WorldSBK Race Lap Record: 1:46.393, Chaz Davies, 2016

WorldSBK Pole/Circuit Best Lap Record: 1:45.180, Chaz Davies, 2019

Motul FIM Superbike World Championship

Imola Circuit, Italy

May 11, 2019

Race One Results (all on Pirelli tires):

1. Jonathan Rea, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), 19 laps, Total Race Time 33:48.277, Best Lap Time 1:46.023 (New Lap Record)

2. Alvaro Bautista, Spain (Duc Panigale V4 R), -7.832 seconds, 1:46.266

3. Toprak Razgatlioglu, Turkey (Kaw ZX-10RR), -19.291, 1:46.990

4. Michael Van Der Mark, Netherlands (Yam YZF-R1), -19.968, 1:47.316

5. Leon Haslam, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), -20.111, 1:47.179

6. Marco Melandri, Italy (Yam YZF-R1), -31.846, 1:47.606

7. Alex Lowes, UK (Yam YZF-R1), -32.024, 1:47.405

8. Michael Rinaldi, Italy (Duc Panigale V4 R), -34.107, 1:47.911

9. Lorenzo Zanetti, Italy (Duc Panigale V4 R), -34.814, 1:48.012

10. Markus Reiterberger, Germany (BMW S1000RR), -40.196, 1:48.173

11. Jordi Torres, Spain (Kaw ZX-10RR), -51.426, 1:48.100

12. Tommy Bridewell, UK (Duc Panigale V4 R), -55.235, 1:48.786

13. Hector Barbera, Spain (Kaw ZX-10RR), -56.539, 1:48.909

14. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Japan (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), -61.025, 1:48.856

15. Alessandro Delbianco, Italy (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), -87.025, ran off track, 1:49.778

16. Sandro Cortese, Germany (Yam YZF-R1), -5 laps, DNF, crash, 1:48.106

17. Tom Sykes, UK (BMW S1000RR), -10 laps, DNF, retired, 1:47.013

18. Chaz Davies, UK (Duc Panigale V4 R), 18 laps, DNF, retired, no lap time recorded

19. Leon Camier, UK (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), DNS

World Championship Point Standings (after 12 of 37 races):

1. Bautista, 256 points

2. Rea, 208

3. Lowes, 135

4. Van Der Mark, 128

5. Haslam, 104

6. Melandri, 79

7. Davies, 76

8. Cortese, 64

9. Razgatlioglu, 62

10. TIE, Sykes/Torres, 54

12. Rinaldi, 44

13. Reiterberger, 41

14. Michael Laverty, 32

15. Camier, 26

16. Kiyonari, 12

17. Leandro Mercado, 11

18. Zanetti, 7

19. TIE, Bridewell/Delbianco, 4

21. Barbera, 3

More, from a press release issued by Dorna WorldSBK Press Office:

More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:

Rea Scores Clear Imola Race Win

Official KRT rider Jonathan Rea took his first race win of the 2019 FIM Superbike World Championship season by over seven seconds at Imola today, having started from second place on the grid. His team-mate Leon Haslam battled hard to be in the podium mix and finished in fifth place.

The combination of Rea and the Ninja ZX-10RR had worked well at the 4.936km long Imola circuit since the very first practice session on Friday. As he and his crew built their way to a final set-up package Rea secured second place in Superpole, giving him an ideal front row starting position.

On a development specification Pirelli rear tyre Rea set a new lap record of 1’46.023 on lap three of the opening race. He took his number one plate across the start-finish line in the leading position for all 19-laps at this intense and undulating circuit.

In a challenging race for Haslam, who had started from fourth place on the grid, he had to make up ground to get back into podium contention. He was less than one second from third place and tried to make one final pass on the last lap to take fourth, just missing out by 0.143 seconds across the line.

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) took his Ninja ZX-10RR to third place, for his first podium of 2019. His strong race performance made it two Kawasakis inside the top three.

After a dry and mild first raceday of the weekend the two contests scheduled for Sunday – the ten lap Tissot-Superpole race and a second 19-lap full race – have a high probability of being held in wet conditions, according to most weather services.

Jonathan Rea, stated: “I am very proud of the team. Even though we have not won a race until now this season, no one has given up. The atmosphere inside the garage is incredible and I have so much support from my team. It is a real nice victory because it is for everybody that has been working hard. We kept working and making steps with the bike set-up. I felt really good because we made a step in the right direction. I stuck a pass in on Chaz Davies in turn four of lap one and then stuck my head down. That was my complete strategy. The plan worked perfectly as I was able to push the pace and then roll off in the last laps and enjoy the moment. I want to thank Kawasaki because we made a step forward from last year.”

