Category: World Superbikes

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WorldSBK: Title Battle Moves to Britain

This weekend the Superbike World Championship heads to Donington for round eight of the 2019 season.

Despite his speed advantage in many races throughout 2019 so far, Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing -Ducati) has only a sixteen-point lead coming into Donington. In part, this is thanks to his crashes in Jerez and Misano, both in the Sunday full-length races. Additionally, it is down to Jonathan Rea’s victories for Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK in the previous rounds, the Northern Irishman taking a 50% win-rate from the past eight races.

Donington provides an opportunity for the Spaniard to fight back against the four-times World Champion, though. The British track is one Bautista knows from his Grand Prix days. The #19 accrued four podiums at Donington between 2004 and 2009 when Donington staged its most recent Grand Prix, including a win in 2006 on his way to the 250cc World Championship. Rea, on the other hand, has taken two wins at Donington in WorldSBK, the most recent coming in 2017 race two.

Álvaro Bautista at Donington WSBK 2019. Image courtesy of Ducati

However, Donington has undergone changes since Bautista last races there, and will be somewhat unfamiliar to the Spaniard. The British round of the 2018 championship was not a straightforward one for Ducati, who didn’t achieve a single podium in either race, with Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) scoring the Panigale’s best result of the weekend on Sunday with fifth place, nearly five seconds of the win.

The Ducati, though, has changed for this year, of course. The V4R has, in the hands of Bautista, enjoyed a significant pace advantage over the field at almost every track so far on the calendar and – whilst BSB have only visited the ‘National’ layout at Donington which misses the Melbourne Loop – the WorldSBK Ducati riders will be encouraged by the triple win of Scott Redding on the Be Wiser Ducati when the national championship was in Donington earlier this year.

Bautista’s biggest strength with the Ducati – as a rider – this year has been his ability to carry corner speed. This should be highlighted in the first part of the track – from Redgate to the Foggy Esses – which consists mostly of long, medium-to-high-speed, corners. In comparison, Jonathan Rea has, as in the past with Kawasaki, proven especially strong in braking, which should be highlighted by the final sector, the aforementioned Melbourne Loop, which is comprised of heavy braking and hard acceleration. The crucial part this weekend in the context of the championship is which of Bautista and Rea can get closest to their rival in their prospective ‘weak point’. Rea’s previous prowess in the mid-corner, for which he was famed at Honda, would suggest before the weekend that the reigning champion has the advantage, but Bautista has proven wrong several predictions already this season.

It is likely that the battle for between the championship leaders will not be a private affair at the front of any of the three races this weekend. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) is coming into Donington off the back of his best race in WorldSBK at Misano where he led Rea for much of the encounter, and missed out only on the final lap. Additionally, it must not be forgotten that Donington was the scene of Razgatlioglu’s first WSBK podium in 2018 when he beat Rea to second place.

Michael van der Mark from WSBK Misano 2019. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing

Of course, Donington last year was also the scene of Michael van der Mark’s double win for the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team. Van der Mark missed all three races in Misano thanks to a practice crash on Friday which also put him in doubt for this weekend. However, the Dutchman has been passed fit, although BSB’s Tarran Mackenzie is on standby if the Dutchman has to pull out.

Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) has a fantastic chance to add to his solitary WorldSBK win this weekend, with the Yamaha’s strong recent record at the British track and his own tendency to perform in front of his home crowd.

2018 was a disappointing year for Tom Sykes in general in his final year at Kawasaki. His first year at BMW Motorrad WorldSBK has been positive, though, and with the Briton taking his and the 2019 S1000RR’s first podium together in Misano, he arrives in Donington in good form. Between 2013 race one and 2017 race one, Sykes was unbeaten in Donington, and the combination of his hard braking style in the final sector and the BMW’s strong performance in the mid-corner in the first part of the lap should prove a strong one this weekend and perhaps one that can challenge for the win.

Eugene Laverty is back in action this weekend for Team Goeleven after being out since a practice crash in Imola, although the #50 is by no means at 100%. Leon Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team), on the other hand, is still missing this weekend, and will not be back in Laguna Seca, either – nor will he be replaced in Britain or California. Markus Reiterberger, contrarily, will be replaced this weekend by five-times Isle of Man TT race winner Peter Hickman, as the German rider is out with the flu.

