WSBK Round One Summary

WSBK Round One Summary – Laverty & Guintoli share the spoils – Glenn Allerton impresses with two point-scoring results

Suzuki’s Eugene Laverty and Aprilia’s Sylvain Guintoli have proven that history repeats itself in today’s round one of the 2014 Superbike World Championship at Australia’s Phillip Island.

Today, the duo shared race wins at the 4.445km grand prix circuit, just as they did in 2013 when they were teammates in the factory Aprilia squad.

But in 2014 Laverty is now under the rejuvenated Suzuki awning, and the Northern Irishman prevailed in race one after a masterful performance fighting through the pack on his GSX-R1000. Race two saw Laverty’s engine blow up in spectacular fashion, with polesitter Guintoli taking a deserved victory on the back of a pre-season ruined by shoulder problems.

Guintoli also leaves Phillip Island as the holder of the best ever world superbike lap of Phillip Island (1:30.135), which he set in qualifying on his V-four RSV4  Factory machine.

“I was probably a little bit overconfident in race one and I burnt my tyres too early,” said Guintoli. “In race two I tried to be more composed and conservative and it paid off.

“After the nightmare this winter with the double surgery on my shoulder, it feels really good to be back on the podium — but I know it is going to be a tough fight all year long.

“I found a lot of pleasure riding the Aprilia around Phillip Island. It’s no secret this is my favourite track — and I love  this place, so I am going to stay on for an extra few days before I go home.”

Guintoli will take a 10-point lead into round two of the championship at Aragon in Spain on April 13, with Kawasaki’s Loris Baz (31) second from Marco Melandri  (Aprilia, 28), Davide Guigliano (Ducati, 26), Laverty (25), world champion Tom Sykes (25), Jonathan Rea (Honda, 21) and Chaz Davies (Ducati, 17).

Meanwhile, Australia’s Glenn Allerton (BMW) also picked up world championship points (six) after excellent 11-15 results deputising for injured Frenchman Sylvain Barrier on the Evo-spec machine.

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Race One

In race one Laverty sat in seventh place on lap one before beginning his quick-fire climb through the pack, finally hitting the lead on lap 17. From there he was in total control, going onto win by nearly three seconds. It was Suzuki first world superbike victory since 2010

“That win meant everything to me,” said Laverty. “It had been 94 races since Suzuki won a world superbike race, and I told the guys I wouldn’t let that drought extend to 100. But I didn’t expect to get the win so soon. We got stronger at the end of the race, and hopefully we can join Aprilia and Kawasaki in the fight for the championship.

“I still had a smile on my face when the bike went up in smoke in race two, because if you had told me  at the beginning of the weekend I was going to have a win I would have taken that.”

Melandri (Aprilia) and long-time leader Guintoli – he held court for the opening 16 laps of race one — flashed across the finish line in second and third, while Guigliano faded to finish fourth after spending the majority of the race in the top three.

Baz finally got the better of a race-long scrap with Rea, while Sykes started his campaign in seventh. Davies was a lonely eighth in the 22-lapper, but did set a new lap record of 1:30.949 on lap two, eclipsing Laverty’s 1:31.168 from 2013.

Twice Australian superbike champion, Sydney’s Allerton was superb, involved in a ding-dong scrap for Evo class honours with David Salom (Kawasaki) and Niccolo Canepa (Ducati). The internationals eventually got the better of him, but the Australian still caused more than a few headaches in finishing 11th overall.

“I got a great start from 19th on the grid and I caught Canepa quite early on,” said Allerton. “But my thumb was sore from the accident in qualifying and I could not push as hard as I wanted.

“However, I was really happy to be in the battle though for the Evo honours and to work with such a professional team. I wish I could keep going with this outfit, to race in Europe, but it is all down to sponsorship.”

Casualties in race one included rookie Alex Lowes (Suzuki), Toni Elias (Aprilia) and Leon Haslam (Honda), who all crashed at high speed within the opening five laps.  Lowes also struggled to find a rhythm in race two, running off twice at turn four in between periods of being the fastest rider on track.

Superbike Race One Results

Race Two

Race two was dramatic. The battle was declared after 14 laps of the planned 22 when Laverty’s Suzuki blew up in a blaze of smoke exiting turn four on lap 15, leaving a trail of oil in his wake.