Leon Haslam, stated: “We have been struggling to stop the bike. The pace was quite good and when I ran off track I bridged the gap of two seconds to the riders in front, I did it in two laps. When I was behind them it was impossible to pass. For me the race was very difficult because I felt I had a faster pace but I could not do anything with it when I was behind them.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) enjoyed his own landmark result at Imola – his first podium of 2019 after scoring two in his rookie season last year. Riding in distinctive ELF colours he came up from 11th place to record a famous third place at his team’s home event.

Toprak Razgatlioglu, stated: “I am really happy because after finishing 11th in Superpole I did not expect a podium. This season I have been expecting to score more podiums but it has not been possible until now. The set-up from Friday has been the same and the bike was good, but with the Superpole tyres, the bike’s position changes. I had a big fight with Michael van der Mark at the end. I really pushed with hard braking and on good line and we got the podium.”

Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki) was 11th, after qualifying ninth in Superpole. Hector Barbera (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) was 13th in race one, scoring his first WorldSBK points since taking over from the injured Leandro Mercado at the previous round in Assen.

More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport:

Top ten finish for Markus Reiterberger and the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team in Saturday’s race at Imola.

Tom Sykes and Markus Reiterberger secure sixth and seventh places on the BMW S 1000 RR in Superpole.

Reiterberger finishes tenth in race one of the FIM Superbike World Championship at Imola.

Tom Sykes forced to retire from the race.

Imola. Saturday’s race in the FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) at Imola (ITA) ended with a top ten finish for the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team. Markus Reiterberger (GER) crossed the line in tenth place on his BMW S 1000 RR. Team-mate Tom Sykes (GBR) was in third when he was forced to retire due to a technical defect on the tenth of 19 laps. Imola is hosting the fifth round of the 2019 WorldSBK season.

In the morning’s Superpole qualifying session, both BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team riders secured a good starting position for the first race. Sykes rode his RR to sixth position on the grid, with Reiterberger right behind in seventh.

Sykes made a very good start and was in a promising third place at the halfway point of the race, well ahead of his closest challengers. However, the British rider was then forced to head for the pits. Reiterberger fell back to 13th place at the start and remained there for a while, before moving up again in the final phase to return to the top ten.

Quotes after race one at Imola.

Marc Bongers, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director: “The day started off really well with Superpole qualifiying. Markus claimed seventh place and really showed that he had made a big leap forward from yesterday’s practice session. Tom made a great start to the race and being on his own in third place allowed him to exploit the RR’s potential. Unfortunately, an issue cropped up with the power management and Tom was unable to convert this performance into the result it deserved. We will now take a close look at what caused the problem. Markus lost a few places during the turmoil at the start and got stuck further back in the field. That made the race difficult for him, but he battled his way back and scored some important points by finishing tenth. Overall, we have seen that we have a good set up at Imola and we want to build on that tomorrow in the Superpole race and in the second race. According to the forecasts, the weather, however, could provide us with a new challenge.”

Shaun Muir, Team Principal BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team: “For Tom, it’s really sad. Five rounds into our first year in WorldSBK with this project and the new RR – and we were not only fighting for the podium, we were on the podium. Then a cruel small issue put an end to his race so I feel very, very sorry for Tom and everyone on his side of the garage because they work really hard. They’ve made a clever tyre choice that worked very well and he had a very good start and everything was there in front of him. We now must build on that and come back stronger. Markus unfortunately had a difficult race but again, we collected good data and hopefully starting from the same grid positions in tomorrow’s Superpole race we can see what we can do.”

Markus Reiterberger: “I am really happy that we managed to improve on yesterday’s performance. We did a good job in Superpole to secure a starting position of seventh. It was a shame that I then lost a few places at the start and during the first few corners. I was stuck behind (Michael Ruben) Rinaldi for quite a while. I was faster, but I just couldn’t get past. However, I was able to overtake a few other riders towards the end and crossed the line in 10th place. That wasn’t quite the result we had hoped for but I am confident that I will continue to improve. We’ve still got a few issues to deal with at the moment but we will continue to work hard and I am very grateful to my team for that. Tomorrow is a new day that brings new opportunities and I hope that we can take another big step forward in the warm-up. Of course, we will have to keep an eye on the weather but I think that we can do a good job. We certainly have the potential to do that.”