Featured image courtesy of Ducati

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WorldSBK: Bautista Returns to Form as Rea Crashes in Misano Sprint Race

The rain of Saturday had disappeared on Sunday morning for the Superpole race at round seven of the 2019 Superbike World Championship in Misano, which proved to be one of the most dramatic races of the season.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) made the holeshot from pole position, and Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) made a good start from the middle of the front row. In third palce after turn one was Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) who had made good early progress from fifth on the grid.

Bautista was able to use the power of the Ducati to put himself in the position to pass Cortese into turn eight on the second lap, and he immediately closed the gap down to Rea out front. As they moved onto lap three, Bautista once more used the power of the Ducati, this time to storm straight past Rea before they arrived at the braking zone for turn one.

From then on, there was little, Rea could do about the Spaniard, who was able to pull away in the straights and seemed to have an advantage in the mid-corner and pulled away in a way which we have seen on many occasions this year. Bautista’s win was his fifteenth from eighteen WSBK races and his seventeenth top-three. Additionally, for Ducati it was their thirtieth WSBK win in Misano, the most of any manufacturer.

Rea, then, was resigned to second place once more. Initially, he was under pressure from Sandro Cortese who was able to go with Rea’s pace once he had settled into his rhythm. However, Cortese fell at the final corner on lap seven and threw away what looked to be a certain front row start for the second race.

Alex Lowes at Misano WSBK 2019. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing

Cortese’s crash elevated Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) to third place and a provisional front row start, but this became second for Lowes when Rea crashed at Tramonto. The reigning World Champion looked to lose the rear slightly as he released the brake, and when he touched the throttle, he folded the front. It was a bizarre crash, as when the tyres gripped the bike rolled on top of Rea as he held onto the Kawasaki to try to limit the damage caused to the bike. Fortunately for the Northern Irishman, there was little damage at all, and he was able to resume quite quickly in sixth place, although with limited time to improve his position.

Rea’s crash solidified Lowes’ position on the front row for race two, whilst Rea himself was now headed for a second row start in the second race. It also promoted Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) to the front row, although an expiration for the S1000RR put an end to those hopes.

The retirement of Sykes allowed Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) into third, and he was able to hold onto it after coming out on top in his race-long battle with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) who finished fourth.

Fifth place went to Rea, who was promoted from sixth when Sykes retired, whilst Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) finished  ahead of Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team), wildcard Michele Pirro (BARNI Racing Team), Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) and Eugene Laverty’s replacement Lorenzo Zanetti (Team Goeleven) who rounded out the top ten.

Eleventh place went to Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing) ahead of Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha), Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK), Yuki Takahashi (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) and Ryuichi Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) who took the last point.

Dominic Schmitter (IXS Racing powered by YART) was sixteenth, ahead of Chaz Davies (ARBUA.IT Racing – Ducati) who crashed early on and finished seventeenth.

Samuele Cavalieri (Motocorsa Racing) was the first retirement on the first lap, before one of the heroes of Saturday’s wet race, Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team) crashed on lap four. The only other retirements were the aforementioned Sandro Cortese and Tom Sykes.

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WorldSBK: Rea Defeats Razgatlioglu as Bautista Crashes in Misano Race 2

The second race of round seven of the 2019 Superbike World Championship saw trends of recent rounds continue, as the title battle grew closer in Misano.

Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) made the holeshot from the pole position he won in the morning’s Superpole Race. It seemed as though he would be able to get away and escape at the front for another comfortable victory in 2019. However, the Spaniard did as in Jerez, and dropped the Panigale V4R – this time on the second lap, at Rio corner. It was a costly mistake from the Spaniard, and came after a dominant sprint race victory which pointed towards him being able to draw out his points lead once more. Instead, it would be dramatically reduced over the course of the weekend.

Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) inherited the lead when Bautista crashed after he made a good start from the front row, although he was under pressure from Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) right on his tail who in turn had Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) on his tail.

Razgatlioglu was on the attack, and soon passed Rea, and wasted no time in taking the lead from Haslam either. It didn’t take long for the Turk to start escaping at the front, and Rea knew he couldn’t allow the gap to become too big if he wanted victory and to take the most advantage of Bautista’s fall. Once he passed his teammate, Haslam, Rea started to hunt down Razgatlioglu.

There was no hurry for Rea to take the lead, though, once he arrived on the back of the satellite Kawasaki rider. Instead, the reigning World Champion studied his stablemate until the very closing stages, as the pressure from behind did not exist thanks to the leading pair’s superior pace.

