Motul FIM Superbike World Championship Race Two Results From Sepang

Motul FIM Superbike World Championship Race Two Results From Sepang

© 2016, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Motul FIM Superbike World Championship

Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia

May 15, 2016

Race Two Results (wet conditions, all on Pirelli tires):

1. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (Honda CBR1000RR SP), 16 laps, Total Race Time 37:04.047, Best Lap Time 2:17.273

2. Davide GIUGLIANO, Italy (Ducati Panigale R), -1.254 seconds, 2:16.716

3. Jonathan REA, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -3.684, 2:16.914

4. Chaz DAVIES, UK (Ducati Panigale R), -5.720, 2:17.501

5. Anthony WEST, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -15.989, 2:18.206

6. Michael VAN DER MARK, Netherlands (Honda CBR1000RR SP), -19.979, 2:18.103

7. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (Aprilia RSV4 RF), -20.028, 2:18.007

8. Tom SYKES, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -23.011, 2:18.505

9. Leon CAMIER, UK (MV Agusta 1000 F4), -24.045, 2:18.280

10. Markus REITERBERGER, Germany (BMW S1000RR), -25.139, 2:18.042

11. Xavi FORÉS, Spain (Ducati Panigale R), -25.208, 2:17.949

12. Josh BROOKES, Australia (BMW S1000RR), -25.835, 2:18.091

13. Jordi TORRES, Spain (BMW S1000RR), -26.757, 2:18.194

14. Lorenzo SAVADORI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 RF), -30.729, 2:18.035

15. Josh HOOK, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -65.347, 2:19.662

16. Gianluca VIZZIELLO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -77.761, 2:21.642

17. Luca SCASSA, Italy (Ducati Panigale R), -78.121, 2:20.900

18. Pawel SZKOPEK, Poland (Yamaha YZF-R1), -91.412, crash, 2:19.328

19. Dominic SCHMITTER, Switzerland (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -127.000, 2:22.487

20. Saeed AL SULAITI, Qatar (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -128.836, 2:23.041

21. Imre TÓTH, Hungary (Yamaha YZF-R1), -1 lap, 2:29.329

22. Alex LOWES, UK (Yamaha YZF-R1), -4 laps, DNF, crash, 2:18.077

23. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (BMW S1000RR), -16 laps, DNF, no lap time recorded

World Championship Point Standings (after 12 of 26 races):

1. Rea, 257 points

2. Davies, 215

3. Sykes, 187

4. Van Der Mark, 125

5. Giugliano, 118

6. Hayden, 115

7. Torres, 103

8. Camier, 73

9. Lowes, 70

10. Savadori, 66

More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:

Spectacular Hayden Wins in the Wet

Kentucky Kid takes his first ever WorldSBK victory in stunning wet weather display

Honda World Superbike Team rider Nicky Hayden crossed the line in Sepang on Sunday to take his first ever win in World Superbike. The American, a rookie in the class, took off from the pack in a supreme display of speed and control in difficult conditions. Ducati’s Davide Giugliano came home second after a late charge, ahead of reigning Champion Jonathan Rea.

Sunday in Sepang saw sun replaced by rain as a downpour hit the circuit just before the WorldSSP Race was due to start. As the weather conditions worsened and the World Supersport Race was postponed until after WorldSBK, the riders had a long look at the sky in preparation for a Wet Race.

A cautious line up threaded through turns 1 and 2 for the first time as the front row of Sykes, Rea and Lowes was joined by Honda rider Nicky Hayden from the second row. Hayden, who is a veteran of the track but a WorldSBK rookie, then began to pull a gap on second placed Rea as riders behind battled for position.

With grip tricky to judge, only Kentucky Kid Hayden seemed confident in the initial laps, with Rea remaining behind in P2 as Lowes and Sykes struggled to find similar pace. With the top three settled as Hayden, Rea and Davies, it was second Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider Davide Giugliano who then began to set the fastest laps of the track and caught teammate and title contender Davies. After shadowing the Welshman, Giugliano then made his move and took the position, then heading off after Nicky Hayden in pursuit of a victory. The Italian came home P2 after the late charge, as Rea passed Davies to lock out the podium in P3, ahead of his Welsh title rival who crossed the line in P4. Defending Champion Rea remains the only rider on the grid to have been on the rostrum in every race.

