Photography by Gold & Goose
Former AMA road racer Chaz Davies earned a breakthrough win for Ducati in World Superbike race two at Motorland Aragon. The victory broke the longest winless drought (58 races) for Ducati in the history of the series. Ducati last won a World Superbike event three years ago. It also marked the first WSBK win for the Ducati Panigale R.
Davies took all the drama out of the race, taking the early lead and sprinting away to a 3.190 second victory over series leader Jonathan Rea – this after Davies slowed on the final lap to preserve his victory. Leon Haslam took third, marking his first-ever podium at Aragon.
It was the fifth World Superbike win for Davies, his first since 2013.
Race 1 winner Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) battled hard for the full 18 laps with Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) who looked much more at home in race 2 than he did in the earlier encounter. Second position would eventually go to Rea, thus extending his championship lead, with Haslam taking the final place on the podium. The pair were split by 0.5s.
Jordi Torres took another well-earned 4th position, circulating more or less alone for the latter part of the race, the rookie looking pleased on his return to the pit box. Xavi Fores claimed another solid result on his debut weekend with the Aruba.it Ducati Superbike Team in 5th.
David Salom (Team Pedercini) completed the top 6 after overhauling Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing), Michael van Der Mark (Pata Honda World Superbike Team), Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia) and Nico Terol (Althea Racing) in the final 2 laps.
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was running 4th and looked comfortable before high-siding spectacularly on lap 6. Reigning champion Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) also fell at the fast turn 14 which ends the lap, the Frenchman was able to walk away as was Sykes who had crashed out moments earlier.
Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) had another race to forget, the young English rider running off track in the early stages before recovering to salvage 2 point with 14th at the flag.
Davies led race 2 in the early going with race 1winner Rea running second ahead of Haslam and Sykes. Sam Lowes was running in the lead group when he ran off the track.
There wasn’t much in the way of passing in the early laps, save for a battle between Badovini , van der Mark and Terol back in seventh, perhaps most riders were hoping to preserve their tires with temperatures soaring compared to race one.
Four laps in Sykes, who was running fourth at the time, suffered a vicious highside from his Kawasaki. He was assisted away from the crash. A lap later defending series champ Sylvain Guintoli also crashed out. It was the first DNF for Guintoli in a remarkable 43 races.
By mid-race it was Davies managing his lead well at just over three seconds ahead of Rea and Haslam. Then there was a big gap back to fourth-place Torres. Davies never put a wheel wrong the rest of the race.
“It felt like longer than Nurburgring 2013 to be honest,” Davies said of the time since his last WSBK victory. “It’s just been a long time bringing that Panigale to the top step of the podium. I’ve got to thank the guys who did an amazing job for the second race. Only some slight changes, but that was all we needed. I felt like I had a lot more grip and I could ride a bit firmer.”
The EBR finished 18th and 19th with Niccolò Canepa over 17 seconds ahead of his boss and teammate Larry Pegram.
American PJ Jacobsen finished second to Kenan Sofuoglu in the World Supersport race. Jacobsen is second to Sofuoglu in theWSS series standings.
The series moves to Assen this coming weekend.
World Superbike Race 2 – Motorland Aragón, April 12, 2015
1 7 DAVIES Chaz Ducati Panigale R
2 65 REA Jonathan Kawasaki ZX-10R +3.190
3 91 HASLAM Leon Aprilia RSV4 RF +3.712
4 81 TORRES Jordi Aprilia RSV4 RF +14.216
5 112 FORES Xavi Ducati Panigale R +20.524
6 44 SALOM David Kawasaki ZX-10R +25.878
7 36 MERCADO Leandro Ducati Panigale R +25.939
8 60 VD MARK Michael Honda CBR1000RR SP +26.075
9 86 BADOVINI Ayrton BMW S1000 RR +27.253
10 18 TEROL Nicolas Ducati Panigale R +28.666
11 15 BAIOCCO Matteo Ducati Panigale R +41.038
12 40 RAMOS Román Kawasaki ZX-10R +41.983
13 14 DE PUNIET Randy Suzuki GSX-R1000 +42.961
14 22 LOWES Alex Suzuki GSX-R1000 +43.057
15 2 CAMIER Leon MV Agusta 1000 F4 +43.375
16 23 PONSSON Christophe Kawasaki ZX-10R +59.139
17 51 BARRAGÁN Santiago Kawasaki ZX-10R +59.296
18 59 CANEPA Niccolò EBR 1190 RX +76.004
19 72 PEGRAM Larry EBR 1190 RX +93.714
20 10 TOTH Imre BMW S1000 RR 1 LAP +1 L
RT 90 ALVIZ Javier Kawasaki ZX-10R 11 LAPS RETIRED
RT 1 GUINTOLI Sylvain Honda CBR1000RR SP 13 LAPS RETIRED
RT 66 SYKES Tom Kawasaki ZX-10R 14 LAPS RETIRED
NS 75 RIZMAYER Gábor BMW S1000 RR PIT IN
Standings
1. Rea, 140
2. Haslam, 114
3. Davies, 83
4. Sykes, 66
5. Torres, 63
