Motul FIM Superbike World Championship
Jerez, Spain
October 22, 2017
Race Two Results (all on Pirelli tires):
1. Jonathan REA, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), 19 laps, Total Race Time 32:09.319, Best Lap Time 1:40.640 (New Race Lap Record)
2. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (Ducati Panigale R), -2.732 seconds, 1:40.734
3. Chaz DAVIES, UK (Ducati Panigale R), -3.974, 1:41.068
4. Alex LOWES, UK (Yamaha YZF-R1), -4.624, 1:41.217
5. Tom SYKES, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), -6.454, 1:41.198
6. Michael VAN DER MARK, Netherlands (Yamaha YZF-R1), -10.120, 1:41.245
7. Xavi FORÉS, Spain (Ducati Panigale R), -15.594, 1:41.644
8. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), -15.902, 1:41.713
9. Leandro MERCADO, Argentina (Aprilia RSV4 RF), -16.396, 1:41.690
10. Jordi TORRES, Spain (BMW S1000RR), -19.129, 1:41.790
11. Roman RAMOS, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), -19.673, 1:41.833
12. Leon CAMIER, UK (MV Agusta F4 RC), -20.353, 1:41.646
13. Raffaele DE ROSA, Italy (BMW S1000RR), -34.169, 1:41.876
14. Alessandro ANDREOZZI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R1), -38.627, 1:42.250
15. Takumi TAKAHASHI, Japan (Honda CBR1000RR SP2), -45.421, 1:43.149
16. Riccardo RUSSO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), -45.469, 1:42.844
17. Davide GIUGLIANO, Italy (Honda CBR1000RR SP2), -1 lap, pitted, ride-through penalty, 1:42.654
18. Lorenzo SAVADORI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 RF), -2 laps, crash, 1:41.952
19. Ondrej JEZEK, Czech Republic (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), -6 laps, DNF, crash, 1:42.744
20. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Aprilia RSV4 RF), -9 laps, DNF, retired, 1:41.406
21. Dominic SCHMITTER, Switzerland (Suzuki GSX-R1000), -19 laps, DNF, crash, no lap time recorded
22. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), DNS
World Championship Point Standings (after 24 of 26 races):
1. Rea, 506 points
2. TIE, Davies/Sykes, 363
4. Melandri, 301
5. Lowes, 226
6. Van Der Mark, 210
7. Fores, 185
8. Camier, 154
9. Torres, 149
10. Laverty, 135
11. Mercado, 115
12. Savadori, 113
13. Ramos, 106
14. Stefan Bradl, 67
15. Randy Krummenacher, 50
16. De Rosa, 48
17. Nicky Hayden (RIP), 40
18. Alex De Angelis, 32
19. Markus Reiterberger, 29
20. Badovini, 26
21. Leon Haslam, 20
22. TIE, Jezek/Guintoli, 18
24. TIE, Giugliano/Anthony West/Russo, 13
27. Andreozzi, 11
28. Takahashi, 8
29. Jake Dixon, 7
30. Jake Gagne, 6
31. TIE, Josh Brookes/Julian Simon, 4
More, from a press release issued by Althea BMW Racing:
Top ten for Jordi Torres at Jerez
Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), Sunday 22 October 2017
The penultimate round of the 2017 Superbike world championship came to an end today at the Jerez track in Spain. The Althea BMW Racing team and rider Jordi Torres crossed the line in tenth place, Raffaele De Rosa thirteenth.
Superbike – Race 2 – the two Althea BMW riders got away well, lying tenth (Torres) and twelfth (De Rosa) through the first corners but the race was stopped almost immediately when lap one crashes for other riders left dirt on the track. After a quick restart, Torres was lying twelfth after lap one, De Rosa 15th. A consistent pace allowed the Spaniard to make up three positions in the early stages, to place ninth on lap four. Losing a little ground in the latter part of the race, Jordi crossed the line in final tenth position. De Rosa made up one place in the first laps but struggled to maintain the kind of pace needed to reach those immediately up ahead of him. It became a somewhat solitary race for the Italian, who finished up in thirteenth place today.
After this penultimate round of the 2017 championship, Torres retains ninth place in the standings with 149 points while De Rosa has 48 points, and positions 16th.
Jordi Torres:
“We made some big changes to the bike between yesterday and today. So it behaved differently in race two, with corner entry a little easier and better feeling at the front. I got past a few riders early on but in the end couldn’t do more than tenth today. It’s not the result I would have wanted of course, particularly racing here at my home track, but we struggled with the new asphalt. I hope I can make up for things at Losail, in the two last races of the season…”
Raffaele De Rosa:
“I got away quite well but then at turn six there was a contact, Savadori crashed and I lost some ground as I tried to avoid going down too. From there I worked to catch the group ahead and was gradually catching them until about lap eleven, lying about a second a half behind. From there though I started to struggle to maintain the pace and my right arm was also hurting me. A pity because the first half of the race wasn’t bad. I always try to take the positives from each weekend anyway, and now we’ll try to end the season well in Qatar…”
More, from a press release issued by Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team:
Spanish Round draws to a close for the Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team
Spanish Round
Circuito de Jerez, Spain
The Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team has completed the penultimate event of the 2017 World Superbike season, with Takumi Takahashi and Davide Giugliano 15th and 17th, respectively, at the end of the shortened second encounter of the weekend.
