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 |
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
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
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.
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