Superb Racing from Estoril with Round 2 of WorldSBK

CrewOnTwo and ThePitCrewOnline wish to send our condolences following the passing of Moto3 rider Jason Dupasquier following Saturday’s incident during the qualifying 2 session at Mugello after he sadly succumbed to his injuries. Our thoughts are with his family and his teammates.

 

Victory in Race 1 of Round 2 of the WorldSBK championship at Estoril went to Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) when he claimed his second win of the season with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) coming in second and reigning World Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) completing the top three with just one second separating the trio.

Even though Rea got a good start off the line, it was Redding who got the jump on Rea on the opening lap quickly followed by Raz with Redding and Raz then breaking away by the end of lap 1. Rinaldi passed Rea on lap 2 with Rea taking the place back on the following lap, it was then a thrilling three way race between the trio until the end of the race.

A good start was had by Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) moving from 7^th to 5^th on the grid but unfortunately he then moved down the grid eventually finishing in a respectable 13^th place.

Having fought his way through the field, Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) finished 4^th after a battle with Rinaldi who came in 5^th ahead of Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) in sixth.

The new BMR M 1000R of Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) showed strong pace throughout the race fighting his way to claim 7^th place ahead of Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) after having his Superpole race time deleted and starting 18^th on the grid.

The youngest rider on the grid, Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing), who had his superpole time deleted too, came home 11^th place, his best WorldSBK race result so far five seconds clear of Leon Haslam (Team HRC).

The top six following WorldSBK Race 1:

1. Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) +0.877s
3. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.915s
4. Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +9.518s
5. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +13.636s
6. Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) +17.177s

Day 2 at Estoril saw the Superpole race take place with reigning World Champion Rea taking pole with an all time lap record, his second pole position in two races and his 29^th career pole with Redding coming in 2^nd followed by Raz completing the front row of the grid.

A great result from Gerloff who starts 4^th on the grid after a great session with Sykes 5^th and then Rinaldi completing the second row of the grid.

The lights go out for Race 2 and Rea fights back and claims his 103^rd WorldSBK victory with Redding crashing out from 2^nd place having got off to a great start and taking the lead into turn 1. Rea was forced to go wide at turn 4 by Rinaldi who went up into 2^nd place behind his teammate with Gerloff up into 3^rd. Unfortunately, on the second lap Gerloff lost control of his bike and made contact with Rinaldi forcing both riders to retire.

On lap 14 Rea briefly got ahead at turn 1 of Redding with Redding passing at turn 2 but turn 3 sees Redding run wide allowing Rea to get ahead. Redding lost the front of bike at turn 4 and we saw him slipping down the field where we eventually see him finish in 14^th. The British rider was then given a six-second penalty for a jump start in Race 2 meaning he was classified 16th place.

Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) closed up on Rea in the closing stages of the race but Rea was able to hold onto his lead and claim his second victory of the season. Raz, having recovered rather well from his double long lap penalty for a jump start at the start of the race, came in 3^rd, his third podium of the weekend. A great weekend for Raz and the Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK team.

Lowes strong start to the season continued when he came home in 4^th place finishing just 1.6 seconds ahead of Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) in fifth, his best result of his debut season so far with Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) coming in 6^th.

Bautista battled his way from starting 18^th on the grid to finish an impressive 7^th ahead of Sykes with Laverty coming in 9^th with the Moto2 World Champion Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team) finishing the top ten.

The top six following WorldSBK Race 2:

1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
2. Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven)
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK)
4. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
5. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK)
6. Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)

A brilliant weekend of WorldSBK racing and luckily we haven’t got long to wait until Round 3 which is the weekend of the 12^th / 13^th June at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”, Riviera Di Rimini, Italy.

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