Motul FIM Superbike World Championship
Motorland Aragon, Spain
April 2, 2016
Race One Results (all on Pirelli tires):
1. Chaz Davies, UK (Duc Panigale R), 18 laps, Total Race Time 33:31.464, Best Lap Time 1:50.421
2. Jonathan Rea, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -4.168 seconds, 1:51.141
3. Tom Sykes, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -4.948, 1:51.361
4. Xavi Fores, Spain (Duc Panigale R), -12.723, 1:51.308
5. Davide Giugliano, Italy (Duc Panigale R), -13.151, 1:51.205
6. Nicky Hayden, USA (Hon CBR1000RR SP), -21.117, 1:51.453
7. Jordi Torres, Spain (BMW S1000RR), -22.112, 1:51.748
8. Alex Lowes, UK (Yam YZF-R1), -25.575, 1:51.502
9. Sylvain Guintoli, France (Yam YZF-R1), -28.941, 1:51.336
10. Lorenzo Savadori, Italy (Apr RSV4 RF), -34.956. 1:52.871
11. Alex De Angelis, San Marino (Apr RSV4 RF), -35.075, 1:52.628
12. Roman Ramos, Spain (Kaw ZX-10R), -37.310, 1:52.285
13. Josh Brookes, Australia (BMW S1000RR), -37.442, 1:53.031
14. Markus Reiterberger, Germany (BMW S1000RR), -37.731, 1:52.523
15. Karel Abraham, Czech Republic (BMW S1000RR), -52.270, 1:53.179
16. Sylvain Barrier, France (Kaw ZX-10R), -56.295, 1:53.804
17. M. Lussiana, France (BMW S1000RR), -67.602, 1:53.678
18. Dominic Schmitter, Switzerland (Kaw ZX-10R), -95.691, 1:55.561
19. Peter Sebestyen, Hungary (Yam YZF-R1), -95.746, 1:55.216
20. Imre Toth, Hungary (Yam YZF-R1), -1 lap, 1:58.905
21. Saeed Al Sulaiti, Qatar (Kaw ZX-10R), -2 laps, DNF, retired, 1:55.249
22. Matteo Baiocco (Duc Panigale R), -5 laps, DNF, retired, 1:53.423
23. Josh Hook, Australia (Kaw ZX-10R), -5 laps, DNF, retired, 1:56.611
24. Leon Camier, UK (MV Agusta F4 RR), -9 laps, DNF, mechanical, 1:51.684
25. Michael van der Mark, Netherlands (Hon CBR1000RR SP), -15 laps, DNF, crash, 1:51.387
World Championship Point Standings (after 5 races):
1. Rea, 115 points
2. Sykes, 82
3. Davies, 80
4. Van Der Mark, 65
5. Guintoli, 47
6. Giugliano, 46
7. Torres, 42
8. Hayden, 41
9. Reiterberger, 30
10. Savadori, 23
More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:
WorldSBK: Kawasaki Dominion Ends in Aragón
Davies takes Race 1 to get title challenge back on track
With clear blue skies and warmer temperatures, the stage was set for another classic WorldSBK showdown as the grid headed out on the Sighting Lap for Race 1. Sykes got the best getaway from pole as teammate Rea also shot away from fifth on the grid, with the reigning Champion up into P3 behind Guintoli on the chase as Sykes led them away.
The two Ducatis of Davies and Giugliano set upon Rea as the three battled over third and Giuntoli and Sykes pulled away, however Davies soon pulled the gap back once free of the fight and with 15 laps remaining took the lead from Sykes, intent on taking another win in Aragón and adding to his tally as the most successful WorldSBK rider at MotorLand.
Yamaha pairing Guintoli and Alex Lowes had mixed fortunes on the getaway, with Lowes dropping down the order after a difficult start and finding himself fighting back from just outside the top ten. Teammate Guintoli, after initially challenging race leader Sykes with impressive pace, then started to struggle slightly and dropped back slightly to 9th as Yamaha look to keep improving the all new YZF R1. Lowes had an impressive comeback to P8 at the chequered flag, keeping both bikes with a good haul of points.
Michael van der Mark and Nicky Hayden, who started 10th and 11th respectively after a crash for van der Mark in Superpole 2 led to Hayden needing to take avoiding action, both got away well and were in the thick of the action. Van der Mark sadly suffered a crash at with around 15 laps to go, leaving Hayden to go on the attack as he chased down the Yamaha of Guintoli and Ducati of Giugliano, with the American coming home in P6 at the flag.
Xavi Forés was the fastest home rider on his 1199 Panigale R and took the fight to fellow Ducati runner Davide Giugliano to clinch P4, with Jordi Torres also making fantastic progress up the grid and fighting his BMW into 7th place just behind Honda’s Nicky Hayden. GOELEVEN’s Roman Ramos also scored points at home after a great battle with Torres’ Althea teammate Markus Reiterberger, eventually taking 12th position.
