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WorldSBK: Van der Mark Takes First 2019 Win, Bautista Crashes

The second race in the sixth round of the 2019 Superbike World Championship was a lively one to begin with, with strong fighting in the opening laps, before the pack stretched out and Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) proved a dominant winner for the first time in 2019.

It was Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) who made the holeshot but, as in the Saturday race, Bautista was through at turn five. It was expected at this point that, as per usual, Bautista would disappear. However, the Spaniard went on to make his first mistake in a race of the year, crashing out early on at turn one. He got the bike back to the pits and, eventually, back out into the race, but was unable to score points.

Alvaro Bautista crashing out of Race Two of WSBK Jerez 2019. Image courtesy of Ducati

This presented a golden opportunity for Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) to take some points out of the championship lead of Bautista, which was forty-three points before the weekend. Ordinarily, the absence of Bautista would see Rea win, but Michael van der Mark had other ideas. After struggling to pass Rea for a number of laps the Dutchman managed to secure a lead. Rea hung on for several laps, but with six to go van der Mark started to pull away from the reigning champion.

The race was then cut short by a red flag for a crash for Ryuichi Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team). The crash brought gravel onto the track, which was deemed to unsafe by race direction. Since there were only two laps to go, the result was declared, and van der Mark declared the winner. Although he was unable to be strong in Superpole on Saturday, van der Mark’s race pace was strong all weekend, second only to Bautista. The mistake from Bautista gave van der Mark the opportunity, which he took with a dominant performance.

The second place of Rea was an important one with the non-scoring ride of Bautista. Unusually, Rea was unable to fight for the victory in Bautista’s absence, but van der Mark was simply too fast. Anyway, the reigning champion ended the weekend two points closer to Bautista than where he began it, which seemed unlikely on Saturday.

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) took his third career WorldSBK podium. He was with Rea and van der Mark when Bautista went down, but was unable to live with their pace when van der Mark started to push on. Nonetheless, it was a strong result for the Turk, and shows his rostrum in Imola was not a fluke.

It was a strong ride for Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing) who scored his best result in WorldSBK in fourth, ahead of Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) who complered the top five. Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) was sixth ahead of Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK), Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing), Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha) who took the first top ten since his return to WSBK, and Tommy Bridewell (Team Goeleven) who completed the top ten.

Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) was eleventh, ahead of Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK), Yuki Takahashi (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) who scored his first WSBK points, and Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) who was the final finisher in fourteenth, two laps down thanks to a crash on lap one at turn two.

Chaz Davis at Jerez WSBK 2019. Image courtesy of Ducati

Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) and Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) came to blows on lap five, when the Italian tried to use the superior mid-corner performance of the R1 to pass Davies in turn five. However, he didn’t get the move done, made contact with the Ducati rider and took them both down. Davies was out on the spot, whilst Melandri get his bike back to the pits, although he didn’t get back out. Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team) saw his race end on lap seven, whilst Bautista was only able to complete nine laps despite getting back out on track after his crash. Ryuichi Kiyonari was okay after his turn eleven crash which caused the race-ending red flag.

Featured Image courtesy Yamaha Racing

10th June 2019
Vettel: ‘We deserved the win’ at Canadian Grand Prix

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel says he believes the team ‘deserved the win’ at the Canadian Grand Prix, after a controversial penalty demoted him to second place behind the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.

Vettel had started on pole and led for much of the race, however on lap 48, with Hamilton breathing down his neck, he lost the rear of his car going into turn three and ran over the grass. He rejoined the track and did keep his lead, but the stewards deemed the manner in which he had rejoined to have been unsafe. The FIA said he had forced Hamilton off the track, and gave Vettel a five-second penalty to be added to his time at the end of the race.

Vettel took the chequered flag just over two and a half seconds ahead of Hamilton, meaning he was classified P2 once the penalty was applied.

“I think we had a great race,” Vettel said, “and the stewards’ decision is too harsh.

“In turn three, I lost control of my car and I had to run long onto the grass, rejoining at turn four ahead of Lewis. I couldn’t see where he was, as I was too busy trying to keep my car on track without crashing and I didn’t squeeze him on purpose.”

