Motul FIM Superbike World Championship
Chang International Circuit
Buriram, Thailand
March 11, 2017
Race One Results (All on Pirelli tires):
1. Jonathan Rea, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), 20 laps, Total Race Time 31:16.125, Best Lap Time 1:33.436
2. Chaz Davies, UK (Duc Panigale R), -6.279 seconds, 1:33.516
3. Tom Sykes, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), -8.165, 1:33.600
4. Marco Melandri, Italy (Duc Panigale R), -8.239, 1:33.441
5. Michael van der Mark, Netherlands (Yam YZF-R1), -11.384, 1:34.036
6. Alex Lowes, UK (Yam YZF-R1), -14.862, 1:33.981
7. Jordi Torres, Spain (BMW S1000RR), -26.035, 1:34.482
8. Leon Camier, UK (MV Agusta F4RC), -31.755, 1:34.808
9. Nicky Hayden, USA (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), -33.305, 1:34.691
10. Stefan Bradl, Germany (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), -35.208, 1:35.070
11. Xavi Fores, Spain (Duc Panigale R), -35.428, 1:34.775
12. Randy Krummenacher, Switzerland (Kaw ZX-10RR), -38.865, 1:35.286
13. Lorenzo Savadori, Italy (Apr RSV4 RF), -39.869, 1:34.834
14. Markus Reiterberger, Germany (BMW S1000RR), -40.140, 1:34.989
15. Roman Ramos, Spain (Kaw ZX-10R), -47.407, 1:35.341
16. Alex De Angelis, San Marino (Kaw ZX-10RR), -57.203, 1:35.494
17. Ricardo Russo, Italy (Yam YZF-R1), -60.996, 1:35.790
18. Ondrej Jezek, Czech Republic (Kaw ZX-10R), -65.330, 1:36.110
19. Eugene Laverty, Ireland (Apr RSV4), -1 lap, DNF, mechanical, 1:34.233
20. Ayrton Badovini, Italy (Kaw ZX-10R), -14 laps, DNF, crash, 1:36.340
More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:
Chang International Circuit Day Two
Runaway Race One Victory for Rea
World Champion dominates, as Melandri starts Race 2 from pole
The third race of the 2017 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship in Thailand on Saturday brought a third successive victory for defending WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team), after he set a new pole record lap earlier in the day. Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) joined Rea on the podium after a 20 lap race in stiffling temperatures of 36°C.
The Northern Irish rider held on to the lead after a good start saw him take the holeshot from pole. Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), Sykes and Davies positioned themselves behind Rea’s Kawasaki ZX-10R in the early stages but none of them could match the World Champion’s pace.
Davies won the battle for second, finishing six seconds behind Rea and just under two seconds in front of the pursuing Sykes. Melandri was just off the podium, less than a tenth of a second behind Sykes, whilst a good performance from Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) saw the Dutchman complete the top five.
Another solid race from Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) saw his good form continue in sixth place, with the top ten completed by Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team), Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), Nicky Hayden (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) and rookie Stefan Bradl (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team).
Nearing the end of the race, in which the riders completed over 91km in the intense heat and humidity of Buriram, Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team) dropped back from the fight for eighth with Torres and finished 11th.
A technical issue with the RSV4 RF of Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) at turn 5 on the final lap cost him points when he was running in seventh, whilst Ayrton Badovini (Grillini Racing Team) crashed on lap 6 and suffered a DNF, though fortunately the Italian was unharmed in the incident.
The second WorldSBK of the Round 2 weekend in Thailand takes place at 4pm local time on Sunday at the Chang International Circuit, which will see Melandri start from pole position, ahead of Van der Mark and Lowes.
1st: Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki Racing Team
“I felt really good and quite calm, my guys gave me a really good bike again and that was my plan. We had a really good pace but Chaz also had a very fast pace, as did Marco, so I had to ride away into T1 to make the holeshot, I wanted to get my head down in T1 and I did it. I managed to get a good gap and then built up a rhythm, I was just doing my job and it was enough to win, so I’m really happy.”
2nd Chaz Davies – Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
“Looking at the big picture I’m pleased with today’s performance, but I wanted to win. This morning I thought we might be close, but by the end our pace is just not good enough.I think there are a number of things we need to look at. Who knows if it’s something we can turn around overnight, but it’s going to be a little bit tough.”
