Davies does the double | Mike Jones 2nd in SSTK1000

Davies dominates to take double in Germany – Aussie Mike Jones takes second in SSTK1000

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) wrapped up a superb weekend on Sunday with his second victory of the Prosecco DOC German Round in Race 2, whilst Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) also secured podium results.

With light rain falling during the final laps the WorldSBK riders had to focus hard in order to avoid any mistakes and Davies did just that to register a third victory in four races at Lausitzring. Coming from the back of the third row on the grid the Welshman ultimately beat Rea across the line by 2.29s, with Melandri just over two further seconds back having held the lead early in the race.

Despite setting pole on Saturday Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) could not stay with the front three on this occasion and finished in fourth place having started Race 2 in seventh on the grid. The results saw World Champion and standings leader Rea open up a 70-point gap over his teammate Sykes in the standings with four rounds to go.

Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) just beat Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) to fifth by 0.237s, with five Britons finishing in the top six. Just behind them on the finish line was Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) as the top Aprilia-equipped rider, just trailing Camier by 0.115s in that tight group also involving Lowes.

Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team), German wildcard Markus Reiterberger (Van Zon Remeha BMW) and Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team) completed the top ten. A brave ride by Stefan Bradl (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) saw him finish 13th, after he missed Race 1 due to severe elbow pain from a crash on Friday.

Randy Krummenacher (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) and Pawel Szkopek (Pazera Racing) all crashed out, with Riccardo Russo (Pedercini Racing SC-Project) also suffering a DNF as a late retiree.

The WorldSBK grid return to action in just under a month (15th-17th September) at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, Portimão, Portugal.

P1 – Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

“It was a great race and I loved every minute of it. It was different from yesterday though, as we had to work our way up from third row on the grid. We had a good start and in the first couple of laps we were within sight of the lead, so when I saw Rea making his move I tried to hunt down him and Marco. It wasn’t easy to pass them, but then I just tried to set my own pace, ride clean, and not make mistakes. I was surprised by our rhythm today in the high 1:36 mark, we definitely improved since the tests here a month ago, and it shows the effort everyone is putting in. I’m confident going into Portimão, but we’ll enjoy this double for now and get prepared for another battle.”

P2 – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team)

“Chaz was really solid in race two and his pace was good. When I had really good grip in the beginning I felt strong on the bike but as soon as I started to lose entry-traction the bike became very physical to ride. I was manhandling the bike and this is such a bumpy track. Yesterday’s race started to take its toll a little bit also. I had no big moments but I just tried to rein it in a little bit and I saw that my gap behind to Marco was just moving forward, tenth by tenth, so it was about consolidation at the end. When I lost the edge grip it was just not possible to stay in front but I did try. I am happy with the results from this weekend as the bike has never really worked that well here and we were on the back foot on Friday. So to make the set-up changes we did, and make some big steps, I am really happy with the team – so thanks to them. We came away with 40 points, from Lausitzring, which I am satisfied with.”

P3 – Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

“After the issues we encountered yesterday, I wouldn’t have thought we could take the podium here. But, we did a great job together with the team, changing the weight distribution and the overall balance of the bike. The Panigale R was much easier to ride today, and I felt comfortable. Unfortunately, the bike still moved a lot in a couple of corners and I was losing ground under acceleration. I tried to brake deeper to recover, but I made a couple of small mistakes and I decided to secure the podium, thinking back to what happened in Race 1 at Misano. It’s been a positive round: we keep learning new things about the bike, and soon we’ll race on tracks that suit my riding style better. I’m confident ahead of the next rounds.”

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P4 – Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team)

“Things in that race definitely did not go to plan early on. I got a good start but touched the back of Savadori in turn one, so lost all the advantage of the good start. When I got clear laps towards the end, that’s when I started going towards a normal feeling again. Before that I did not have the confidence to pass the other guys on the brakes and I was suffering every time I tried to line them up. I was just losing out because I could not get off the turns as well as I wanted to. It was an awkward fight all race and I am disappointed that I did not have the confidence to make passes under heavy, heavy braking. I wanted to get on the podium for sure but unfortunately we did not make the best of our situation. We will keep working and there are still four rounds left.”

P5 – Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha)

“I am disappointed with the start of the race, I wanted to improve on my start from yesterday and make best use of the front row position but it didn’t work out! My pace was a bit better early on than Race 1, but in general it was a good race for me, I had fun on the R1 despite this track being so strange, and I really enjoyed the battles. I am happy to have secured a sixth and a fifth-place finish this weekend, but we can definitely improve on these results so I will work with the guys and see if we can make a good step forward for Portimao. Honestly, I really enjoyed how we worked this weekend, I think the guys have done a great job and I am really looking forward to Portugal!”

