Motul FIM Superbike World Championship
Imola Circuit
Imola, Italy
May 12, 2018
Race One Results (all on Pirelli tires):
1. Jonathan Rea, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), 19 laps, Total Race Time 33:58.989, Best Lap Time 1:46.850
2. Tom Sykes, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), -3.755 seconds, 1:47.245
3. Marco Melandri, Italy (Duc Panigale R), -6.906, 1:46.867
4. Chaz Davies, UK (Duc Panigale R), -8.191, 1:46.964
5. Xavi Fores, Spain (Duc Panigale R), -15.550, 1:47.549
6. Michael Van Der Mark, Netherlands (Yam YZF-R1), -19.339, 1:47.798
7. Michael Rinaldi, Italy (Duc Panigale R), -22.522, 1:47.536
8. Lorenzo Savadori, Italy (Apr RSV4 RF), -25.772, 1:48.070
9. Leon Haslam, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), -30.269, 1:48.239
10. Alex Lowes, UK (Yam YZF-R1), -30.377, 1:48.215
11. Toprak Razgatlioglu, Turkey (Kaw ZX-10RR), -30.660, 1:48.275
12. Eugene Laverty, Ireland (Apr RSV4 RF), -34.188, ran off track, 1:48.126
13. Loris Baz, France (BMW S1000RR), -36.494, 1:48.713
14. Jordi Torres, Spain (MV Agusta F4 RC), -36.671, ran off track, 1:48.375
15. Leandro Mercado, Argentina (Kaw ZX-10RR), -38.041, 1:48.403
16. Jake Gagne, USA (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), -41.312, 1:48.703
17. Yonny Hernandez, Colombia (Kaw ZX-10RR), -55.007, 1:49.677
18. Ondrej Jezek, Czech Republic (Yam YZF-R1), -67.522, 1:49.483
19. Roman Ramos, Spain (Kaw ZX-10RR), -4 laps, DNF, retired, 1:48.640
20. Vladimir Leonov, Russia (Kaw ZX-10RR), -17 laps, DNF, retired, 1:52.067
21. Jason O’Halloran, UK (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), -18 laps, DNF, crash, no lap time recorded
22. PJ Jacobsen, USA (Honda CBR1000RR SP2), -19 laps, DNF, retired
More, from a press release issued by Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team:
Gagne just misses out on points as O’Halloran crashes in Imola WorldSBK Race One
Italian Round
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Italy
The Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team narrowly missed out on a points-scoring finish in Race One at Imola, as Jake Gagne came home in sixteenth place, while Jason O’Halloran – brought into the team to replace Leon Camier this weekend – suffered misfortune as a crash on lap two resulted in the Australian rider fracturing his right leg.
Weather conditions were again warm and sunny at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari today, with the team continuing to work on improving bike settings ahead of the Superpole qualifying sessions and Race 1. In qualifying, O’Halloran and Gagne set the eighth and ninth quickest times in Superpole 1 which resulted in them lining up in P18 and P19 on the grid respectively for Race 1.
Both riders got a good start and were able to make up positions in the opening lap, however on the second lap O’Halloran suffered a crash at Turn 5 at the entry to the Villeneuve Chicane. The incident left O’Halloran with a fracture to his lower right leg and he was transported to Imola Hospital for further treatment.
Meanwhile Gagne, was able to maintain a constant pace throughout the race and in the middle stages was involved in a six-way battle for a top twelve position. However, in the final laps Gagne lost touch with the group in front and he crossed the finish line in P16 and just outside the points in his first ever race at the circuit.
Gagne will have another chance to try and add to his points total in Race 2 at 1300 local time (GMT +2) tomorrow.
Jake Gagne 45
Qualifying didn’t really go the way we wanted to this morning, I made it tough for us by missing FP3 yesterday when I went down so that meant we started Race 1 a bit further back then I hoped. The race itself though went quite well, I got a good start and for the middle part of the race I had a strong pace, felt comfortable and was in the group of riders challenging for points. I faded just in the last couple of laps and obviously finishing in sixteenth is not where we want to be but for my first race here I was able to learn a lot over those nineteen laps. Now we can try some things with our setting in Warm Up and I’m sure we’ll have a better race tomorrow.