2019 Canadian Grand Prix, Sunday – LAT Images

The penalty was met with almost universal condemnation, with many voicing their support for Vettel and Ferrari. Vettel himself expressed his regret that the penalty meant he was unable to repay the support of the fans at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with what would have been Ferrari’s best result of the season so far.

“I think given the way things wen this weekend and even though our rivals’ race pace was very strong, we deserved the win,” Vettel said. “I get the impression that lots of the spectators here today at the circuit agree with me.

“It’s always nice to race in Canada. I feel a lot of support from the people and it would have been wonderful to have given all our fans the first big result of the season.”

Ferrari’s Team Principal Mattia Binotto echoed Vettel’s sentiments, and spoke of the team’s decision to appeal the penalty.

“At the moment, we, as a team, are naturally disappointed, but most of all our thoughts are with Sebastian and the spectators,” he said. “As for Seb, I don’t think he could have done things differently, which is why we have decided to appeal the stewards’ decision.”

[Featured image – Ferrari Media]

10th June 2019
WorldSBK: More Bautista Dominance, Rea From Last to Fourth in Jerez Superpole Race

The Superpole race from the sixth round of the 2019 Superbike World Championship saw Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) starting from pole position as retrospective penalties for Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) after the first race of the weekend saw him start from last in the sprint race.

That meant there was a great race in prospect, with Rea fighting through from the back, whilst the riders starting from the front would be fighting hard for the crucial top nine positions for the race two grid.

Rea was quick to come through the pack, and was in the top ten from nineteenth after the first two laps, while Bautista had cleared off out the front after converting his pole position to a holeshot. At the same time, Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) made a good start, launching ahead of Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) off the line, and making good his case for a second top-three of the weekend, pulling away from the rest of the pack as they fought behind.

Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes at Jerez WSBK 2019. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing

One of those fights was between the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK riders of Lowes and Michael van der Mark, with the two exchanging positions on several occasions in the opening lap. Van der Mark was eventually able to establish himself in fourth place ahead of Lowes after the pair overcame Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK), and not long after the battle came to a close courtesy of a crash for the 2013 BSB champion.

Lowes’ crash promoted Rea to sixth place, which he soon turned to fifth by passing Sykes, and then fourth by overtaking his teammate, Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), just five corners later.

At the same time, van der Mark was closing on Melandri ahead in an all-Yamaha battle for second. Rea was no faster than either of the Yamaha riders ahead of him, so was in need of a battle between the Dutchman and the Italian.

Unfortunately for the reigning World Champion that battle never arose between Melandri and van der Mark, as the #33 was not able to retaliate when van der Mark made his move.

Once again, though, no one could touch Bautista out front, who won by 2.743 seconds over the ten laps. With Rea finishing in fourth, it was a six-point increase to Bautista’s championship advantage, which now stands at sixty-one points.

It was another strong performance from van der Mark to finish second, his second top two of the weekend. There were some strong moves from the Dutchman in the early laps, but once he smoothed himself out it was almost inevitable that he would end up second.

This is in spite of another strong ride by Marco Melandri, who continues his turnaround from the last few races where he has been seen to struggle a lot. Finishing ahead of Jonathan Rea on merit is testament to that.

Álvaro Bautista winner of Super pole at Jerez WSBK 2019, Michael van der Mark second and Marco Melandri Third Image courtesy of Ducati

For Rea himself, fourth place is perhaps as much as he could have hoped for, considering the strength of the Yamaha in Jerez this weekend, an it was another exceptional comeback from a lowly grid position for the four-times champion.

Tom Sykes’ gamble on the SCX tyre was enough to hold off Leon Haslam to round out the top five, whilst Haslam took sixth place ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing); Jordi Torres who is continuing his exceptional weekend for Team Pedercini Racing; Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) and Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) who completed the top ten despite making a step forward in morning warm up, in which he was fourth fastest.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing) took eleventh place, ahead of Tommy Bridewell (Team Goeleven) who made steps, like Davies, in warm up. It was Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) in thirteenth, ahead of Yuki Takahashi (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) and Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) who completed the top fifteen. Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team) was sixteenth ahead of Ryuichi Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) who was the last of the seventeen finishers.