3rd Tom Sykes – Kawasaki Racing Team
“I took an opportunity to get on the podium and it finally worked, and we are now able to get a lot of information. I had a small problem for a good part of the race with the braking system, but I think that will be fixed now. I’ll hopefully be strong on the brakes but overall it’s quite acceptable and I feel like we can bring the fight tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by Althea BMW Racing:
Torres and Althea BMW play catch-up in SBK race 1 at Buriram
Buriram (Thailand), Saturday 11 March 2017
The third race of the 2017 Superbike World Championship took place today at the Chang International Circuit in Thailand and for Torres and the Althea BMW Racing team it proved to be a test of strength, as they battled on despite some inconveniences and bad luck. Torres crossed the line in seventh place, while Reiterberger closed in fourteenth position.
Superpole2: today’s Superpole took place without the use of the qualifying tyre, withdrawn by Pirelli due to damage caused to some tyres during transportation of the supply. Unfortunately, a crash for Torres when there were still ten minutes to go prevented the Spaniard from continuing the session, meaning that he qualified for the race in tenth position (1’34.252), ahead of his team-mate Reiti, twelfth (1’34.807).
SBK – Race 1: The Althea BMW team worked hard to get Torres’ S 1000 RR ready in time for the race after the earlier crash. Jordi got away well, maintaining tenth position through the opening laps. Closing in on Savadori, the Spaniard passed him on lap four. Thanks to his strong pace, he was soon able to reach Forés, moving into eighth place on lap nine. Jordi then worked hard to reduce the gap to Laverty ahead of him, finally crossing the line in seventh place and scoring some important championship points in the progress.
Reiti lost a lot of ground in the opening stages when another rider almost crashed ahead of him, forcing him wide and causing him to drop down to seventeenth place. The German was able to recover two positions in the first half of the race, but the time lost in the early laps prevented him from doing more today. Markus thus closed today’s race in fourteenth place.
Jordi Torres:
“We did well in the morning’s free practice, but then in Superpole the bike switched off and as a result I lost almost the entire session. I was unable to complete a fast lap and therefore started the race from tenth position. Luckily, my technicians are fantastic and were able to sort my bike just in time. In the race, I started to get into a rhythm, immediately passing Camier, then Savadori. I wanted to do more in the later stages but I didn’t have the pace to go any further. It’s OK, it was a tough race and seventh is not bad, though I’d like to do more tomorrow, starting from fourth on the grid.”
Markus Reiterberger:
“We made some changes in free practice, with the aim of improving from session to session, but unfortunately we didn’t get what we wanted, neither did we improve in Superpole. Overall, my race pace was not so bad. The problem was that I was pushed wide early on when another ride nearly crashed in front of me, and I fell back to 17th place which was bad. From lap four to the end, my pace was fairly good but I had lost too much ground in the opening stages. I hope we can take a step for tomorrow’s race and do better in the first laps.”
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
Rea Wins Third Race Of The Season
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) secured his third race win in succession on the Ninja ZX-10RR this season after a front-running display from pole position at the Chang International Circuit. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) made a successful late challenge for third place in the 20-lap race and scored his second FIM Superbike World Championship podium of the year.
From the very beginning of the first Thai race, in the full heat of the afternoon, Superpole winner Jonathan Rea was in determined mood, making a clear gap after just one lap of the 4.554km circuit. He finished up 6.279 seconds clear of second place finisher Chaz Davies at the end. Other than the first and last circuits, Rea posted lap times in the 1’33 bracket, a pace which none of his rivals could match in the hot and humid conditions.
Rea also set a new lap record to add to his new track best from Superpole 2. He reduced the lap record to 1’33.436 on lap five and in Superpole he had made a 1’32.957 – on race tyres – as there were no qualifying tyres available at this round.
Sykes, who was third for the first three laps of the opening race, was unable to keep his early position and dropped to fourth for some time. He used all his experience and speed in the closing laps to pounce on Marco Melandri for third place at the flag, scoring 16 valuable points in the process.
In the Riders’ Championship Rea leads Davies by 15 points – 75 to 60 – with another race to go this weekend. Sykes is a clear third in the standings after three races, with 42 points.
The second race of the weekend is scheduled for 16.00 on Sunday 12th March.
Jonathan Rea, stated: “I did not know what my pace would be. I know it was fast enough to fight for the win but when I saw I had a gap of 0.4 seconds in the first lap I decided to try and put my head down as much as I could. As soon as I broke the one second mark I knew that slipstreaming was not going to come into play for the riders behind, so I just set my own rhythm. My pace was 1’33 and honestly I made a couple mistakes on some laps and was still in the 1‘33s. I managed to hold that rhythm and not try to over-push. It looks like we used the tyre a little bit on the right side but I guess that was to be expected as we were six seconds up the road at the end. I am really happy with that race.”
