Reigning champion takes positives from tough weekend in Germany

Star InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar Inactive

World championship leader Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) was able to take away 20 points from the German Round, as he found it difficult work around the bumpy nature of the German circuit.

In a stunning display of overtaking in the first lap of race two at Lausitzring, he was swiftly up and fighting for the lead early on, stamping his strong pace early on.

Despite this, he was unable to hold off the flying Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and the Northern Irish rider was thrilled to take second position.

Happy with his 40 points from the weekend, Rea explains his race: “I’m ecstatic after yesterdays result, I didn’t expect to fight for the win but today after warm up I really expected to be strong but in the end I had nothing for Chaz,"

"He was really strong so congratulations to him, even Marco was really strong so I had to give my 100% to stay in front of him"

"The bike wasn’t comfortable to ride this weekend but as a team we made the most to make the best of it but the problem with this track and all the bumps means my bike wasn’t behaving so nice and instead of riding the bike and feeling at one I felt like I was wrestling the bike". He surmised

"So it was 21 hard laps and I rode with my heart and trying to bring it home. We got 20 points for our efforts which we have to be happy with and we got beaten by a better guy today."

Star InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar Inactive

As World Super Bike Championship action resumes around the German circuit of Lausitzring, the Italian team of Aruba.it Racing - Ducati had a good day in the office with Chaz Davies taking the victory in race one, and his team-mate Marco Melandri ended in the top four.

British rider Davies had a tough Superpole session, but was able to make up for this in the race as he got into the lead on the second lap and never looked back. Unable to shake Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) off his tail, he felt he had set up his Panigale to put in a solid race pace opposed to having the strength around one lap, and he finally crossed the line 1.834s ahead of his compatriot.

Davies’ race didn’t begin smoothly however as he had a bike issue on the sighting lap: “It was pandemonium on the sighting lap, I didn’t have a rear break so I was pumping to try to get it back, which meant something went over the tyre. On the grid it was a little bit tense, thankfully I’ve got good mechanics, they got it working to be good enough to be what I needed to be able to do with it.”

Regarding the race, the Welshman reviewed the race: “I got a great start and found myself in a good position. When I slotted past Tom it was just a matter of setting my pace, I didn’t check my lap times or look at the board, I just did my job."

"I was able to roll it off with two laps to go as I heard Jonny slip back a bit, so I was able to bring it home and I’m very happy with the win.”

Italian team-mate Marco Melandri had a strong session in Superpole, sitting potentially on pole position in the early stages of the session. However throughout the race, he was unable to keep up with the front runners due to throttle issues with his Panigale.

At his first weekend around the circuit, Melandri is disappointed with his fourth position, and is hoping he can make some overnight changes to secure a more stable pace in race two. Stressing the importance of securing a solid pace around  the 4.265km circuit, the Italian isn’t too focused on his pole position start for race two but rather his overall race pace.  

“It’s not been the best race,” Begins a downbeat Melandri. “The first few laps weren’t so bad, the pace was there but it was difficult for me to be consistent."

"Once the tyre dropped down I became very nervous, and it was difficult for me to open the throttle going out of the corner, even in the straight it was very difficult to keep it wide open, so it was not easy."

"We will try tomorrow to change something on the bike and be better. I think it’s important to find a better set up and to be more consistent for the race." He concluded

Ducati man seals maximum points in Germany in Race 2, with Rea and Melandri following him across the finish line

Star InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar Inactive

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) wrapped up a superb weekend on Sunday with his second victory of the Prosecco DOC German Round in Race 2, whilst Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) also secured podium results.

With light rain falling during the final laps the WorldSBK riders had to focus hard in order to avoid any mistakes and Davies did just that to register a third victory in four races at Lausitzring. Coming from the back of the third row on the grid the Welshman ultimately beat Rea across the line by 2.29s, with Melandri just over two further seconds back having held the lead early in the race.

Despite setting pole on Saturday Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) could not stay with the front three on this occasion and finished in fourth place having started Race 2 in seventh on the grid.

The results saw World Champion and standings leader Rea open up a 70-point gap over his teammate Sykes in the standings with four rounds to go.

Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) just beat Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) to fifth by 0.237s, with five Britons finishing in the top six.

Just behind them on the finish line was Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) as the top Aprilia-equipped rider, just trailing Camier by 0.115s in that tight group also involving Lowes.

Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team), German wildcard Markus Reiterberger (Van Zon Remeha BMW) and Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team) completed the top ten. A brave ride by Stefan Bradl (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) saw him finish 13th, after he missed Race 1 due to severe elbow pain from a crash on Friday.

Randy Krummenacher (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) and Pawel Szkopek (Pazera Racing) all crashed out, with Riccardo Russo (Pedercini Racing SC-Project) also suffering a DNF as a late retiree.

The WorldSBK grid return to action in just under a month (15th-17th September) at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, Portimão, Portugal.

Star InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar Inactive

As the riders enjoyed their first race since the summer break it was Welshman Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) who produced a superb ride at the Prosecco DOC German Round on Saturday, taking victory by a 1.834s margin from Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team), with Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) also on the podium.

Repeating his Race 1 victory from Lausitzring last year Davies controlled the race well after starting in third on the grid, taking the lead on the second lap. He was too strong for Rea and Sykes despites their best efforts to chase him down.

Sykes had set a new pole record earlier in the day but could not match Davies’ race pace and crossed the line in third place, 3.25s down on the Ducati-equipped race winner.

The Saturday contest at Round 9 in Germany saw Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) cross the line in fourth place, 16 seconds down on his teammate Davies, with Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) getting a creditable fifth place as he finished half a second behind Melandri.

Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) put pressure on Camier for fifth but just missed out by 0.186s as the highest finisher on the YZF R1.

Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) was the best finisher on the Aprilia RSV4 RF in seventh, whilst Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team), Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team) and Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) rounded out the top ten.

On his WorldSBK return wildcard Markus Reiterberger (Van Zon Remeha BMW) was running in a solid eighth place for much of the race before he ran into the gravel at turn 10 and dropped down the order to eventually finish 13th.

Earlier Leandro Mercado (IODARacing) had suffered a midrace off track excursion and he ended up 11th. There were several high profile crashers and retirees including Italian quartet Riccardo Russo (Pedercini Racing SC-Project), Raffaele de Rosa (Althea BMW Racing Team) and Davide Giugliano (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team).

Stefan Bradl (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) was forced to sit out due to pain in his left elbow, after crashing on Friday and having a further medical check following Superpole on Saturday morning. His condition is to be evaluated again on Sunday morning before Warm Up.

 

         

 

 

Search