Redding and Rea share the wins on Sunday at Jerez

2020 WorldSBK

Superbike Race Two Report

Ducati’s Scott Redding claimed his second WorldSBK victory and his sixth consecutive podium on Sunday afternoon at Jerez while team-mate Chaz Davies came on strong to follow Redding home for Ducati’s first 1-2 finish since 2012.

The opening laps featured battles across the top six, with Redding making an early move to pass polesitter Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) on the second lap at the right-hander of Turn 1, while Turkish rider Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) fought his way up from 10th to run in the top five in the early stages of the race.

Redding checked out at the front of the field to extend his lead to two seconds to Rea before the Northern Irishman got passed by Redding’s Ducati teammate Davies. The Welshman and Razgatlioglu both were able to get by Rea temporarily before an ambitious move by Alex Lowes (Kawasaki) meant Lowes outbraked himself at Turn 6; allowing Rea to move back into third place.

Razgatlioglu eventually got by Rea again and held on to third place while Davies was running in second, behind teammate Redding with the pair able to hold on to take a Ducati one-two. Davies did start closing the gap as the race entered the second half but Redding responded to extend the gap back out to over two seconds, holding on to take his second WorldSBK victory.

Razgatlioglu also held on to claim a podium at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto, rebounding from a technical issue in the Tissot Superpole Race, for third place in Race 2; pulling away from Rea and Lowes as they fought with Michael Ruben Rinaldi (GoEleven Ducati).

Rinaldi passed Lowes at Turn 5 before setting his sights on five-time Champion Rea, making a move up the inside of the Turn 13 hairpin on Lap 13 on the brakes; moving into fourth place and securing his joint-best WorldSBK finish – which was claimed at Jerez in 2019.

Lowes and Rea came home in fifth and sixth place respectively ahead of Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha) in seventh place, the Dutch rider just over a second behind the reigning World Champion. He had a gap of over four seconds to Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC), the highest placed Honda rider on the grid in eighth place. Marco Melandri’s (Barni Ducati) impressive race pace continued to show as he made up 10 places from 19th on the grid to finish ninth.

American rider Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) completed the top 10 with Tom Sykes the highest placed BMW rider in 11th place, finishing two seconds behind Gerloff. Leon Haslam (Team HRC) finished in 12th, around 10 seconds off his Honda team-mate.

Xavi Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti) finished in 13th place as he completed the 20-lap race just under a second behind Haslam, and also beating Sandro Cortese (OutDo Kawasaki TPR) by almost six seconds. Leandro ‘Tati’ Mercado (Motocorsa Kawasaki) picked up the final point available for Race 2, almost pipping Cortese as the pair were separated by two tenths.

Loris Baz (Ten Kate Yamaha) had been running in the lead group during the early stages of the race, but he came off his bike at Turn 13 on Lap 6 to take himself out of contention; the Frenchman eventually being classified in 17th place behind Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team).

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Christophe Ponsson (Nuova M2 Racing) was not classified following a crash while Takumi Takahashi (MIE Althea Honda) suffered from a crash on Lap 6 at Turn 5. Eugene Laverty (BMW) and Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Performance) were both also not classified in Race 2.

Scott Redding – P1 – (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #45)

“I’m very excited about this weekend. We had two wins, a pole position and a second place. It’s a great result, and for this, I want to thank the whole Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team for putting me in a position to be competitive. The feeling with the bike was great, and I was able to take a good advantage in the first laps. I am very satisfied”.

Chaz Davies – P2 – (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7)

“I’m very happy to be back on the podium. My goal was to fight for the top three positions in all the races, but unfortunately, I couldn’t do it. I think the start was a key factor in getting this result. I want to thank my team for the great work they have done on the bike since Friday morning. Now we go to Portimao with great enthusiasm and conviction”.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu – P3 – (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team)

“I had a small crash on the out-lap which was a little bit crazy… but then in the race we had a really good start to be right near the front. 10th to third is really positive and we are happy with the performance of the R1, which allowed me to take a solid amount of points even if we could not quite match the winning pace. I’m looking forward to racing at Portimao next weekend, I know we can go well there, I like the circuit and I believe the Yamaha will too, so hopefully we can have a strong result.”

Michael Rinaldi – P4 – (Team GOELEVEN)

“What a race today! We went very fast on the race pace, I have to thank my team for this; we worked well all weekend! A bit of regret because when there are faster track conditions we cannot be so incisive and we had to start in the fourth row and in the Superpole Race we struggled a bit, too. Today’s race was spectacular, I went fast, I came up from behind and I did some good overtakings; I also fought with Rea, it never happened to me, and it’s a beautiful emotion! Let’s improve a little more in Portimao!”

Alex Lowes – P5 – (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)

“It has not been an easy weekend for me but in the end we took some points so it was not bad. This weekend was quite difficult because this is the first time for me to ride the Kawasaki in these extreme temperatures. But every race at Jerez I have improved and I am looking forward to Portimao already. In the Superpole race it was good because I started 14th, so to arrive in P7 I had quite a lot of confidence for the final race. I was stronger today but I was bit behind in terms of track time. We will try to improve for next week.”

