Motul FIM Superbike World Championship
Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia
May 14, 2016
Race One Results (all on Pirelli tires):
1. Tom SYKES, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 16 laps, Total Race Time 33:30.487, Best Lap Time 2:03.637
2. Jonathan REA, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -5.600 seconds, 2:04.556
3. Chaz DAVIES, UK (Ducati Panigale R), -8.039, 2:04.688
4. Jordi TORRES, Spain (BMW S1000RR), -17.666, 2:05.375
5. Alex LOWES, UK (Yamaha YZF-R1), -18.613, ran off track, 2:04.798
6. Davide GIUGLIANO, Italy (Ducati Panigale R), -19.871, 2:05.386
7. Michael VAN DER MARK, Netherlands (Honda CBR1000RR SP), -24.120, 2:05.244
8. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (Honda CBR1000RR SP), -25.461, 2:04.729
9. Anthony WEST, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -32.989, 2:05.694
10. Leon CAMIER, UK (MV Agusta 1000 F4), -35.464, 2:06.902
11. Josh BROOKES, Australia (BMW S1000RR), -39.437, 2:06.217
12. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (BMW S1000RR), -39.860, 2:06.598
13. Luca SCASSA, Italy (Ducati Panigale R), -46.721, 2:07.497
14. Xavi FORÉS, Spain (Ducati Panigale R), -52.634, 2:05.938
15. Josh HOOK, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -70.599, 2:08.425
16. Dominic SCHMITTER, Switzerland (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -79.352, 2:08.449
17. Saeed AL SULAITI, Qatar (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -81.034, 2:08.755
18. Gianluca VIZZIELLO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -111.315, 2:09.809
19. Imre TÓTH, Hungary (Yamaha YZF-R1), -1 lap, pitted, 2:10.850
20. Markus REITERBERGER, Germany (BMW S1000RR), -4 laps, DNF, mechanical, 2:05.598
21. Lorenzo SAVADORI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 RF), -7 laps, DNF, crash, 2:05.981
22. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (Aprilia RSV4 RF), -9 laps, DNF, crash, 2:06.135
22. Pawel SZKOPEK, Poland (Yamaha YZF-R1), -10 laps, DNF, crash, 2:08.452
More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:
Sykes Strikes in Race 1
Pole sitter sets new lap record in commanding victory
Kawasaki Racing Team rider Tom Sykes took an incredible win from P1 on the grid in Sepang, after smashing the Best Lap in Tissot-Superpole 2 and then the Lap Record on Lap 2. Teammate and reigning Champion Jonathan Rea came home second for a KRT 1-2, ahead of Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider Chaz Davies.
The big winners off the line in Race 1 proved to be Pata Yamaha’s Alex Lowes and Honda’s Michael van der Mark, with Lowes taking the lead from P2 on the grid and van der Mark slicing through from tenth to P6, before KRT duo Rea and Sykes moved through on the Yamaha. Sepang veteran Nicky Hayden, after initially losing out off the line, soon fought back up into the top 5 to chase down the lead group.
Sykes began to pull a gap on teammate Rea, who found himself chased by key Championship rival Chaz Davies. Yorkshireman Sykes also set a new Lap Record on Lap 2, his first flying lap of the track, on his way to the commanding lead and victory. Jonathan Rea on the sister ZX-10R followed his teammate home to P2 after eventually shaking off the challenge of Davies.
Title contender Davies was the lead Ducati in Race 1 once again as the Welshman took his Aruba.it machine to yet another podium to cement his consistent challenge, and teammate Davide Giugliano, after missing the Round in 2015 due to injury, fought for position in the second group before crossing the line in P6.
Markus Reiterberger made good on his promise in Sepang as the rookie of the track impressed for Althea BMW, leading a charge back up the field to P4 in a stunning show of pace, until suffering a mechanical problem that forced him to retire. Teammate Jordi Torres also found great pace Race 1 in Sepang as the Spaniard fought to the front of the second group to take P4.
Alex Lowes, after a run off in the first half of the Race, staged an impressive fight back to take P5 and score a good haul of points for Pata Yamaha as the team run only one bike after Sylvain Guintoli’s crash in Imola. Honda duo Nicky Hayden and Michael van der Mark had a race of opposites as the American suffered more towards the end of the Race and his Dutch teammate moved up the through the field. After the duo met in the middle on track, van der Mark was able to take his veteran teammate on the penultimate lap to come home just ahead of Hayden in P7.