MV Agusta rider Leon Camier suffered a technical problem to end his first Race of the weekend at MotorLand early. With the Italian manufacturer having scored points in both Races in 2015 at the aragonese track, that will surely be the goal for tomorrow. Aprilia duo Lorenzo Savadori and Alex De Angelis took their IodaRacing machines to two more points finishes in P10 and P11 respectively as the team look to keep improving in their first year in WorldSBK. De Angelis is recovering from recent surgery and will surely be encouraged by a good result in Race 1.
Race 2 gets WorldSBK back on track once again on Sunday at 1pm local time (GMT +2), with Davies now aiming for another MotorLand double to chase down Jonathan Rea’s Championship lead.
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Motors Europe:
Rea Second And Sykes Third After First Motorland Race
The first of two FIM Superbike World Championship races at Motorland Aragon this weekend saw official KRT riders Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes go second and third respectively, after 18-laps around the impressive 5.077km circuit.
Having taken pole position after this morning’s Superpole contest Sykes led for the first three laps but was passed by eventual race winner Chaz Davies, and then fellow Kawasaki rider Rea, who would then hold onto second place.
Rea had evaluated some new set-ups on Friday but went back to a more conventional setting today, using Superpole to make his final selections for the first race itself. After finding feel and feedback in the early laps he moved forward to his eventual second place result and finished 4.168 seconds from the win.
Sykes found early pace but could not hold onto the leading two as they passed, with Tom finishing only a fraction of a second from Jonathan but unable to push to challenge for second in the final laps. Sykes was 4.948 seconds from victory after 91.386 kilometres of hard racing.
With only 15°C air temperatures and 30°C track temperatures the race was held in dry and conditions throughout.
This fifth race of the season delivered podium finish number five for Rea, who has not finished lower than second so far. It was three podiums in a row for Sykes, who has now taken a second, a win and a third place.
In the overnight championship points table, before race two plays out at 13.00 local time tomorrow, Rea has 115 points, Sykes 82 and Davies is now third with 80.
Jonathan Rea stated: “I am satisfied because if you cannot win you should finish second. Today we did that at a track that has been really strong for Chaz in the past. In the beginning of the race I was still understanding the bike because the first time we had used our complete race set-up was in Superpole. I was learning in the early laps. This morning we went back to more like what we had before. Now we need a bit more grip and to improve things under braking for tomorrow. We can go back and understand my rhythm now and take things from there to make the bike even better. I know we can be closer tomorrow.”
Tom Sykes stated: “I knew that one fast lap was easy from earlier in the day but I knew the race pace may be difficult. I was suffering a little bit with the balance, as it is not quite letting me do what I wanted to do. That means when the tyre drops I cannot keep the level I want to. I am also happy to be on the podium and we are blessed to still be able to do that even when it is not our best day. I just did not have enough to be able to close and make a pass on Jonathan at the end so that is something we need to work on but both Kawasakis seemed to be at a very similar level. We need to be stronger tomorrow and work hard again.”
Roman Ramos (GoEleven Kawasaki) put himself 12th in his first home race of the weekend but Sylvain Barrier (Pedercini Racing Kawasaki) just missed out on points with a 16th place finish. Dominic Schmitter (Grillini Kawasaki) was 18th in a race with 20 finishers. Saeed Al Sulaiti (Pedercini Kawasaki Racing) and Josh Hook (Grillini Racing Kawasaki) did not finish the race.
More, from a press release issued by Honda:
Top 6 finish for Hayden in opening race at MotorLand Aragón
Round 3 – Aragon
MotorLand Aragón, Spain
The Honda WorldSBK Team has contested the third-round opening race of the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship at MotorLand Aragón. Nicky Hayden had a solid race to sixth place, while Michael van der Mark experienced his first DNF of the year.
The two riders did not enjoy their best qualifying of the year so far. After starting directly from the second session, Michael van der Mark was on his way to a quick lap, before losing the front of his bike on the kerb outside of turn 7. The young Dutchman and his bike slid on the asphalt, with van der Mark having to quickly get back on his feet and run off the track to avoid any major accident with oncoming riders. The first one to come past was his team mate, who brilliantly moved out of the way and slowed down, eventually losing the chance to improve his position.
After a great launch from tenth place on the grid, Nicky Hayden rode a solid race around the top 5, battling with Ducati’s Davide Giugliano and Xavi Fores for fourth place and showing good pace aboard his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP. In the final stages of the race, as the grip started to reduce, Nicky Hayden had to back off, eventually crossing the line sixth.
Michael van der Mark had a great start to the race from row 4 and was running in sixth position in the early stages of the encounter, before a crash at turn 5 on the fourth lap ruled him out of contention. The 23-year-old Dutchman was unable to remount and therefore had to retire.
