| | | | | | Hi John
What a scorching opening round of the 2017 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship!
The Yamaha Finance Round held at the iconic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, February 24-26 showcased sizzling production racing over the three days of the event.
There were thrills and spills across all of the classes making for a heart-stopping weekend of non-stop racing at the world famous circuit – plus in a World Superbike first, the reverse grid for Race 2.
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| | » WorldSSP Round 1 Wrap | | | | | » Phillip Island Championship
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Northern Ireland’s Jonathan Rea has done the double on his Kawasaki at the opening round, clinching Race 2 in a nail biting finish against Ducati rival Chaz Davies.
It was the home away from home victory for Rea, who is married to Phillip Island’s Tatia Weston and spends summer at the island, and the adopted Aussie celebrated after the race with his local supporters.
It was an intense battle for 22 laps, and it all boiled down to an extremely tight duel between Rea and fellow Briton Davies on the final lap.
This time Rea kept his arch-rival at bay by 0.025 seconds, Rea had only crossed the finish line in Race 1 on the previous day by 0.042 seconds ahead of Davies - Making it a combined winning margin over the Ducati rider in the two races just 0.067 seconds.
Race 1 proved to be a spectacular season opener Rea, 30, described the 22-lapper as a "really tactical race". He said: "It was a little bit like a bicycle race and no-one wanted to put their nose in front. But instead of conserving energy like in a bike race, on the track it was all about conserving tyres."
However, for the spectators it was nothing short of a fierce battle from all angles – with the top 11 riders separated by less than two seconds during the middle stanza.
Rea tried to force the pace and "get away" a few times, but said that "nobody came with me to push the pace forward".
"So when I found myself at the front with three laps to go I made sure I was quite defensive in the last sector of the race and I was able to bring it home," said Rea. "The pace should have been much faster but we did what we had to do in the end to get 25 points."
Davies said he "tried a couple of things" to overpower Rea, but was still pleased on what has always been a tough track for Ducati.
"It's hard to get the strategy right to creep across in front of Rea," said Davies. "He’s pretty easy to follow but to actually beat him is something else in itself. Still, we’ll do a bit of study tonight and see if we can go one better tomorrow."
It's the second consecutive clean sweep for Rea at the 4.445km Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, and he now joins Carl Fogarty, Aussie Troy Bayliss and Noriyuki Haga in the exclusive WorldSBK '40s' winning club.
Australia's wildcard Josh Brookes brought his Yamaha home in 12th position after he retired with overheating issues in Race 1. Brookes will now head back to the UK to compete in the British Superbike Championship this year. |
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| WORLDSBK RACE 1 RESULTS
| 1. Jonathan Rea - Kawasaki
| 2. Chaz Davies - Ducati
| 3. Tom Sykes – Kawasaki
| 4. Alex Lowes – Yamaha
| 5. Leon Camier – MV Agusta
| AUSTRALIANS
| DNF Josh Brookes - Yamaha
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| WORLDSBK RACE 2 RESULTS
| 1. Jonathan Rea - Kawasaki
| 2. Chaz Davies - Ducati
| 3. Marco Melandri - Ducati
| 4. Alex Lowes - Yamaha
| 5. Xavi Fores - Ducati
| AUSTRALIANS
| 12. Josh Brookes - Yamaha
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Australian wild card, Anthony West, has again displayed his “never-say-die” attitude by finishing in a superb third place aboard his Yamaha in round one of the 2017 Supersport World Championship at Phillip Island over the weekend
If the Aussie wild card’s performance wasn't exciting enough for the local spectators, the battle for the win was one for the ages as veteran Italian Roberto Rolfo (MV Agusta) took victory, holding off Yamaha's Lucas Mahias by just 0.001 seconds – the closest finish in World Supersport history.
It was always going to come down to a battle of wits on the final lap, and West's luck finally turned when Federico Caricasulo (Yamaha) and Frenchman Jules Cluzel (Honda) collided at turn 10, which allowed the Queenslander to move into third position.
Despite his makeshift engine being well down on horsepower, Westy held onto third position until the chequered flag to take home the final spot on the WorldSSP podium for the second year in succession.
It was also a brilliant day for the two other Aussie pilots, with Aiden Wagner making a superb debut for his new Honda team in 7th, while 17-year-old Lachlan Epis Kawasaki came home 10th place aboard his Kawasaki making it his best ever WorldSSP finish.
WORLDSSP RACE RESULTS
1. Roberto Rolfo - MV Agusta
2. Lucas Mahias – Yamaha
3. Anthony West – Yamaha
4. Kyle Ryde – Kawasaki
5. Niki Tuuli – Yamaha
AUSTRALIANS
7. Aiden Wagner (Honda)
10. Lachlan Epis – Kawasaki
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Australian wild card Anthony West take third in world supersport thriller | | | | | | |
For full race reports go to www.worldsbkcom.au/world-superbike-news Back to Top |
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| | Phillip Island Championship |
| Privateer Daniel Falzon has made the perfect start to the 2017 Phillip Island Superbike Championship, winning all three races on his Yamaha YZF-R1
The South Australian was in sizzling form from go-to-who after setting pole position on Friday afternoon at the Yamaha-Finance round, and then continuing his rich vein of form in the weekend races.
In the opener, Falzon defeated Glenn Allerton (Yamaha) and Honda's Bryan Staring, in race two Wayne Maxwell | | JD Racing's Daniel Falzon smokes it up for the fans after winning round one of the ASBK |
(Yamaha) and Robbie Budgen (Kawasaki) completed the podium; and in the two-part finale Bugden and Staring were second and third in the final classification.
While Falzon didn't put a foot wrong, it was a mixed weekend for a number of other top guns, with Josh Waters (Suzuki) forced out of race one when a stone pierced his radiator, while Maxwell and Allerton crashed out of races one and two respectively.
Falzon has a perfect 76pts in the Phillip Island Championship, with round two slated for October 6-8 and the finale from October 20-22.
Bugden is second on 54pts from defending Phillip Island champion Herfoss (47), Cru Halliday (Yamaha, 44), Maxwell (41), Mitch Levy (Yamaha, 37), Staring (36) and Allerton (35).
| | Superbike podium - Daniel Falzon (1st), Robbie Bugden (2nd), Troy Herfoss (3rd) |
Meanwhile, Yamaha rider Mason Coote will take a 13-point lead into round two of the 2017 Phillip Island Supersport Championship after his 1-2-1 scorecard.
Ted Collins (Suzuki) is on 47pts from Mark Chiodo (Triumph, 44.5), Ben Burke (Yamaha, 41.5) and Ryan Taylor (41).
Chiodo started from pole position, before crashing and remounting in race one and then winning the second. Back to Top |
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