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Showing posts with label sykes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sykes. Show all posts

Friday 31 August 2012

Track - WSBK Moscow Race 2



In contrast to Race 1, Race 2 was held in dry conditions which saw all runners start on slicks.  The ducati's decided to run the softer compound, which ended up being a mistake and compounded a miserable weekend for the Italian marque.

Tom Sykes seemed to check out the front very early, with a chase group of Melandri, Haslam, Biaggi, Rea and Laverty following.  That was until Biaggi, using the his Aprilia missile to good effect to get pass Rea on the back straight but the manouvre compromised his corner entry and he punted into the back of a helpless Haslam.

With Biaggi and Haslam off to the medical centre to get checked out, Melandri set about closing down Sykes, closing up on him quickly and taking the lead. 

The battle for second went down to the wire, with the fading Sykes trying to hold of Rea and the charging Laverty.  The drama continued to the end, with Laverty high siding on the last lap on turn 14, taking out Rea.  Checa had to take evasive action, promoting Davies to the podium wth Checa finishing behind in fourth.

Melandri's win promotes him to the head of the champions with 308.5 points to Biaggi 290 and Sykes 267.5  

Track - WSBK Moscow Race 1




Tom Sykes repaid Kawasaki's new contractr extension with his second win of the season at the new Moscow Circuit.   Challenging weather conditions after a morning shower lead to consternation around tyre choice, but the front runners all chose to start on slicks, which turned out to be the right move.  Pole man Checa crashed out on lap 3 in an incident with Jonny Rea.  Crashes continued as Rea followed Checa for an early trip back to the pits and Giugliano making it 0/2 for Althea Ducati.  The race for the podium behind Sykes ended up being between Davies, Haslam and Melandri, culminating with contact between Davies and Haslam, punting Haslam off his bike and Davies off the track.  This left Melandri in second and Biaggi in a very unexpected third.