Davies denies Rea’s title celebrations with race two win
The tenth round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship season held today on the Malaysian Sepang track, not far from the capital of Kuala Lumpur, ended with a win and a second place each for Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team) and with victory for Patrick Jacobsen (CORE” Motorsport Thailand) in Supersport.
After the morning warm-up sessions, the day began at 1:30PM local time with Superbike Race 1 where Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) won ahead of Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team) and wild card Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) who, at 44 years of age, is back on the podium for the factory derivative category.
Getting off the grid well from the pole position he secured on Saturday, Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) led the race at the start. Behind him Chaz Davies moved up from sixth to second position and the other Kawasaki rider, Jonathan Rea managed to move up from seventh to third position.
Behind them came Max Biaggi in fourth place, ahead of the Aprilias ridden by Jordi Torres and Leon Haslam.
During the third lap the Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils standard bearers overtook Biaggi who dropped into sixth position, but just a few laps later, at the start of the ninth and the end of the starting stretch, the Roman rider attacked and overtook first Haslam and then Torres, taking back fourth position. Toward the end of the race reigning World Champion Sylvain Guintoli (PATA Honda World Superbike Team) also overtook the two Aprilia riders, moving into fifth place behind Max Biaggi.
During the same lap Jonathan Rea began to pose a threat to Davies and a battle broke out with the Welshman for second place, but the turning point of the race came at the end of the twelfth lap: Chaz Davies moved into the lead, overtaking Tom Sykes who lost race pace visibly, slipping down into second position. A lap later the Kawasaki rider was also overtaken by team mate Rea, who set off to chase down the new race leader, Chaz Davies.
The bottom step of the podium went to Max Biaggi in the last lap when he managed to close in on Sykes and overtake him, while in the meantime Jonathan Rea got the better of Davies who, despite an attempt to overtake on the last turn, had to settle for crossing the wire behind the Championship leader who, with this victory, now has twelve wins for the season.
Behind the trio on the podium were Tom Sykes, Sylvain Guintoli, Leon Haslam and Alex Lowes.
In Race 2 Max Biaggi got off the line well, but the Roman rider’s race ended at the first turn due to contact with Guintoli which forced him to withdraw. At the end of the first lap it was Chaz Davies in the lead, followed by Jonathan Rea and Sylvain Guintoli’s Honda. However, during the third lap he lost third place when he was overtaken by Jordi Torres on his Aprilia.
In the sixth lap an innocuous crash by Tom Sykes ended his dreams of a comeback. The race held no further surprises but this time the Northern Irish Kawasaki rider was unable to repeat his success from Race 1 and, despite a heart-pounding final lap, he had to settle for second place behind Chaz Davies. Aprilia rider Jordi Torres completed the podium with his excellent performance.
Chaz Davies- 2nd & 1st – “Race 1 went really well, especially considering where we were yesterday, when I was thinking we’d do well to finish top six. Anyway, we made some changes overnight that put us in a position to fight for the win, though we were still missing something in the last laps in terms of the grip and electronics working together. Then in race 2 I saw that Johnny was closing in but over the last two laps my tyre really dropped off and it took everything I had to hold him off. It was a battle to the line again, and through the last corner when we made contact I thought it was all over, but fortunately we both stayed upright and I was able to cross the line in front! I’m so pleased about today’s results, obtained at one of the most difficult tracks for us. This shows how much progress we’ve made up until now. I’m also pleased to have moved into second place in the standings, having made up a lot of points over Tom this weekend. Thanks go to my whole team, the guys have done a fantastic job here! Now it’s time to relax, and after a good holiday we’ll get back to work.”
Jonathan Rea – 1st and 2nd – “I’m really happy after a good weekend and happy to go into the summer break healthy and looking forward to Jerez. With three laps to go in race two Arturo my mechanic gave me a bit of a secret signal and I knew if I went then I could catch Chaz. Halfway around the last lap I realised it would be possible. I passed Chaz and went through clean. We had contact but I do not blame him for that – I would do the same – but I almost crashed at the same time. I am really happy because we got another first and second on a race weekend and a bagful of points. If I had won the championship here maybe my wife would not have spoken to me for a day or two because she is at home! I just wanted to have a really good weekend and we did that.”