It was a fascinating portion of the race, thanks to the opposite riding styles of the duelling Kawasaki riders, with Rea’s style being far smoother than his younger rival – Razgatlioglu using minimum corner speed, hammering the front tyre in the initial braking phase and being exceedingly aggressive in standing up the bike to try to hold onto the tyre.

In the end, though, it seemed that it was tyre which held Razgatlioglu back in his battle against four-times World Champion Rea, who seemed to have more edge grip compared to the #54 rider who was notably struggling compared to the factory rider on the exit of turns three and six.

When Rea came past Razgatlioglu with four laps to go, there was no reply from the Turk with the exception of an unsuccessful lunge on the final lap at turn eight. Rea squared him off on the exit, and Razgatlioglu couldn’t carry the same speed as Rea through the fast rights to pass in turn fourteen.

With Bautista out, it was an important win for Rea, who was able to take his fourth win of the season and was able to cut his deficit in the title chase to Bautista down to sixteen points, as the Spaniard salvaged fourteenth place and two points. The short straights and hard braking zones of Donington park could provide another opportunity for the Northern Irishman.

Razgatlioglu’s second place was the result of a masterful ride, bested only by the greatest rider in the history of the Superbike World Championship, and his third podium in as many rounds. With rumours about competition for the second factory Kawasaki circling, and the Suzuka 8 Hour on the horizon, the best race of his career came at a good moment. Donington was the scene of Razgatlioglu’s first WSBK podium back in 2018, and could be another opportunity for him to achieve his first win.

Leon Haslam ensured the podium was an all-Kawasaki affair for his first rostrum since Phillip Island in February after he beat Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) in what proved to be a race-long battle between the two BSB champions.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team) completed the top five for the best result of his career in WSBK ahead of Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) who made a good race from eleventh on the grid (courtesy of a breakdown in the Superpole Race). Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) could only manage seventh place ahead of Michele Pirro (BARNI Racing Team) and Lorenzo Zanetti (Team Goeleven) who completed the top ten.

Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) took eleventh place, ahead of Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha), Samuele Cavalieri (Motocorsa Racing), Bautista after his crash, and Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) who, as Bautista, remounted after a crash and took the final point with it.

Ryuichi Kiyonari at WorldSBK 2019: Round Seven – Misano, Italy. Image courtesy of Honda Pro Racing.

Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) was another rider who crashed and remounted, although the Italian was unable to score points and finished down in sixteenth. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) was the last rider to finish, in seventeenth.

Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team) suffered his second retirement of the day, and was joined on the side-lines by Yuki Takahashi (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) and Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura).

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WorldSBK: Rea Wins, Bautista Third in Torrential Misano

The sunny conditions of Superpole were replaced with the rain of Saturday morning for race one of the seventh round of the Superbike World Championship in Misano.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) made the holeshot from pole position, whilst Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) made good progress from row two and was second as the field hit the back straight out of turn six for the first time.

Lowes soon took the lead, but one lap later the race was red flagged. This red flag was the second of the day after the start was delayed on the first warm up lap.

The rain soon cleared and the track dried quickly. Lowes started from pole position but it was once again Rea who made the holeshot. Lowes dropped back to third place behind Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK), but was able to move back up to second place.

Whilst Lowes was behind Rea, the pair were able to move away from the field quite considerably. No one could get much within one second of their pace. Additionally, the proximity of the two on track gave a good indication of their contrasting riding styles, and the contrasting characteristics of their bikes, as Rea and the Kawasaki were faster in the middle of the lap, which is quite stop-start, whereas Lowes had a significant advantage in the first part of the lap which is all about corner speed and flow.

Once Lowes got past Rea with a move done at turn seven as the race approached half distance, he was able to stretch the World Champion and pull clear. However, just as the Yamaha rider’s advantage edged out to 1.5 seconds, he crashed at the fastest corner of the year – Curvone – and his chance of a race win was over. After losing Michael van der Mark to injury yesterday, all of the hopes of the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK squad were pinned on Lowes, and now he too was out.

That left Rea in a fairly comfortable position, with Sykes far behind on the BMW, and no faster than the four-times WSBK champion.

Sykes, too, was lapping alone, but behind things were getting interesting for the final podium spot.

Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) held fourth place for much of the race, and this became third when Lowes crashed. The Welshman struggled to match the pace of Sykes, but was able to keep the riders behind him at bay.

Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was able to pass the #7 rider eventually, though. But the reigning BSB champion’s podium hopes were ended when he crashed in turn eight, allowing Davies back into third.
Davies gave up the final rostrum position soon after, though, when he let teammate Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) through at turn five.

This was followed by some significant time loss for Davies, who also dropped behind Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha) and into fifth. Davies’ pace picked up again towards the end of the race, but it was not enough to improve from his fifth position.

At the front, Rea was untouchable after the crash of Lowes, and recorded his third win of the season and cut his deficit in the points standings to Bautista to thirty-two points. It was a remarkable performance from Rea who, although known for his prowess in damp conditions, had not ridden in the morning’s FP3 session, which was the only wet track time of the weekend for the WSBK riders before the race, after a dry Friday and scorching Superpole. To win by such a margin with little experience of the track in those conditions compared to his rivals was both impressive and important, as the Northern Irishman needed to take advantage of his title rival’s lack of pace.

Alvaro Bautista and Chaz Davies. Image courtesy of Ducati

Indeed, Bautista was able to take third place, meaning that of the races he has finished in WorldSBK Bautista has visited the podium after each one of them. Bautista had dropped as low as sixth in the race, but took advantage of others’ falls and misfortune to arrive on the podium and complete a quite strong damage limitation job. The Spaniard will be hoping for dry conditions on Sunday, ones in which he will hope to have the potential to take the fight to Rea.

Between the two title rivals were 7.756 seconds and Tom Sykes, who took his first podium of 2019 and the first for BMW, since their full-time return at the beginning of the year. It was a lonely race for Sykes, who was not strong enough to go with Rea and Lowes at the start, but was faster and more consistent than those behind him. In conditions where the other bikes cannot make use of their power advantage compared to the BMW, the S1000RR’s chassis can negate its motor disadvantage, and Sykes was able to make the most of that for this third place.

Loris Baz – Ten Kate Yamaha Supported WorldSBK. Image courtesy of Yamaha racing

Loris Baz was the top ‘independent’ rider for Ten Kate, who were able to finish fourth in their fourth race with Yamaha, and their fourth of the season. Before Bautista got into third place, Baz was closing on the championship leader, but towards the end the Spaniard’s pace picked up. With the retirement of Lowes and the absence of van der Mark, this fourth place was also an important one for Yamaha in the constructor standings.

Chaz Davies finished fifth in what was a strange race for the Ducati rider, with his pace dropping off strangely in the middle of the race. But, with Haslam crashing out, Davies’ fifth in conjunction with Bautista’s third place means that the ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati team extends its lead at the top of the Teams’ Championship over KRT by two points.

Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) has a six-place grid penalty for the Superpole Race on Sunday morning, so he had to maximise this first race of the weekend. Unfortunately for the Italian, he ran on in turn eight early on, and his recovery only got him as far as sixth place, ahead of teammate Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK). Yuki Takahashi (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) took Honda’s best result of the year in eighth, ahead of Eugene Laverty’s new replacement at Team Goeleven, Lorenzo Zanetti. Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) completed the top ten.

Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team) was in seventh place with five laps to go but ended up eleventh ahead of Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing), wildcard Samuele Cavalieri (Motocorsa Racing), Ryuichi Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) and Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) who was the final finisher in fifteenth and took the final point.

Wildcard Dominic Schmitter (IXS Racing powered by YART) was the first retirement on lap eight, the same lap as Lowes crashed out of the lead. Moments after Lowes went down at turn eleven, wildcard Michele Pirro (BARNI Racing Team) crashed out at the same point. Michael Ruben Rinaldi dropped his BARNI Racing Team Ducati two laps after Lowes, Schmitter and Pirro went down and two laps before Haslam crashed the factory Kawasaki. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) went down on the final lap out of eighth place.

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WorldSBK: Back to Italy for Round Seven

Two weeks on from an action-packed sixth round of the Superbike World Championship, the series moves to Misano this weekend for the eighth round of 2019.

Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) shocked everyone by crashing his Ducati Panigale V4R in a race for the first time in race two back in Jerez, letting Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) off the proverbial hook in a weekend in which it looked certain that Bautista would greatly extend his championship advantage.

