Melandri does the WSBK double at Jerez | van der Mark clinches WSS title
Marco Melandri (Aprilia Racing Team) took his second double of the year today after another dominating performance at Jerez in race 2. The experienced Italian rider elevated himself into the lead in the final third of the encounter after overtaking his teammate Sylvain Guintoli, then he pulled away to secure the first position at the chequered flag. The former 250cc World Champion added another win to his tally to become the second most successful Italian race winner in the series after Max Biaggi.
Thanks to another second place finish, Guintoli has narrowed the gap to the top of the standings to 31 points as championship leader Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was 3rd. The podium finishers were awarded with their trophies by Alfa Romeo Ambassador Jorge Lorenzo.
Completing the top six were Chaz Davies (Ducati Superbike Team), Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike Team), and Eugene Laverty (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) while the best EVO classified rider was Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad Italia) who finished 11th overall and comfortably ahead of 12th placed Sheridan Morais (Iron Brain Grillini Kawasaki) who scored on of his best results of the year.
Davide Giugliano (Ducati Superbike Team) endured another difficult race as he was forced to retire at the end of lap 3 due to a technical problem. Both EVO points leader David Salom (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Alessandro Andreozzi (Team Pedercini Kawasaki) failed to make it to the finish line after falling off their respective machines.
There was jubilation for Team Toth BMW who achieved their third point scoring finish of the season courtesy of a 14th place finish by replacement rider Gabor Rizmayer.
Marco Melandri: “After the crash in Race 2 at Laguna Seca I was very disappointed because we could have taken a double win there. This weekend my team and I started off well straight away and changed very little on the bike. My RSV4 performed very well today. The second race was a bit more difficult because of the higher temperatures. I tried to be consistent even though I wasn’t really fast at the beginning of the race, but I managed to keep a quick pace and bridge the gap to the top. This was a great Sunday for me. Now I can relax for a few days before getting back on the track.”
Tom Sykes: “A lot of hard riding got me the podium in race two because physically it was really difficult. I had to use a lot of rider input. We made some changes in race two and came close to the front in third place. There was nothing more I could do and tried my hardest. I always thought this weekend could be a little bit uphill. Overall, I have to say I am satisfied, particularly as we had some misfortunes in race one. We did a decent job and we have not lost too much ground. I am very motivated and we have tried a lot of things this weekend. We will continue with our racing season and the guys have worked super hard to cater to my requests and needs here, so it was nice to repay them with a podium finish in race two.”
Bryan Staring crashed out of race one after working his way up to 16th and did not start race two due to machine damage sustained in the crash.
WSBK Race One Results: 1. Melandri (Aprilia) 20 Laps/88.460 km in 34’20.164 average 154.578 kph; 2. Guintoli (Aprilia) 1.397; 3. Davies (Ducati) 4.283; 4. Rea (Honda) 5.705; 5. Sykes (Kawasaki) 6.979; 6. Laverty (Suzuki) 7.342; 7. Haslam (Honda) 14.868; 8. Elias (Aprilia) 23.853; 9. Salom (Kawasaki) 25.886; 10. Barrier (BMW) 26.536; 11. Guarnoni (Kawasaki) 41.308; 12. Andreozzi (Kawasaki) 46.672; 13. Morais (Kawasaki) 48.742; 14. Canepa (Ducati) 50.131; 15. Corti (MV Agusta) 1’03.677; 16. Rizmayer (BMW) 1’14.881; 17. May (EBR) 1’22.832; 18. Toth (BMW) 1’35.
WSBK Race Two Results: 1. Melandri (Aprilia) 20 Laps/88.460 km in 34’25.940 average 154.146 kph; 2. Guintoli (Aprilia) 2.845; 3. Sykes (Kawasaki) 6.097; 4. Davies (Ducati) 7.749; 5. Rea (Honda) 7.935; 6. Laverty (Suzuki) 10.510; 7. Baz (Kawasaki) 16.078; 8. Haslam (Honda) 16.098; 9. Lowes (Suzuki) 16.554; 10. Elias (Aprilia) 25.840; 11. Barrier (BMW) 36.839; 12. Morais (Kawasaki) 55.531; 13. Guarnoni (Kawasaki) 55.980; 14. Rizmayer (BMW) 1’18.354; 15. Canepa (Ducati) 1’26.338; 16. Yates (EBR) 1’31.468; RT. Andreozzi (Kawasaki); RT. Toth (BMW); RT. May (EBR); RT. Corti (MV Agusta); RT. Giugliano (Ducati); RT. Salom (Kawasaki); NS. Staring (Kawasaki).