Kervin Bos
Team Manager
Today was a tough day for us but being in WorldSBK means we get a chance tomorrow in Race 2 to turn things around. For Jake, he was able to learn a lot in his first race here at Imola and now he and the team have some ideas to help him improve his pace, so he will resume his fight for more points tomorrow in race 2. Unfortunately Jason had a crash early in Race 1 at the Villeneuve Chicane which saw him fracture his right lower leg, this is such a shame for him and we hope he makes a full and speedy recovery. I travelled with Jason to the hospital and despite the injury he’s doing well and he impressed the team with his performance on the bike this weekend. Overall a tough day, but we’ll be back showing our fighting spirit tomorrow
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
Imola 1-2 For Rea And Sykes
KRT riders Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes scored first and second places respectively in race one at the fifth round of the WorldSBK Championship in Imola, after breaking free of their main competitors in the first few laps.
In warm and sticky conditions Rea started the first 19-lap race of the WorldSBK race weekend from pole position, having secured his 16th career Superpole just a couple of hours before the 1pm race start.
Jonathan led from flag-to-flag with only his own team-mate Sykes for company in the first few laps, before Rea’s pace took him to an eventual margin of victory of 3.755 seconds. His latest win was his fourth of the season, all of them coming at different circuits.
After gathering a lot of data in practice on Friday, Sykes and his crew found a strong set-up on Saturday morning and Tom ended up second in Superpole qualifying.
Getting away from the start line ahead of all his rivals except Rea, Tom pushed his pace but realised that second was going to be his best possible result and he took 20 valuable championship points.
Sykes’ finished over three seconds ahead of his closest podium challenger, and is now fourth in the championship standings.
Rea’s fourth success of the year was the 58th of his career and takes him to within one victory of sharing the all-time record for WorldSBK race wins with Carl Fogarty.
Regular BSB rider Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) started from 11th place on the grid and finished his first race of the WorldSBK season ninth.
Jonathan Rea, stated: “Going to the front from the start was my only plan today. My pace has been a little bit extra all weekend so the best thing for me to was to set my own rhythm and not get involved in anyone else’s race. There was a five lap plan to make a small gap but I had more than one second of advantage, so I was happy to ride to my own pit-board after that. When the gap was stagnant I could make a small effort, without taking many risks, because the temperature came up quite a lot today. The bike behaved differently because of this, so I was just trying to understand all the limits of the bike through the race and bring it home. It felt like a long race but I had a good solid rhythm, and that was enough.”
Tom Sykes, stated: “I was fairly happy with the bike set-up and the pace was pretty good. Yesterday looked worse on paper than it was, because we did a lot of trial and error testing, but today we put it all together. I just missed a few tenths of a second compared to Jonathan. I had clear track for much of today so I was able to use the bike in the best way possible. I just followed the warnings from the front and rear tyres and in some areas I was not quite as settled on the front. We need to improve just in some areas tomorrow. We will work to make a few little set-up changes to enable me to push a little bit faster at the beginning of race two.”
More, from a press release issued by Barni Racing Team:
Solid fifth place for Forés in race 1 at Imola
Imola (BO), 12th May 2018. Fifth place for Xavi Forés in race 1 at Enzo e Dino Ferrari Circuit di Imola, home round for the team and fifth round MOTUL FIM World SBK Championship . Once again the Barni Racing Team rider is the best among the independent, after a regular race, characterized by clear whether.
After a positive morning where Xavi was able to find a better setup on his Ducati panigale R he was fifth in the Superpole 2 scoring his best lap in 1’47.529.
The flagbearer of the team from Bergamo started well but at the first turn was forced to brake hard to avoid a crash, he lose the line and was moved down seventh.
Than Forés quickly overtake Laverty and got one more position thanks to the mistake of Davies. At lap 9 he caught also Rinaldi and overtook him after one lap more being fourth. Davies was the fastest rider in track and Forés was moved down to fifth place at lap 11. Xavi tried to follow the factory rider of Ducati but he suffered lack of confidence at the front and he decided to secure his position till the checkered flag. Now Forés has 111 points in the timesheet, being sixth with two points less than Van der Mark. Thanks to the result of today Forés will start from the second spot in race 2.
Marco Barnabò, Principal Manager
“Only this morning we were able to find the right setup, because of that we could be happy for fifth place, it was the best for as thinking at our potential. We will make some changes on the bike and we will try to improve our result tomorrow”.
Xavi Forés, #12
«My start was good but at the first corner I lose lot of position. I had to fight with Laverty and Rinaldi and I lose ground from Melandri. Anyway, it would be hard for me to follow the three at the front, I suffered some problem on the front tyre. When Chaz overtook me I pushed a lot trying to follow him but I had no more. Tomorrow we will try to find something more especially for the breaking, because in the last part of the breaking point I feel lack of confidence at the front”.
