[WSBK] 63rd victory for Jonathan Rea in Race 1 at Misano

It was on the Misano Marco Simoncelli circuit that the ninth round of the Superbike World Championship took place this weekend, before the long summer break which will end in Portimao in Portugal on September 16.

The development of the machines was made difficult by the introduction of a new, slightly wider qualifying rear tire by Pirelli. Most drivers preferred this 200/65, while the old 200/60 was favored by Patrick Jacobsen, Xavi Forés and Yonny Hernandez, with only the Spaniard qualifying for Q2.

Tom Sykes set the best time in Superpole 2 in 1'33.640 (compared to the old record set by the same Tom Sykes in 1'33.662 last year). Thanks to his 7th pole position at Misano in the last 7 editions (his 46th in total), Sykes rubbed shoulders with Johnny Rea and Eugene Laverty on the front row. The second line included Xavi Fores, Lorenzo Savadori and Loris Baz. The Frenchman preceded the two factory Ducatis of Chaz Davies and Marco Melandri! Congratulations to Loris and the Althea BMW team.

For the races, the general intention of the drivers was to use the Pirelli X0175 (option B) for the rear and the new X0417 (option D) for the front. When the lights went out at the start of the first heat, Jonathan Rea was the fastest to set off ahead of Tom Sykes and Eugene Laverty, while Loris Baz unfortunately fell in turn 2 (without gravity).

Rea opened up a lead of half a second over Tom Sykes, and around a second over Eugene Laverty. Chaz Davies, who made a good start from the third row, was in fourth position at 1.5.

The gap stabilized between the two Kawasaki teammates Johnny Rea and Tom Sykes. Eugene Laverty and Chaz Davies vied for third position. The first Yamaha was sixth with Michael van der Mark and the second eleventh with Alex Lowes. Eugene Laverty attacked Tom Sykes and managed to steal second position from him.

Jonathan Rea increased his lead to 1.3 over Eugene Laverty, while Alex Lowes fell without seriousness. Chaz Davies was then in third position at 2.8. Niccolo Canepa, the GMT94 endurance rider and Superbike developer, was twelfth. Jordi Torres fell with his MV, imitated by Yonny Hernandez. Alex Lowes, who restarted after his fall, fell a second time. Michael Ruben Renaldi stopped at his stand due to a technical problem.

At halfway, Jonathan Rea was 1.8 ahead of Eugene Laverty, 3.8 ahead of Chaz Davies, 5.1 ahead of Tom Sykes and Michael van der Mark. The real issue of the race was then fourth place between Sykes and van der Mark. Michael Ruben Rinaldi left his stand.

9 laps from the checkered flag, van der Mark overtook Sykes for fourth position. Marco Melandri was a modest eighth, 10 seconds behind the leader.

Eugene Laverty went a little wide (rear wheel speed sensor problem) and Chaz Davies took advantage of this to snatch second position, 3.6 behind Johnny Rea.

Marco Melandri moved up to seventh, overtaking Lorenzo Savadori. Johnny Rea won with a nice lead of 2.7 over Chaz Davies, followed by Eugene Laverty, Michael van der Mark and Tom Sykes.

Race 1 results:

Provisional ranking of the World Championship:

Photos © worldsbk.com / Dorna