Standings (Round 10 of 12): 1. Sykes 352; 2. Guintoli 321; 3. Rea 285; 4. Melandri 267; 5. Baz 262; 6. Davies 188; 7. Laverty 154; 8. Giugliano 153; 9. Elias 151; 10. Haslam 150; 11. Lowes 126; 12. Salom 95; 13. Canepa 54; 14. Guarnoni 41; 15. Camier 37; 16. Barrier 32; 17. Morais 24; 18. Andreozzi 21; 19. Scassa 16; 20. Foret 14; 21. Corti 14; 22. Staring 12; 23. Allerton 6; 24. Bos 5; 25. Goi 5; 26. Russo 5; 27. Rizmayer 3; 28. Pegram 2; 29. Toth 2; 30. Fabrizio 2; 31. Lanusse 1. Manufacturers: 1. Kawasaki 369; 2. Aprilia 368; 3. Honda 285; 4. Ducati 249; 5. Suzuki 220; 6. BMW 69; 7. MV Agusta 21; 8. EBR
World Supersport
A race long fight at the front involving 5 riders raged in Spain this afternoon as Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) became the 2014 World Supersport Champion in style by winning at Jerez as his closest championship rival Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) crashed out of the lead at the end of the penultimate lap.
Completing the podium were the Intermoto Kawasaki Ponyexpres team mates PJ Jacobsen and Florian Marino.
Jack Kennedy (CIA Insurance Honda), Kev Coghlan (DMC-Panavto Yamaha) and Lorenzo Zanetti (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) rounded out the top 6 while former champion Kenan Sofuoglu (San Carlo Puccetti Racing) who had to start from the pit lane rode an incredible race to claim 3 points at the flag and had the accolade of the fastest lap.
Matt Davies (Aark Racing) finished 20th on his return to the World Supersport championship.
Results: 1. vd Mark (Honda) 19 Laps/84.037 km in 33’34.503 average 150.178 kph; 2. Jacobsen (Kawasaki) 0.363; 3. Marino (Kawasaki) 0.508; 4. Kennedy (Honda) 0.960; 5. Coghlan (Yamaha) 2.951; 6. Zanetti (Honda) 4.639; 7. Rolfo (Kawasaki) 5.860; 8. Wilairot (Honda) 6.460; 9. Nocco (Kawasaki) 10.477; 10. Tamburini (Kawasaki) 10.875; 11. Schmitter (Yamaha) 16.916; 12. Leonov (Honda) 18.066; 13. Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) 19.253; 14. Debise (Honda) 20.916; 15. Gamarino (Kawasaki) 23.624; etc.
Standings (Round 9 of 11): 1. Vd Mark 185; 2. Marino 109; 3. Cluzel 107; 4. Zanetti 90; 5. Coghlan 88; 6. Jacobsen 87; 7. Sofuoglu 86; 8. Rolfo 71; 9. De Rosa 67; 10. Kennedy 56; 11. Tamburini 54; 12. Wilairot 43; 13. Bussolotti 30; 14. Nocco 27; 15. Wahr 26; 16. Russo 25; 17. Gamarino 23; 18. Menghi 20; 19. Leonov 19; 20. Gowland 9; 21. Roccoli 8; 22. Schmitter 8; 23. Zaidi 7; 24. Coveña 7; 25. Debise 4; 26. Calero 3; 27. Rogers 1. Manufacturers: 1. Honda 206; 2. Kawasaki 155; 3. MV Agusta 121; 4. Yamaha 98; 5. Triumph 9.
Superstock 1000
A reduced ten lap FIM Superstock 1000cc Cup saw a tense race long fight between three riders with the honours eventually going to Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing Ducati) who claimed his second win of the season and with it retook the lead in the championship by 5 points.
Kyle Smith (Agro-On Wil Racedays Honda) was back on the podium in second with Lorenzo Savadori (Team Pedercini) completed a competitive podium in the Spanish sun.
4th 5th and 6th were taken by Fabio Massei (EAB Racing Ducati), Ondrej Jezek (Barni Racing Ducati) and Josh Day (Agro-On Wil Racedays Honda).
In the championship today’s result means the championship will be decided at the final round in France in a few weeks with the narrowest of margins separating Mercado and Savadori at the head of the standings.