Sylvain Guintoli – 4th & 4th – “It’s been a really good weekend for us and we were able to find some pace on the qualifying tyre yesterday which gave us a front row start for the races. It’s very positive for us and, at the risk of repeating myself, the whole team has been working very hard throughout the season and it looks like it’s paying off. They were both very tough races today and I had to push very hard but it’s good to take those performances into the summer break. Unfortunately, there are no prizes for fourth but we’re chipping away; we are not too far off now and we’re getting a better understanding. We’ll work hard to find extra performance and we’ll try to finish the championship strong over the last three rounds.”
Max Biaggi – 3rd and DNF – “The podium is an incredible result. It is a challenge overcome, the challenge of raising the bar to something that no one had ever done before. My race pace was consistent. Rea, Davies and Sykes pulled away at the front straight away. I tried to find my pace without destroying the tyre by overheating it. It wasn’t easy because at the same time you have to push. After overtaking my team mates I began to focus on Sykes who was getting closer and closer. I managed to catch him up and overtake him right at the last lap. I’m super happy. This is the result I was dreaming of, a real cherry on top and the best I could have hoped to achieve. The crash in Race 2 doesn’t take anything away from my satisfaction. Now that the weekend is over I can reveal that my crash during the tests last week “gave” me a left shoulder dislocation and an injury that required stitches on my right ankle. It was mainly the shoulder that bothered me, especially in the more flowing parts of the track. But we gritted our teeth and everything went brilliantly – just one more reason to rush into a happy holiday break.”
Tom Sykes – 5th and 14th – “We were unlucky in race two as someone got on the inside of Max and he was pushed wide. He had nowhere to go and he picked it up. I was on the outside, so bad luck really. I was catching the group in front and felt good after making a change to the bike after race one. It was better but not perfect. I struggled with a bent brake lever after the contact and then when I fell later on I bent the gearlever up about 15mm and broke the footpeg off, so I only had a little stub. We were unlucky today, which is a shame because we had great pace on the bike. The tyre dropped a lot in race one and we never expected that.”
Jordi Torres – 10th and 3rd – “First of all I would like to thank my team. Between Race 1 and Race 2 the guys did an incredible job, changing the bike, working on the setup and the electronic adjustment, particularly on the engine brake. This let me ride much more smoothly. I may have wanted to be more aggressive just out of my own instinct, but this let me look after my tyres well in the second race and take this podium which makes me happy. Evidently it’s just my destiny this season – I need a bad Race 1 to have great results in the second one. It was an important race for me because it taught me a lot and that is what I want out of this season. Now I can’t wait to get to Jerez and give 100%.”
Leon Haslam – 7th and 6th – “I had problems in both races. I had a lot of trouble losing the front. If I tried to conserve the rear tyre it would stress the front and I would lose speed going into turns. In the first race the tyres wore out very quickly and I wasn’t able to maintain a fast enough pace. In the second I started well, but at the end I was lapping slower than the first race. Toward the end of the race I made a last ditch effort to overtake the riders ahead of me but I just didn’t have the grip. I’m very disappointed because on this track the goal was to get onto the podium but we didn’t manage to do that.”
Michael van der Mark – DNF & 5th – “We must be happy with fifth place in race two but I’m not so happy with the DNF in the first race and with the way that some of our race days have gone this season. I got a great start in race two and had a good battle with Sylvain and I was able to pass Leon Haslam on the last lap. I think I would have been able to battle for fourth or fifth also in race one but it was not to be.”
Alex Phillis finished the races in 18th and 19th position in his international debut with the Grilling WorldSBK squad.