Loris Baz (Ten Kata Racing – Yamaha) started from pit lane, and was out by the end of lap one, whilst Lowes crashed on lap four of the Superpole race, leaving his team some work to do before the second full length race of the weekend.

Featured Image courtesy of Ducati

10th June 2019
Controversial penalty costs victory for Vettel

Sebastian Vettel drove a storming lap in almost perfect conditions in qualifying at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montréal on Saturday, clocking a stunning lap time of 1:10.240. It was a new track record and the 56th pole position of the German’s career.

The rest of the grid shaped up with a few surprise results, including Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen who was knocked out in Q1 and started in P17. Kevin Magnussen suffered a crash at the infamous Wall of Champions, ruining the lap times of several other drivers in the final moments of Q2, including the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, who was forced to start in 11th place.

As a result of Magnussen’s crash, several repairs were required and the Haas team later announced that he would be starting the race from the pit lane, moving every driver up a place from P10 to P20.

The most surprising result of the day, was Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo, who drove a stunning lap to secure fourth place, his highest qualifying spot with the Enstone-based team so far.

Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) Renault F1 Team RS19.
Canadian Grand Prix, Saturday 8th June 2019. Montreal, Canada.

With Vettel leading the pack for Ferrari, current championship leader Lewis Hamilton started alongside him, ahead of Charles Leclerc and Ricciardo on the second row. Both Leclerc and Ricciardo were seeking a strong result after experiencing some bad luck in the first six races of the season.

The race began under blue skies, with Vettel stretching out a 1.2 second lead after the first lap, with the top four retaining their initial positions. Lando Norris and Max Verstappen had an exciting scrap for P8, however by lap nine the McLaren driver had retired from the race, after the sweltering heat affected both his suspension and brakes.

Valtteri Bottas was threatened by Verstappen, with the Dutchman using DRS in an attempt to pass.

Antonio Giovinazzi was extremely lucky and miraculously avoided hitting the Wall of Champions as Hamilton closed the gap to Vettel. The Brit got very close, however he then locked up and lost a chunk of time.

Vettel became the first of the leaders to pit when he came in on lap 26. Mercedes, meanwhile, left Hamilton out on track, feeling there wasn’t a big enough gap between the pair for Hamilton to come out of his stop ahead of the Ferrari driver.

2019 Canadian Grand Prix, Saturday – Wolfgang Wilhelm

He would pit two laps later, with both Vettel and teammate Leclerc were told to switch to ‘plan B’ of their strategy. On lap 33, Leclerc pitted, however he found himself stuck in traffic alongside Verstappen in the Red Bull.

Other noticeable incidents saw Giovinazzi spin and Hülkenberg speak of his concerns over team radio regarding downshifts in the gearbox. His teammate Ricciardo brilliantly defended his position against Bottas as Leclerc passed Verstappen for third. Hamilton once again closed the gap to Vettel, and by lap 39 the leaders were less than a second apart.

Hamilton went too deep at the hairpin and lost some time, while Vettel went on to post the fastest lap of the race on lap 42.

Further down the field, Pierry Gasly struggled to pass Lance Stroll, who was still racing with the tyres he had started on.

Vettel voiced his concerns about the temperature of his brakes and, on lap 48, went wide on the grass, almost losing the lead of the race to Hamilton. Hamilton reported the incident to his team.

GP CANADA F1/2019 – SABATO 08/06/2019
credit: @Scuderia Ferrari Press Office

Verstappen passed both Renaults to take P5 and the stewards announced that they were investigating the incident between Hamilton and Vettel. This resulted in a five-second penalty being given to the Ferrari driver, due to unsafe re-entry and forcing another driver off track. This decision was met with much criticism from the German, stating that the stewards were stealing the victory from him.

With just five laps remaining in the Grand Prix, Toro Rosso’s Albon retired, his car having suffered damage during an early clash with Giovinazzi. Leclerc attempted to catch Hamilton, as Bottas dived into the pits in order to seal a bonus point for the fastest lap. Carlos Sainz lost two more places, to Racing Point driver Stroll and Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat.

Sebastian Vettel crossed the finish line first, however Lewis Hamilton ultimately inherited the victory after Vettel’s five-second penalty. Leclerc managed to close the gap and just missed out in taking second place from his teammate.

