WorldSBK crosses the channel for Round 6
Donington Park scene of latest encounter.
The legendary Donington Park circuit will play host to the sixth round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship this weekend. The English venue is located in the East Midlands, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Derby and 30 kilometres (19 miles) from Leicester. It was inaugurated in 1931 and became a permanent racing circuit two years later.
Donington is particularly special in World Superbike history, as it hosted the very first race event in 1988. Home rider Roger Burnett picked up his first and what proved to be only pole position before Italians Davide Tardozzi and Marco Lucchinelli triumphed in the two heats, with Lucchinelli coming out the overall winner. This would prove to be the only round split into two heats, with the two-race format known today coming in for the following event.
Heading to England in 2015, four British riders head up the World Championship, but only two of them have ever won at Donington. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) is the second most successful rider at the track after only Carl Fogarty, having done the double for the last two years. Sykes also impressed in 2008, finished second in race one as a wildcard rider while Troy Bayliss celebrated victory.
Without doubt, KRT’s Jonathan Rea is the British rider generating headlines this season. Perhaps his best Donington memory is that of 2012, when he won the second race after the BMWs of Leon Haslam and Marco Melandri came together at the last corner. Haslam will certainly be hoping to avoid such drama this weekend; he heads to Donington off the back of three ‘bogey circuits’ for him in Aragon, Assen and Imola, with his second race in Italy having featured one of the biggest crashes of his racing career. The Aprilia rider is now attempting to put the title attack back on track in front of his many fans, friends and family members at Donington.
Elsewhere, Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) has become the first Spanish rider to collect a World Superbike podium trophy since Carlos Checa. However, he has another new track to learn. On the other hand, Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team) will be praying for race finishes and a strong haul of points following two very costly race retirements – both because of matters beyond the rider’s control – last time out. The Welshman’s team-mate Davide Giugliano took the paddock by storm two weekends ago, dramatically clinching pole position before picking up a Race 1 rostrum finish; all the more impressive considering this was his first round back since his pre-season testing crash.
The UK Round could be a telling one for the respective Pata Honda World Superbike Team and Voltcom Crescent Suzuki; both are still looking for the consistent rate of success they yearned at the start of the campaign. For the Suzuki outfit, based in Dorset, the learning curve has increased in size since the introduction of a new electronics package from the Aragón Round onwards. Last year, Alex Lowes finished on the podium at Donington.
Randy de Puniet last raced in Donington Park in 2009, when he clinched the second of his two career MotoGP podium finishes, taking third behind current MotoGP front-runner Andrea Dovizioso and two-time WorldSBK Champion Colin Edwards on a very wet day.
At Honda, memories of the longest ever run of consecutive points finishes are but a distant memory for reigning World Champion Sylvain Guintoli, who at Imola registered a second non-finish of 2015, while Michael van der Mark also had a difficult weekend following the heroics of Assen when the Dutchman clinched top three finishes in both of his home races.
Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) is another rider with a Donington Park podium to his name, having finished on the rostrum racing alongside Max Biaggi at Aprilia in 2011. The Kent rider had made his World Superbike debut at the circuit two years earlier, as a wildcard with the Airwaves Yamaha Team with which he won the 2009 British Superbike crown.
Expected to return to action is Nico Terol, who was replaced at Althea Racing by Michel Fabrizio for Imola. Terol had been injured in the previous gathering at Assen and now hopes to be back in action at a circuit he knows from his Grand Prix racing days. Others are looking to back up a strong Imola performance as Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing Ducati), Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia) and Roman Ramos (Team Go Eleven) strive for success.
2015 eni FIM Superbike World Championship (5 of 13 rounds completed)
1 – Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Racing Team – 240
2 – Leon Haslam Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils – 153
3 – Tom Sykes Kawasaki Racing Team – 128
4 – Chaz Davies Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team – 123
5 – Jordi Torres Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils – 99
Expectation high as WSS heads to Donington
Heading to the Land of Hope and Glory, Donington Park will bring the curtain down on the first half of the World Supersport season for 2015. Last year at the British circuit, it was Michael van der Mark who triumphed after a last-lap pass on Cluzel. The Dutchman would go on to take that season’s title prior to his switch to the World Superbike class.