Honda’s Michael van der Mark moved up from his P10 grid position to end the race in P6 after a spectacular last corner against Alex De Angelis after a race of spectacular duels, with Aprilia rider De Angelis also making good progress from his starting position as he recovers from injury.

Tom Sykes, after starting from pole, suffered in the conditions in Race 2 in Malaysia and eventually crossed the line in P8. Anthony West, riding as replacement for Sylvain Barrier at Pedercini, lived up to his reputation as a maestro of wet conditions as the Australian came home in the top 5, giving the team their best result of 2016 so far and proving second Kawasaki on Sunday.

Leon Camier, after another top ten result in Race 1, came home P9 in the wet on Sunday afternoon, with Markus Reiterberger completing the top ten for Althea BMW after a mechanical problem forced the German to retire in Race 1 on Saturday. Pata Yamaha rider Alex Lowes, after starting from his best qualifying position, suffered a crash in Race 2 and has been diagnosed with a closed fracture of his collarbone.

Sepang saw Rea increased his title lead once again as the grid shuffle around him, with the paddock now heading to Donington Park for Round 7.

P1 – Nicky Hayden @NickyHayden

Honda World Superbike Team @HondaWSBK

“It feels pretty good to be up here and to win the race. In the first laps I tried to get in front, try to get clear track and pull a bit of a gap. We had no idea what the tyres were gonna do in the wet. As the track started drying I was a little worried and it wasn’t easy. I’m very happy to get this win. I want to thank my team and all my supporters and I want to dedicate this win to my Dad. He asked for a podium this week as he has had a rough week and I told him I would see what I can do. I went a little bit better so I hope he is having fun.”

P2 – Davide Giugliano @DavideGiugliano

Aruba.it Racing – Ducati @ArubaRacing

“I’m very happy with this second position. The race was very hard for me. It was difficult in the rain to pass the other riders. But my passes were good and my bike is very good. Step by step my passes were very good. This is a very beautiful second position and very close to victory. This result is important for me, for my crew, my team, my sponsors and thanks to everybody.”

P3 – Jonathan Rea @jonathanrea

Kawasaki Racing Team @KRT_WorldSBK

“Our bike seems to work quite well in the wet and I don’t mind it. It seems to suit my riding style. At the beginning Nicky was doing such a good pace and I was a little bit worried to go with him, because I wasn’t sure if he had really done a lot of work with the tyres, or if he knew they would drop a little bit. When Davide came through he had much more grip than Chaz. I was quite happy to leave Chaz there a little bit, so I knew when I went through I had more traction to go away. So I just want to thank all the Kawasaki Racing Team because they gave me a great bike in the break. It’s not ideal when the weather turns upside down two hours before the race. We were really reactive and we have put a championship performance in this weekend. So I’m really, really happy.”

More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing BMW:

Difficult conditions for the Althea BMW Racing Team in Race 2 at Sepang

Sepang (Malaysia), Sunday 15 May 2016 –

The Althea BMW Racing team overcame the very wet conditions that characterised Race 2 of the sixth Superbike World Championship round taking place today at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. Bringing their BMW S1000 RR bikes over the line and scoring some important points for the standings, Markus Reiterberger concluded the race in tenth place, Jordi Torres thirteenth.

Superbike – Race 2 – a full wet track and heavy rain for the second SBK race today, the first time the Superbike riders were riding in these conditions. Both Althea BMW riders made an understandably cautious start and were lying 11th (Markus) and 13th (Jordi) at the end of the opening lap. While the German made up one position, the Spaniard lost some ground in the early stages. At mid-race the pair positioned tenth and fourteenth; Torres was able to make up a place in the final phase meaning that the Althea BMW men crossed the line in final tenth (Reiterberger) and thirteenth (Torres) position.

After Round 6 of the 2016 Superbike World Championship, Jordi Torres lies seventh in the general standings with 103 points, Reiterberger positions thirteenth with 53 points. BMW is fourth in the manufacturer’s classification with 111 points, while Althea BMW also lies fourth in the team rankings (156 points).