The final result also saw Bottas in fourth, Verstappen in fifth and a stellar performance from Daniel Ricciardo secured sixth, with his teammate Hülkenberg just behind. Gasly finished in eighth with Kvyat in tenth and Lance Stroll securing points in P9 at his home race.

Valtteri Bottas snatched the fastest lap of the race with a 1:13:078. Sebastian Vettel was voted driver of the day and in his frustration, after the race, switched the 1st and 2nd place signs in parc fermé. He would also receive two penalty points on his super license.

The 8th round of the 2019 Formula 1 season will begin with Free Practice on the 21st of June at Circuit Paul Ricard for the French Grand Prix.

[Featured image – Scuderia Ferrari Press Office]

9th June 2019
British F3: Race Three – Simmons wins to complete a solid weekend

Chris Dittmann Racing’s Ayrton Simmons took his and his team’s first ever British F3 victory to crown a solid weekend at the office.

Simmons took the win to back up earlier finishes of third and fifth in the reverse-grid Race Two, while Johnathan Hoggard took second ahead of Kaylen Frederick and Kiern Jewiss in fourth.

It was Neil Verhagen and Clement Novalak that took the chequered flag in the top two on the road, but the pair were given five second time penalties

Hillspeed’s Sasakorn Chaimongkol was seventh ahead of Manuel Maldonado in eighth for Fortec. with Hampus Ericsson was ninth ahead of Race Two winner Benjamin Pedersen.

For Verhagen and Novalak, it was a case of trying to extend the gap to Simmons and Hoggard behind, it was always going to be an uphill task with the top five very evenly matched, Kaylen Frederick in particular keeping his counsel to maintain third.

Post race a 10 second penalty was issued by the Clerk of the Course to Nazim Azman for making contact with Lucas Petersson at Stowe, forcing Petersson to spin. Azman receives three penalty points.

9th June 2019
British GT – Loggie – That Silverstone victory was justice

Iain Loggie felt that his and Callum Macleod’s victory at the British GT’s Silverstone 500 even was justice after an unfortunate start to the season.

Loggie was taken out from the lead at Oulton Park after showing excellent pace all weekend, while he and Macleod did not compete at Snetterton after Loggie was injured in an horrific cycling accident.

The Scotsman feels that it was about time RAM had some luck.

“I thought after we went pole at Oulton it would be about getting out of the first two corners safely as we were seven or eight tenths clear so no one would be able to overtake you. So I think it is justice for that and even more justice as we didn’t compete at Snetterton.”

Loggie broke several bones in the accident that ruled him and Macleod out of the Snetterton event, but despite the severe injuries felt fine at the British GT series’ longest race.

“It’s been great, that was five weeks after a massive cycling crash, I broke my collarbone in two places and my wrist in half a dozen places. Five weeks ago I was on the operating table so to be back here at Silverstone and win is amazing, I am really pleased.

“I am all good, the second stint I was starting to feel my wrist a little bit but I am absolutely fine and I will be a thousand percent right for Donnington in a couple of weeks time. Hopefully we can do something there.”

Loggie had an early battle with the racey Shaun Balfe in the McLaren 720S as the two and Graham Davidson battled for the GT3 lead early in the race.

The 56-year-old was never worried about contact behind from behind, with the battle between two experienced Am drivers a very clean affair.

“To be honest we had noticed that the Balfe McLarens had been quick all weekend. I actually didn’t feel the pressure from the McLaren because I know the driver of that was very experienced and he wasn’t going to run into the back or hit you or do anything silly.

“I was happy and was able to concentrate on the track in front but at the same time knowing that I can’t make any mistakes, keep it clean and don’t get any penalties.”

And the Scotsman was full of praise for teammate Macleod and his final stint to take the lead late on, after rival Jonny Adam came to grief against the Ford Mustang GT4 entry of Chad McCumbee.

“Callum did a great job there, he was four seconds back to start with and within five laps it was five tenths. It was unfortunate for Jonny but that was nothing more than sheer pressure from Callum and it meant that the driver in front has got to make a move.”

9th June 2019
British GT – Macleod: That win was for you, dad

Callum Macleod dedicated victory at Silverstone to his late father after a late pass on Jonny Adam saw the RAM Racing Mercedes take victory at the British GT’s crown jewel event.