As for Frenchman Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), he is attempting to fight back to the front of the championship, having led it after his Phillip Island victory at the top end of the season. He finds himself 40 points in arrears of Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and still feeling the effects of costly engine problems in Thailand and Aragon. Sofuoglu, on the other hand, sealed a very impressive win at Imola despite the knowledge that his baby son was critically ill in hospital; a true mark of the Turk’s determined character.
Another rider still in the fight and not to be forgotten is P.J. Jacobsen. The New Yorker has impressed this season and is officially Sofuoglu’s closest challenger. The Intermoto Ponyexpres Kawasaki rider heads to Great Britain off the back of two podiums and a pair of fourth place finishes; he sits 37 points behind the championship leader with a maximum of 175 points up for grabs between Britain and the Qatar season finale on 18 October.
Back on the podium in his home race, Lorenzo Zanetti (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) seems to have readjusted to his F3 675 motorcycle, while British riders Kyle Smith (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) and Gino Rea (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda) are keen to impress the home crowd. In Smith’s case, this will be his first race since debuting as a television commentator, having provided the soundtrack to Imola’s round of the Pata Junior Cup powered by Honda. Another rider looking to iron out some ups and downs in World Supersport is Ratthapark Wilairot (CORE’’ Motorsport Thailand Honda), who has gone through a poor patch of form since winning for the first time at Buriram.
Finland’s Niki Tuuli will take advantage of the break in the STK600 calendar by making his World Supersport debut with his Kallio Racing Team, while Alexey Ivanov will return to action after his encouraging thirteenth-place finish in a one-off ride at Aragon last month. British wildcards Kyle Ryde (Pacedayz European TrackDays Yamaha), Luke Stapleford and Sam Hornsey (Profile Racing Triumph) elevate the number of entries for the UK round to 28. Stapleford and Ryde currently sit atop the British Supersport Championship table.
2015 FIM Supersport World Championship (5 of 12 rounds completed)
1 – Kenan Sofuoglu Kawasaki Puccetti Racing – 105
2 – PJ Jacobsen Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres – 68
3 – Jules Cluzel MV Agusta Reparto Corse – 65
Superstock 1000 back at Donington after five-year absence
Lorenzo Savadori (Nuova M2 Racing Aprilia) heads to the fourth round of the 2015 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup after clinching a second consecutive victory of the season at Imola. However, Donington Park could present a more difficult challenge for the Italian, who has raced there on only one previous occasion: 125 Grand Prix racing in 2009.
The last FIM Superstock 1000 Cup race at Donington came in 2009. Xavier Simeon started on pole position with a Ducati, winning the race from Claudio Corti’s Suzuki and Honda-shod Maxime Berger.
This time round, Savadori holds the advantage points-wise, helped by the crash that took erstwhile championship leader Roberto Tamburini (MotoxRacing BMW) out of the Assen race earlier this season. Similar happenings have affected the likes of Ondrej Jezek (Triple-M by Barni Ducati), Kev Coghlan (MRS Yamaha) and Raffaele de Rosa (Althea Racing Ducati), who are all in contention but have lost points through an assortment of incidents.
Out of action completely will be Coghlan’s team mate Florian Marino, who will be replaced by fellow Frenchman Mathieu Gines. As spectacular as his Imola highside was, the Frenchman was left with an arm fractured in two places which means he misses Donington and hopes to be back for Portimao. Since the Imola race, he has undergone surgery in Italy before heading home.
The Superstock 1000 class will be the only Superstock class racing at Donington, as the Superstock 600 riders had two races in Aragon as they do not compete at the UK Round.