P7 – Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia)

“In general I am happy with how the weekend has been. In the race today I tried very hard to keep with the front group, and it wasn’t easy to pass riders ahead of me. I got into a good rhythm and I knew the riders behind were very close, so I defended hard and focused on my pace. Towards the end of the race I tried to push again and take back some places, but we had a small problem with grip and I lost some acceleration. We have had a good weekend for the team I think, we made good progress with the Aprilia RSV4 RF and we know how to make more progress. Portimao is a great track but it is quite difficult, so we will have to work hard, and I want to thank SMR and Aprilia Racing for their work.”

P11 – Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha)

“It was a difficult race for me. In the beginning, I struggled to pass some riders and I lost quite a bit of time. I struggled with turning the bike while I was on the throttle and it was difficult to find a way to ride around this problem. To be honest, my race was quite consistent but I was not fast enough. I need to find a way to get the bike turning again because usually, this is one of the strong points of the bike. We have to work really hard and hopefully, in Portimao we can have some better results, as this weekend was not the outcome we are aiming for.”

P13 – Stefan Bradl (Red Bull Honda Racing)

“It was good to take part in the race. I felt OK to ride because when the adrenaline kicks in you don’t feel too much pain. I feel it was the right decision to sit out yesterday’s race in order to be almost fully fit today. Unfortunately, my feeling with the bike today was not perfect, because it was nervous over the many bumps and I suffered a bit on corner exit as well. Surely the lack of track time from not having raced yesterday did not help. I had to keep my pace under control for the most part, but in the final laps I could push a bit more and overtake De Rosa before the finish line. I’m a bit disappointed with this race and obviously for the weekend in general, but I hope for next event we’ll be able to make a bigger step forwards.”

P17 – Davide Giugliano (Red Bull Honda Racing)

“This morning we made a good step forward in warm up and I was able to lap much faster than I had done over the whole weekend. I felt good with the bike at the beginning of the race and was able to make some passes, but unfortunately after 4 to 5 laps the rear tyre started to wear, so it was impossible for me to keep up that good pace. There isn’t much else to say, really, but I guess this is part of racing. Too bad, because we worked very well this morning and my feeling with the Fireblade had improved significantly from yesterday.”

DNF – Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia)

“I had a good start and I was trying to make my way through the field straight away. I got stuck behind Lowes for a few laps before I was able to pass and make it stick. I tried to go forward but I had another gear shift problem which cost me time. There was nothing particularly strange about the crash, I just lost the front which was a bit of a surprise. We seem to lose some performance when the temperature rises, which is something we’ll be looking at for next time. In terms of progress with the bike this weekend it’s been huge. Our morning warm up was incredible and the bike felt fantastic, it’s just a shame we didn’t have the same pace in the afternoon. Portimao is one of my favourite tracks on the calendar. I’ve been strong on all bikes there and won on an Aprilia before, so I’m looking forward to going back and hopefully we can put it on the podium.”

GermanWorldSBK at Lausitzring –  Race 2

1. Chaz Davies Ducati
2. Jonathan Rea Kawasaki +2.290
3. Marco Melandri Kawasaki +4.388

Championship Standings after Race 2, Round 9

1. Jonathan Rea 381 Kawasaki
2. Tom Sykes 311 Kawasaki
3. Chaz Davies 276 Ducati
4. Marco Melandri 218 Ducati
5. Alex Lowes 169 Yamaha
6. Xavi Forés 146 Ducati
7. Michael Van Der Mark 135 Yamaha
8. Leon Camier 120 MV Agusta
9. Jordi Torres 109 BMW
10. Eugene Laverty 95 Aprilia
11. Lorenzo Savadori 81 Aprilia
12. Román Ramos 77 Kawasaki
13. Leandro Mercado 75 Aprilia
14. Stefan Bradl 67 Honda
15. Randy Krummenacher 50 Kawasaki
16. Nicky Hayden 40 Honda
17. Alex De Angelis 32 Kawasaki
18. Raffaele De Rosa 31 BMW
19. Markus Reiterberger 29 BMW
20. Leon Haslam 20 Kawasaki

WorldSSP: Morais wins red flagged Lausitzring race

The WorldSSP race at the Prosecco DOC German Round saw the red flags come out on the penultimate lap with the victory being awarded to Sheridan Morais (Kallio Racing), with Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) also taking podium results.

The race standings were taken from the rider positions at the end of lap 17 after a crash on the penultimate lap – the 18th lap of the 4.255km Lausitzring track – which saw Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) go down at turn 2, with Mahias also involved.