More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:
#ImolaWorldSBK – Day 2: Masterful Rea wins Imola Race 1
Imperial performance by Rea who increases championship lead
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) took his first win at Imola since 2015 with a dominant performance at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola, controlling the race from the start and not giving anyone on the track any opportunities. His teammate Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) completed the second consecutive KRT one-two of the season, with Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) returning to the podium in third.
The Kawasaki riders shot out from the lights, quickly opening up distance with the riders behind. That gap would increase to 3-4 seconds between the British pair at the halfway point, with both riders leading the race from that point forwards. Rea is now just one win away from the all-time win record in MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship history, and opens up a 42-point lead at the top of the standings.
Sykes too gave no option to the rest of the field, showing that his Assen pace was no fluke and that, when he’s got room in front, his ZX-10RR’s pace is almost unparalleled. It will be interesting to see how the rider from Yorkshire fares starting from 8th in Race 2, given the issues that have plagued him in the past. He now moves up to fourth in the championship.
The first two laps were a nightmare for Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), looking for his fifth consecutive win here. Following his crash in the Superpole 2, the Welshman struggled at the lights, falling back from third to seventh. After climbing back to fourth, Davies went straight through the Variante Bassa chicane, losing several positions along the way and any chance of a victory. He later redeemed himself with two wonderful passes at that same turn 21, but by then the podium was out of sight, thanks to the fantastic rhythm shown by Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in front of his home fans. The Italian equaled his best WorldSBK result here in third, while Davies’ fourth will at least have the consolation prize of starting from P1 tomorrow.
Behind the two teams that have dominated proceedings throughout the weekend, Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team) repeated his 2017 Race 1 finish with fifth place, finding the pace to hold off Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) in sixth. The Dutchman will however be pleased at his performance, after starting from the back of row 4.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team) had an extraordinary start to Race 1, moving up to third in lap one. He fell back as the race progressed, but his seventh-place finish equals his best result in WorldSBK. Just behind, Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) completed his best finish of the season in eighth.
Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) finished a successful return to the WorldSBK paddock in ninth, pipping ahead at the line of fellow Brit Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team). Haslam beat his teammate for this weekend in Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), whose WorldSBK Imola debut finished with him in eleventh.
P1 – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
“It was a perfect race, I was able to take a step back and enjoy that race. It was difficult compared to the beginning of the day, we lost a bit in the race so it’s something to work on for tomorrow, I ran into some issues with the temperature. I’m super happy with the way the team have been working and I just want to try and do it again tomorrow.”
P2 – Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
“Its always nice to come home first, but I was running very strong and very consistent. But I was missing a few tenths per lap which is a lot less than I was expecting. But we worked hard yesterday with tyre and set up information and we will try and fix the bike a bit tomorrow, and push again and try and go one better.”
P3 – Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“It was very difficult race today, this was as good as I could get at the beginning, as with a full tank it was hard to get the bike into the turn. But in the end with less fuel the bike was a lot better, but it was too late to get a good pace. I hope to get back tomorrow at the beginning of the race but we will need to make a good start because, its important to get good start at Imola.”
More, from a press release issued by Gulf Althea Racing:
Highs and lows for Gulf Althea BMW at Imola
Imola (Italy), Saturday 12 May 2018
The first Superbike race making up the Imola WorldSBK round proved a tough one for the Gulf Althea BMW Racing team and rider Loris Baz today; the Frenchman crossed the line thirteenth after struggling to find the right feeling with his BMW in the first part of the race. In the Stock1000 qualifying session, Alessandro Delbianco scored an extremely positive second place finish.
Superpole 1: in the first Superpole, Baz soon made a fast lap that positioned him third. Back in the garage mid-session for a tyre change, the Frenchman was able to drop his time by seven tenths, setting a ‘best’ of 1’47.776, though unfortunately a small mistake during his penultimate lap caused him to lose precious time, and perhaps access to SP2. Concluding the session third, he thus qualified thirteenth for race one.
SBK – Race 1: from the fifth row, the Frenchman lost a couple of positions in the early stages as he struggled to find a good rhythm with a full fuel tank. Baz’s performance picked up in the second part of the race however, and he was able to pass two of his rivals to cross the line in final thirteenth position.
