ACERBIS Czech Round
Motul FIM Superbike World Championship
Automotodrom Brno
Brno, Czech Republic
June 9, 2018
Restarted Race One Results (all on Pirelli tires):
1. Jonathan Rea, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), 16 laps, Total Race Time 32:08.759, Best Lap Time 1:59.535
2. Marco Melandri, Italy (Duc Panigale R), -5.381 seconds, 2:00.133
3. Tom Sykes, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), -7.336, 2:00.328
4. Michael Van Der Mark, Netherlands (Yam YZF-R1), -11.893, 2:00.080
5. Alex Lowes, UK (Yam YZF-R1), -13.145, 2:00.411
6. Eugene Laverty, Ireland (Apr RSV4 RF), -14.210, 2:00.535
7. Lorenzo Savadori, Italy (Apr RSV4 RF), -17.051, 2:00.632
8. Chaz Davies, UK (Duc Panigale R), -17.743, 2:00.714
9. Leon Camier, UK (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), -18.104, 2:00.584
10. Toprak Razgatlioglu, Turkey (Kaw ZX-10RR), -21.783, 2:01.050
11. Yonny Hernandez, Colombia (Kaw ZX-10RR), -30.614, 2:01.455
12. Leandro Mercado, Argentina (Kaw ZX-10RR), -31.111, 2:01.419
13. Roman Ramos, Spain (Kaw ZX-10RR), -31.188, 2:01.425
14. Xavi Fores, Spain (Duc Panigale R), -31.864, 2:01.203
15. Michael Rinaldi, Italy (Duc Panigale R), -33.079, started from back of grid, 2:01.644
16. PJ Jacobsen, USA (Honda CBR1000RR SP2), -33.685, 2:01.703
17. Ondrej Jezek, Czech Republic (Yam YZF-R1), -53.662, 2:02.919
18. Loris Baz, France (BMW S1000RR), -104.844, crash, 2:00.946
19. Jordi Torres, Spain (MV Agusta F4 RC), -10 laps, DNF, retired, 2:02.879
20. Jake Gagne, USA (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), -12 laps, DNF, retired, 2:02.016
World Championship Point Standings (after 13 of 26 races):
1. Rea, 270 points
2. Davies, 189
3. Sykes, 179
4. Van Der Mark, 176
5. Melandri, 156
6. Lowes, 129
7. Fores, 126
8. Razgatlioglu, 84
9. Baz, 67
10. Torres, 64
11. Camier, 63
12. Savadori, 62
13. Laverty, 47
14. Rinaldi, 44
15. Mercado, 42
16. Ramos, 35
17. Gagne, 20
18. Jacobsen, 18
19. Hernandez, 16
20. Leon Haslam, 14
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
Rea Takes 60th Win And New Record
Jonathan Rea (KRT) won the opening WorldSBK race at the Automotodrom Brno and in doing so smashed his way to a new record total of 60 race wins in his WorldSBK career, surpassing the 59 race victories taken by Carl Fogarty. Tom Sykes (KRT) finished third in today’s race, having extended his Superpole record to 45 earlier in the day.
Triple World Champion Jonathan Rea was in imperious form in taking his record number of race wins to a new high. It was not an easy task after having to face three starts from second place on the grid, in a race that was twice delayed and then finally run over 16 laps, not the planned 18. A red flag for a damaged section of air fence and then a false launch after the starting lights developed a fault, saw the race finally underway at 13.40.
Once off and running for real Rea put as much space as possible between him and the pursuing pack, in what turned out to be warm and dry conditions at the 5.403km long Automotodrom Brno. Jonathan took his historic 60th win by a margin of 5.382 seconds over Marco Melandri, who finished just under two seconds ahead of Tom.
Starting from his third pole position of the season, Sykes was the closest challenger to Rea in the early part of the 16-lap race. Tom held off all the challengers behind except Melandri to record his 106th career podium visit, and his sixth top-three finish of the season.
Today marks the exact halfway point of the 2018 season, with 13 of the 26 races planned for 2018 now completed. In the championship Jonathan leads Chaz Davies by 81 points – 270 to 189 – with Tom back into third place today on 179 points.
Donington podium finisher Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) started the race 15th on the grid after Superpole, but finished tenth, leading home a running flush of Kawasakis down to 13th place. Yonny Hernandez (Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki) was 11th, Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) 12th and Roman Ramos (Team GoEleven Kawasaki) 13th.
The second Brno race will take place on Sunday the 10th of June, at 13.00 local time in the Czech Republic.