Alvaro Bautista at Jerez WSBK 2019. Image courtesy of Ducati

Instead, Rea clawed back two points over the course of the Jerez weekend. The gap between the two title rivals stands at forty-one points in Bautista’s favour. On paper, it still seems unlikely that Rea will be able to overcome his deficit, but Misano could prove a positive round for the reigning World Champion. The Adriatic circuit was the scene of Rea’s first ever WorldSBK win back in 2009. In total, Rea has six WorldSBK wins in Misano, as well as four other podium finishes, which compares to Bautista’s solitary Grand Prix victory back in 2008 in the 250cc race, a third place in the 2009 250 race and a third place in the 2012 MotoGP race. In fact, in that 2012 premier class outing, Rea was also present on the second Repsol Honda. The Northern Irishman was replacing the injured Casey Stoner, and finished eighth. So, strictly speaking, for the first time this season we go to a track where Bautista and Rea have faced each other, albeit in particular circumstances which are unrepresentative of those this weekend and were in no way fair to Rea.

This weekend presents a good opportunity for Yamaha. Their bike has traditionally gone well in Misano – who can forget Michael van der Mark’s tyre letting go on his way to victory for Pata Yamaha WorldSBK back in 2017? Additionally, van der Mark was on the rostrum last season in the second race, ahead of Marco Melandri – then on Ducati, now riding GRT Yamaha WorldSBK’s YZF-R1. Furthermore, Melandri won at Misano in 2017, adding to his double rostrums in 2014, and his third place in the first race in 2011, also on a Yamaha.

Moreover, the Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha team have already been to Misano with the R1, albeit mostly in wet conditions. This should give them a chance of a good result this weekend, and an improvement over their first outing of the year last time out in Jerez where Loris Baz went 12-9 in the two full-length races, but was unable to start the Superpole race of bike problems.

Jerez proved a strong round for Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) who took his second podium of the season – and second in two rounds – with third place in race two. The Turkish rider will need more of the same this weekend to edge closer to securing a factory Kawasaki seat for next year, as Moto2’s Xavi Vierge is rumoured to be a possible teammate for Jonathan Rea in 2020.

Michele Pirro is also in action this weekend, the Ducati stalwart riding the BARNI Panigale V4R this weekend. The Italian has featured inside the top ten in several MotoGP races at Misano in the past for the Italian factory. In 2012, Pirro was tenth in Misano on the Gresini FTR Honda CRT machine, and the year after was tenth once more for Pramac. In 2016, as a wildcard, Pirro finished seventh after qualifying on the second row of the grid, whilst in 2017 he finished fifth in the wet. Pirro’s latest MotoGP appearance was at the Italian GP in Mugello earlier this month where he finished seventh, thirteen seconds off the win. Similarly, his latest WorldSBK appearance at Misano came in 2015, when he was eighth in both races. Additionally, Pirro won both races at the CIV round at Misano earlier this year, so could present a problem for some of the championship regulars.

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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

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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

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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

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WorldSBK: Baz, Ten Kate and Jerez Return for Round 6

This weekend, the Superbike World Championship heads to Spain for the second time in 2019, and to the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto for round six of the year.

There is a new arrival this weekend, as Loris Baz and Ten Kate Racing make their return to the championship after missing rounds one to five. It is perhaps ironic that Baz and Ten Kate should find themselves linking up for the remainder of the 2019 season, since Baz left Althea at the end of 2018, and Honda left Ten Kate which led to the Moriwaki Honda squad that is run by the Althea team. Baz and Ten Kate are returning this weekend with Yamaha, which is a difficult one to consider from the Ten Kate perspective, considering their long history with Honda, with whom they won ten world titles – nine in WorldSSP and one in WorldSBK. For Baz, though, the blue of Yamaha is not an unfamiliar one, having ridden a Yamaha in Britain, as well as in STK1000 in 2009. Additionally, Baz rode the ‘open’ Forward Yamaha in 2015-16, achieving a best result of fourth, in the mixed conditions of Misano back in 2015. However, for both Ten Kate and Baz this weekend will be their first competitive venture in WorldSBK with the YZF-R1, a bike which has finished on the podium with Pata Yamaha WorldSBK riders Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes, as well as GRT Yamaha WorldSBK’s Marco Melandri, so it will be interesting to see how the new setup compares with the more established Yamaha runners.

The competitiveness of WorldSBK has been questioned over recent years with the domination of Jonathan Rea and the Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK, and now with the ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati squad and Alvaro Bautista. Bautista was beaten for the first time three weeks ago in Ducati’s backyard at Imola, where Rea took victory in both of the two race which were able to be run, but nonetheless arrives in Jerez with a forty-three-point lead over the reigning World Champion.