Anthony West, riding for injured Sylvain Barrier at Pedercini, moved up in the Race from his grid position to come home in P9, an incredible result after only getting on the bike for the first time on Friday. MV Agusta rider Leon Camier suffered in the early part of Race 1 in Sepang but struck back steadily to close out the top 10. Aprilia duo Lorenzo Savadori, fastest on Friday, and teammate Alex De Angelis were both running in the points before being unable to see the flag due to separate incidents on track. Josh Brookes beat Sepang veteran Karel Abraham over the line in the Milwaukee BMW inter-team battle, ahead of Lucas Scassa, a replacement rider at VFT, and Xavi Forés for Barni Racing Team who took P14. Grillini rider Josh Hook was the final points scorer, with the Australian rookie closing out the top 15.
Race 2 will see lights out on Sunday at Sepang at 16:00 local time (GMT +8) once again, as the teams and riders analyse the data from the first challenge and ready for the second.
More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing BMW:
Torres and Althea BMW Racing Team fourth in Race 1 at Sepang
Sepang (Malaysia), Saturday 14 May 2016:
In the torrid Malaysian conditions, the Althea BMW Racing team riders have concluded race 1 of this sixth round of the 2016 Superbike World Championship. Making a great recovery throughout the 16-lap race, Jordi Torres crossed the line in fourth place on his BMW S1000 RR today; Markus Reiterberger was having a great race too, and was lying fourth ahead of his team-mate when, on lap 12, an unexpected technical set back with the bike unfortunately forced him to retire.
Superpole 2: after a first exit with the race tyre, the Althea BMW pair positioned sixth (Torres) and ninth (Reiterberger). The lap times of all riders came down with the qualifying solution mounted, with Markus concluding in sixth position, thanks to a very fast time of 2’03.549, and Jordi eighth (2’03.855). The Althea BMW riders therefore earned spots on the second and third row of the grid for the weekend’s two SBK races.
SBK – Race 1: very hot and dry conditions for the weekend’s first SBK race (air temperature 32°C, asphalt 46°C). From sixth on the grid, Reiterberger was lying ninth through the opening laps. From lap six on, he proved to have stronger pace than those immediately ahead of him, allowing him to make up some places to position sixth on lap seven. Continuing to lap with times similar to those of the fastest riders, the young German passed both Hayden and Giugliano to move into fourth. The BMW rider was managing his race well when, on lap 12, an unexpected technical setback with his bike unfortunately forced Markus to retire, an issue that his technical staff are now investigating.
Torres did not make the best start, finding himself tenth through the first corners but thanks to a strong pace he was back up to seventh by lap six, battling to catch VD Mark immediately ahead of him. In the second half of the race, the Spaniard continued his recovery, passing both Hayden and then Giugliano to move into fourth. Able to defend himself from Lowes in the final stages – the most critical phase with regard to tyre management – the Spaniard crossed the line in fourth position.
Jordi Torres:
“In the end the race went well. We’d worked to have good pace and our strategy seems to have paid off. I needed to take it easy early on and save the tyre as much as possible. I think we managed the situation well, also because I was able to hold off Lowes at the end, despite a tyre that was practically finished. I’m sorry for Markus, as I was hoping to have an Althea BMW derby with him in the final stages. But we’ve both proved to be strong here and we’ve collected a lot of information that will be useful for tomorrow. The front guys are still a way ahead of us and so my aim for tomorrow’s race is to try and reduce that gap.”
Markus Reiterberger:
“My start was not bad though I lost a little through the first laps. I wanted to save the rear tyre in the initial stages but after five or six laps I felt I could push and my rhythm was really good. I got up to fourth place but then suddenly my bike switched off. I tried to turn it back on and continue, hoping to save a few points, but then the same thing happened and so I was forced to stop. I’m disappointed about what happened but at the same time I feel good because the race was quite fast and we found some good solutions for my bike. I hope that conditions are similar tomorrow and that we can complete a good race.”
More, from a press release issued by Honda:
Top 8 result for van der Mark and Hayden in race one at Sepang
Round 6 – Malaysia
Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia
The opening race of the Malaysian round has been contested today at the Sepang International Circuit, with Honda WorldSBK Team’s Michael van der Mark and Nicky Hayden crossing the line in seventh and eighth positions, respectively. The two riders will get another chance tomorrow as round six of the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship will draw to a close with the second and final encounter of the weekend, scheduled at 4pm local time (GMT +8).
