WSBK – WSBK Spain (1): doubled by Ninjas Sykes and Baz –

WSBK Spain (1): doubled by Ninjas Sykes and Baz

WSBK - WSBK Spain (1): doubled by Ninjas Sykes and Baz -

After their double in the Superpole, the two official Kawasaki riders Tom Sykes and Loris Baz continued in the first round by installing their ZX-10R on the first two steps of a podium completed by Jonathan Rea and his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade…

After their double in Superpole, the two official Kawasaki riders Tom Sykes and Loris Baz continued in the first round by installing their ZX-10R on the first two steps of a podium completed by Jonathan Rea and his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade…

First Superbike race

The poleman Tom Sykes takes the command, assisted by his lieutenant Loris Baz. Next come Davide Giugliano, Jonathan Rea, Sylvain Guintoli, Marco Melandri, Chaz Davies, Marco Melandri, Chaz Davies, Toni Elias, Alex Lowes, Leon Camier, Eugene Laverty, Leon Haslam, David Salom, etc..

The first retirement of this first race came very early: victim of a technical problem with his ZX-10R Evo, Fabien Foret had to retire after only a few meters. The n ° 9 will try to recover in the second heat…

On the track, Sykes attacked very hard from the first lap and only Baz and Giugliano managed to stall in his wake. The Ducati is particularly impressive as it manages to follow the official Kawasaki in the long straight !

Rea and his Honda n ° 65 are just a second ahead of the two official Aprilias of Melandri and Guintoli, chased by the – still in Aragon – flamboyant Davies. The n ° 7 also jostles Guinters after the braking of the straight line but cannot conclude his attack.

In the second round, Johnny Rea loses company with Marco Melandri. Stuck in his teammate’s wheel, Sylvain Guintoli could not defend his sixth place against the aggressive Davies who succeeded in his second braking attack … but went off the track a few bends further and joined the track again behind the n ° 50 !

Already very small in the retros – nonexistent – of the leading men, the first Evo rider is Niccolo Canepa: the Ducati Althea rider occupies twelfth place ahead of a much less valiant Eugene Laverty than in Australia. Behind the Irishman are the other Evo de Salom, Guarnoni, Badovini, Iddon, Morais.

At the forefront, Giugliano dives inside Baz who certainly did not expect it and must quickly raise his Ninja to let the boiling Panigale pass! Far behind, Geoff May’s 1190RX EBR breaks and forces the American driver to abandon this first race of the day.

Sykes continued his race alone and increased his lead to more than two seconds at the end of the 6th lap. Baz would taste this loneliness well: the n ° 34 Panigale cannot launch an attack but maintains the pressure. Rea remains in fourth position one second off the podium.

A hunting party fights for fifth place: Guintoli passes in front of Melandri and leaves him to manage Davies. Much faster in the curves, the Welshman and his 1199 lack a little speed in the stretches to win against the RSV4.

In front, Baz takes advantage of his maximum speed to surprise Giugliano at the end of the straight line. Our n ° 76 recovers "his" second place in the 8th lap. The "Savoyard Cheetah" is nearly three seconds behind its leader, author of the fastest lap in the race.

The halfway mark is crossed and the world champion manages the situation perfectly. The "Number One" of the World Superbike has a comfortable lead over his teammate Bazooka who gradually separates from Giugliano, less incisive than at the start of the race.

Jonathan Rea is still posted in fourth position but regularly comes back to the Italian and his Panigale. Four seconds behind the Irishman, Guintoli moves away from the inseparable duo Melandri and Davies. Six seconds later, Elias, Lowes, Laverty and Haslam provide a beautiful show !

Davies gains a place in the 12th lap by passing Melandri. The two men can no longer claim the podium: Giugliano is six seconds behind! Laverty snatched eighth place from Elias. A good fight also opposes Badovini, Salom and Guarnoni for the 13th position, ten seconds behind Camier, first Evo.

With four laps to go, Tom Sykes increased his lead to four seconds and headed for his first victory in 2014. Loris Baz also continued to put on the gas because Davide Giugliano was only two seconds away, ready to take advantage of the slightest error of the French, but the Italian is himself threatened…

Fourth with more than seven seconds behind Sykes, Johnny Rea is the last to turn under 2 minutes. Davies has definitely got rid of Guintoli who suddenly loses his footing, just like Melandri lost in tenth position behind Laverty and Elias, and just ahead of Haslam and Lowes !

"Guinters" had to bow to his former teammate "Youdjine" Laverty and his Suzuki, in the penultimate loop. The Frenchie must therefore be satisfied with seventh place. On the other factory Aprilia, Melandri loses a new place against the other Suz ‘of British champion Alex Lowes.  

On the last lap, Jonathan Rea attacked the final straight in Davide Giugliano’s asphalt and dislocated the Ducati on the long downhill before falling back in front of him. The Italian keeps a little more speed entering the turn, gets inside but hits the Honda and falls !

Tom Sykes wins the race ahead of his teammate Loris Baz! The two official Kawasaki riders are accompanied on this first Spanish podium by Jonathan Rea, fortunately unscathed from his confrontation with Davide Giugliano who crosses the finish line in eighth position…

In the meantime, Chaz Davies has taken fourth place in his Ducati. Eugene Laverty hoists his Suzuki to fifth place ahead of Sylvain Guintoli and Toni Elias Aprilia. Britons Leon Haslam and Alex Lowes complete the "Top ten".

Sylvain Barrier’s replacement, Leon Camier, finished in twelfth place behind Marco Melandri. As the first driver of the Evo subcategory, he posts his BMW S1000RR alongside the Ninjas and Fireblade in the parc ferme. Well done, Leon !

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