Bautista’s history in Jerez is a good one, winning the Spanish 125cc Grand Prix there in 2006 on his way to the world title, adding podiums in the 250cc class in 2007 and 2009, in both years being beaten by the riders who would go on to win the respective championship, Jorge Lorenzo in 2007 and Hiroshi Aoyama in 2009. Ducati’s history in Jerez is also a good one. In fact, Ducati ae the most successful manufacturer at the Andalusian track, and between 2013 – when it returned to the calendar – and 2017, Ducati amassed seven podium finishes, including four wins. The signs for Bautista are good.

Arguably, they are better for Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati). Each of the four wins Ducati has taken in Jerez were claimed by Davies, including a dominant double in 2016. Additionally, Davies seemed to be back on form in Imola and, but for a bike problem in race one, could have beaten his teammate in race one as well as the Superpole race, which he finished in second place. Lying sixth in the championship, 178 points behind Bautista at the top, it is perhaps fair to say that the Welshman is out of championship contention, but if his form can carry over from Imola to Jerez, he could certainly be a spoiler in the Rea-Bautista championship tussle.

Chaz Davis. Image courtesy of Ducati

Jerez shares some similarities with Imola, the previous track on the calendar. Although it misses the stop-start chicanes of the Italian track, Jerez has a good flow, and is a track which follows the natural contours of the land. More importantly for Jonathan Rea and the factory Kawasaki team, though, is that one characteristic shared between Imola and Jerez is a lack of significance of top speed. Top speed has been Kawasaki’s overwhelming weak point compared to Ducati this season thanks to the new Panigale V4R, so the short straights of Jerez should be a benefit for Rea and the ZX-10RR. However, Rea’s strong point is had braking, something which he was able to maximise in Imola thanks to the chicanes. The critical point this weekend will be whether Rea can overcome the Ducati’s power advantage in the three hard braking zones at turns one, six and thirteen. His ability, or lack thereof, to do that this weekend could prove crucial in the 2019 WorldSBK title race.

Once again, Eugene Laverty is missing this weekend thanks to the injuries he sustained in Imola, so will once again be replaced by Tommy Bridewell at Team GoEleven. Bridewell will be hoping for a full compliment of track time before the race this time round, after heading into Superpole three weeks ago with only two laps under his belt.

Finally, after missing the last two rounds through injury, Leandro Mercado is back this weekend for the Orelac Racing VerdNatura squad.

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WorldSBK: Rea Fends off Davies for Imola Superpole Win

Despite Alvaro Bautista’s (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) dominance throughout the first four rounds of the season, it was Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) who went into Sunday’s Superpole race in Imola for the fifth round of the 2019 Superbike World Championship as the favourite for the race win thanks to his demolition of the field in Saturday’s first race.

Although storms were forecast for Sunday, and eventually led to the cancellation of the second full-length outing for the WorldSBK riders, the Superpole race took place in the dry, albeit under a veil of cloud.

With the grid being the same as for race one, it was Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) who started from pole, and as in race one it was the Welshman who took the holeshot and led into the Variante Tamburello for the first time. Unlike race one, however, Rea was unable to pass Davies into the Variante Villeneuve.

However, when Davies missed the apex of the second part of the Variante Villeneuve, Rea sensed an opportunity in Tosa, so threw his Kawasaki inside Davies’ Ducati, but ran wide and the #7 was able to keep the lead as they made their way towards Piratella.

Rea was able to get to the front before the end of the first lap, though, when Davies ran wide at the final chicane. In fact, Davies was fortunate to keep his Panigale V4R on the track, and even more fortunate to only drop to third, behind both Rea and his teammate Bautista. Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was also close behind, but unable to take advantage of the 2011 Supersport World Champion’s mistake.

Not that Rea was in need of an opportunity to have a lap to himself at the front, but he now had it, and with Bautista between himself and Davies, there was a good chance for the Northern Irishman to extend his advantage at the front.

Bautista did not lose too much time on the second lap, though, although Rea still extended his advantage by just over a tenth. But the early signs were good for Bautista, it looked as though he could perhaps go with the reigning World Champion.

However, by the end of lap four, Rea’s advantage had grown to over one second, and with six laps to go it seemed that Rea had his first ever Superpole race win in the bag.