The Saturday afternoon action started with the sixth-round Superpole, which saw Nicky Hayden claiming his best qualifying result of his rookie WorldSBK season, in fourth place. Unable to take the best out of the qualifying tyre, Michael van der Mark found himself on the fourth row of the grid in tenth position.
As the race got underway, Hayden and van der Mark battled hard in the first few laps, with the American eventually getting the better of his teammate and starting his chase of the riders ahead. After a couple of successful overtaking manoeuvres, Hayden began experiencing grip issues and could not hold on to his pace as some of his rivals went past him. In the final part of the encounter, he was caught by van der Mark, who won the battle for seventh place over his fellow Honda WorldSBK rider.
Michael van der Mark 60
7th
To be honest, in today’s Superpole I made a couple of mistakes that didn’t allow me to be much faster on a qualifying tyre. I got a good start to the race and I was feeling good in the first couple of corners, but immediately I felt I was missing some grip and I couldn’t handle the bike the way I wanted. I couldn’t attack and not even stay with the guys at the front. I was just trying to keep the quickest possible pace but towards the end of the race, I was passed by a couple of riders. Eventually I was able to overtake Nicky for seventh before the chequered flag, but it was clear that we were both having our own difficulties. We need to make some changes for tomorrow and turn our luck around for race two.
Nicky Hayden 69
8th
It surely wasn’t a fantastic race and it’s a bit of a shame, really, especially considering how the day started out. This morning in FP2 we were really strong and even if my Superpole wasn’t perfect, I still got my best qualifying place of the season. Despite a little electronic glitch at the start of the race I was still in a decent position but already from the second lap I had a huge drop off of grip. I still managed to make a couple of passes but the feeling with the bike was definitely not the same as before. We will surely go for a different tyre tomorrow and hopefully we’ll be able to put up a better fight.
Pieter Breddels
Technical Manager
Nicky was great qualifying in fourth place but, before the race, we decided to make a gamble regarding the rear tyre to use. That really didn’t work out, even though we had some good information about it from before. From as early as the second lap it was clear that the tyre wasn’t working properly and by halfway through the race, his pace had slowed down considerably. There is a lot to analyse for tomorrow and it’ll surely be a long night for the guys. Michael didn’t have a good lap in Superpole but he got a good start to the race. He spent most of the race in eighth position and had some issues with the handling of the bike and tyre wear, which will both be addressed tonight. It hasn’t been the best of days but we are looking forward positively to tomorrow.
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
Sykes Wins From Rea In Kawasaki Racing Team 1-2 At Sepang
The first race of the FIM Superbike World Championship weekend in Malaysia belonged to front running winner Tom Sykes and the latest model Ninja ZX-10R, with second placed Jonathan Rea (KRT) closing out a strong 1-2 for Kawasaki at a hot and sunny Sepang.
On a day when the top two Kawasaki riders and the Ninja ZX-10R proved to be untouchable the front-running tactics of Sykes worked to perfection as he won his second race of the year and narrowed the gap to the second place rider in the championship to 23 points.
Sykes led across the start line on every single lap, setting a new lap record of 2’03.637 to go with his new track best of 2’02.246 which he had set to win Superpole just a few hours before the first race got underway. Sykes now has 34 career Superpole wins, and 28 race wins, to his credit.
In second place in the 16-lap Sepang race Rea achieved his main goal or the day, extending his championship lead over second ranked rider Chaz Davies. In keeping Davies in third place today Jonathan now has a 39 point lead to take into race two on Sunday. Rea had finished Superpole in third position, for a front row start.
Overall, the all-new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R has won seven of the 11 races run so far in 2016, with Sykes and Rea aiming to add to that total in race two tomorrow. Kawasaki’s lead in the Manufacturers’ Standings has grown to 43 points. The second Sepang race will take place at 16.00, local time in Malaysia, on Sunday 15 May.
Tom Sykes stated: “I really enjoyed the race. The bike was giving me plenty of warning, well in advance. We were able to respond in some laps in a good way and overall I am very, very grateful for all the hard work from Marcel, Danilo and all the mechanics. They have worked overtime. We have struggled to some degree over 12 months now, and this is the first time we have come a bit closer. The fact is that we were able to be consistent for race distance, which is very nice. We need to look to try and improve in some areas for tomorrow, because the other guys are fast. We had a bit of a gap today but everybody will aim to improve and we need to be one of those who also improve.”