STK1000 Qualifying: after the morning’s final practice session, in which Delbianco closed in fifth position, the team was back out for qualifying this afternoon on a wet track. Alessandro immediately proved confident in the damp conditions. The Italian set his fastest time in the final stages, a 2’03.583 that saw him qualify second for tomorrow’s race, an excellent result considering his fractured shoulder and the fact he only underwent surgery a few days ago.
Loris Baz:
“Compared to yesterday, we improved somewhat in terms of rear grip but, having said that, the other riders are also constantly improving. The start of the race was tough, as having a full tank of fuel was having a bearing on the front of the bike. I couldn’t push as I wanted and only regained good feeling in the final six or seven laps. I was able to get past a couple of guys towards the end, but it was too late to do more. I cannot be happy with the final result, but I know I am doing all I can, always giving 100%, which I will continue to do as we strive to improve the bike. If we find good feeling right from the start of the race, then maybe I can do more tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by Aruba.it Racing Ducati:
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team on the podium at Imola with Melandri (3rd), Davies 4th after a strong comeback
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team took yet another podium at Imola (Italy), home of the fifth round of the 2018 WorldSBK Championship, with Marco Melandri 3rd in Race 1. The Italian, fourth during Superpole, got off to a strong start and fought in the chasing group early on, then pulled away thanks to a progressively better pace, taking his fourth podium of the year.
Chaz Davies faced a uphill race as, after taking first row during Superpole, he was penalized by a difficult start and a brief run-off during lap 2. The Welshman did not surrender and showed a pace worthy of the front, climbing back from 8th to 4th. Davies will thus start Race 2 from pole position.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi fought for the virtual podium until half-way through, then he was forced to drop the pace a bit and finished in seventh position with the Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team. The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team and the Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team will resume action on May 13th at 09:35 for a warm-up session ahead of Race 2, scheduled to start at 13:00 local time.
Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #33) – 3rd
“All in all, we can be happy because I couldn’t have done more today. It was a hard race, and early on I was struggling with a full fuel tank and I couldn’t keep up with the Kawasakis. I tried everything I could, and I made a couple of mistakes as I was on the limit. From lap 10 onwards we’ve been really fast, so we need to analyze the data to restart from there in Race 2 tomorrow. I want to thank the home crowd for their support, the atmosphere is always incredible here and this podium is for all of them.”
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7) – 4th
“Unfortunately we couldn’t get a good start, then I went straight at the last chicane, so I had a quite a bit of catching up to do after that. In the end our pace was really good, so I think we could have fought for the podium if not the win, but we came through just a little too late. Looking at the positives, tomorrow we’ll start from pole position. It’s the first time I’ll be able to take advantage of this rule, but we can also still improve a few details.”
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team #21) – 7th
“I started off quite well and my goal was to stay with Melandri, but I made a small mistake. After that, I pushed really hard to recover but, when the tires drop, I still struggle a bit. This is what we’ll work on, we only need experience. Aragon was similar, but today our gap was narrower, so the trend is positive. We still have plenty of room for improvement.”
Marco Zambenedetti, Technical Coordinator on track for Ducati Corse
“It’s been a hard fought race, in which our riders gave all they had. Marco, after some difficult rounds, could take advantage of a more stable bike and his podium leaves us hopeful for the upcoming rounds. Chaz unfortunately was penalized by some struggles early on, but he’s shown a strong pace. We’ll work hard to come home with better results tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by Pata Yamaha:
Van der Mark Storms to Top Six in Race 1 at Imola
Race
The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team battled hard throughout Race 1 at Round 5 of the 2018 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship in Imola on Saturday. Michael van der Mark had a tricky SP2 and could only qualify in 12th but when the lights went out he mounted a stunning charge through the field to secure a superb sixth place finish. His teammate Alex Lowes qualified in tenth and gave it absolutely everything during the race, despite not having the best feeling with his bike, to bring his Pata Yamaha R1 home in a solid tenth-place finish.
It was another gorgeous day at Imola with blues skies and the sun shining on the iconic Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit, meaning track temperatures were well over 40°C. Imola has not been the happiest of hunting grounds for the Pata Yamaha Team since the manufacturer’s return to the WorldSBK Championship but van der Mark went some way to turning that around on Saturday. The 25-year-old Dutch rider – fresh from his double podium in Assen – ended Friday’s practice in 5th overall with a 1:47.461 and used FP4 to try and work on race pace and the stability of his R1. In SP2, he just could not produce the kind of pace he was expecting, failing to improve on his Friday time and setting a 1:47.710, which meant he would line up for Race 1 12th on the grid.