Results: 1. Mercado (Ducati) 10 Laps/44.230 km in 17’47.919 average 149.101 kph; 2. Smith (Honda) 1.676; 3. Savadori (Kawasaki) 4.558; 4. Massei (Ducati) 5.890; 5. Jezek (Ducati) 10.338; 6. Day (Honda) 11.298; 7. McFadden (Kawasaki) 12.256; 8. Lanusse (Kawasaki) 13.300; 9. Alarcos (Kawasaki) 16.652; 10. Muresan (BMW) 17.623; 11. Suchet (Kawasaki) 19.292; 12. Alviz (Kawasaki) 19.393; 13. Castellarin (BMW) 23.751; 14. Sandi (BMW) 23.948; 15. Moser (Ducati) 25.546; etc.
Standings (Round 6 of 7): 1. Mercado 104; 2. Savadori 99; 3. Jezek 69; 4. Massei 67; 5. McFadden 63; 6. Lussiana 59; 7. Smith 55; 8. Lanusse 53; 9. Valk 44; 10. Day 42; 11. D’Annunzio 39; 12. Nemeth 28; 13. Muresan 21; 14. Bergman 13; 15. Suchet 13; 16. Grotzkyj G. 10; 17. Pagaud 10; 18. Alarcos 8; 19. Schacht 8; 20. Castellarin 7; 21. Walraven 6; 22. Alviz 6; 23. Sandi 5; 24. Calia 4; 25. Moser 3; 26. Egea 2; 27. Butti 1; 28. Ayer 1. Manufacturers: 1. Ducati 125; 2. Kawasaki 124; 3. Honda 71; 4. BMW 46; 5. Suzuki 6; 6. Aprilia 4.
European Junior Cup
Josh Harland (Josh Harland Racing) won today’s 10 lap Pata European Junior Cup race at Jerez after a thrilling battle from that was decided by a split of a second between eight riders at the finish line. Angelo Licciardi (S.E.F.A.B Racing) and Illan Fernandez (Evo Kids Racing) completed the podium, with Javier Orellana (Europ Food SL) in fourth place ahead of Mika Perez (Cuna de Campeones). Sixth place Augusto Fernandez (Wil Sport) now needs only one point at Magny-Cours to grab the title.
Results: 1. Harland (Honda) 10 Laps/44.230 km in 20’28.184 average 129.645 kph; 2. Licciardi (Honda) 0.014; 3. Fernandez (Honda) 0.061; 4. Orellana (Honda) 0.252; 5. Perez (Honda) 0.252; 6. Fernandez (Honda) 0.527; 7. Lujan Soto (Honda) 0.567; 8. Wilford (Honda) 0.577; 9. Soomer (Honda) 1.292; 10. Van Sikkelerus (Honda) 1.705; etc
Standings (Round 7 of 8): 1. Fernandez 139; 2. Orellana 115; 3. Licciardi 84; 4. Fernandez 79; 5. Harland 72; 6. Miralles 62; 7. Perez 61; 8. Hubner 51; 9. Soomer 49; 10. Grassia 35; 11. Van Sikkelerus 35; 12. London 33; 13. Wisdom 26; 14. Geissler 21; 15. Ciprietti 20; etc.
Pata Honda Report
Pata Honda rider Jonathan Rea took his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP to fourth and fifth place finishes in today’s two 10th-round World Superbike championship races at Jerez in Spain, retaining his third place in the series with just two rounds to go.
The two races were won by Italian Marco Melandri, with French rider Sylvain Guintoli taking two second places and series leader Tom Sykes scoring a third in race two but seeing his championship lead reduced.
Rea’s Pata Honda team-mate Leon Haslam finished seventh and eighth in the two 20-lap outings which were run in cooler, more overcast conditions than the earlier practice and qualifying sessions at the 4.423km Jerez circuit.
Following the cancellation of the Moscow round, the World Superbike championship will reconvene in one month’s time for round 11 at the French circuit of Magny-Cours.
Jonathan Rea – P4 and P5 – “I’m really happy with today because it was hard to have high expectations last night, knowing we had to make a big change. But when we reverted to the previous spec engine and made some changes to the front of the bike I was able to ride the way I like without having to change my style too much. Starting from tenth on the grid really didn’t help me to use the tyre to its full potential and gain lap times at the beginning; but in the end my pace was really, really strong in both races. We can take a lot of positives but, to be honest, we were chasing our tails a little earlier in the weekend.”