Jonathan Rea stated: “I was probably a little bit too conservative in the beginning because I was waiting for that crossover point, which never happened, so I could afford to be a bit more aggressive in the first laps. I think that looking at everyone’s front tyres in parc ferme that appears to be more of the limitation compared to the rear. I am happy because we achieved out target today, which was to further extend our championship lead. It was hard here because I had prepared my race in my head and followed the whole strategy right. Tomorrow maybe I can try to take some of the energy out of the front tyre, change the balance a little bit, to not give the front tyre so much of a hard time.”
Anthony West (Pedercini Racing Team Kawasaki) performed a great job in his first ride in WorldSBK, finishing ninth. Josh Hook (Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki) scored his best result of the year for 15th in the race, with his team-mate Dominic Schmitter (Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki) in 16th place. Saeed Al Sulaiti (Pedercini Racing Team Kawasaki) was 17th and Gianluca Vizziello (Go Eleven Team Kawasaki) 18th from 19 finishers.
More, from a press release issued by Pata Yamaha:
Stunning Superpole, Leading Lap and Fifth Place Fight Back for Lowes at Sepang Race One
Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team’s Alex Lowes stormed to a stunning second position during this afternoon’s MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship Superpole session at the Sepang International Circuit, in Malaysia, after setting a 2’03.002 qualifying lap. The British rider’s confidence grew as he lined up on the front row for the first of the weekend’s 16-lap contest, firing off the line to lead the pack into the first corner. A determined race throughout, Lowes concluded the opening contest with a strong top five position.
Holding fast at the front for the majority of race one’s opening 5,543m lap, Lowes lost the lead at the final hairpin, crossing the line for the first time in second place. The determination of the Brit shone through as he fought hard with the four-strong front group maintaining fourth position for the ensuing five laps before a mistake at turn four saw him running wide and demoted to ninth. Never one to shy away from a fight, Lowes dug deep, mounting a fresh charge as his pace improved and closing down fast on the riders ahead at the halfway stage. Picking them off one by one, he re-took three places in the first half of lap 13 taking another to round out the top five by its close. Fourth fastest on track for the closing stages of the competition, the British rider put on a standout performance against the soaring Sepang temperatures, demonstrating the development of the WorldSBK-spec YZF-R1 and the hard work of his Pata Yamaha crew – boosting his championship position by two places to eighth in the standings with a total of 70 points.
The efforts do not end there as Lowes and the Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team will be back at the Malaysian track at 11:25 local time tomorrow for warm up ahead of the concluding race of the weekend at 16:00.
Alex Lowes
Race: 5th / +18.613 / 16 laps. Championship: 8th / 70 points
“It was a good day and a good race for me at Sepang, obviously my best result of the year so far and my best qualifying as well! It was good to lead the race, I got a good start and it was nice to ride the YZF-R1 at the front. We deserve to be more competitive every week so we need to keep working but it was a great feeling. We made some steps with the pace at the end to recover to fifth place – I wanted fourth but couldn’t quite make it! I pushed a little bit too hard to stay with Chaz at the beginning and made a mistake but if we can make some changes tomorrow to give me a bit better feeling from the bike in a few areas I think we could challenge for the podium. Maybe it’s a bit too soon but overall today felt good, I enjoyed it and hopefully but we can have another solid result on Sunday.”
Paul Denning – Team Principal
“Congratulations to Alex and the whole Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team for an excellent day’s work here in the heat of Sepang. To qualify on the front row in second position, lead the race for a lap and then recover from an off-track excursion to a strong fifth position honestly leaves no negatives to dwell upon. We can’t expect to improve to the level of the championship contenders in one step, it’s still very early days for the YZF-R1 in this championship and with the continued support of Yamaha, and excellent work by the crew we seem to have taken some small steps forward.
“It’s slightly meaningless but we can also take some confidence from the fact that if it weren’t for the lap-six excursion, based on the pace for the rest of the race, Alex would have finished less than four seconds from the podium. Let’s try and improve the bike further still and have a similarly strong day tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by Aruba.it Racing Ducati:
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team on the podium again in Sepang with Chaz Davies, 6th place for Davide Giugliano
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team took it back to the track in Sepang for Race 1 in extremely hot weather conditions (32 degrees in the air, 46 on the tarmac). Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano started from second and third row respectively after finishing Superpole in fifth and ninth position and, thanks to a strong start, both riders took fourth and fifth place at turn 1.