2015 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup (3 of 8 rounds completed)
1 – Lorenzo Savadori Nuova M2 Racing Aprilia – 70
2 – Roberto Tamburini MotoxRacing BMW – 45
3 – Ondrej Jezek Triple-M by Barni Ducati – 43
More, from a press release issued by Pirelli:
Pirelli go across the Channel for the sixth round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship at Donington Park
Four British riders lead the championship in the premier class; Pirelli brings as rear options, both the standard SC0 (perfect for high temperatures) and two SC1 choices which are more protected in case of cooler conditions
Donington (Great Britain), May 18, 2018 – From Thursday the English circuit of Donington Park will open its doors to welcome, for the twenty third time in its history, the riders of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship.
And this season, even more than in recent years, four British riders who currently lead the championship standings will decide the fate of the championship for the production-based series.
First of all Northern Ireland’s Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) who this year, after switching from Honda to Kawasaki, seems unstoppable with eight race wins out of a total of ten. He has 240 points in the championship standings and will definitely look to continue this climb towards the world title especially on English soil.
Behind him, with a gap of 87 points, is Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils), his closest rival and the local star at Donington Park.
Further behind, with 128 points, is Tom Sykes, Jonathan Rea’s team-mate and 2013 Superbike World Champion; who this year has had some difficulties at the beginning of the season but is slowly recovering.
Just five points behind is Welshman Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing Team-Ducati SBK) who this year took first place in Race 2 at Aragón and rose to the podium in five other occasions.
With two riders in the top three in the overall standings and a total of 240 points, Kawasaki comes to Donington leading the Manufacturers Championship, followed at a distance by Aprilia with 169 points.
Pirelli for this round substantially confirms the solutions already successfully used in previous rounds, between both the standard SC2 at the front as well as the SC0 and SC1 at the rear, which is joined by some developing solutions that already have shown good performance. They will be further tested at a track which typically has temperatures among the coldest on the Superbike World Championship calendar.
Donington Park VS tires: a mixed type of track
The English circuit of Donington Park was built in 1931 with the intention to host the first motorcycle races. With the onset of World War II the circuit operations were interrupted and the track was closed until 1971 when it was reopened by a local businessman who was a motorsports enthusiast.
Donington Park is located in the East Midlands about 180 kilometers north-west of London, not far from the famous Sherwood Forest, and is designed in a natural amphitheater in order to offer the possibility for spectators to follow the races in an optimal way.
The track is 4023 meters long and has 12 curves- 7 right-hand turns and 5 left-handers with the turn radii stretching from a minimum of 24 meters to a maximum of 333 meters. It runs clockwise and the pole position rider starts on the left. Maximum slope is 8%, while the finish straight measures 550 meters.
In the past the eni FIM Superbike World Championship has stopped in Donington in different periods of the year such as March, then September and May. No matter what time of the year in which you visit, Donington is still an ‘unknown’ from a meteorological point of view: you can have summery conditions and good temperatures as well as cold and even rainy days. In the first case it will be possible to use solutions in soft compounds such as the SC0, in the second case more protected tires to prevent cold tearing or of course intermediate or wet tires.
The wear from cold tearing tends to decrease a lot with high temperatures. On the other hand, in these conditions, the track usually offers very little grip.
The races are often held in the rain which makes the asphalt slick and slippery and that increases the riders’ efforts, at the same time highlighting their wet riding skills.
The British circuit of Donington Park provides a mixed track although quite fast with many changes of elevation (eg. Hollywood) and some sharp corners which require braking and sudden acceleration, which put a strain on the riders (eg. Melbourne Hairpin). On the straight stretch coming out of the Coppice (turn 8) the highest acceleration coming out of a corner is reached.
The most interesting part, however, is made by the two medium turns that break up the straight opposite the finish (Old Hairpin and McLeans Corner), because they are at the same time sharp like a chicane but fast like a long turn, with the bikes never dropping below 100 kph. Riders that keep up their speed can benefit greatly here and earn very helpful tenths.