Leon Haslam – P7 and P8 “In race one I had a terrible start and struggled a bit. When we got to half race distance I think I went the wrong way with the buttons and made hard work for myself in the second half of the race. We made better steps in race two but I just couldn’t get past Loris [Baz]. I made a few mistakes but always caught him back within a lap. It was good to have a battle but it would have been nice to get by him and maybe get up to Eugene [Laverty]. But I was happy enough – we made good steps between the two races electronically. We knew this round would be tough but we’ve come away with two top eights and, even though I would prefer to fight with the next group, I enjoyed a battle so, all-in-all not too bad.”
Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator – “Jonathan had quite a positive warm-up and the changes we made worked out well. He had a good start from tenth and then really got into the races. Fourth was a good result in race one and he was just a little short from another fourth in race two. With fourth and fifth, however, he is still third in the championship, so that’s good. Leon had a lonely seventh in race one but we matched the electronics better with tyre life for race two and he was able to battle until the end. The second race was actually better, despite finishing eighth, and I think he’ll be fighting in the top five by the end of the season.”
Suzuki Report
Voltcom Crescent Suzuki’s Eugene Laverty secured two sixth place finishes at the Circuito de Jerez in Spain for today’s eni FIM Superbike World Championship races with team-mate Alex Lowes consolidating his qualifying position in ninth.
Laverty leaves the Championships’ final Spanish race in seventh position overall after a solid performance saw him mirror his grid position across the line in both of the day’s two races.
Despite a poor start to the morning’s action relegating him to 10th, the Irishman dug deep on-board his Yoshimura-powered GSX-R, his persistence paying off as, after a brief battle with Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes for fifth in the final quarter, the Irishman eventually claimed sixth place at the flag. The afternoon race saw the Suzuki rider away from the lights quickly, maintaining his position amongst the front group. Laverty moved to fifth on lap seven before a late challenge from Rea relegated him back, matching his finish from the previous race and awarding him 20 points for the day’s endeavours.
Reunited in action with his Suzuki GSX-R1000, Lowes’ got off to a blistering start in the opening contest; holding second as he crossed the line for the initial revolution, the British racer retained the final podium position for the opening four laps. Circulating in 10th for the middle stint of the race, he eventually succumbed to the track’s greasy conditions at turn one on lap 14. The second outing saw Lowes sustain a steady pace, looking to challenge the two riders in front by lap 10, eventually settling into a rhythm to bring his Suzuki home in ninth for seven championship points.
A cloudy and humid Jerez circuit greeted the fans and competitors for the 10th round of the Championship this morning. Aprilia’s Marco Melandri took victory ahead of his team-mate in both of the day’s races.
Voltcom Crescent Suzuki now heads back to its UK Headquarters to prepare for the next round of competition at Magny-Cours in France in a month’s time.
Eugene Laverty: “Unfortunately today wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. Race one was really disappointing – we had a problem with the start off the line and dropped backwards – but we made good progress although sixth wasn’t what we expected. In the second race we made a better start, and I think from start to finish it was the best race I could have possibly had, but it was only good enough for sixth. We are going to put our heads together and try to figure out how to get back up on to the podium now because I want to be challenging the top-three and improve our championship position.”
Alex Lowes: “It was a frustrating day and not the results we wanted but, as ever, I never give in and pushed hard on the GSX-R. I’m frustrated with the crash as I don’t really know what happened but the team worked really hard to make the changes needed for race two. If it wasn’t for the bad start I think we would’ve had a chance of running with Eugene in the second race, but I lost time getting caught up with Elias. I’m looking forward to the next round and will be working hard with the team to get back up there for Magny-Cours.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager: “The results today were below our target but at the same time both riders and the team gave it everything and different conditions just didn’t quite work for us. Eugene rode two very strong races – the first one massively compromised by a dreadful start – and was able to achieve two very solid finishes. The margins are so fine between the podium and sixth place that it’s a case of us continuing to work hard to make the GSX-R as adaptable as it can be to all circuits and all conditions so that we can achieve those targets.”
“The greasy conditions caught Alex out in the first race, but he showed a lot of fight today and in the second race he learnt a lot and maintained a very consistent pace right to the end. Not the best day, but not the worst; and as a step towards the future, a lot of learning and good effort by the full Voltcom Crescent Suzuki team.”
Aprilia Report
Aprilia had no rivals at Jerez in the tenth round of the World SBK Championship. The RSV4s from Noale proved their superiority taking first and second place in both Race 1 and Race 2.