Jonathan Rea – P6 –  (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)

“This morning was very good and I felt that it was my chance to go from the very beginning. I did a 1’40.6 from a standing start which was unbelievable. I had a really good rhythm so I was able to cruise the last few laps and really enjoy the race. In race two it was hard because as soon as I got the bike on its side in turn three and accelerated towards four, it was not pushing the tyre in and going forward. I was frustrated with that. We had the same set-up as we had in the Superpole race and the set-up change from yesterday was minimal, so we need to look at the data. This circuit is the one I feared the most, especially in the high temperatures, so it is not a bad outcome.”

Michael van der Mark – P7 – (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team)

“After missing out on the podium in Phillip Island and yesterday, it was good to be back inside the top three for the Superpole Race. I wasn’t really happy with the bike and we tried to sort it out for the second race of the day, but with the conditions being a lot warmer I struggled with the front end, which was not helped by being in a group and the tyre temperature going out of range. We scored some decent points, but now we need to focus on a better result at Portimao. It’s a track I enjoy and I think we’ll be able to challenge at the front.”

Race Two Results

Superbike Superpole Race Report

Sunday morning’s 10-lap Tissot Superpole Race was won by five-time Champion Jonathan Rea after the Northern Irishman made a superb start to jump from third on the grid straight to the race lead and lead all 10 laps.

It was a similar start to Saturday’s Race 1 with polesitter Scott Redding moving down to third at the start, losing out to Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu. The trio separated out at the start and Rea continued to lead throughout the 10-lap race, with Rea taking victory ahead of Redding; Rea’s 90th victory in WorldSBK.

A technical issue for Razgatlioglu as he was battling with Redding meant he did not finish the race; team-mate Michael van der Mark claiming a podium. It means the front row of Race 2 lined up with Rea ahead of Redding and van der Mark.

Loris Baz was once again the top Independent rider as the Frenchman claimed fourth on the grid for Race 2 ahead of Chaz Davies in fifth and Tom Sykes  bouncing back from issues in Race 1 to claim sixth on the grid for Race 2; although he did drop three places from his starting position.

Alex Lowes finished in seventh place with American rider Garrett Gerloff in eighth, the first time an American rider has been on the front three rows of the WorldSBK since Nicky Hayden at Buriram in 2017. Leon Haslam claimed the final points-paying position in the Tissot Superpole Race.

Superbike Superpole Race Results

WSBK Championship Points

Supersport Race Two Report

The second race of Supersport World Championship was full of drama both during the race and the warm-up lap as Andrea Locatelli (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) claimed his third victory in WorldSSP and his second of the Pirelli Spanish Round; maintaining his 100% win record since moving to the WorldSSP grid and making history: Locatelli is the first Italian rider to three consecutive WorldSSP races.

Italian rookie Locatelli held his lead off the start and pulled away by around six tenths before extending his lead throughout the duration of the shortened race; the race distance reduced from 17 laps to 11 following a bizarre warm-up clash between Axel Bassani (Soradis Yamaha Motoxracing) and Raffaele de Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse); Bassani running into the back of de Rosa on the run to Turn 1. Bassani was unable to take the delayed race start but MV Agusta were able to repair de Rosa’s bike and the Italian joined the race, finishing in fifth.

Locatelli beat Jules Cluzel (GMT94) to claim his third consecutive race victory, with Cluzel having finished second in all three WorldSSP races in 2020 as both Locatelli and Cluzel are showing remarkable consistency in the early stages of the season. Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) claimed the final podium spot during the shortened race.

Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) finished a comfortable fourth place, with a gap of 3.4 seconds to Mahias in third but finishing just shy of two seconds clear of de Rosa; the Italian fighting his way through the field after the warm-up lap crash. He had a battle with Corentin Perolari (GMT94 Yamaha) for fifth place, the pair separated by just 0.152s.

Spanish rider Isaac Viñales (Kallio Racing) was seventh, making up for a disappointing Saturday where he had to start from the back of the grid before a retirement in Race 1 as he finished just three tenths behind Perolari. South African rider Steven Odendaal (EAB Ten Kate Racing) and Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) had a drag race to the line with Odendaal just holding on to ninth place by just 0.002s.

Manuel Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) completed the top ten with the Spanish rider finishing two seconds clear of Danny Web (WRP Wepol Racing) in eleventh. Turkish sensation Can Öncü, who was the youngest rider to win a World Championship race while competing in Moto3, scored points with twelth place.

Alejandro Ruiz (EMPERADOR Racing Team), who battled from the back of the grid yesterday, finished thirteenth ahead of Federico Fuligni (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) with Andy Verdoïa (bLU cRU WorldSSP by MS Racing) claiming the final point ahead of teammate Galang Hendra Pratama who finished in 16th place.

Australian Lachlan Epis was once again just outside the points, this time in 17th, four-seconds off sixteenth place, and finishing ahead of Cresson and Montella.