Jonathan Rea, stated: “I am really happy. Of course it is hard to get super-ecstatic and go and start celebrating, although it is worth celebrating being the winningest rider in WorldSBK history, but we have another race to do tomorrow. I feel really fortunate to have this opportunity, riding a great bike and to be here every weekend. To win the 60th race in that fashion, being dominant, was really nice. I could ride to my pit board at some points, which was also nice. It was a huge team effort, especially after coming here to test after Assen and before Imola, because it was such a tight schedule. It made yesterday less stressful because the conditions were not good for anybody. We were not so worried, because we had done two full days at Brno where we had evaluated all set-ups. We put it together from there.”
Tom Sykes, stated: “The stops and starts were not ideal today and we have to be so careful not to burn the clutch. It was a bit of a scrappy start procedure but we eventually got underway in safe conditions and we made the best of our situation. I tried to go initially with Jonathan but I just could not get the bike through the middle of the turns, and gave away too much on the cutback. The front was under-steering and in hot conditions it looks like everybody was struggling. I was just following the front all the way around turn one and turn four and had a lot of warnings in that race, but we got the feedback through the Showa suspension and took a third place. It isn’t a perfect scenario but it is a lot better than some of the other guys, so we have to be grateful.”
More, from a press release issued by Red Bull World Superbike Team:
Ninth place for Camier in combative Race 1 at Brno
Czech Round
Automotodrom Brno, Czech Republic
Leon Camier salvaged a ninth place finish in a fiercely fought Race 1 at Brno, the Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team rider continuing to get back to his best on board the CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2.
Having qualified in tenth place in Superpole 2, Camier lined up on the fourth row for Race 1. After a cautious start, Camier was battling for a top ten position however four laps after the start of the race a red flag was called due to the air fence needing to be repaired following a rider crashing at turn 5. As a result, the race was restarted and a shorter 16 lap contest ensued.
After the restart Camier got a much better start the second time around, making up places and finding himself in an intense four way battle for a top-six place with Laverty, Davies and Savadori. Although he managed to get close to making up more positions in the final laps, Camier crossed the finish line in ninth place adding seven points to his championship tally.
It was a tough first WorldSBK race at Brno for Jake Gagne, the rookie managed to get a good start in the race and managed to gain some positions, however a technical issue on the fifth lap after the restart cut his race short.
Race 2 will take place at 1300 local time (GMT +2) tomorrow but before then, the morning Warm Up session takes place at 0935.
Leon Camier 2
I’m satisfied with how today went as I felt we got the most out of our current package for this circuit especially having missed the test here which meant we didn’t have much time to find the right setup. In some areas in Race 1 we were quite strong, we just need to work on a couple of weak points to allow me to attack more in tomorrow’s race. Injury wise, this race was a lot easier than Donington, the pain is quite manageable and is only an issue when I’m trying hard to pass other riders. We’ll try making some tweaks to the Fireblade’s geometry overnight to see if we can make a step tomorrow and challenge for the top six again.
Jake Gagne 45
We made some good changes to the bike today as I wasn’t too comfortable yesterday and right away in Race 1 I felt better on the bike and got a good start. Then we had the restart and my start the second time around really wasn’t good and then I had some problems with the clutch which meant I couldn’t complete the race. It’s a shame but the good thing is we’ve now found a good setting for my Fireblade so I’m excited to see how we go in Warm Up tomorrow. It’s another learning day and we’ll go out and try do a better job in Race 2.
Kervin Bos
Team Manager
Today we had some mixed results, on the one hand another top ten finish for Leon in the first race was promising, especially given he was able to fight for a top six position. Given our lack of testing here and his injury, this was a positive outcome, we just need to see if we can find a couple of tenths in our setting for the CBR1000RR to give Leon a better package for tomorrow. Unfortunately we had a technical issue with Jake’s clutch, we’ll analyse his bike to see if we can find the cause and regroup ahead of tomorrow. If we can make some slight improvements on both sides of the garage for Race 2, I think we can end the weekend strongly.
More, from a press release issued by Gulf Althea Racing:
A complicated Race 1 for Gulf Althea BMW at Brno
Brno (Czech Republic), Saturday 9 June 2018
The first Superbike race of the seventh WorldSBK round played out today at the Brno track, but it proved a complicated one for the Gulf Althea BMW Racing team, rider Loris Baz crashing before eventually finishing in eighteenth place. The squad’s STK1000 rider Alessandro Delbianco has qualified eighth for tomorrow Superstock race.
Superpole2: having qualified directly for today’s second phase of the Superpole, Baz completed a couple of laps on the race tyre before returning to the garage to put in the qualifying solution. A fast lap with said qualifier (1’58.389) saw him position eighth, which meant a third row start for race one.