Tom Sykes: “To say I’m disappointed would be an understatement. We’ve worked so hard all weekend and we really improved some areas on the BMW S 1000 RR. We dug deep at the start and had a good position but then unfortunately had an issue with the bike. We had the pace today, we had a bit of luck with Chaz (Davies) not being in the race and we had a top-three position in our sight. We had a nice gap to the riders behind and I was just settling into a rhythm; the times were very consistent. It just seems we have a lot of bad luck at the moment so hopefully we’ll have a better day tomorrow.”

More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:

Van Der Mark Battles for the Podium in Imola Thriller

Race

Michael van der Mark scythed his way through the pack to finish fourth in a thrilling WorldSBK Race 1 in Imola today, with only a spirited ride by Toprak Razgatlioglu in the closing stages denying the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK rider his third podium finish of the season. Teammate Alex Lowes put in an heroic effort to finish in seventh place, despite suffering badly from the effects of a stomach bug picked up earlier in the week. GRT Yamaha Supported WorldSBK rider, Marco Melandri, split the Pata Yamaha pairing, overcoming the set-up issues he experienced yesterday to claim sixth place in front of his home crowd today. Sandro Cortese suffered his first DNF of the season, following a crash at turn 12 late in the race.

Lining up eighth on the grid after a difficult Superpole qualifying session, van der Mark got one of his trademark lightning starts and had fought his way through to fourth on the opening lap, with teammate Lowes in close attendance behind. The two Pata Yamaha riders then rode in formation until Lowes made a pass for fourth on lap three, before having to surrender the position as the effects of his illness started to take their toll on his energy reserves.

Once back in front of his teammate the retirement of Tom Sykes at half race distance promoted van der Mark to third and into what would prove a titanic battle with Razgatlioglu and Leon Haslam for the final podium position. The Turkish rider made his move on lap 11, outbraking van der Mark into turn two to claim third position, which, despite a spirited challenge from the Pata Yamaha rider in the final two laps, he managed to defend to the line, leaving van der Mark to finish fourth. The Dutch rider was quick to congratulate Razgatlioglu, not just for the podium finish but also for the close but fair fight over the final few laps.

With his energy reserves sapped by the illness he’s been suffering with all weekend, Lowes was unable to match the pace of his teammate and, as the race progressed, dropped back into the clutches of first Haslam and then Melandri, eventually finishing the race in seventh place; an heroic effort given his physical condition. Lowes is confident that, if he can recover some of his strength overnight then he has the package necessary to fight for the podium tomorrow.

After struggling with a number of set-up issues throughout free practice and qualifying, GRT Yamaha’s Melandri managed to make a small improvement ahead of the race, which allowed the Italian to salvage a sixth place finish, much to the delight of his home crowd.

It proved a difficult Race 1 for Cortese, who lost much of yesterday’s second free practice session due to a crash on the harder option front tyre. The reigning Supersport World Champion was initially involved in the battle for a top ten finish, but a crash without injury at turn 12 with just three laps remaining brought his race to a premature conclusion.

The four Yamaha riders will be back in action tomorrow morning in the 10-lap Superpole sprint race, which gets underway at 11.00, followed by lights out for Race 2 at 14.00.

Michael van der Mark

“Qualifying wasn’t as good as it could have been, meaning I started from position eight on the grid, which I wasn’t too happy about. But I got a great start, immediately making it through into fourth place and I felt not exactly great with the bike, but I had a good pace. Some guys were a little quicker, but I was just doing my thing and was involved in some really nice battles in the beginning. Towards the end I could see Toprak was closing in on me and he was eventually able to make a pass stick. I tried everything to stay with him, thinking he’d lose a little bit of pace in the closing laps and I could retake third, but he didn’t. I tried to put in a pass a couple of times anyway, but he defended really well and there was no way through. A podium in Imola would have been great but even so I’m pretty happy with this result and I’m sure we can improve the bike further ahead of the two races tomorrow.”

Alex Lowes

“Given my condition I’m really relieved to have come away from the race today with a top ten finish and nine points because, after qualifying, I was feeling the worst that I’ve felt all weekend. I didn’t feel any better ahead of the race, so I knew I was going to run out of energy at some point, but I didn’t expect to be physically sick during the race on top of everything else! I just did the best that I could under the circumstances, and these probably count as the best nine points I’ve ever scored. So, I’m reasonably happy, but now I hope I can recover a bit more by tomorrow so we can fight again at the front, but this time for the whole race.”