Mahias was able to remount and was therefore included in the final race results whilst Caricasulo was immediately taken away for medical checkups. It is therefore a first career win for South African rider Morais, who also took his first pole this weekend, showing great pace on his Yamaha YZF R6 in Germany.

Second place for World Champion Sofuoglu moves him to within one point of the championship lead, which is still just held by Frenchman Mahias, who picked up 16 valuable points in third despite his crash.

The top five at Lausitzring also included Jules Cluzel (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) and Niki Tuuli (Kallio Racing). Meanwhile, Lorenzo Zanetti (Team Factory Vamag), Kyle Smith (GEMAR Team Lorini), Anthony West (EAB West Racing), Thomas Gradinger (MPB Racing) and Luke Stapleford (Profile Racing) were all in the top ten.

Alex Baldolini (Race Department ATK#25) and PJ Jacobsen (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) both retired with technical issues, whilst Gino Rea (Team Kawasaki Go Eleven) crashed out and was also forced to retire. The WorldSSP riders will be back in action in just under a month over the 15th-17th September weekend at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, Portimão, Portugal.

P1 – Sheridan Morias (Kallio Racing)

“I feel like we had the pace to win the race today, I knew we had what we needed and I felt comfortable. I expected a fight in the last few laps and I was ready for that, but unfortunately just as it started we had the red flag. I just hope Caricasulo is ok but also I am very happy for my team, for Yamaha and for myself.”

P2 – Kenan Sofuoglu 

“It went how I thought in many ways and I think we played a good game, waiting for the last few laps. In the beginning I decided to try and take the lead on the last lap and then win the race that way. The plan worked well but the red flag was not in my end plan. I think after a hard race we deserved to win but the red flag stopped that. We still had a podium, second position, after a weekend that was not so easy. We proved that even in a hard round we could handle it and manage things in the race. I am happy for the points and the podium and we took 20 points, which is still very good.”

P3 – Lucas Mahias (Yamaha Racing)

“I am not very happy for the result because today I felt I had the rhythm to win the race. I followed my strategy, which was to save my tyres so I could push a lot in the final part of the race. In the beginning, I lost the front twice and didn’t feel that confident, but then I found a good rhythm and did a lot of laps in the low 1:41’s. Towards the end of the race I overtook Cluzel for third and I was preparing to make a move on the leading two riders, but then my teammate Caricasulo crashed, and it was impossible to avoid his bike. It was unlucky, but I had some good luck too because I managed to make it back to the pits and finished in third. Although obviously, I would have preferred to have finished ahead of Kenan Sofuoglu! In Portimao, I will give everything to win the race, as right now I only have a one-point lead over Kenan and it is like we have started the championship again. My mission is to go out and try to win every one of the last four races!”

GermanWorldSBK: WorldSSP Race Top 3

1. Sheridan Morais (RSA) Yamaha
2. Kenan Sofuoglu (TUR) Kawasaki +0.354
3. Lucas Mahias (FRA) Yamaha +0.600

WorldSSP Championship Standings Proseccco DOC German Round

1. Lucas Mahias 121 Yamaha
2. Kenan Sofuoglu 120 Kawasaki
3. Sheridan Morais 101 Yamaha
4. Jules Cluzel 88 Honda
5. Pj Jacobsen 68 Mv Agusta
6. Federico Caricasulo 51 Yamaha
7. Anthony West 46 Yamaha
8. Kyle Smith 44 Honda
9. Roberto Rolfo 43 MV Agusta
10. Kyle Ryde 43 Kawasaki
11. Niki Tuuli 38 Yamaha
12. Luke Stapleford 36 Triumph
13. Hikari Okubo 30 Honda
14. Christian Gamarino 29 Honda
15. Michael Canducci 25 Kawasaki
16. Hannes Soomer 23 Honda
17. Kazuki Watanabe 21 Kawasaki
18. Decha Kraisart 20 Yamaha
19. Aiden Wagner 17 Honda
20. Jack Kennedy 15 Triumph
    …27. Lachlan Epis 10 Kawasaki

In the Superstock 1000 it was Rinaldi who got the win, in front of Aussie Mike Jones

Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team) notched an important Superstock 1000 European Championship win in Germany, taking advantage of late mishaps for Federico Sandi (Berclaz Racing Team) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing).

Championship leader Rinaldi was joined on the podium by teammate Mike Jones (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team) and Roberto Tamburini (PATA Yamaha Official STK 1000 Team), as the race winner opened up a 26-point lead at the head of the standings.

A three rider battle between Rinaldi, Sandi and Razgatlioglu on the penultimate lap concluded dramatically – as Sandi ran across the gravel after touching Razgatlioglu and then shortly afterwards Razgatlioglu crashed out – to leave Rinaldi clear at the front.