The initial race was red flagged on the second lap after the crash involving Eugene Laverty and Chaz Davies at turn two immediately after the start. Just like yesterday, a new event of 19 laps was called by race direction, which got underway after a short break.
Giugliano got a good launch from row six and was thirteenth at the end of the opening lap. The Italian rider then lost a handful of places after having to avoid Savadori – who crashed in front of him and – dropped down to 18th, right behind his team mate Takumi Takahashi.
At the end of lap four, the Italian rider returned to the pits after experiencing some braking issues, before making his way back to the track on fresh tyres to collect some more data for the team.
Meanwhile, Takahashi was involved in a battle with Riccardo Russo, which lasted almost the whole encounter. The 27-year-old Japanese rider made a move on his rival with three laps to go and successfully defended his position to claim one more point in the series.
The final round of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship will take place at Qatar’s Losail International Circuit in a fortnight’s time.
Takumi Takahashi 72
15th
In the first part of the race I could not make the most of the new tyres, so it took a while before I could improve my pace. I also experienced some arm pump, which surely didn’t help. I’m happy to have at least scored a point, even though I was aiming for a better result today. I really want to thank the team for their support and effort, it was a great experience to work with them this year and, who knows, maybe one day our paths will cross again.
Davide Giugliano 34
17th
Obviously this hasn’t been the type of end to the weekend we were looking for, especially after showing a little step forward this morning in warm up. I’m glad that I was able to avoid Savadori when he landed in front of me after coming off. But that obviously cost me time when slowing down to avoid him, although I was already having some braking issues that forced me back to the pits early on. We decided to get back on track with new tyres and I hope I was able to give some useful data to the team ahead of Qatar.
Ronald ten Kate
Team Manager
It was an eventful race, no doubt. Many things happened today that prevented us from performing the way we wanted, and we definitely have to take a look back at all happenings in order to get back in the right direction for the season finale. Davide looked a bit more comfortable on the bike this morning but a braking issue put him out of contention for a finish in the points from early on. Hopefully the data we collected after he returned to the track will help us for the future. We want to again thank Takumi for his professionalism; it was great to have him with us and we know he gave his best in what was a quick transition to a very different series.
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
Rea Wins As Kawasaki Takes Manufacturers’ Championship
Kawasaki won the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship Manufacturers’ title today after Jonathan Rea (KRT) won his second race of the weekend. This was Rea’s 14th victory in his third consecutive championship-winning season. Tom Sykes (KRT) could not find optimal rear traction in race two at Jerez and he finished fifth.
At the conclusion of a successful Jerez weekend Kawasaki’s third successive Manufacturers’ Championship arrived one round early, and is now added to the 2017 Riders’ Championship for Rea and the Team’s Championship for the Kawasaki Racing Team.
The second race was started on schedule at 13.00 but was almost immediately halted and restarted after clash between two riders brought out a red flag. Over a reduced race duration of 19 laps, Rea was not to be denied and set a new lap record of 1’40.640, to secure his second win of the Jerez weekend.
Rea has now scored 52 race wins in his WorldSBK career, making him equal second best of all time alongside another three-time champion, Troy Bayliss. He also scored his 110th World SBK podium with his race two win, taking him one place above Carl Fogarty, and making him the third most successful WorldSBK rider in that ranking.
Having reached a total of 100 race podiums in WorldSBK on Saturday, Sykes was unable to add to it with his fifth place today, fighting against an unexpected lack of rear traction. He still set strong lap times and fought all the way to finish just six seconds from the win. Tom is tied on points for second place overall with Chaz Davies, with one round to go. He is ranked third in the points table as he has fewer wins in 2017 than his rival.
The final round of the season takes place under the floodlights of Losail, Qatar, with races behind held on Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th November.
Jonathan Rea, stated: “Kawasaki won the Manufacturers’ Championship today and it is not just the bike, the rider, the management, the crew chief, it is every single person inside the team and at the factory race department in Japan. Everyone has made this result and I am super-proud to be a part of it. In the race I had a really nice hash tag on my dash today for a little bit more motivation on the grid. My mechanics were building me up right before I left the grid and I knew today I had to go. I feel like I steered the bike around today. The win came from my crew chief Pere Riba because he asked me to trust him with some front geometry changes and a front tyre change. It was awesome.”
Tom Sykes, stated: “Kawasaki has had a great run in the past few years and certainly they have a great team together which helps them reach their goal. For the manufacturer, to get this title is probably as special as the riders’ championship. Today they got their prize for their effort. Fifth was not what I was looking for today. I was struggling with the bike set-up today if I am honest I could not find the rear traction. I just tried some things while riding the bike and finally it was OK to keep the lap times in the low to mid 1’41s. That is as fast, or faster, than yesterday but for whatever reason I just could not get that grip on the rear. It is something so, so small but unfortunately you spend a lot of time on the side of the tyre here.”