The leading group quickly split itself, and Davies enjoyed a long fight for second position against championship leader Rea. Giugliano, slightly further back, raced for the most part within the top five, battling for fourth position against Torres, Lowes, and Hayden. Both Davies and Giugliano showed a consistent pace despite the low grip level and tyre wear, finishing the race in third and sixth position respectively.
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7) – 3rd
“It was a difficult race for us today. I struggled to get the bike turning from mid corner, and I lost a few tenths here and there in corner exit as well. I didn’t have the usual feeling on the bike, and I couldn’t get as close to the limit as I would have liked to. Compared with yesterday, we definitely made some progress, but we’re still at 95% of our potential. I was expecting Sykes to slow down eventually, but he didn’t. I was hoping to at least be able to make a move on Rea, but honestly we couldn’t have done more today. Now we’ll sit down with the team to come up with a plan to improve tomorrow.”
Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #34) – 6th
“We opted for a soft rear tyre during the race, which theoretically could have been a risky choice, but actually gave us some quite good feedback. Instead, we struggled with the front, which dropped more than we expected. This hindered us both under braking and cornering, but I was definitely able to ride better today than at any time during practice. This means we’re heading in the right direction. We still have our work cut out for us, but we found a good basis to make more progress tomorrow.”
Ernesto Marinelli, Superbike Project Director
“It was undoubtedly a difficult race for us. The track conditions changed throughout the practice sessions, and so did the weather, making it more difficult to set up the bikes. During the race, we were able to collect some important data that was not available to us earlier on during the weekend, and we’ll try to make the most of it to score better results tomorrow.
More, from a press release issued by MV Agusta:
TOP 10 FINISH FOR LEON CAMIER AT SEPANG
Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia, a stone’s throw away from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, provided the venue for the second day of MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship.
WorldSBK – Tissot-Superpole1,2 – Race1
After qualifying 2nd in Superpole1, the Brit rider secured the 12th position in starting grid after the Tissot-Superpole2, with a 2’05.399 lap time.
In Race1 Leon, born in 1986, pushed hard on his MV Agusta machine to hit the the scoring point zone; after a difficult start, which cost him some positions, Camier found a good race pace and, lap after lap, managed to realize a 10th place which means another 6 points in the championship overall standing.
Race 2 of the WorldSBK Asian round will be staged tomorrow at 16:00 Malaysian time, and Team MV Agusta Reparto Corse is now working on the data acquired by the MV Agusta F4 RC of Leon Camier.
Last season’s race at Sepang the Cluzel-Zanetti duo has emerged respectively in 2nd and 3rd place and tomorrow, at 14:20 local time, both riders will try to close their gap with the front riders.
WorldSSP – Tissot-Superpole2
After the excellent performance in FP1 on Friday, which saw Cluzel and Zanetti ending in 3rd and 4th place, today the MV Agusta Reparto Corse duo was back on track for the FP3 and Tissot-Superpole2.
In Tissot-Superpole2 Jules Cluzel, struggling with some problems to his bike setting, got a 2’09.259 lap time, placing him in 7th position on the time sheets; tomorrow the French rider will start in front of the 3rd row on grid the WorldSSP race.
With a best lap of 2’10.278, good for the 12th place on grid, Lorenzo Zanetti also didn’t find the right feeling with his MV Agusta F3 675 and closed the ranks of the Tissot-Superpole2.
Leon Camier #2 WorldSBK Rider – This race I suffered a bad start and grid position and for sure this have certainly penalized me, but after a few laps I managed to catch a good rhythm and I passed a few riders. Compared to Imola, here we are struggling a bit but everyone is giving 100% and tomorrow I hope to further improve my score.
Jules Cluzel #16 WorldSSP Rider – It was a strange qualifying day, similar to what happened at Assen and Aragon. There are obviously some small problems and must be solved as soon as possible, as otherwise it becomes difficult to do well in race. Now I am working with my technical staff to mange this situation and get back to being competitive as we have already shown.
Lorenzo Zanetti #87 WorldSSP Rider – I certainly can not be satisfied. Yesterday we started well but we were not able to do the next step, which would take us today to be with the front guys. We lose too much and we have to understand why. I am aware my team is doing a great job and tomorrow I will do my best as always, because we know we can be competitive.