SBK – Race 1: in warm and sunny conditions, Baz got away well from eighth on the grid. He started to give chase to Savadori and Davies immediately ahead of him, but on lap three the race was brought to a halt with the red flag after another rider crashed. The race restarted (twice in fact, due to an issue with the starting lights) and Loris was once again lying ninth during the opening phase. Losing some ground due to a lack of grip, the Frenchman was running eleventh mid-race. Unfortunately though, a crash on lap twelve relegated him to eighteenth place; Baz was nevertheless able to continue and conclude his race, but the final position remained the same, so eighteenth for him today.
STK1000 Qualifying: Delbianco used the 30-minute session to make further modifications to the set-up of his BMW with his technicians. The Italian set a 2’02.615 in the early part of the session, a reference that remained his best time overall and that saw him close in eighth position. Alessandro will therefore line up on row three of tomorrow’s race grid.
Loris Baz:
“I crashed five laps from the end, but I was struggling from the start with the rear grip. An issue we’ve had at other tracks, but it’s even more evident here. I did a strong lap in the Superpole on the qualifying tyre but even then, the grip wasn’t great. In the race, we put a new tyre in for the restart and I tried my best to stick with those ahead but unfortunately lost the front. I was able to finish the race at least, not wanting to give up, but it’s a real shame that we’re not where we want to be.”
More, from a press release issued by Barni Racing:
WorldSBK: Forés fourteenth in race 1 at Brno
Brno (CZ), 9th June 2018. Fourteenth place for the Barni Racing Team rider Xavi Forés in Race 1 at Brno, in Czech Republic, seventh round of MOTUL FIM WorldSBK Championship.
Still struggling with setup problem on his Ducati Panigale R the Spaniard wasn’t able to recover from the thirteenth place of the starting grid.
Because of that Forés started from the fifth row missing the Superpole 2 only for two tenth of a second. The flagbearer of the team from Bergamo started well but the first race was red flagged and the new start wasn’t good as well. Forés was overtaken by Mercado and Ramos and fighting with lack of grip he didn’t managed to strike back to the rivals. He was fourteenth under the checkered flag getting two points for the Championship. In the overall standing he is now seventh with 126 points.
Marco Barnabò, Principal Manager
«The weekend has not been positive so far, the result mirrors the problems we faced. The main trouble is the grip: tires didn’t work well and the driver couldn’t drive comfortably. We have been working non-stop since Friday morning, but we have not yet found the solution. We don’t give up, but the situation, unfortunately, is this: the machine slip too much. In the last two races we collected too few points, but in order to comeback fighting at the front we need to make a big step forward with the bike set-up».
Xavi Forés, #12
«Since we raced in Donington I lost the feeling with the bike I have had before. Here the problems are different from those of Donington, but the consequence is the same. It’s something strange because from Imola until now nothing changed on the bike but if in England all Ducati had problems here Melandri is very fast. For tomorrow we will try to approach the problem with a different strategy and try to have a comeback».
More, from a press release issued by Aruba.it Racing Ducati:
Second place for Melandri in Race 1 at Brno with the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team, Davies 8th
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team stepped back on the podium in Race 1 at Brno (Czech Republic), home of Round 7 of the WorldSBK Championship, thanks to Marco Melandri’s second-place finish. The Italian, third in Superpole, had the lead within his sight before the race was red-flagged due to a crash by Michael Ruben Rinaldi (who then was able to restart) at turn 5, which damaged the air fences. At the second start, Melandri once again tried to hunt down Rea but some grip issues prompted him to settle for second place.
Similar difficulties, albeit on a bigger scale, penalized also Chaz Davies. The Welshman, despite fighting with his usual determination, raced in the leading group early on but was then forced to drop the pace, finishing in eighth position. Michael Ruben Rinaldi, on track with the Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team, started from the back of the grid at the restart, climbing back several positions to score points in 15th place.
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team and the Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team will return to the track Sunday, June 10th, at 09:35 local time (CET) for a warm-up session before Race 2, which is scheduled to start at 13:00.
Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #33) – 2nd
“After a difficult round, we managed to be competitive once again. It’s always nice to be on the podium, but track conditions today were really tricky. We lacked grip and the bike understeered. At the first start we were right behind Rea, who made a couple of mistakes, but at the restart I knew it would have been harder because the temperatures rose further. Still, we can be happy because we managed a difficult situation quite well. We solved most of our issues, even though we still need to improve. Tomorrow, it’ll be crucial to start well from third row and be fast early on, then anything can happen.”