When the lights went out the 2014 WorldSSP Champion did not have the best of starts and dropped down to 14th in the first corner. Showing excellent maturity, he did not panic and embarked on a sensational charge through the field, combining some breath-taking overtaking manoeuvres with very consistent pace. By the end of the first lap, he was already up to ninth place and by the time they crossed the line to start lap 4 he was in seventh. As the race went on, his pace continued to improve and on lap 6 he dropped into the 1:47’s for the first time and was chasing down Michael Ruben Rinaldi in sixth. While everyone else’s lap times were dropping, van der Mark continued to improve and set his fastest lap of the race on lap 12 as he closed down a two-second gap to Rinaldi and blasted past him on lap 13, immediately opening a gap. From there on in, he maintained his impressive pace to the chequered flag to secure a superb sixth-place finish and record his best ever WorldSBK finish at Imola after a very impressive ride. The result means that van der Mark is now fifth in the overall standings with 113 points, just 8 behind Tom Sykes in fourth, and also saw him maintain his run of being ever present in the top six in the last six races. Thanks to his performance he will line up on the front row for Sunday’s Race 2 in third, confident he will be able to fight for a top-five finish.
After Alex Lowes finished Saturday morning’s FP4 in ninth, the 27-year-old British rider was determined to join his teammate in SP2 and set his fastest ever lap at Imola, a 1:47.097, to top SP1 in some style and finish 0.539s ahead of the rest. Once on the qualifying tyre in SP2, he too did not have the best feeling with his Pata Yamaha R1 and failed to improve his time, setting a 1:47.115 to start Race 1 from 10th on the grid.
Lining up at the head of the fourth row, Lowes enjoyed a good start and was up to ninth by the first corner. Unfortunately, it soon became evident that he was struggling to match his rivals under acceleration. In typical style, the 2013 British Superbike Champion showed full commitment to be involved in an excellent four-way battle for ninth with Leon Haslam, Eugene Laverty, Lorenzo Savadori and Toprak Razgatlioglu. Scrapping for almost the entire 19-laps, he gave as good as he got and never gave up. He continued to battle right to the line to secure a tenth-place finish, just 0.108s off Haslam in ninth, and collected 6 championship points to take his season tally to 82. This sees him seventh overall in the standings and Lowes is determined to work on the data collected during the race with his team overnight to allow him to come out fighting from 12th on the grid in Sunday’s Race 2.
After a day of ups and downs that matched the rollercoaster nature of the Imola track, the Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team are looking forward to returning to action on Sunday at 9:35 am local time (CEST) for Warm Up, with the 19-lap Race 2 scheduled to start at 1 pm. Check out the full Race 1 results.
Michael van der Mark
Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team – 6th +19.339s
“SP2 was a bit of a disaster and it was really difficult to understand why, so P12 was not ideal, especially not at Imola. My start wasn’t really that good but I kept calm and went faster and faster, passing the guys one by one and at the end, I was a bit alone on the track, but I was so happy to have made up so many places. There are a lot of areas where we can improve, mainly acceleration, but to start in 12th and finish in sixth at such a difficult circuit, I am really happy with this result. Tomorrow we will start from P3 but we need a bit more pace and then hopefully we can fight in the top five.”
Alex Lowes
Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team – 10th – 30.377s
“Honestly, today was extremely disappointing and a really tough 19 laps. We needed to think about tyre life but, unfortunately, the way we had the power delivery set up made life just too difficult on corner exit and I felt like I wasn’t able to fight from the first lap right the way to the end. I am disappointed but I am sure that with a better package tomorrow and a good night’s sleep I will come back and give my absolute best in Race 2 tomorrow.”
Paul Denning
Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team Principal
“As we said yesterday, we expected Imola to be tough and the race around this extremely technically challenging racetrack exposed the less strong aspects of our current machine. That said, Michael rode, what I believe, was one of his best races of the season so far in terms of consistency and controlled aggression to achieve his best WorldSBK result so far at Imola. By finishing in the top six he has also put himself on the front row of the grid and given himself the best chance to improve further in Race 2 tomorrow. Well done to Michael and his crew for maximising his potential. Alex had a far less easy race. The team had focused on the setting of his R1 in order to assist with tyre life but, unfortunately, it left Alex unable to fight under acceleration and he did what he could to bring the bike home in the top ten. Race 1 in Imola is done, Michael is on the front row tomorrow, Alex’s crew have data to give him a better machine and we hope to do our best in Race 2.”