Markus Reiterberger:

“First I want to say thanks to my team for helping me during this great weekend, which I’ve really enjoyed. I was a bit nervous before this second race as I had no idea what we could do in the wet. I was cautious in the early laps as I wasn’t used to this type of conditions. Then I was able to build confidence and make up some time in the second half of the race. I finished tenth which, considering it was my first SBK race in the rain, I’m very happy with. After some rather difficult events, I feel we’ve really made progress here and I’m looking forward to the next races.”

Jordi Torres:

“With the rain we knew it would be difficult, but for everyone of course, seeing as we had no idea what the grip would be like in the wet. For us it was useful in understanding more about the bike’s behaviour in the wet and how we are fixed in terms of traction control. I was able to understand a lot of things, and the data we’ve collected will be useful for our continuing development. I wanted to be further forward of course but it wasn’t possible today. Considering the conditions, we weren’t too far from the leaders in terms of time and we take this as a positive as we continue our work to prepare as well as possible for Donington.”

More, from a press release issued by Aruba.it Racing Ducati:

Davide Giugliano 2nd in the wet in Sepang, 4th place for Chaz Davies in Race Two

After taking the third step of the podium in Race 1 with Chaz Davies, the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team stepped back on the rostrum in Race 2 with Davide Giugliano. Heavy rainfalls mixed things up for the WorldSBK championship riders, who only lapped in dry conditions until then. Both Davies and Giugliano still managed to be competitive from early on, quickly coming through the field to claim provisional third and fourth position. The pair then passed championship leader Rea with six laps to go and engaged in a spectacular, fair duel.

During lap 12, Giugliano passed his teammate and barely missed a comeback victory on Hayden, who finished only one second ahead. Davies fought fiercely for the podium, defending it until two laps to go, and was eventually fourth under the checkered flag also due to some front-end issues. At the end of round 6, Davies and Giugliano respectively sit in 2nd (215 points) and fifth place (118 points) in the championship, while Ducati is second in the Manufacturers standings (232 points). The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team will be back on track in Donington (U.K.) for the seventh round of the WorldSBK championship on May 27-29.

Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #34) – 2nd

“I’m very happy, because the race was both fun and solid for us. After the first few laps, we found a good pace and towards the end I wanted to try to pass Hayden and win, but it would have been risky and I didn’t want to exaggerate. It was very important for me to step back on the podium after a few races below expectations. We’ve made steps forward throughout the weekend, and even in the dry I believe we would have been more competitive, so we need to stay on this path. I want to thank the whole team for not stopping to believe in me in the most difficult times.”

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7) – 4th

“It was a strange race, because with 7 laps to go I thought we could win but the next lap I realized we were in trouble. The track conditions were pretty homogeneous, so the tyres were not too difficult to manage, but we struggled with grip in corner exit. I had to work the front quite a bit to make up for that, and its performance dropped all of a sudden. I’m semi-happy with the final outcome. Obviously I would have liked to have done more, but we were in contention for most of the race. In wet races anything can happen, and we only lost 3 points in the championship. We’ll move forward in Donington.”

Ernesto Marinelli, Superbike Project Director

“I’m very happy for Davide’s second place, it was really important for him and the team to have a strong weekend after a few difficult races. It was crucial especially to keep going in the right direction, and I think we achieved that. Overall, we can be satisfied. It surely has been a weekend full of question marks but, as for Chaz, while it’s true that we lost some points in the championship, we can say we limited the damage to finish both races in a good position and bring home important points.”

More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:

Race Two Podium Extends Rea’s Championship Lead

In a wet second Superbike World Championship race at Sepang Kawasaki Racing Team rider Jonathan Rea secure third place and a strong points score to extend his championship lead to 42 points. Tom Sykes (KRT) could not replicate his race one victory in the wet of day two and he finished up eighth. He is still third in the overall championship standings.

With no previous wet experience to call on at the resurfaced Sepang circuit both official Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R riders had little time to find a good set-up on full wet tyres. Starting from pole in the case of Tom and third place in the case of Jonathan they made good launches from the startline in search of more podium success.

Rea led early on and was able to hold onto a good pace for most of the race, even fighting back in the later stages to reclaim third place and a podium from his nearest championship rival Chaz Davies. In doing so he managed to keep his points total moving ahead once again and he now has 257 points to Davies’ 215, after six rounds.