Tom Sykes, stated: “I had some limitations early on in the race with the brakes. I was not able to brake strongly initially and that meant I was unbalanced towards the apexes of the corners. I was still able to keep quite a consistent pace and close down Marco at the end. It was nice to take a podium but it was the beginning of the race where we were missing the initial pace – and that is not like us! We will keep working and try to improve that aspect for tomorrow. I was pushing and pushing at the end and finally with three laps to go I changed the entry to some corners and tried to use the tyre to the best. I think in the end we did a good job so I’m happy to recover a third place.”
More, from a press release issued by Red Bull Honda WSBK Team:
Hayden and Bradl make their way into top-10 in race one at Buriram
Thai Round
Chang International Circuit, Thailand
Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team’s Nicky Hayden and Stefan Bradl have scored their first top-10 results of the season today by finishing ninth and tenth, respectively, in the opening race at Chang International Circuit. With this result and the new grid format for race two, Hayden will start the second encounter of the Thai round from sixth place on the grid, while Bradl will again occupy the sixteenth slot.
Hayden got a good start from fourteenth position on the grid and was able to move up a couple of places during the opening lap; as the race progressed, he put up a good battle with Camier for eleventh place and, after having the better of Xavi Fores for tenth in the final stages, he was elevated to ninth on the final lap after Eugene Laverty’s technical problem.
Bradl’s first lap was not as easy, as the 27-year-old German was pushed wide at turn one; he therefore ended up losing some positions as he was unable to get the best drive out on to the long straight. In the second part of the encounter and with less tyre grip, Bradl was able to improve his pace and make some ground to the riders ahead, eventually snatching tenth place from Fores at the final corner.
The second and final race of the Thai round will get underway tomorrow at 16:00 local time (GMT +7), after the 15-minute warm up session scheduled at 11:30.
Nicky Hayden 69
9th
For Superpole this morning we made quite a few changes to the setup to try and sort out the engine braking and I started to feel a bit better on the bike, although I am yet to find the right feeling. I made a good start to the race and stayed in the group fighting for eighth; I hung on in there, trying to learn as much as possible and to see what was our pace like. On some parts of the track the bike was working well, while on others we were struggling a bit. We will take this ninth position but we still need to find some more consistency with the bike, which would allow me to push and ride it the way I like. However, there is still one night and the warm up to try some new stuff ahead of race two.
Stefan Bradl 6
10th
The race was not too bad. The bike is becoming better and, although there is still a lot of work to do, in the second half of the race I managed to set some strong times. My best lap was a 1.35.0 just before the chequered flag despite the overtake on Fores at the last corner. What we need to improve the most, though, is our performance at the beginning of the race, because the electronics don’t seem to work at their best with fresh tyres. All in all we have found some consistency and that’s a great thing, but we need to improve our pace.
Pieter Breddels
We entered the race with some unknowns still, because there were still things to be sorted out after Superpole. What we decided to focus on was to give the riders a package they could be consistent with and we kind of hit the target with that. Nicky got a good start and was able to join the battle for eighth place and rode a great race to ninth place at the line. There is still some work to do ahead of race two, but there was an improvement nonetheless. Stefan took a bit more time to get up to speed, but in the second part of the race and especially in the closing stages he was able to settle into a nice rhythm. We need to look now into the data to make sure he can be competitive in the first part of the race as well. Overall, we are still far from where we want to be, but we are making steps in the right direction.
More, from a press release issued by Aruba.it Racing Ducati:
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati on the podium at Buriram with Chaz Davies (2nd), Marco Melandri is 4th
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team secured yet another podium in round two of the 2017 WorldSBK Championship in Buriram (Thailand) with Chaz Davies, who was second at the end of a Race 1 made particularly demanding by the heat (35 degrees in the air and 50 on the tarmac). Marco Melandri, who suffered some braking issues, instead missed contact with the podium only at the last corner and closed in fourth position.
Both Melandri and Davies – third and fifth in Superpole – got off a strong start, taking second and fourth position respectively. Melandri initially tried not to lose contact with the winner Rea, but later struggled under braking and on lap 14 was passed by his teammate Davies, who mounted a strong comeback and was very fast and consistent in the second half of the race, then Sykes.
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team will resume action tomorrow at 11:30 local (CET +6) for WUP ahead of Race 2, which is scheduled to start at 16:00 local time. Due to the new grid regulations for Race Two, Davies and Melandri will start in 8th and 1st position respectively.