Behind Rinaldi, Jones and Tamburini it was Florian Marino (Pata Yamaha Official STK1000 Team) who finished a close fourth – beaten to the finish line by his teammate Tamburini by just 0.643s.

Having been in the lead and looking comfortable at the front, pole man Sandi appeared to be in a great position for victory but ended up crossing the line fifth after his late off-track excursion.

The likes of Jeremy Guarnoni (Pedercini Racing), Luca Vitali (Nuova M2 Racing), Sebastien Suchet (Berclaz Racing Team), Julian Puffe (Althea MF84) and Marvin Fritz (Bayer -Bikerbox Yamaichi) also finished in the Superstock 1000 European Championship top ten at the Prosecco DOC German Round.

The Superstock 1000 European Championship riders will reconvene for their next race in just under a month’s time over the 15th-17th September weekend – at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, Portimão, Portugal.

Superstock 1000 Championship Standings Proseccco DOC German Round

1. Michael Ruben Rinaldi 115 Ducati
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu 89 Kawasaki
3. Florian Marino 80 Yamaha
4. Roberto Tamburini 72 Yamaha
5. Marco Faccani 56 BMW
6. Mike Jones 49 Ducati
7. Jeremy Guarnoni 48 Kawasaki
8. Luca Vitali 44 Aprilia
9. Maximilian Scheib 41 Aprilia
10. Federico Sandi 40 BMW
11. Sebastien Suchet 37 BMW
12. Illia Mykhalchyk 35 Kawasaki
13. Alex Schacht 19 Ducati
14. Marvin Fritz 17 Yamaha
15. Julian Puffe 15 BMW
16. Matteo Ferrari 14 BMW
17. Danny De Boer 13 BMW
18. Luca Marconi 8 Yamaha
19. Kevin Calia 7 Suzuki
20. Emanuele Pusceddu 7 BMW

WorldSSP300: Coppola takes stunning victory in photo finish

As FIM Supersport 300 World Championship action resumed in Germany, enthralling racing action ensued which kept fans on the edge of their seats. Alfonso Coppola (SK Racing) took the victory ahead of Marc Garcia (Halcouier Racing) and Mika Perez (WILSport Racedays).

Perez got a stunning start off the line and took the lead into the first corner ahead of Coppola and Guiseppe De Gruttola (SK Racing), but following the nature of the series, this wasn’t the case for long.

Front row starter Garcia shot up into the lead on the opening laps as he led an opening group of seven riders. An overcast sky didn’t prevent the riders from attacking and pushing until the end, and with six laps to go a group of 10 riders developed, with Coppla and Perez leaving the way.

With the podium positions chopping and changing all the way throughout the race, a final lap battle ensued between Coppola, Perez and Garcia, which resulted in a photo finish and Coppla took the victory by 0.018s. Robert Schotman (GRT Yamaha WorldSSP300 Team) took fourth position ahead of early championship leader Scott Deroue (MTM HS Kawasaki), with Daniel Valle (Halcourier Racing) rounding out the top six.

Coppola’s debut victory has seen some changes in the world championship standings, as Perez takes the lead in the championship by two points ahead of Deroue.

The WorldSSP300 series now heads into a three week break before the seventh round of the season at Portimao, with the championship battle heating up.

P1 – Alfonso Coppola (SK Racing)

“For me its the first win after the disqualification, and it was great to push in a very strong race with a lot of riders. I just kept calm and I was lucky that I wasn’t too slow and I was able to pass in the last lap. I am so happy and I want to say thank you to my team SK Racing and to Yamaha.”

WorldSSP300 Championship Standings Proseccco DOC German Round

1. Mika Perez 88 Honda
2. Marc Garcia 85 Yamaha
3. Alfonso Coppola 82 Yamaha
4. Scott Deroue 75 Kawasaki
5. Borja Sánchez 58 Yamaha
6. Dorren Loureiro 52 Yamaha
7. Daniel Valle 48 Yamaha
8. Robert Schotman 42 Yamaha
9. Armando Pontone 40 Yamaha
10. Mykyta Kalinin 33 Yamaha
11. Ana Carrasco 31 Kawasaki
12. Giuseppe De Gruttola 25 Yamaha
13. Paolo Grassia 23 Kawasaki
14. Alex Murley 21 Yamaha
15. Glenn Van Straalen 20 Honda
16. Angelo Licciardi 18 Yamaha
17. Paolo Giacomini 17 Yamaha
18. Ali Adriansyah Rusmiputro 15 Yamaha
19. Harun Cabuk 10 Kawasaki
20. Luca Bernardi 9 Yamaha