The final round of the 2014 FIM Superbike World Championship will take place at the Losail International Circuit in the state of Qatar this weekend, with KRT riders Tom Sykes, Loris Baz and KRT SBK Evo rider David Salom all primed and ready for a true finale at the 5.380km long track.
For the first time in the history of World Superbike the two 17-lap WSBK races will take place in the same kind of floodlit conditions that the GP classes have competed under for several seasons, offering even more spectacle for the fans in Qatar and at home watching on TV.
Tom Sykes, winner of the championship with Kawasaki last year, found weather conditions conspiring against him at the previous Magny Cours round but he still leads the championship as he has done since taking a home round double victory at Donington in May. Now with a 12-point advantage entering the Losail round Sykes Tom is eager to get back to winning ways at one of his favourite circuits.
Yorkshireman Sykes has scored eight race wins in 2014, hoisting his career tally to 22, and he aims to add to that total as he chases consecutive championship titles.
Loris Baz has yet to score a win in 2014 and his immediate aim is to return to top form to be able to be in a position to help in the overall championship chase for Kawasaki. Loris is fifth in the rankings, with 19 points to make up on the rider ahead, and two points scoring races in which to do it.
KRT SBK Evo class rider David Salom is the clear leader of the Evo category, which runs in parallel with the overall SBK contest. Now 30 points ahead, despite missing the previous round after hurting his previously injured right hand, Salom is feeling fit and intends to win the Evo title by winning both races in Losail.
Losail has not been used for WSBK racing since the 2009 season, but Sykes has raced there before, finishing seventh and fifth in Qatar during his rookie WSBK season.
As the Losail races will be held in the dark and relative cool of night time, the SBK races will start at 19.00 and 22.00 local time in Qatar, and are scheduled for 17 laps each.
Tom Sykes: “I am really looking forward to racing at Losail because it is a track I have competed at before and I was also here for the Ninja ZX-10R launch. I rode under the floodlights during the launch and it is a completely different experience – and one that I am really looking forward to again. The layout at Losail is fantastic as you can open up the full potential of a Superbike and you feel that there is a good element of safety, so I cannot wait to get going on Friday evening. It has come down to crunch time and there is a lot at stake at this meeting – but I am just looking to go out and doing what we normally do. There has been some input from the weather in the championship recently, which obviously made it closer than it perhaps would have been, but the long and short of it is that we are the ones with the advantage, so we need to make the most of that. I am in the very fortunate position that this is the third year on the bounce that we have been battling for the world championship so we just need to see what we can make of it on raceday.”
Loris Baz: “It will be my first time ever to race at Qatar this weekend and it looks like a good circuit. I am happy to finish the season at a track like that because I am sure I can have a good result, if I can get some good luck on my side a little bit. I have studied the track so much I feel like I have already been there, by watching previous the races that have taken place there and learning the layout. It is quite flat so I hope it will be relatively easy to learn. At least I know where the turns are so now I will have to learn the lines and everything else when I get there. From what I hear it is not really like riding at night under the floodlights; more like riding during the day. I think riding with all these lights will be a little bit different but it should not change the feelings of it that much. Since Laguna Seca we have been missing a bit of luck so I hope it is back on our side in Qatar.”
David Salom: “For me Losail is a very good track and I like it very much. I was lucky to race there in Supersport and I even raced there one year in the Superbike class. It will be very different this time because it will be a night race. I am not sure how that will be but I think the track will be very good for Kawasaki and me. It is a long track, and you have to move the bike around it very fast. I will go to Qatar to try and win both the Evo races. My injured hand is better than at any previous races and I do not have any real pain. I have been at physiotherapy every day recently and the recovery is going really well.”
More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:
The Ducati Superbike Team gets set to close the 2014 Superbike World Championship this weekend in Qatar
Borgo Panigale (Italy), Monday 27 October 2014 – The Ducati Superbike Team prepares to travel to Qatar, and the Losail International Circuit, for the final round of the 2014 Superbike World Championship, taking place this coming weekend.
The Losail International Circuit, inaugurated in 2004 and located just outside the city of Doha, has hosted both MotoGP and Superbike events over the last decade. The last time the World Superbikes visited the Losail circuit was in 2009, when Ducati rider Noriyuki Haga scored a second place finish in both of the day’s races aboard his Ducati 1198. Current factory rider Chaz Davies last raced at the Qatari circuit in 2006 while competing in the 250 world championship, while his teammate Davide Giugliano took part in the 2007 Supersport round at Losail.
At the penultimate round of this year’s Superbike championship, held at the French Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours three weeks ago, races were conditioned by the wet weather. With many riders suffering crashes throughout race day, each of the Ducati Superbike riders was able to finish one of the races, with Giugliano crossing the line seventh in race 1 and Davies closing race 2 in ninth place.
As the Ducati Superbike Team heads into this final round of the 2014 championship, Davies and Giugliano lie in sixth and eighth position respectively in the rider’s classification. Ducati is in fourth position in the manufacturers’ standings. In a change to previous Superbike events in Qatar, this weekend’s action will take place late in the evening on a floodlit track.
Comments ahead of the event:
Chaz Davies – Ducati Superbike Team #7
“It’s been a few years since I last raced in Qatar. I remember it being a great track and a great facility but it’ll be quite different racing at night I imagine, it should be interesting. I’d like to close the season with the best possible results and so hope to be able to make two good races, despite the long straight that could penalize us. Anyway I’m looking forward to getting back on the track after this break and will do my best to conclude the 2014 championship with positive results.”
Davide Giugliano – Ducati Superbike Team #34
“It’s definitely a great track but I have only raced there once, in 2007, and so I don’t remember it in enormous detail. But it’s going to be a unique experience to race there at night, and I can’t wait to get back to work after the three week break. I head there, as usual, with the intention of giving it my all. The final part of the season hasn’t exactly gone as we expected it to and we haven’t been able to collect the kind of results that we’d hoped for. Having said that, we have been able to constantly improve our performance during practice and qualifying each weekend and so we have some solid experience to put into use this weekend – I hope these final two races can bring us some satisfaction.”
Circuit Information:
Country: Qatar
Name: Losail International Circuit
Length of circuit: 5.380 km
Pole Position: right
Race distance: 17 laps/91.460 km
LAP RECORDS: Spies (Yamaha) 1’59.041 (2009). Superpole – Spies (Yamaha) 1’57.280 (2009).
2009 RESULTS: Race 1 – 1. Spies (Yamaha); 2. Haga (Ducati); 3. Biaggi (Aprilia). Race 2 – 1. Spies (Yamaha); 2. Haga (Ducati); 3. Biaggi (Aprilia)
Rider Information:
Chaz Davies
Bike: Ducati 1199 Panigale
Race number: 7
Age: 27 (Born 10/02/1987 in Knighton, Wales)
Number of SBK races: 72
Number of wins: 4
Number of podiums: 14
Davide Giugliano
Bike: Ducati 1199 Panigale
Race number: 34
Age: 24 (Born 28/10/1989, Rome, Italy)
Number of SBK races: 77
Number of wins: 0
Number of podiums: 6
Weekend schedule (CET +2):
Friday
17.15 – 18.00 – SBK Timed Practice 1
20.00 – 20.45 – SBK Timed Practice 2
23.15 – 00.00 – SBK Timed Practice 3
Saturday
18.00 – 18.30 – SBK Free Practice
21.00 – 21.15 – Superpole 1
21.25 – 21.40 – Superpole 2
Sunday
17.15 – 17.30 – SBK Warm-up
19.00 – SBK Race 1
22.00 – SBK Race 2