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7) – 2nd
“I was hoping for more, but in the race I realized that even finishing second wasn’t an easy result. We had some limitations, especially in the first two sectors of the track, which surprised me a bit. It wasn’t easy to pass Sykes and Marco and it took us some time. Looking at the big picture, last year after this race we were trailing by a lot more points in the championship. Consistency is the key at the moment. We have to be realistic and what’s positive is that this is the best result by myself and Ducati here at Buriram, which is a difficult track for us.”
Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #33) – 4th
“It was a hard race because of the heat, but physically I felt OK. At first I pushed very hard to stay with Rea, and managed to be more aggressive than in Phillip Island, but we still missed something. Unfortunately, as the laps went by, we struggled under braking. During free-practice we didn’t encounter these issues, but we also didn’t do long runs. This made it difficult for us to keep a constant pace. Looking at the bright side, tomorrow we will start from pole position, which could turn into an advantage given that our closest rival will be on third row.”
Ernesto Marinelli, Superbike Project Director
“We knew it would have been a tough race, and the higher temperatures didn’t help us today. Still, we made big steps forward compared with 2016. Chaz was really fast and constant in the second half of the race. Unfortunately Marco had some problems with the front brake towards the end. We barely missed the chance to put both our riders on the podium, but we’re not far and we’ll use WUP to try some new solutions to get closer to our competitors.”
More, from a press release issued by Pata Yamaha:
Pata Yamaha Duo Score Strongly After First Race In Thailand
The opening race of the FIM Superbike World Championship weekend at the Chang International Circuit in Thailand saw Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team riders Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes finish fifth and sixth respectively on their YZF-R1s, earning good points once again as they did during the opening round in Australia. With the second race of the Thai weekend to come on Sunday 12th March both Alex and Michael will have another chance to add to their points totals very soon.
After Lowes had qualified fourth in Superpole 2, and van der Mark sixth, both team and riders knew that today’s opening 20-lap race offered possibilities to score well.
Van der Mark took his opportunity to record his best result of the year, fifth place, after 20-laps in which he had to pass his team-mate early in the race and then concentrate through the hot conditions to bring it home just over three seconds from a podium finish.
Lowes, not feeling quite as comfortable on his machine as his team-mate in this particular race, was a clear sixth; over 11 seconds ahead of the rider in seventh place.
As was the case in Australia, the new championship rules governing the grid for race two will change the starting positions for many riders, including Lowes and van der Mark on Sunday. Michael will now start second on the grid and Alex third, with the race one podium finishers now relegated to the third row.
Michael van der Mark
Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team
“I was really happy with Superpole. We made a big step this morning then Superpole was really good and sixth was very positive for us at this stage of the year. Third to sixth place was really close in Superpole. That was important for us to be in there with them. For the Race I got a decent start and kept my position. For the first couple of laps Alex and I lost a bit in the first two sectors but in the corners we made it up. I am really happy because I was really consistent through the whole race – we just need to find a little bit more! I am happy with fifth place in my second race weekend with the team. I think everyone can be really happy today!”
Alex Lowes
Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team
“Superpole was good because we went in with a new setting on the bike, new tyres and it felt really good. We stuck with that for the race. As the tyres dropped it was not quite as good as it had been in Superpole but it was still a step up from what we had during the practice sessions. I have struggled all weekend finding the feeling that I want and I had to settle for sixth in that race. I am hopeful of some improvements tomorrow, to get my feeling back a little bit and have a good race. My tyre in the race today was good at the end, almost too good, and I think I can work it a bit more at the beginning tomorrow. I seemed to be spinning too much rather than me using the tyre to the full so I am quite confident we can make some improvements before race two.”
Paul Denning
Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team – Team Principal
“We can be very happy with the performance of both riders, the Crescent crew and all the Yamaha team after today’s race. The Chang circuit was always going to be a bigger challenge than Phillip Island in terms of outright pace compared to the top competitors but we took a huge step forward in performance compared to a year ago. Both riders stayed focused and got the best out of the YZF-R1s for the whole 20 laps. For Michael to finish only three seconds off the podium is going to be a huge confidence boost for him. His rhythm has been very strong here all weekend, his consistency is incredible and we just need a little more outright performance to help him take the next step forward. For Alex, he didn’t feel entirely comfortable with the setting and struggled to find the sweet spot compared to Michael so far this weekend. We will make some more adjustments for warm-up tomorrow and see what we can achieve. Both riders start from the front row now, which gives us a chance to be a little bit closer to the action in the early laps and we will do our best in Race 2 to take another step forward.”