WorldSBK Sepang – Race 1
1 Jonathan Rea 33m33.964s GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
2 Chaz Davies +0.121s GBR DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
3 Max Biaggi +10.695s ITA APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils
4 Sylvain Guintoli +15.433s FRA HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team
5 Tom Sykes +17.983s GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
6 Alex Lowes +23.758s GBR SUZUKI Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
7 Leon Haslam +24.854s GBR APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils
8 Matteo Baiocco +28.306s ITA DUCATI Althea Racing
9 Niccolo Canepa +31.098s ITA DUCATI Althea Racing
10 Jordi Torres +34.105s ESP APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils
WorldSBK Sepang – Race 2
1 Chaz Davies 33m36.466s GBR DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
2 Jonathan Rea +0.091s GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
3 Jordi Torres +5.008s ESP APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils
4 Sylvain Guintoli +13.130s FRA HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team
5 Michael van der Mark +15.801s NED HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team
6 Leon Haslam +15.970s GBR APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils
7 David Salom +24.561s ESP KAWASAKI Team Pedercini
8 Alex Lowes +26.526s GBR SUZUKI Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
9 Matteo Baiocco +28.528s ITA DUCATI Althea Racing
10 Roman Ramos +31.598s ESP KAWASAKI Team GO Eleven
Standings (10 of 13 rounds completed)
1 Jonathan Rea 452 pts GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
2 Chaz Davies 308 pts GBR DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
3 Tom Sykes 295 pts GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
4 Leon Haslam 259 pts GBR APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils
5 Jordi Torres 186 pts ESP APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils
6 Sylvain Guintoli 162 pts FRA HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team
7 Michael van der Mark 125 pts NED HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team
8 Davide Guigliano 119 pts ITA DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
9 Alex Lowes 112 pts GBR SUZUKI Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
10 Matteo Baiocco 107 pts ITA DUCATI Althea Racing
Jacobsen scores maiden WSS win in Sepang
The ninth round of the FIM Supersport World Championship, held at the Sepang International Circuit was won by PJ Jacobsen (CORE” Motorsport Thailand) after a race long, enthralling duel with Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) raged from start to finish at the 5.543km circuit. The result means that the Thai based team have won both races in Asia this year (Buriram and here).
From the start championship leader Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) surged to the front only to outbrake himself at turn 1, dropping to seventh. The Turkish rider ended the opening lap fifth before setting about closing the gap to the leading duo who began to open a small advantage at the head of the field.
By half distance Sofuoglu had bridged the gap meaning the top three riders in the overall championship were in contention for the victory until the Turk began to lose touch, falling into the clutches of Lorenzo Zanetti (MV Agusta Reparto Corse).
Jacobsen held his nerve despite the intense pressure from Cluzel to win for the first time in World Supersport by 0.091s at the flag. In doing so he becomes the first American rider to ever win a WSS race and he keeps himself very much in the title fight. Cluzel took second ahead of team mate Zanetti who overtook Sofuoglu at the final corner.
Behind the top four Pata Honda’s Kyle Smith finished a lonely fifth ahead of Roberto Rolfo (Team Lorini).
A trio of riders decided positions seventh to ninth with Martin Cardenas getting the better of his CIA Landlords Insurance team mate Gino Rea and Christian Gamarino (Team Go Eleven). Alex Baldolini (Race Department ATK#25) rounded out the top ten.
In the overall championship standings Sofuoglu still leads but by a reduced margin of 13 points over Cluzel, while Jacobsen is now 28 points shy of the top.
World Supersport Sepang – Race
1 – PJ Jacobsen CORE” Motorsport Thailand
2 – Jules Cluzel MV Agusta Reparto Corse +0.091
3 – Lorenzo Zanetti MV Agusta Reparto Corse +3.387
Standings (9 of 12 rounds completed)
1 – Kenan Sofuoglu Kawasaki Puccetti Racing 168
2 – Jules Cluzel MV Agusta Reparto Corse 155 (-13)
3 – PJ Jacobsen CORE” Motorsport Thailand Honda 140 (-28)