Compared to other tracks, Donington Park is not a circuit that gives particularly high speeds, the maximum speed is just over 270 km/h, and the average speed settles down to just above 160 Km/h, these data are very distant from 320 km/h with average of 180 Km/h logged at Phillip Island. Considering also the local climatic conditions, the tires are usually found to work with rather low surface temperatures that oscillate from a maximum of about 230° farenheit up to a minimum extreme low of 122° farenheit. That is why their flexibility is critical and must ensure they reach the usual 131° farenheit and usual lateral accelerations despite the operating temperature being similar to that of normal street use.
The first part of the track requires a great stability at the front and the front tire must be able to maintain its shape providing the necessary support on the downhill corners.
The rear is interesting in particular in the phases of abrupt and violent acceleration which are typical of this circuit, especially the one coming out of Coppice. With the cold the tread compound, in particular the soft ones, cannot easily reach the correct operating temperatures and, in cases of high rigidity, may suffer in the opening throttle phase superficial lacerations and tearing. In these cases, it is recommended to use mechanically stronger rear solutions.
The Pirelli solutions for Superbike and Supersport classes:
For this across the Channel event Pirelli brings to Donington Park 4260 tires, which will cover the needs of the Superbike, Supersport, Supersport 1000 and European Junior Cup classes, since the Superstock 600 will not be present in England.
Each Superbike rider will have 34 front tires and 38 rear, while for the Supersport riders the quantity is 22 front and 23 rear.
In Superbike 3 dry solutions for the front as well as for the rear plus the intermediate and wet tires and the rear qualifier tire- which can be used only in the two sessions of Superpole on Saturday.
At the front as an alternative to the standard SC2 there is once again the development SC1 S1699 which debuted successfully at Aragón in 2014 and offers more support in the approach to bends in favor of a better steering precision. It was the most widely used at the front in 2014 and this year has also been taken in the first five events of 2015. The third and final option for the front consists of the T1467 specification, a development solution that debuted with success in Assen and was also used at Imola. In SC1 compound, compared to the S1699, it is more protected from wear and at the same time is more stable than the SC2.
To the rear the same two solutions already brought to Spain and Assen: standard SC0 and SC1 and development T1392, which differs from the standard SC1 for a different construction system that guarantees a more homogeneous and constant behavior for the duration of the race. These are supplemented by a third option, the standard SC1 which is a very versatile solution, well adapted to different temperatures and which debuted in Thailand- and has also been taken to Aragón and Assen.
For the Supersport class the solutions took to the grid at Aragón, Assen and Imola are confirmed: at the front the standard SC1 and the development SC1 S1485, which made its debut at Misano in 2014 and has also been taken to Portimão and Magny-Cours last year. The latter solution should provide greater support in the approach to bends in favor of a better steering precision and this year was taken to Australia, Spain, Holland and Italy.
At the rear the standard SC1 is joined by the soft solution T0957 which debuted at Aragón and then was taken to Assen and Imola. It differs from the standard SC0 for a different construction system that guarantees a more homogeneous and constant behavior for the duration of the race.
The 2014 Pirelli statistics for Donington Park:
• Total number of tires Pirelli brought: 3634
• Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the Superbike class: 5 front and 7 rear
• Number of tires available for each Superbike rider: 35 front and 35 rear
• Number of solutions for the Supersport class (dry, intermediate and wet): 4 front and 4 rear
• Number of tires available for each Supersport rider: 23 front and 24 rear
• Superbike Best Lap Awards won by: Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), 1’28.779 (Race 1, 16th lap) and Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki), 1’28.554 (Race 2, 4th lap)
• Supersport Best Lap Award won by: Michael Vd Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport Team), 1’31.483 (7th lap)
• Temperature in Race 1: air 60° F, asphalt 72° F
• Temperature in Race 2: air 64° F, asphalt 82° F
• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tires: 275.8 km/h, Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) in Race 1 at 8th lap
• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Supercorsa SC tires in Supersport race: 249 km/h, Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta RC-Yakhnich Motorsport) at 7th lap.