Gordon Ritchie | May 14, 2017
Davies Takes The Double For Ducati
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) pushed his way to a second clear win at his team’s home round in Imola, winning by almost four seconds and easing up on the final lap.
After a red flag incident halted the first attempted start, when Ayrton Badovini’s bike left oil on the track, the real 18-lap Sunday race finally got underway at 13.40.
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) led from Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) but Sykes’ team-mate Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) ran on into the Variante Basso, losing places from fourth to sixth for a time. Melandri also made a mistake to drop a place and let Davies through early on.
Sykes, Camier and Davies were the top three on lap three of 18.
Camier suffered heartbreak as he crashed out of second place at the Variante Alta, and Alex De Angelis also fell on the fifth lap.
Sykes, smoking the rear tire at times, was pressing on out front, but Davies closed in inexorably.
A slowing Sykes had Davies just over a second behind him on lap six and entering the final chance of lap seven, Davies passed, right underneath the noses of the Ducati grandstand.
Chaz hammered out a lead of a second on lap nine and two seconds on lap 10.
Rea, closing in on Sykes, went past on lap 12 at Tosa.
He remained second; Sykes was third but behind the fight for fourth was also real, as privateer Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Ducati) beat Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati).
Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) finished sixth, Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) a brave and committed seventh after his first day fireball, and Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team) was a brilliant eighth after fighting through the field.
Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) and Leandro Mercado (IodaRacing Team Aprilia) completed the top 10.
2017 Imola WorldSBK Race Two Results
Sofuoglu Reaches 40 Wins In WorldSSP
A delayed start and then two subsequent red flag incidents – two involving one-time championship leader Roberto Rolfo (Team Factory Vamag MV Agusta) – caused the race to be postponed until after the second Superbike race of the weekend.
In the final running, scheduled for 11-laps at 14.20 as opposed to its first attempted go over 17 laps at 11.30, was headed by the biggest winning machine in WorldSSP history – Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing).
It was his 40th race victory at this level for a rider who was already on a class of his own in terms of race wins.
He beat the continuing championship leader, Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) to the 25 points at Imola and the last rider on the podium was American Patrick Jacobsen (MV Agusta Reparto Corse). The top three were separated by only 1.573 seconds.
Sheridan Morais (Kallio Race System Yamaha) was fourth, 8.405 seconds from Sofuoglu, with British rider Kyle Smith (GEMAR Balloons – Team Lorini Honda) and France’s Jules Cluzel (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) fifth and sixth.
One-time leader of the first start, Christian Gamarino (BARDHAL EVAN BROS. Honda Racing), was seventh and wild card rider Loris Cresson (SC Racing – RPM84 Yamaha) eighth.
Hikari Okubo (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) and Alessandro Zaccone (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) completed the top ten, with Zaccone the best placed ESS – part time – rider.
Anthony West (EAB West Racing Yamaha) was 11th and Jack Kennedy (Profile Racing Triumph) 12th. Kyle Ryde (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing.
2017 Imola WorldSBK WorldSSP Results