Polesitter Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia) won the second world superbike race at Phillip Island this afternoon, in what was a dramatic conclusion to the 2014 season opener.
The race was declared after 14 laps of the planned 22 when the Suzuki of race one winner Eugene Laverty 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 – but not Laverty as the cause of the early race stop.
With Laverty removed from the results – he was running second when his Suzuki lost the plot – the podium was completed by factory Kawasaki pair Loris Baz and world champion Tom Sykes, who improved five spots from his race one result.
Guintoli has now won world superbike races at Phillip Island in successive years, and he’ll take a 10-point lead into round two at Aragon in Spain on April 13, with Baz (31) second from Marco Melandri (Aprilia, 28), Davide Guigliano (Ducati, 26), Laverty (25), Sykes (25), Jonathan Rea (Honda, 21) and Chaz Davies (Ducati, 17).
Guigliano was fourth in race two, a couple of seconds clear of Rea, with Leon Haslam (Honda) sixth from Davies and Melandri, who had to recover after running off at turn four on lap eight.
Australian Glenn Allerton (BMW) finished in 15th position on his Evo machine. The leading Evo rider was David Salom (Kawasaki) in 10th position.
World Superbike Race Two Results
1 | 1 | 50 S.GUINTOLI | FRA | ApriliaRacingTeam | ApriliaRSV4Factory | 14 | 1’31.421 | 313,0 | 1’30.038 | 317,6 | |
2 | 7 | 76 L.BAZ | FRA | KawasakiRacingTeam | KawasakiZX-10R | 14 | 0.283 | 1’31.660 | 312,1 | 1’30.796 | 306,8 |
3 | 8 | 1 T. SYKES | GBR | KawasakiRacingTeam | KawasakiZX-10R | 14 | 1.103 | 1’31.440 | 321,4 | 1’30.835 | 308,6 |
4 | 2 | 34 D.GIUGLIANO | ITA | DucatiSuperbikeTeam | Ducati1199PanigaleR | 14 | 2.052 | 1’31.550 | 310,3 | 1’30.135 | 309,5 |
5 | 6 | 65 J. REA | GBR | PATAHondaWorldSuperbike | HondaCBR1000RR | 14 | 4.951 | 1’31.937 | 318,6 | 1’30.660 | 307,7 |
6 | 9 | 91 L.HASLAM | GBR | PATAHondaWorldSuperbike | HondaCBR1000RR | 14 | 5.673 | 1’31.948 | 315,8 | 1’31.138 | 306,8 |
7 | 11 | 7 C.DAVIES | GBR | DucatiSuperbikeTeam | Ducati1199PanigaleR | 14 | 9.664 | 1’31.863 | 316,7 | 1’31.281 | 305,1 |
8 | 3 | 33 M.MELANDRI | ITA | ApriliaRacingTeam | ApriliaRSV4Factory | 14 | 10.574 | 1’31.720 | 319,5 | 1’30.332 | 319,5 |
9 | 13 | 24 T. ELIAS | ESP | RedDevilsRoma | ApriliaRSV4Factory | 14 | 11.682 | 1’31.972 | 314,0 | 1’32.107 | 307,7 |
| 10 | 12 | 44 D.SALOM | ESP | KawasakiRacingTeam | KawasakiZX-10REVO | 14 | 15.065 | 1’32.603 | 303,4 | 1’31.950 | 297,5 |
| 11 | 10 | 59 N.CANEPA | ITA | AltheaRacing | Ducati1199 PanigaleREVO | 14 | 16.294 | 1’32.513 | 303,4 | 1’31.274 | 294,3 |
| 12 | 15 | 9 F. FORET | FRA | MAHIRacingTeam India | KawasakiZX-10REVO | 14 | 16.919 | 1’32.606 | 302,5 | 1’32.248 | 290,3 |
| 13 | 5 | 22 A.LOWES | GBR | VoltcomCrescentSuzuki | SuzukiGSX-R1000 | 14 | 19.694 | 1’31.598 | 307,7 | 1’30.421 | 305,1 |
| 14 | 18 | 32 S.MORAIS | RSA | IRONBRAINKawasakiSBK | KawasakiZX-10REVO | 14 | 27.266 | 1’33.335 | 295,1 | 1’33.404 | 291,1 |
| 15 | 19 | 14 G.ALLERTON | AUS | BMWMotorradItaliaSBK | BMWS1000RREVO | 14 | 27.845 | 1’33.213 | 301,7 | 1’33.605 | 291,9 |
| 16 | 17 | 11 J. GUARNONI | FRA | MRSKawasaki | KawasakiZX-10REVO | 14 | 29.431 | 1’33.648 | 295,9 | 1’33.146 | 291,9 |
| 17 | 16 | 21 A.ANDREOZZI | ITA | TeamPedercini | KawasakiZX-10REVO | 14 | 36.393 | 1’33.148 | 301,7 | 1’32.902 | 298,3 |