Macleod and teammate Iain Loggie were also forced to miss the event at Snetterton three weeks ago after the latter broke several bones in a cycling accident.

Macleod was reflective after the RAM Mercedes’ first win of the season.

“I want to dedicate this to my dad who passed away at the end of last year. This one was for him.

“RAM Racing have been absolutely fantastic since day one and have given us a really fast car at all weekends we’ve had, pre-season testing went really well and if you are going to win a race in the British GT Championship, you want it to be this one at Silverstone, the Silverstone 500.”

Macleod also expressed sympathy for race-long rivals TF Sport and Aston Martin, with driving duo Graham Davidson and Johnathan Adam caught out by the errant Multimatic Ford Mustang of Chad McCumbee.

“It was very unfortunate for Jonny as he drove the whole race very well, I just tried to put as much pressure on him and get him to make a mistake, maybe the Mustang didn’t see him.

“Jonny got onto the marbles and there were a few factors that caused contact, but what a fantastic race and entertaining from start to finish”.

9th June 2019
British GT – Iain Loggie and Callum MacLeod triumph against the odds after battle with Jonny Adam and Graham Davidson

Ram Racing’s Iain Loggie and Callum Macleod took an emotional victory in British GT’s blue riband event at Silverstone on Sunday.

Macleod and Jonny Adam in the Aston Martin were battling hard for the lead right up until the penultimate lap when the two GT3 cars caught GT4 Multimatic driver Chad McCumbee, who was unco-operative through Becketts and Maggots and the two collided as the Aston and Mercedes rushed to pass.

That took Adam out of the race and allowed Nicki Thiim/Mark Farmer and Seb Morris/Rick Parfitt to take overall podium finishes.

The flagship three-hour race was a tale of three GT3 cars early on as Loggie, TF Sport’s Aston Martin racer Graham Davidson and Shaun Balfe battled it out early on.

Sam De Haan and Adam Balon in the two Barwell Motorsport Lamborghinis came to blows on lap one at the loop, and it was a sign of how both of their races were to go as Barwell failed to re-discover their Snetterton sparkle to finish eighth and ninth.

Dennis Lind was fourth in the Lamborghini alongside Michael Igoe ahead of Bradley Ellis and Ollie Wilkinson in the Optimum Aston Martin. Ryan Ratcliffe and Glynn Geddie completed the overall top six ahead of Andrew Howard and Marco Sorensen.

Meanwhile, in GT4 TF Sport once again suffered heartbreak as the seemingly imperious duo of Patrick Kibble suffered two pit-lane timing dramas.

The two stop/go penalties issued for short pit-stops ensured they didn’t convert GT4 pole into what in all probability looked like GT4 victory.

That should have opened the door for Tolman Motorsport duo Josh Smith and James Dorlin, the #4 McLaren was at one point 15s clear in the lead of GT4.

But, mere laps after their final stop, Dorlin was forced to retire the car with an as yet unknown issue from what would have been certain victory.

Scott Malvern and Nick Jones were the eventual overall GT4 winners and took double honours, also walking away with the GT4 Pro/Am trophy to cap a memorable weekend for the Team Parker Racing #66 Mercedes.

They were followed home by Maxime Buhk and Peter Belshaw in the ERC Sport Mercedes ahead of the other Multimatic Mustang of Seb Priaulx and Scott Maxwell, while Martin Plowman and Kelvin Fletcher were fourth overall and took a valuable second in the Pro/Am category.

Tom Canning and Ashley Hand completed the top five for TF Sport Aston Martin.

9th June 2019
British F3 – Pedersen wins Race Two as Hoggard steals the show

Benjamin Pedersen took his first win since coming over from the USA for Douglas Motorsport in an entertaining, and largely clean, Race Two at Silverstone.

Pedersen led away from the reversed grid having had a disappointing Race One on Saturday afternoon, and was never headed as he calmly stroked his way home.

Hoggard meanwhile battled his way from twelfth to pick up ten further overtaking points, including a daring pass on the last lap around the outside at Stowe to relegate Pavan Ravishankar to third.