It was Melandri who earned both wins with authority and employing a similar strategy. In both Race 1 and Race 2 Marco found himself behind in the initial phases, sixth in the first race and fifth in the second. In both cases he skilfully and steadfastly came back, demonstrating undisputed superiority and an optimum feeling with his RSV4. This takes Melandri to five wins this season.
In both races Sylvain Guintoli took the lead early, trying to pull away from his rivals. Once overtaken by Melandri Guintoli confidently managed his position, finishing in second place twice to earn 13 championship points and close the gap behind championship leader, Sykes, whose advantage has now been reduced to just 31 points over Aprilia Racing’s Frenchman.
The double win at Jerez also has an impact on the Manufacturers Championship: with the 50 points earned in Spain, Aprilia makes up 23 on Kawasaki which now places them just one point from the top spot in the championship standings.
Marco Melandri: “After the crash in Race 2 at Laguna Seca I was very disappointed because we could have taken a double win there. This weekend my team and I started off well straight away, changing very little on the bike and my RSV4 performed very well today. The second race was a bit more difficult because with the higher temperatures the track has less grip. I tried to be consistent even though I wasn’t really fast at the beginning of the race, but I managed to maintain my pace steadily, making up places over my rivals. This was a great Sunday for me. Now I can relax for a few days before getting back on the track.”
Sylvain Guintoli: “Our goal here was to make up points on Tom and that’s what we did. Last year I didn’t do too well here so I wasn’t expecting to be able to battle for the win in both races. I gave it my all, working hard to solve the problems we had during practice and pushing to the limit today. The next round is at Magny Cours, a track that I like and where I know I can count on support from our French fans to keep fighting for the Championship. With 100 points left on the table anything can still happen.”
Kawasaki Report
Tom Sykes scored fifth and then third place finishes at the Jerez round of the FIM Superbike World Championship on his Kawasaki Racing Team Ninja ZX-10R to maintain a strong championship lead with two rounds to go. His team-mate Loris Baz was on course for a first race podium until he collided with another rider, while David Salom in the SBK Evo class had a mixed day, but still enjoys a significant Evo championship lead.
In the first 20-lap WSBK race Sykes moved up and down the order after missing a gear near the start, and had to work hard to overcome a less than ideal race set-up in cool conditions to finish fifth.
A strong recovery from Tom in race two, in which he finished third, saw him defend his championship leading status in determined fashion, with his 14th podium finish of the year leaving him now 31 points in the championship lead over Jerez double second place man, Sylvain Guintoli.
Baz, starting from pole in convincing fashion, was always a factor in race one until he fell shortly after double race winner Marco Melandri passed him into a hairpin and they touched at the apex. Loris went out for race two with high hopes again but despite a full effort he had to work hard to finish seventh. He battled strongly and won a three-rider battle over the line. Loris is now fifth in the rankings, five points from fourth place.
In the SBK Evo class David Salom won the first race-within-a-race on his Ninja ZX-10R, but was unfortunate to fall in race two, on the second lap. He is now 41 points ahead in the Evo class and ranked 12th overall in the SBK table.
The FIM Superbike World Championship calendar will now head to Magny Cours in France for the penultimate round, between 3 and 5 October.
Tom Sykes: “A lot of hard riding got me the podium in race two because physically it was really difficult. I had to use a lot of rider input. We made some changes in race two and came close to the front in third place. There was nothing more I could do and tried my hardest. I always thought this weekend could be a little bit uphill. Overall, I have to say I am satisfied, particularly as we had some misfortunes in race one. We did a decent job and we have not lost too much ground. I am very motivated and we have tried a lot of things this weekend. We will continue with our racing season and the guys have worked super hard to cater to my requests and needs here, so it was nice to repay them with a podium finish in race two.”
Loris Baz: “In race one I touched with Melandri on my handlebar – and that is racing sometimes. Maybe I did not give him enough space when I saw him. I thought he was going to take the corner straight away but instead he pulled the bike straight – maybe he lost the front or something – and then he touched my handlebar. It was a shame because I could have won that one. We did not change anything for race two but the bike did not feel the same and I am not sure what happened. We could have done something really good here and taken some good big but I lost some instead.”
David Salom: “Maybe with six or seven laps to go in race one I had no force left in my hand but I pushed to pass Barrier. The bike was sliding a lot but I did not use the throttle too hard and tried to ride smoothly. When Barrier ran wide on the final corner I could pass him back inside and take the Evo win. I was happy for the whole team, Kawasaki and everybody after race one, so it was a shame to fall in race two. Even with that, we took a bigger points lead in the Evo championship.”