Dynavolt Honda duo Patrick Hobelsberger and Hikari Okubo both retired from the race with incidents; Okubo being taken to the medial centre following his crash on Lap 3 for a check-up. Bassani did not start the race following the warm-up crash with de Rosa, the only three riders who were not classified in the race.

Andrea Locatelli – P1 – (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team)

“We did an incredible job today and I’m really, really happy. The conditions are so difficult, but we can push every time and the work of the team is good. Now we focus on Portimao and I look forward to the round.”

Jules Cluzel – P2 – (GMT94 Yamaha)

“The podium was a target, so job done. To be honest, I struggled because I was not able to follow Andrea or to pass him, but we knew before we came here that we thought it was our worst circuit so it’s good to score 40 points. We now go to Portimao with two podiums. We are not so far away. Between races, we need to improve a little bit and in Portimao, hopefully we can do it there.”

Lucas Mahias – P3 – (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing)

“For sure it’s a nice result. It’s good. Not the perfect race, I think if maybe I had maybe three or four laps more like a normal race, it’s possible to finish second. I think it’s not the time to crash in the last corner on the last lap, and I keep third position. It’s nice for the team and for me in the Championship.”

Supersport Race Two Results

Supersport Championship Points

WorldSSP 300 Race Two Report

Competitive track action at the Pirelli Spanish Round continued with the FIM Supersport 300 Championship as the class continued to deliver typically thrilling and chaotic racing with an 11-strong lead group during the early part of the race doing their best to all claim victory at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto.

Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSSP300 claimed victory after a battle at the front in of the field containing 36 riders, moving to the front of the field before a battle with Hugo de Cancellis (Team TRASIMENO) on the last lap with Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300) also fighting for victory; making up seven tenths of a second on the final lap. De Cancellis was penalised with a five-second time penalty, promoting Carrasco to second place with Sofuoglu, the nephew of WorldSSP legend Kenan Sofuoglu, claiming his first victory.

With Carrasco second and de Cancellis penalised, Tom Booth-Amos (RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) claimed third position for his second podium at Jerez; moving into the Championship leader after his first weekend in WorldSSP300. Booth-Amos started the race in 15th, moving up 12 places throughout the race.

Scott Deroue (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) claimed fourth place in the thrilling race, finishing a second behind Booth-Amos, but finishing just ahead of Meikon Kawakami (Team Brasil AD 78); a tenth between the pair. Kawakami had started from pole position but lost the lead early on but was unable to fight for the victory when the front four of Sofuoglu, Carrasco and de Cancellis broke away. Unai Orradre (Yamaha MS Racing) finished in sixth place with just two tenths between Deroue, Kawakami and Orradre.

Bruno Ieraci (Kawasaki GP Project) finished in seventh place after a tight battle with Ukrainian rider Nick Kalinin (Battley-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki) and Thomas Brianti (Prodina Ircos Team WorldSSP300), another group of riders separated by the smallest of margins. De Cancellis was classified in 10th place following his five-second penalty, having been in second place across the line.

Kevin Sabatucci (Kawasaki GP Project) finished in 11th place, seven tenths behind de Cancellis and more than three seconds behind Brianti, who was the next rider ahead of him on track. There were three tenths separating Ton Kawakami (Yamaha MS Racing)and Sabatucci as they crossed the line.

Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) was also penalised with a five-second time penalty during the race which demoted him from a top-five battle to 13th place with Filippo Rovelli (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) and Alvaro Diaz (Biblion Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSSP300) rounding out the points in the exciting race.

Tom Edwards bounced back from his DNF on Saturday to cross the line 11-seconds behind the race winner but such is the intensity of WorldSSP 300 competition that was only good enough for 25th place. Countryman Tom Bramich did not earn a spot on the start grid after the young Victorian was taken out in Saturday’s Last Chance Race that cost him his chance to make the Main.

Christian Stange (Freudenberg KTM WorldSSP Team) had an off in the early stages of the race which dropped him down to the back of the field and was eventually classified in 31st place. Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) had a crash which took him out of contention for the race victory while Oliver König (Freudenberg KTM Junior Team) also had an off before retiring from the race. Other retirements included Mika Perez (Prodina Ircos Team WorldSSP300) and Alejandro Carrion (Smrz Racing – Willi Race).

WorldSSP 300 Race Two Results

WorldSSP 300 Championship Points

2020 WorldSBK calendar

1. March 1 – Phillip Island, Australia
2. August 2 – Jerez, Spain (WSBK-WSSP-WSSP300)
3. August 9 – Portimao, Portugal (WSBK-WSSP-WSSP300)
4. August 30 – Aragon, Spain (WSBK-WSSP-WSSP300)
5. September 6 – Aragon, Spain (WSBK-WSSP-WSSP300)
6. September 20 – Catalunya, Spain (WSBK-WSSP-WSSP300)
7. October 4 – Magny-Cours, France (WSBK-WSSP-WSSP300)
8. October 11 – Circuito San Juan Villicum, Argentina (TBC) (WSBK-WSSP)
9. November 8 – Misano, Italy (WSBK-WSSP-WSSP300)