Marco Melandri

“It was one more very difficult race, although not quite as difficult as qualifying. We made some changes to the bike for the race and that brought a small step forward, but it’s still not enough. I feel like I still can’t use the strongest points of my riding to my advantage at the moment, because I don’t have the best feeling with the bike. It’s not easy, but we continue to work to get better.”

Sandro Cortese

“A very tough race today. We’ve struggled a bit all weekend, but today was the toughest day and, unfortunately, it ended with a crash. We are still analysing the data to discover the cause, but now we need to look towards the two races tomorrow. I’m really positive about tomorrow and I’m looking forward to getting back on the bike to race again.”

More, from a press release issued by Aruba.it Racing Ducati:

Second place for Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in Race 1 at Imola, Chaz Davies forced to retire immediately with an electrical problem

After eleven successive wins since the start of the season, the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team rider Álvaro Bautista was unable to extend his unbeaten record at the Autodromo di Imola, where this weekend the fifth round of the Superbike World Championship is taking place.

Starting from the front row with third place on the grid, the 34-year-old Spanish rider – and championship leader – was unable to do anything about his Kawasaki rival Jonathan Rea, and after 19 laps Álvaro had to settle for second place in the first race this weekend.

Team-mate Chaz Davies was unlucky today, despite starting from the pole slot after making major gains throughout the weekend. Totally at ease on the track where he has won a total of four times, the 32-year-old Welshman saw all his hopes of victory vanish after just four corners, when an electrical problem on the engine of his Panigale V4 R forced him to retire from the race, without him even completing one lap.

Tomorrow the ten-lap Superpole Race will be held at 11.00 CET, while Race 2 gets underway at 14.00.

Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #19) – 2nd

“For sure it hasn’t been easy to learn the track in just a few sessions, and in addition the race pace today was very high. At the start I tried to follow Jonathan but I struggled to keep his pace. Nevertheless, I’m happy because today we scored the best possible result. We didn’t make any mistakes and in the end it was important to score good points for the championship. I’m also happy because I think it was a good result to finish the race in second place on a track which was completely new for me until today.”

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7) – DNF

“I’m massively disappointed because I saw today as a big opportunity. I felt a big improvement with the bike from yesterday, the crew did a fantastic job and we made another step forward. I did a record lap in Superpole, was looking forward to fighting with Johnny and putting the bike on top of the podium. I didn’t have a lot to lose but I didn’t get very far. It seemed like an electrical problem, because the bike lost power coming out of turn 4 and Johnny overtook me. It’s a pity, I’ll try and get a good result tomorrow but the weather doesn’t look so good.”

More, from a press release issued by Moriwaki Althea Honda Racing:

Kiyonari 14th in Race 1, Camier declared unfit to race after qualifying crash.

Moriwaki Althea Honda’s Ryuichi Kiyonari scored a fourteenth-place finish in Race 1 at Imola today, a result that left him less than satisfied considering that he had felt quite comfortable on his bike during the morning’s FP3 and qualifying session. Always looking on the bright side, Ryuichi is already focusing on tomorrow’s races in which he will work to improve on his result.

Team-mate Leon Camier was unfortunately unable to take part in today’s racing action after suffering a crash at turn 3 while completing his second lap of the Superpole qualifying session. Another rider crashed immediately in front of him and Leon was unable to avoid his bike. In crashing, he hit his left shoulder hard and was subsequently declared unfit to take part in Race 1 by the circuit’s Medical Centre.

Later in the afternoon, the Brit underwent further medical tests at the local Imola Hospital, which confirmed that there are no broken bones. However, a scan has shown that he has damaged the ligaments in his left shoulder. As a result, Leon will not take part in tomorrow races, his recovery time and conditions still to be established in the coming days.

Ryuichi Kiyonari

14TH

“I’m very disappointed with my result in Race1 because in all honesty I was expecting more after today’s FP3 and Superpole session. My feeling on the bike and my pace throughout most of the race was rather worse than it was this morning and I was unable to ride as I wanted. I made several little mistakes here and there and lost a lot of ground. The positive is that, step by step, things have started to improve and that’s why I am looking forward to tomorrow, when I hope to put today’s experience to good use and try to score better results”.

Leon Camier

DNS

“It was another unlucky situation, similar to what happened in Thailand. Cortese highsided right in front of me and I hit the bike, having nowhere to go. We are not yet exactly sure of the damage I’ve done, I will need to have another scan, an MRI, to really understand what’s happened and what kind of recovery time we are looking at. I hope to be back as soon as possible of course.”