Imola, Italy – Ducati team lead rider Chaz Davies pulled off a superb home double in Round 5 of the World Superbike series, closing the gap to championship leader Jonathan Rea to 35 points, while Rea and Kawasaki team-mate Tom Sykes squabbled over the minor podium positions.
Cape Town’s David ‘McFlash’ McFadden, meanwhile, put in a gutsy ride in the Superstock 1000 race. He qualified 25th, and fought his way up to 19th in the race before dropping back in the closing stage to finish 23rd.
RACE 1
Davies and Rea got the best starts from the front row of the grid, the reigning champion Rea seemingly the only rider able to stay in touch with the Ducati. But with 10 laps to go, Rea ran wide at Turn 1 and the gap to team-mate Sykes suddenly closed.
As Davies controlled the race from the front, maintaining a safe cushion to eventually come home 3.4 seconds clear, the fight for second came down to yet another intra-team battle. Rea, cool under pressure as ever, recovered his rhythm and held off his team-mate to the line, despite a strong challenge on the final lap.
Jordi Torres, who scored his first World Superbike podium at Imola in 2015, had a stunning run into fourth on his Althea BMW machine at the team’s home race, ahead of the second Ducati Team, Davide Giugliano. Leon Camier, after a race of some ups and downs, came home sixth for another solid points haul for home manufacturer MV Agusta.
Aprilia rookie Lorenzo Savadori ran in the top five for most of the race, before succumbing to the pressure of riders behind. Honda’s Michael van der Mark, after a difficult Superpole 2, got the best of a three way end-game battle with Savadori and former MotoGP champion Nicky Hayden (who had never before ridden at Monza) on the second Honda, while Ducati privateer Xavi Forés rounded out the top 10.
RACE 2
Superpole winner Davies again led off the line from pole position for a commanding victory – 4.2 seconds is a huge lead in this ultra-competitive class of racing, while Rea again held off team-mate Sykes to come home second despite struggling with some issues.
Both Kawasaki riders outdragged Davide Giugliano on the second Ducati Team machine, who’d qualified on the front row of the grid, and Sykes stayed close to his team-mate through out the race but was unable to make a pass on the daunting 4.9km Imola circuit.
Giugliano was the first Italian rider home in fourth – one place better than in Race 1, with Leon Camier bringing more glory for the home nation with fifth on the MV Agusta.
Alex Lowes, after a difficult Superpole 2, fought his Yamaha YZF R1 up into the top six after being mugged by Camier, finishing just ahead of Torres aater the BMW rider was left outside the top 10 near the start of the race but pulled off an impressive recovery ride. Savadori on the Aprilia made sure there was representation for every manufacturer in the top eight at Imola, before suffering a problem on the final lap and finishing 11th behind the Hondas of Hayden and Van der Mark and Fores’ Ducati.
POINTS AFTER FIVE OF 13 ROUNDS
WORLD SUPERSPORTS
Jules Cluzel started from pole for MV Agusta in its home race, ahead of Kawasaki star Kenan Sofuoglu and Honda’s PJ Jacobse, and after a clean start normal service was resumed with Cluzel leading Sofuoglu, Randy Krummenacher on the second works Kawasaki, and Jacobsen through Tamburello.
Soon, however, a problem became apparent on Krummenacher’s Kawasaki and the race was red-flagged, with the Swiss rider not allowed to take the restart.
Cluzel led off the line at the restart before Sofuoglu got past and began to pull away, leaving Jacobsen to lead the chasing group as Cluzel took time to get back to full pace.
He struggled to hold on to third for a few laps before pulling the pin in the closing stages to pass Jacobsen and set off after old rival Sofuoglu – but there just too few laps left. Cluzel’s two final laps were the fastest of the race but it just wasn’t enough as Sofuoglu came home 1.4 seconds ahead.
The Italian challenge was initially headed by Lorenzo Zanetti at home in Imola, as Cluzel’s MV Agusta team-mate stayed close to his French rival throughout the race, closely followed by Alex Baldolini on a privateer MV Agusta and Honda rider Federico Caricasulo.
Alessandro Zaccone (kawasaki) closed on the group in the second half of the race, finishing fifth behind Baldonini, while Zanetti was forced to settle for sixth, ahead of Ondrej Jezek (Kawasaki). Federico Caricasulo and Ayrton Badovini crossed the line eighth and ninth respectively, ahead of Nico Terol who completed the top 10.
SUPERSTOCK 1000
Leandro Mercado brought his Ducati Team Panigale home ahead of local heroes Kevin Calia (Aprilia) and Raffaele de Rosa (BMW).
Mercado led off the line, as pole sitter Tamburini fell back slightly and Ducati privateer Marco Faccani and De Rosa moved up to challenge Mercado for the lead, while Calia, Tamburini and Michael Ruben Rinaldi on the second Ducati Team machine completed the early top six.
Turkish rider Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki) was finding form again after injury, running seventh, until crashes for Ruben Rinaldi and Faccani, after which Calia was able to bridge the gap to the duel for the lead between Mercado and De Rosa.
The top three eventually pulled a gap of more than 20 seconds as Mercado led home Calia and De Rosa, with Tamburini fourth after starting from pole, ahead of Razgatlioglu, BMW privateer Luca Vitali, and Yamaha riders Sebastien Suchet, Andrea Mantovani and Fabio Massei.