 in the first lap. Rea and his Honda take the lead from Sykes and his Kawa ‘in the last corner of the first lap but Sykes and Baz’s ZX-10Rs devour the CBR1000RR in the following straight line !

Baz took the lead under braking ahead of Rea who took the lead on the "Number One" on the brakes. The challenger Guintoli is found just behind the champion Sykes who had 12 points more than him in the championship before the red lights went out! Guintoli is driving in front of the two official Ducatis. Melandri and Haslam are half a second away.

Loris Baz took to the chase and started the 3rd lap with more than half a second ahead of Rea. For the moment, Sykes is not threatened directly by his pursuer Guintoli. But it shouldn’t be long before the pressure Davies – and Giugliano! – put on the shoulders of our "Guinters".

Baz continues to attack but does not increase his second lead at the end of the 4th loop. Rea hangs on as Sykes seems to lose touch. Guintoli reacts immediately by passing the Kawasaki in the straight line: the new engine of the n ° 50 runs very – very – hard !

Giugliano and Davies greatly animate the start of the 6th lap: the Italian tries to put the brakes on the Welshman but the latter recovers his fifth place thanks to a slight gap from his teammate! Marco Melandri is seated in the front row to watch the show, but was not close enough to participate…

The Ravenna Hedgehog therefore raised the tone on the 7th lap and passed Giugliano at the end of the straight. In front, Baz is caught by the hunting group made up of Rea and Guintoli! Sykes is several lengths behind his enemy n ° 50 and surely hears the Panigale n ° 7 screaming behind him, in the turns more than in the straight line….

The halfway mark is crossed and Baz still leads the leading trio. Behind Rea and Guintoli, the second group includes Sykes, Davies, Melandri and Giugliano. Barrier and Guarnoni are in the points, seven seconds behind their great rivals Salom and Canepa.

Guintoli hoisted his factory RSV4 to second, braking harder and shorter than Rea at the very start of the 9th lap. The Frenchie is half a second from Baz at the end of this loop, and two places ahead of Sykes: the Frenchie is virtually 5 points behind the English Ninja !

Guintoli’s teammate, Marco Melandri, gains a place in the 10th lap and is now aiming for the Kawasaki n ° 1 … A big second ahead, Guintoli locks "Bazooka" in the viewfinder of his Aprilia but the "Green Giant" has a sacred rhythm in the long and wide rows of the Qatari circuit.

In the straight line, however, Guinters can count on Noale’s V4 to get back on Akashi’s 4-in-line! Johnny Rea loses contact with the two leading Frenchmen and is caught by his compatriot Sykes … and by the Italian Melandri !

The 12th lap is on and Melandri overtakes Sykes with authority in turn 6, almost resting his RSV4 on the Ninja’s fairing! Two seconds ahead, Guintoli takes the lead in the race starting the 14th lap! The French then has 2 points ahead of Sykes…

Melandri passed Rea in the same straight line. Unlike Baz who cannot follow Guintoli, Rea stays in Melandri‘s wheel and overtakes him in the last sequence of the 14th lap. Sykes overtakes Aprilia n ° 33 at the start of the 15th lap and whips his Kawasaki to get back on Honda n ° 65 !

Tom overtook Johnny in the straight line, failed to break out under braking but managed to take the rope of the first turn and validated his third place. Tom regains the advantage in the championship, 3 points ahead of Guintoli! The latter continues his brilliant race and is almost two seconds ahead of Baz.

Baz’s panelist activates to let Loris know he must give way to Sykes when the last trick has just been launched! Sylvain Guintoli flies to his fourth victory of the season while Loris Baz does not give up and crosses the finish line in second position ahead of Tom Sykes.

Aprilia can be doubly satisfied with this first Qatari round! First of all because Sylvain is only three points behind Tom in the championship and will play for the title in the second round (start at 8 pm!) … Then because the constructor title has now been acquired for the Italian brand. Well done Aprilia !

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