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7) – 8th
“It was a tough race. Initially I felt quite OK but, as the temperatures increased, the grip went away really quickly after just a couple of laps, and then after mid-race the rear grip was very low so I had to take more risks and I struggled also with the front. I did everything I could to make it to the finish line in a decent position. We need to look into these issues further to understand what caused them and how to improve because, once we get the old feeling back, I know what we’re capable of.”
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team #21) – 15th
“I’m sorry for the crash, because we were competitive. Fortunately, the red flags allowed me to get back to the pits and the crew did a great job to get the second bike, which had a different setup, ready. We scored one point starting from the back of the grid, which is something important for the morale of the whole team. We’ll try to bounce back tomorrow, without making mistakes.”
Stefano Cecconi, Aruba CEO and Team Principal
“It was a two-sided race. On the one hand, Marco regained his feeling with the bike after a difficult round and was able to ride constantly at the front; on the other hand, Chaz was penalized by some clear issues despite a good start. Both gave their all, as usual. Now it’s up to us to put them in the condition to fully express their potential tomorrow, and we’ll work hard towards this goal.”
More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:
#CzechWorldSBK – Day 2: History maker Rea grabs sweet sixtieth win at Brno
Reigning champion triumphs in Czech return and opens 81-point gap in title battle
When the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship last graced the flowing hills of the Automotodrom Brno, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was a promising 25-year-old with 10 race wins to his name, no world championships. The contrast this Saturday, six years later, was startling: the KRT rider led a perfect race to take his sixth race win of the season, winning more WorldSBK races than any other rider in history, as the big 60 put him above the legendary Carl Fogarty.
Around the longest track in the season, it was fitting for the action to be more extended than usual. Rea overtook teammate Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) at the start, but crashes from Jordi Torres (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team) forced a red flag and race restart – twice, due to technical issues on the grid.
At the third time of asking, with the race length now down to 16 laps, Sykes defended his position at turn 1, but Rea was in front a couple of corners later, keeping Sykes behind and jetting off. The Northern Irishman was also helped by the action behind, with Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) putting Sykes under pressure. Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) also joined the fight, swapping positions several times with his teammate in a thrilling battle.
Rea went untroubled from this point forward, leading a composed ride to the finish line. He was the only rider managing laps times under two minutes, keeping a 4-5 second gap from his closest pursuers. The defending champion has now opened an 81 point gap over Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), who took a top eight today, as his championship pursuit becomes even tougher.
Behind the leader, Melandri finally got the best of Sykes in lap 4, taking his best result since Phillip Island in February with second. It’s the fifth podium for Melandri at Brno in WorldSBK, and a fantastic comeback after a difficult Donington weekend. Sykes crossed the line in third, two seconds off the Italian.
The rostrum was finally just not close enough for the Yamaha riders, with van der Mark beating Lowes to fourth place. Both men will sit at the front of the grid in Race 2, a fantastic opportunity to move their personal tussle to podium fighting positions tomorrow.
A thrilling battle for sixth midway through the race saw Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) emerge triumphant and back into the top positions. He got the best of teammate Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia), who still managed to beat Davies in the final laps for seventh.
Leon Camier (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) netted himself another top 10 finish. Still not 100%, the Brit has managed to come in ninth at the flag, ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in tenth, the first independent rider at Brno. Yonny Hernández (Team Pedercini Racing) confirmed his good form at the Czech circuit, returning to the WorldSBK paddock in eleventh after missing the UK Round.
P1 – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
“It was nice to take my 60th win in a race like that, I was so happy and my guys gave me an awesome bike. I want to say a big thanks to KRT for bringing us to the test here – that gave us a big advantage and meant this weekend was more calm, and we could understand our Pirelli tyres and base set-up. The race was perfect, they don’t come like that a lot and its incredible, 60 race wins is a huge story that I’ve had, each and every one is special and I couldn’t do it without my team.”
P2 – Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“It was a very good race, as I expected it was difficult, as the track was warm and the grip was quite low after three to four laps. We had a lot of understeer and lost the grip, so it was hard to not push too much. But I had a look and I saw Jonny was gone, so I just tried to check my gap with Tom from my pit board. and tried not to make a mistake, it was a long race but I will try to do better tomorrow.”
P3 – Tom Sykes (Kawaskai Racing Team WorldSBK)
“Today is Jonathan’s day, it’s a fantastic achievement and I want to say a big congrats to him, to get 60 is some achievement! But unfortunately we didn’t have the pace to match him, and tomorrow is another day. We really struggled with understeer today, but we didn’t lost too much once the pace settled, but initially I couldn’t dig the front in. Third is the best I could do today, it’s great to have all the support in the Czech Republic, great to have the podium here and hopefully tomorroe we can have a lot to cheer about.”