Championship debutant Nicolas Varrone was a solid fourth, with Ayrton Simmons up twelve positions from 17th to take fifth, after another exciting race-long battle with Neil Verhagen in Race One.

Nazim Azman was sixth ahead of last year’s Silverstone winner Josh Mason in seventh, with Ulysse De Pauw eighth.

Championship leader Clement Novalak fought his way up to an impressive ninth for Carlin Motorsport while Lucas Petersson completed the topten.

Kiern Jewiss, fresh from a collision was again the victim of unfortunate circumstances as he sustained rear tyre damage after passing Kris Wright, while a jump start penalty relegated Neil Verhagen to 15th, although the American has pole position for the final race of the afternoon.

9th June 2019
WorldSBK: Bautista Back on Top as Rea, Lowes Collide

Race one for the sixth round of the 2019 Superbike World Championship took place in Jerez, as the series reverted to type after the double of Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in Imola, as Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) returned to the top step in his home round.

Jonathan Rea made the holeshot from pole position, his first pole in Jerez, but it took Bautista all of five corners to pass the reigning champion. After this, despite the best efforts of Rea, the Spaniard could not be caught.

Alvaro Bautista and Jonathan Rea during Race One at Jerez WSBK 2019. Image Courtesy of Ducati

Soon, Rea had the attentions of the two Pata Yamaha WorldSBK riders, Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes, to deal with. Van der Mark did not take long to move through on the Kawasaki rider. Trying to go with the Dutchman, Rea lost the front at turn two which allowed Lowes through.

Rea was back at turn six after Lowes had a big slide in T5, and this let van der Mark escape. However, there was no separating Lowes and Rea, who swapped positions multiple times in the final ten laps, and the battle went down to the final corner. Lowes defended the line well, but Rea cut back to the inside, clipping Lowes’ left hand and taking away the bar. Lowes lost the front and his left glove, and looked to be in pain with his left hand. Rea was apologetic when he returned to the pit but, understandably, the Yamaha team was uninterested in the reigning champion’s consolation. The incident was investigated after the race but no punishment was handed the way of the Northern Irishman.

Either way, no one could get near Bautista who, once again, destroyed the field with his Panigale V4R. After missing the top step in both races in Imola, it was the perfect way for the #19 to bounce back in his home round.

The ride of van der Mark, from seventh on the grid, was fantastic. He scythed through the pack in the early laps, dealt with his teammate early on, then dragged Lowes up to Rea. Once he was past the World Champion, van der Mark proved superior to all but Bautista out front.

Third place for Rea was fortunate, as he didn’t have the tyre for it. Either way, out of a difficult race where he had a poor feeling with the front, Rea comes away with yet another podium, one which equals the record of Colin Edwards for consecutive podiums, as he took his twenty-fifth in a row. Perhaps, though, this is not one that Rea will want to remember, and he certainly was not celebrating it on the podium.

Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) has been back on form this weekend after missing confidence in his Yamaha R1 since his podium in Australia. Fourth place, and nineteen seconds off the win is perhaps not precisely where Melandri wants to be, but it represents a step forward from where he has been since the first round, and it gave him the top ‘independent’ award.

Alvaro Bautista, Michael van der Mark and Jonathan Rea on the 2019 Race One WSBK Jerez Podium winners. Image courtesy of Ducati

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) completed the top five, having come out second best of a race-long battle with Melandri.

Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) took sixth, ahead of a struggling Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing Ducati). Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) was eighth, ahead of Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing) who completed the top ten.

Eleventh went to Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) ahead of the returnees, Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha) and Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura). Eugene Laverty’s replacement at Team Goeleven, Tommy Bridewell, was fourteenth, whilst Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team) was the top Honda in fifteenth, taking the final point.

After his incident in the final corner, Lowes got back on his YZF-R1 to finish sixteenth, ahead of his 2013 teammate at Samsung Honda in BSB, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) who was seventeenth and last on his first ever race in Jerez.

WorldSBK debutant, and replacement for Leon Camier at the Moriwaki Althea Honda Team, Yuki Takahashi, was the first retirement, crashing out unharmed at turn one. Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing) was the only other retirement, as he came back into the pits on lap fifteen.

Featured image courtesy of Ducati

9th June 2019