TRACK IS BACK! WSBK Round 1 Phillip Island

The start of any new motorsport season is exciting, but we at RTD are lucky to be based in Australia where we have the first round of the WSBK each year at Phillip Island.  Now an annual pilgramage for the three of us, we had a blast and thoroughly enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere, amazing weather, the Pirelli sponsored wildlife and of course the close racing.  

Bikes on the grid for Race 1

Ready to go

Pirelli's R&D department

Race 1

Sylvain Guintoli leads the field through turn 1

Sylvain Guintoli made the perfect start to his Aprilia career by edging out his team mate Eugene Laverty to win Race 1.  Starting from sixth on the grid, he carved up the field and moved into the lead on lap 15 to take his fourth victory.  

The early running had Sykes, Checa, Laverty and Melandri vying for the lead, but each had their specific issues that gave Guinters the opportunity to pick his way through.  Sykes, in typical Kawasaki fashion, was fast straight away, leading the field into turn 1 but faded as the race went on.  Laverty seemed to be the man to beat, building up a sizable gap to Checa/Melandri behind by a third race distance.  Soon Guintoli passed the Ducati/BMW battle and set off after his team mate.  

Melandri, looking strong, was ploughed into by Checa in turn 4, with both riders out of the race.  Checa’s landing looked particularly nasty, and he was concussed for the second time this weekend.  Special mention to Melandri, who win’s the RTD ‘good guy of the weekend award’ for running straight to Checa’s aid when he realised his rival was hurt.  

On lap 15, Guintoli made the definitive pass on his team mate, and never looked back.  It’s been an amazing turnaround for the will liked Frenchman, who has gone from not having a ride after splitting with Effenbert Ducati mid last season, to being a race winner on a world champion bike.  

Also worth mentioning the performance of Michel Fabrizio, who was the fastest man on Friday and much of Saturday.  The satellite Aprilia rider was right there at the end, taking the final podium position just .07s behind Laverty in a tight drag to the line.  

Race 1 Results

1. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing RSV4 33m 47.109s
2. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV4 +1.352s
3. Michel Fabrizio ITA Red Devils Roma RSV4 +1.359s
4. Chaz Davies GBR BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 +5.702s
5. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +5.753s
6. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +6.769s
7. Leon Haslam GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR +6.830s
8. Jonathan Rea GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR +17.944s
9. Leon Camier GBR Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +19.152s
10. Max Neukirchner GER MR Ducati 1199 R +26.557s
11. Jules Cluzel FRA Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +30.305s
12. Ivan Clementi ITA HTM Racing BMW S1000RR +30.411s
13. Alexander Lundh SWE Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +45.185s
14. Glenn Allerton AUS Next Gen BMW S1000RR +48.632s
15. Jamie Stauffer AUS Honda Racing CBR1000RR +53.453s
16. Federico Sandi ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 22.730s
17. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA Grillini Dentalmatic BMW S1000RR +4 laps

Not Classified
18. Carlos Checa ESP Alstare Ducati 1199 R 12 laps completed
19. Marco Melandri ITA BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 12 laps completed
20. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Racing RSV4 2 laps completed

Did Not Start
Ayrton Badovini ITA Alstare Ducati 1199 R  

Race 2

Laverty denies his team mate the double

In Race 2, Aprilia again too maximum points with a 1-2 finish, but this time Eugene Laverty got the best of his team mate in a reversal of Race 1 fortunes.

With pole sitter Carlos Checa air lifted to hospital after his race 1 crash, the entire grid was elevated a spot, giving Laverty pole in race 2.   Again, Tom Sykes lead the field into turn 1 but this time faded even faster, with both Laverty and Guintoli past by lap 2.  

As a classic block passing spot, MG corner usually sees some hairy moments in the opening laps and Race 2 was no exception.  Chaz Davies, having a miserable weekend with his new BMW, punted Loris Baz off which earned him a punctured rear tyre and a penalty from the stewards.  

With Guintoli leading the way from Laverty, the two enjoyed a decent margin over Melandri, Fabrizio, Giugliano and Cluzel.  Melandri managed to chip away at the Aprilias but could not manage to overcome the hp deficit on the long Gardner straight to pass either of them. 

This status quo was broken on lap 16 when Melandri pulled off a spectacular pass on Laverty at MG, which gave Guintoli some breathing space over them.  A patient Laverty stalked Melandri up to lap 20 and then pulled off a classic overtake at Honda Corner.  He then set the new lap record to claw the gap back to his team mate and passed him into turn one on the penultimate lap. 

Laverty maintained the rage, and completed the perfect weekend for Aprilia by taking his fourth victory.  Melandri was third. 
Race 2 Results
1. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV4 33m 45.938s
2. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing RSV4 +0.418s
3. Marco Melandri ITA BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 +1.382s
4. Michel Fabrizio ITA Red Devils Roma RSV4 +2.282s
5. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +11.545s
6. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Racing RSV4 +12.508s
7. Jules Cluzel FRA Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +17.330s
8. Jonathan Rea GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR +17.339s
9. Leon Camier GBR Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +19.886s
10. Leon Haslam GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR +19.996s
11. Max Neukirchner GER MR Ducati 1199 R +27.629s
12. Glenn Allerton AUS Next Gen BMW S1000RR +42.809s
13. Jamie Stauffer AUS Honda Racing CBR1000RR +42.893s
14. Federico Sandi ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +44.899s
15. Alexander Lundh SWE Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +57.824

16. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA Grillini Dentalmatic BMW S1000RR +1m 22.574s
17. Chaz Davies GBR BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 +2 laps

Not Classified
18. Ivan Clementi ITA HTM Racing BMW S1000RR 11 laps completed
19. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 0 laps completed

Did Not Start
Carlos Checa ESP Alstare Ducati 1199 R
Ayrton Badovini ITA Alstare Ducati 1199 R

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.