Davis and Bautista at Imola WSBK 2019. Image courtesy of Ducati

As the race approached half distance, and as Rea’s advantage was slowly creeping out, the battle behind the four times World Champion was intensifying between the two factory Ducatis of Bautista and Davies. A mistake from Bautista in the first Rivazza allowed Davies to cut down the Spaniard’s inside and whilst the #19 tried to cut back on the exit of the second Rivazza, Davies had him covered off.

With four laps to go, Davies now had a clear run at Jonathan Rea out front. Bautista was now haemorrhaging time to his teammate, perhaps experiencing difficulties with his SCX rear tyre.

At the same time as Bautista was dropping back, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) was suffering with rear grip, too. Like Bautista, he had chosen the SCX rear tyre, and been strong at the start whilst fighting with the two Pata Yamaha WorldSBK bikes of Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark, as well as Leon Haslam in the battle for fourth. After mid-distance, though, with van der Mark having cleared off up the street, Razgatlioglu was now fighting with Lowes and Haslam for fifth, with no edge grip nor drive grip. Clearly, although there was a new SCX rear tyre for the Imola weekend, it was still not what the riders needed for the ten laps of the Superpole race.

Meanwhile, back at the front, Davies and Rea were trading lap records as the Welshman tried to close the gap to the front, and Rea did his best to keep him at bay.

With nine tenths between the two as they went onto the penultimate lap, it looked like Rea had the race win locked up, and this was confirmed as they went onto the final lap with 1.8 seconds covering the top two combatants.

In the end it was a second race win of the weekend and a second of the season for Rea, who took more points out of Bautista, cutting the championship lead of the Spaniard to forty-three points. In all it was as close to a perfect race as Rea could get. He was perhaps fortunate that Davies made the mistake at the end of lap one, because without a doubt the Welshman had the pace to go with Rea, but ultimately the four-times champion did enough, and he will be hoping that the strong performance at Imola will be the start of his fight back in the title race against Bautista.

Whilst the mistake of Davies was a blessing for Rea, it was the source of disappointment for Davies himself, who undoubtedly lost his best shot at a win this season as he ran wide in the Variante Bassa at the end of lap one. Nonetheless, the #7 showed good speed throughout the weekend and, like Rea, will hope that this is a sign of things to come for the next races.

For the first time this season, Bautista was beaten by his teammate. However, his worst finish of the season came perhaps in the best possible race, because the points in a Superpole race are much less than those of the full-length races. Furthermore, it is possible to argue that Bautista could have been closer to the front two with a different tyre choice, because he was clearly suffering with the rear grip in the second half of the race. The Spaniard was lucky, overall, in Imola, mostly for the fact that a wet race was avoided, but also for the fact that his teammate retired in race one. It was certainly about as good a damage limitation job as the #19 could have hoped for.

Michael van der Mark at Imola WSBK 2019. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing

Fourth place went to Michael van der Mark. The Dutchman would have been happy to have the race he did in the Superpole race, because in the second half he was completely alone on the track. Far behind him were Alex Lowes and Leon Haslam, who were fifth and sixth, respectively. Especially for Lowes, this result was impressive, considering his delicate physical condition in the weekend.

Razgatlioglu’s tyre choice limited the Turk to seventh place, which he just held on to from Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) by 0.280 seconds. It was a dramatic race for Sykes. He had to start from pit lane, which meant that his chances were restricted before the race began, but the Englishman had a brilliant start to the race, and was strong fighting through the pack to finish eighth, although after having a strong chance of a podium on Saturday the #66 would have been disappointed to come away from Imola with just two points.

Just a couple of tenths behind Sykes was Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing) who returned to the top ten after missing out in the first race, whilst Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) rounded out the top ten for the second time in the weekend.

Twelfth place on Saturday for Tommy Bridewell – replacing Eugene Laverty at Team GoEleven – was impressive, and equally so was the joint-BSB-points-leader’s eleventh place in the Superpole race; with the #46 beating wildcard Lorenzo Zanetti (Motocorsa Racing); series regular and reigning Supersport World Champion Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK); Leandro Mercado’s replacement at Orelac Racing VerdNatura Hector Barbera; and BARNI Racing’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi who completed the points.

Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) had a dreadful Superpole race, and finished seventeenth, behind Ryuichi Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team), whilst Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team) was the final finisher in eighteenth.

There were no retirements from the race, but as in race one, Leon Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) was absent from the grid after his crash in Superpole.

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