| 18 | 14 | 71 C.CORTI | ITA | MVAgustaRC-Yakhnich M. | MVAgustaF4RR | 14 | 37.018 | 1’33.418 | 302,5 | 1’32.187 | 300,0 |
| 19 | 20 | 10 I. TOTH | HUN | BMWTeamToth | BMWS1000RR | 14 | 54.093 | 1’35.269 | 302,5 | 1’34.137 | 303,4 |
| 20 | 22 | 20 A.YATES | USA | Team HeroEBR | EBR1190 RX | 14 | 1’13.385 | 1’36.732 | 271,4 | 1’35.521 |
World Superbike Championship Standings
- S. GUINTOLI APRILIA 41
- L. BAZ KAWASAKI 31
- M. MELANDRI APRILIA 28
- D. GIUGLIANO DUCATI 26
- T. SYKES KAWASAKI 25
- E. LAVERTY SUZUKI 25
- J. REA HONDA 21
- C. DAVIES DUCATI 17
- D. SALOM KAWASAKI 13
- N. CANEPA DUCATI 11
- L. HASLAM HONDA 10
- F. FORET KAWASAKI 8
- T. ELIAS APRILIA 7
- G. ALLERTON BMW 6
- S. MORAIS KAWASAKI 3
- C. CORTI MV AGUSTA 3
- A. LOWES SUZUKI 3
- J. GUARNONI KAWASAKI 2
I had a big disaster in race one – we had a bit of an electronics issue and then the bike spun from under me at turn 12. We saw what that was and we know the problem in that area but the boys had to work really, really hard to get the bike ready for race two. They put a good setting in the bike that allowed me to run consistent times similar to the leaders’ but we just had a few niggly issues that stopped me getting up to them. Me and Johnny had a good battle and then the race got red flagged. It was disappointing that we didn’t get to have a bit more fun out on the track but fifth and sixth for the team, considering the issues we’ve had, is not so bad. We’ll go back and work hard for the next one – we’ve made some steps forward since Friday but we didn’t get back to where we were at the test, which was a little disappointing. We know why though, and we’ll get it sorted for next time.
I guess we have to be reasonably satisfied with the result here because we’ve made a big improvement over last year here at Phillip Island. It’s clear which areas we need to work on and it’s mostly mechanical grip. In race one, some of the guys struggled with tyre problems because it went the full distance, but I was able to look after my tyre which was a good thing. But we still need to make improvements in that area because the guys at the front had no problems. Race two was unfortunately stopped early because I think I was probably conserving my tyre a little more than I should have been. Sykes passed me into turn one but kind of stopped up in the corner and I lost a lot of places and lost touch with the group so the last few laps were quite boring. But I’m quite happy with everyone on my side of the box – we’ve been making good linear progress. They’re not results to jump up and down about but it’s a good way to start the season. I’m looking forward to getting back to some more conventional circuits in Europe and to aiming a lot higher than we did here.
second in both Evo races I would have definitely been happy but considering our results during
the practices I’m a little disappointed with today’s outcome. I battled with Salom in both races. In
the first, I made some small mistakes and was unable to pass him, while in the second we went
even faster but Salom maintained a pace that he never showed in practice and that I was unable
to match. But, anyway, this has been a very positive race weekend overall. We carried out solid
tests and collected data and experience that will be extremely useful during the rest of the season,
as well as the knowledge that we can fight for the win in Evo. I want to thank my team for their
exceptional work.”