Soon after the start Tom realised his set-up was not going to allow him to challenge and despite fighting for every point he dropped back to finish eighth, on a drying track surface that made his set-up issues more profound. He is still a healthy 62 points ahead of the fourth placed rider in the championship and leaves Sepang with another race win on his record thanks to his Saturday performance.

Today’s wet race was won by American Nicky Hayden; his first victory since joining the WorldSBK championship from MotoGP. The next round will be held at Donington Park in the UK, over the weekend of 27-29 May.

Jonathan Rea stated: “It is so difficult in a weekend when you have all dry sessions, a dry race one – and then two hours before race two a monsoon comes in! I am proud of my team because they were so reactive to the changing conditions. I feel we got it quite close and my bike was giving me quite a lot of feedback out there. The strategy in the wet was just to do the rhythm. It was important to keep the corner entry traction off the tyre, as normally that is the first area that suffers. So when I set off it was just about managing everything. Nicky was too far in front for me to want to really grit my teeth and go for him. I was happy with our performance and that was the maximum we could do. Maybe if I had the race again I could have gone with Nicky in the beginning but third was the result we got today and we achieved our target for the weekend. That was to increase our championship lead, so I am happy we did that.”

Tom Sykes stated: “It was a big shame after the strong run we have had over the other parts of race weekend. I looked at a small change for the dry conditions today but heading into the wet we took on some experience from the Assen weekend and then went racing. But when the water cleared the grip from the surface was quite high. Unfortunately we did not have the perfect set-up for the grippy surface. I was not able to push the tyres onto the ground and get the traction we needed. Other than that, I felt if we would have made some changes we could have been stronger. I am disappointed not to capitalise on our momentum from yesterday’s win, but this is racing sometimes.”

Replacement rider for the injured Sylvain Barrier, Anthony West (Pedercini Racing Team Kawasaki), had a great ride to fifth place on his privateer machine despite having no previous experience of riding this machine in wet conditions.

Josh Hook (Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki) once more scored a point for 15th place with stand-in rider Gianluca Vizziello (Go Eleven Team Kawasaki) 16th. Dominic Schmitter (Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki) was 19th and Saeed Al Sulaiti (Pedercini Racing Team Kawasaki) 20th.

More, from a press release issued by MV Agusta:

ANOTHER TOP 10 FOR LEON CAMIER IN MALAYSIA 

Camier ends up in 9th position the Malaysian round of WorldSBK Championship for MV Agusta Reparto Corse, with the Brit rider stepping up 8th in the overall standing. In WorldSSP Race Cluzel finishes 7th and consolidates the 3rd position.

WorldSBK – Race2

Race 2 of WorldSBK Championship was run on a wet track, because of the heavy rainstorms that hit the Malaysian track today.

When the lights goes out, Leon Camier loose some places at the start but the British and his MV Agusta F4 RC are quick to get the right rhythm, stepping in 9th position after a few laps.

When the last of the 16 laps is completed Leon is now ending in 9th final position, getting the 8th place in Championship standing. This is the second Top 10 in Malaysia for Leon and Team MV Agusta Reparto Corse.

The WorldSBK will be back on stage on May 29, in England, at Donington Park, the home round for the 29-years old British rider.

WorldSSP – Race

A pouring rain greeted the WorldSSP riders today and forced the race direction to red flag the race during the warmup lap. The race restarted later, after the WorldSBK manche, when the track conditions, still wet, were more suitable for the race.

Penalized in the first phase of the race from having chosen an intermediate tire at the rear, when it had stopped raining and the track seemed to quickly dry out, Jules Cluzel has ridden a very hard race, scoring the fastest lap on lap 8th and 9th; at the end of the race Cluzel managed to finish 7th getting 9 points for the Championship.

Cluzel’s teammate Lorenzo Zanetti suffered greater trouble on wet condition, but the Italian managed to close 13th, in scoring point zone.

Leon Camier #2 WorldSBK Rider – All in all not such a bad race but I was hoping for a little bit better in rain condition. It took a few laps to get into the rhythm because I made a really bad start but when I got into the rhythm I start passing several riders and the lap time was not so bad as well. We miss some speed in rain condition but the feeling with the chassis is really good.