The team will now analyse the data gathered today in order to be ready for the second and final race of the third round, scheduled for tomorrow at 13:00 local time (GMT+2).
Nicky Hayden 69
6th
Things didn’t go as smoothly as I would have liked today. In qualifying, I was having a good lap before Michael crashed in front of me. Even though he was up and away, both he and the bike were still sliding on the track so I had to back off. I made a good start to the race and was feeling really good, but then I had too big a drop off in terms of grip, so maybe the tyre choice was not the best for today. Yesterday’s crash did not allow me to test different solutions, so we had to go with what we knew. We will try something different tomorrow morning and let’s see what race two will be like.
Michael van der Mark 60
DNF
It surely hasn’t been my best day. This morning I was feeling really good but then in Superpole, when I put my Q tyre on, I was exiting turn 7 and my front wheel was up in the air; as soon as it came back down I basically had no grip at all and crashed out. The boys did an outstanding job in fixing the bike in such a short time. I had a good start to the race and was able to ride with the front-runners, but straight away I felt I didn’t have the same level of grip I had in practice. I had to push a bit more with the front and this is why I crashed again at turn 5. It’s a big shame for today, because we had a chance for a very good result. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to redeem myself.
Pieter Breddels
Technical Manager
It has been a rough day, no doubt about it. After what happened in qualifying, we were hoping for a bounce back in the race and it all seemed to be going the right way in the early stages. Nicky did a great job in staying in contention for fourth until the final laps, but then he had a big drop in terms of grip and had to ride it home to sixth place. Tomorrow morning we will try a different tyre combination in warm up to see if we can improve on the long run. Michael unfortunately had his second crash of the day but luckily he’s not hurt. We’re aware of what happened so it’s all a matter of stay focused an try again tomorrow.
More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing BMW:
Seventh for Torres and the Althea BMW Racing Team in SBK Race 1 at Aragón
Alcaniz (Spain), Saturday 2 April 2016
A hard fought Superbike race for the Althea BMW Racing Team today at the Spanish circuit of Motorland Aragón, which saw Jordi Torres cross the line in seventh place, and Markus Reiterberger fourteenth.
Superpole 1: A highly competitive Superpole, which took place in cool but sunny conditions. In the second half of the brief session, and after a tyre change, Torres showed his full potential, completing a clean lap in an impressively fast time of 1’50.352. Thanks to this result, the Spaniard closed the session at the very top of the timesheets, easily qualifying for Superpole 2. Reiti too completed a series of fast laps, doing all he could to fight for a place in SP2, but he had to settle for final third place (1’50.938), which translates into thirteenth position on the race grid.
Superpole 2: Torres also put in a strong performance in this session. Due to an error on his flying lap, the Spaniard was unable to make the most of the qualifying tyre and, as a result, his best, a 1’50.390, was in fact set on the race tyre, at the beginning of the session. Thanks to that time, Jordi earned himself eighth place on the grid for the two SBK races.
SBK – Race 1: a difficult start for Torres saw him drop back as far as fifteenth place. Fighting his way back up through the field, the Spaniard was already tenth after three laps. Lapping with consistently fast times, Jordi continued to make progress, passing several riders throughout the remainder of the race, to cross the line in seventh position. Reiti, from thirteenth on the grid, maintained that position through the opening stages before moving up three places towards mid-race. Unfortunately, the young German then lost some ground in the final stages of the 18-lap race, which meant he concluded in fourteenth place.
STK1000 – qualifying: In the Superstock 1000 category, Raffaele De Rosa put in a solid performance in today’s qualifying session. Completing a series of fast laps during the 30-minute session, the fastest of which was a 1’53.022, the young Althea BMW rider qualified in sixth place, which means a second row start in tomorrow’s race that gets underway at 2.20pm local time.
Jordi Torres: “All in all, the race went quite well and we’ve collected a lot more data. Unfortunately, I made a very bad start, I don’t know what happened but I seem to lack some power in first gear. So I lost ground there and needed a few laps to get to grips with the front tyre. After some laps, I got into a good rhythm, making up some place, but then in the final six or seven laps it became very difficult to ride due to rear tyre wear – we were on the soft solution. I think we’re on the right track anyway, we know where to work for tomorrow and so I hope to be able to make a good second race.”
Markus Reiterberger: “My start was not so bad and I made up some positions through the first laps but I had some trouble holding my lines. The bike seemed to be OK until perhaps mid-race but then it became increasingly difficult to manage the rear tyre. I was hoping to be able to hold onto tenth place but in the end, I could only do fourteenth. I am disappointed, this isn’t what we wanted obviously and we must improve for the next races.”
