Thanks to Chaz Davies’ (Aruba it.Racing-Ducati) double victory at the Prosecco DOC German Round, the points difference between Kawasaki and Ducati in the Manufacturers Championship standings has now decreased slightly, meaning the fight is on. Kawasaki continues to lead the way – which they have done since the beginning of the season – thanks to the constant successes of Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team). After the first 9 Rounds, the green team have 415 points, against the 359 points of Ducati, and 204 of the third position, Yamaha.
The difference between the two manufacturers is 56 points with 8 races remaining. Although a big gap, it is a smaller margin than the one the Japanese factory had in 2016 at this point in the Championship, when even before the final four rounds, they had a 95 point lead over Ducati. In that campaign, Kawasaki won their second consecutive title in the manufacturers fight, which was secured in Race 1 at Jerez with three races remaining.
In the FIM Supersport World Championship, Yamaha leads the Manufacturers standings with a total of 171 points, while Kawasaki sit in second place, just 14 points behind with four races remaining.
The initial lead in this title fight was held by MV Agusta thanks to Roberto Rolfo’s victory at Phillip Island, but as they were unable to repeat this stunning victory, results have brought the Italian manufacturer down to fourth place (with 100 points), surpassed by Honda (108 points) thanks to the recent results from Jules Cluzel (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda).
Kenan Sofuoglu’s (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) phenomenal streak started back in April at the TT Circuit Assen, which saw him secure four victories and a second position has enabled Kawasaki to gradually chip away at the advantage which Yamaha have secured.
This came from Sheridan Morias (Kallio Racing), Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) and Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) and following the performance in Germany; it seems to indicate that the fight will be kept until the end. In 2016 Kawasaki won the title with a big lead: they ended the season with a 43 points advantage over Honda, ahead of MV Agusta and Yamaha.