The red flag was immediately brought out, with results declared at the end of lap 14.  Laverty, though, found himself pointless due to his role as the cause of the mayhem.

With Laverty removed from the results – he was running second when his Suzuki’s innards went into meltdown – the podium was completed by Baz and Sykes, who improved five spots from his race one result.

Guigliano was fourth, a couple of seconds clear of Rea, with Haslam sixth from Davies and Melandri, who ran off at turn four on lap eight.

The leading Evo rider was again Salom in 10th position.

Guintoli’s world superbike victory was the 24th for international riders at Phillip Island since 1990, while Aussies have won 23 – the first time the ledger has ever sided in favour of the visitors.

World Superbike Race Two Results

World Superbike Championship Standings

1. S. GUINTOLI APRILIA 41
2. L. BAZ KAWASAKI 31
3. M. MELANDRI APRILIA 28
4. D. GIUGLIANO DUCATI 26
5. T. SYKES KAWASAKI 25
6. E. LAVERTY SUZUKI 25
7. J. REA HONDA 21
8. C. DAVIES DUCATI 17
9. D. SALOM KAWASAKI 13
10. N. CANEPA DUCATI 11
11. L. HASLAM HONDA 10
12. F. FORET KAWASAKI 8
13. T. ELIAS APRILIA 7
14. G. ALLERTON BMW 6
15. S. MORAIS KAWASAKI 3
16. C. CORTI MV AGUSTA 3
17. A. LOWES SUZUKI 3
18. J. GUARNONI KAWASAKI 2

World Supersport

In the Supersport World Championship, Frenchman Jules Cluzel made the perfect return to the category, and brought back MV Agusta to international-winning form for the first time in 38 years!

With the race reduced to a five-lap sprint after the first attempt was red-flagged, Cluzel pulled away from a five-strong pack on the final lap to win by 0.224 seconds, with Briton Kev Coghlan (Yamaha) second from Italian Raffaele de Rosa (Honda), Frenchman Florian Marino (Kawasaki) and German Kevin Wahr (Yamaha).

It was the first world supersport victory for MV Agusta, and its first world championship success since Giacomo Agostini at the Nurburgring way back in 1976!

In 2014, Cluzel has returned to world supersport after a year in world superbike

“It was a tough job, and to win is incredible for me and the team,” said Cluzel. “I was thinking that I could maybe make the top 10 or five after lots of mistakes over the past few days, but the team did a great job with the bike overnight and I am now smiling.”

It was a race of high drama, with hot favourite Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) – he led every practice and qualifying session all weekend — crashing out of the lead on lap two, while his arch-rival Michael van der Mark (Honda) was another to fall.

It was a disappointing day for Australian hopes Billy McConnell (Triumph) and Bryan Staring (Honda), with the former crashing and Staring felled by a clutch problem while lying in eighth place.

The first attempt at the race lasted six laps before Irishman Jack Kennedy’s Honda exploded, leaving oil on parts of the circuit. American hopeful Patrick Jacobsen (Kawasaki) – team managed by Australia’s two-time world supersport champion Andrew Pitt — retired in part one after his engine ‘dropped’ valves in two cylinders.

World Supersport Race Results

1. Cluzel (MV Agusta) 5 Laps/22.225 km in 14:08’54.503 average 1.571 kph;
2. Coghlan (Yamaha) 0.224;
3. De Rosa (Honda) 0.317;
4. Marino (Kawasaki) 0.347;
5. Tamburini (Kawasaki) 0.822;
6. Wahr (Yamaha) 4.010;
7. Gowland (Triumph) 5.282;
8. Russo (Honda) 5.310;
9. Menghi (Yamaha) 5.517;
10. Gamarino (Kawasaki) 5.858;
11. Rolfo (Kawasaki) 6.491;
12. Coveña (Kawasaki) 7.873;
13. Calero (Honda) 10.163;
14. Bussolotti (Honda) 12.406;
15. Rogers (Honda) 12.622;
16. Taylor (Yamaha) 12.845;
17. Ivanov (Yamaha) 12.892;
RT. Wilairot (Honda); RT. Staring (Honda); RT. Vd Mark (Honda); RT. Sofuoglu (Kawasaki); RT. McConnell (Triumph).
Fastest Lap: Tamburini in 1’33.883 average 170.446 kph. – Pole Position: Sofuoglu in 1’32.769 average 172.493 kph.