More, from a press release issued by Aruba.it Racing Ducati:
Amazing win by Chaz Davies for the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team in Aragon, 5th place for Davide Giugliano
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team stepped on the top of the podium again with Chaz Davies in Aragon, where the Panigale R took its maiden WorldSBK win,
Starting from fourth position, the Welshman quickly pulled away from the field after posting a best lap of 1:50.421 (the new track record) in the early phases, seizing the victory with a four-second advantage over his closest opponents. Davide Giugliano also gave a gritty performance after qualifying in sixth position. Despite a few setup issues, the Italian fought for the virtual podium at length, taking fifth place across the finish line ahead of the Race Two.
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7) – 1st
“In the beginning it wasn’t easy to fight in the group, but I gradually managed to climb back through the field and take the lead. Then, I simply tried to establish my own rhythm, progressively building a gap. I’m very happy, we’ve made a clear step forward in terms of power, for which I want to thank Ducati for the constant efforts to push development forward. We’ve been close to winning a few times already this year, and now we need to stay on this course. We can still improve before Race Two tomorrow.”
Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #34) – 5th
“Unfortunately, so far I’ve struggled more than I expected here in Aragon. It wasn’t an easy race, but the good thing is that we fought until the end, collecting a fifth place. It’s not the result I’m aiming for, but we still collected important points for the championship and have time to make adjustments and do better in Race Two. The technical upgrades brought here by Ducati are a further source of motivation, and I’m sure that we’ll manage to take full advantage of them.”
Stefano Cecconi, Team Principal and CEO of Aruba S.p.A
“We already had beautiful memories at this track, and now it became unforgettable. I want to thank the riders, team, and Ducati from the bottom of my heart for the unyelding efforts that allowed us to improve race after race. But, we don’t want to stop here, so we’ll try our best to step back on the podium tomorrow with both our riders.”
Ernesto Marinelli, Superbike Project Director
“We finished Race One with a strong result, Chaz rode at his best on a track where he has always made a difference. I’m also pleased with the fact that Davide managed to solve most of the issues he faced during practice, now he only needs to tweak a few things to improve in corner exit, where he struggled the most today. The team worked superbly, but credit is also due to all the people in Ducati who, in the last three months, pushed forward with the development to bring us technical upgrades that resulted in a decisive step forward. We’ll try to make further strides before Race Two tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by Pata Yamaha:
Stunning Superpole and Race Experience for Pata Yamaha Duo in Spain
Sylvain Guintoli and Alex Lowes began their Spanish Saturday in sensational form as Superpole got underway at Motorland Aragon this morning. Qualifying in second and third respectively, the Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK riders lined up on the front row for the afternoon race.
A poor start by his standards saw Lowes find himself running sixth as the weekend’s first battle began. Regrouping and fighting hard, the British rider was unluckily run wide by a competitor resulting in his demotion to 13th. Never one to back down, Lowes pushed hard to regain the lost ground, taking positions quickly as he fought his way back to eighth despite diminishing tyre-life, the eight valuable points boosting his championship position to 12th. Pata Yamaha will now utilise the 18 laps of race data to allow Lowes to continue his fight in tomorrow afternoon’s contest.
An impressive start saw Guintoli capitalise on his front row qualifying, running second as the opening laps unfolded. Sticking to the wheel of the leader, the Frenchman fought hard to maintain position before impending tyre-wear issues took hold. Slowly losing places to the group around him Guintoli closed the race in ninth, adding seven points to his tally and retaining his fifth position in the standings.
The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team returns to Motorland Aragon tomorrow for the concluding WorldSBK race of the weekend at 13:00 local time.
Alex Lowes
Race: 8th / +25.575 / 18 laps. Championship: 12th / 20 points
“Today was a more positive day than yesterday and it’s clear that our outright pace is good after the performance in Superpole. We still need to work on keeping that pace over race distance, but everything is still very new. We’ve highlighted a few areas we can improve on for tomorrow and hopefully we can take a couple of steps in terms of keeping our pace up. It’s been a positive day and it’s important to remember that it’s still only the third race event of the year and we’re already proving the potential of the bike – with our qualifying result – is really high. We need to keep working hard but we’re hoping to make another step tomorrow, maybe not to win but to get closer to the front group!”
Sylvain Guintoli
Race: 9th / +28.941 / 18 laps. Championship: 5th / 47 points
“Today had some very good points, we managed to show that on new tyres and on the qualifying tyres there is a lot of potential in the YZF-R1. The lap time in qualifying was very good and then in the race we started very well. We are improving the feeling with the clutch and the starting procedure. I got a very good start in race one, had really good pace and felt comfortable and then from about lap four or five I started to lose a lot of grip from the rear and I just wasn’t able to stay with the front and keep my position. I did as much as I could but there were clearly some big imitations with the rear grip and it got worse through the race so I ended up in ninth. This is not where we want to be but we still showed potential and we know that every session and every race is information that we can use to gain experience to make the bike more efficient on longer runs, and to learn how to not overstress the rear tyre.”