Jules Cluzel #16 WorldSSP Rider – Too bad because we chose the intermediate tyre to the rear when the track began to dry out, but this decision penalized us than the other riders, forcing me to lose too much time in the early laps, when there was still plenty of water on the track. However we are always 3rd in the championship and I now really look forward to Donington.

Lorenzo Zanetti #87 WorldSSP Rider – Except on the first day, when we were very competitive, it was a difficult weekend, plus we also had some technical problem the mechanics managed to fix today. Unfortunately we are still not competitive in wet condition but we have to be confident since we have already showed up our potential and I am sure we will return to fight with the front riders soon.

More, from a press release issued by Honda:

Superb maiden WorldSBK win for Hayden in race two at Sepang

Round 6 – Malaysia

Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia

Nicky Hayden came out on top in today’s race two at Sepang International Circuit to claim a spectacular maiden race win, in what was only his sixth FIM Superbike World Championship round as full-time rider in the series. Michael van der Mark completed the Malaysian event with a sixth place finish. Hayden’s impressive performance in race two marks the return of Honda to the top step of the podium for the first time since 2014, when Jonathan Rea was victorious in race two at Portimão.

Hayden got a great launch from fourth place on the grid and immediately set his sights on the lead, which he was able to take before the completion of the first lap. From then on, the 34-year-old never looked back and continued to master his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP perfectly around the wet 5.543 Km Sepang International Circuit. By lap eleven of sixteen Hayden had a four-second margin over second place, which he carefully managed up to the chequered flag in spite of a quick drop of grip as the track was drying out.

Michael van der Mark’s performance was hindered by his poor starting position, although the young Dutchman was able to make up several places in the early laps courtesy of a great feeling with his bike in full-wet conditions. As soon as the track started to get drier, though, the 2014 World Supersport Champion began to experience some grip issues that did not allow him to stay with the front-runners.

Nicky Hayden 69

1st

I’m really happy for this win. Last night I was so frustrated that my crew chief asked me if I was OK and told me not to give up. I told him not to worry, and that I was just a bit of a sore loser. This morning in the dry we had good pace and great potential. When it started raining I knew I had to go for it: I’m definitely not in the championship fight and that meant I could risk a bit more. In the first laps I took some chances to get to the front and I didn’t want to get caught up racing in a pack like in Assen. I wanted to be at the front with clear visibility. As I got to the front the bike worked so well because the team knows the bike inside out and the set-up was perfect. I tried to stay as comfortable as possible while in the lead because we weren’t sure of tyre durability on this track with the new asphalt. I managed to pull a gap and definitely in the end wasn’t easy, because those guys were coming for me. I was able to hold on to the lead and get my first win in a long time. It’s been a few dry years but I never stopped trying; to get a win at this point in my career in Superbike is truly amazing.

Michael van der Mark 60

6th

In the warm up this morning we tried something different again but it didn’t really work out. Before the race I didn’t know what to expect and I think the rain came a bit like a gift for us. My start wasn’t so good and I got pushed wide at the first turn, but I immediately got a good feeling in full-wet conditions and was able to bridge the gap to the front. As soon as the track started to dry out, I started struggling with the grip and couldn’t brake as hard as I wanted to. I’m really disappointed because the result could have been much better and I feel we were still missing something. I’m really happy for Nicky and his first win; we on the other hand have to find that competitive set-up again, the one that allowed us to do so well in Australia and Thailand. I’m pretty sure we will be back at the front in Donington.

Pieter Breddels

Technical Manager

Nicky simply put together the perfect race today. The rain didn’t catch us unprepared, because we had already a good set-up for the wet from day one at Assen. He got a great start and was able to get a 3-4 second margin that he managed right to the end, despite a great comeback by Giugliano. Nicky was able to counter attack whenever he saw that the gap was closing too much. So, it was a victory after a long time both for him and us, and we’re over the moon. We hope that this is only the beginning. Michael was doing well at the beginning of the race but unfortunately, with the track drying up he had a severe drop of grip. He did well to hold on to sixth and I’m confident that the next round he will fight for more.

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