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WSBK: BMW Break Through, Drama In Race 2
BMW Motorrad Motorsport broke through in a big way at Donginton Park with Marco Melandri heading up a 1-2 but Race 2 had a considerably different outcome...
(Photo: Infront Motor Sports)
A 48,500 strong crowd saw some astounding race action at Donington in two sun-blessed 23-lap races, which culminated in a moment of history for one of the world’s most important motorcycle manufacturers, some of the best SBK racing ever seen and changes near the top of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship table.
After Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) won the first race, the German manufacturer added its name to the list of race-winning makes for the very first time. In Race 2 a classic multi-rider battle ended up in joy and heartbreak for some top riders, as Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) came out on top after a final corner melee.
The end result of one of the best days of racing imaginable is that Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) leads the championship with 128.5 points, from double podium man Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) on 123, and Rea on 108. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) is fourth on 105.5. The top four championship places are now covered by only 23 points, after five rounds and nine individual races.
Race 1
A truly historic 1-2 for BMW saw Melandri win the opening race with his teammate Leon Haslam only 0.728 seconds behind. An eventual five rider fight for the podium places provided overtaking and personal duels aplenty as the race order changed multiple times. Tissot-Superpole winner Sykes won a tense battle to go third, with Rea making up places in the final laps to overhaul Biaggi and take fourth. The leading five were covered by only 2.102 seconds at the end of the race. Checa was sixth, four seconds from the win, making it five different manufacturers in the top six at the flag. Melandri’s win also means that six different riders have now won races this year, representing five different manufacturers – and all with nine rounds and 18 races left to go.
Marco Melandri: “It means a lot to me to win this for such a good factory like BMW, it’s history and something I could not dream about when I was young. I just want to say thanks to BMW in Germany, the team on track and everybody involved in the project. We have been working so hard and we never give up even when we found some difficulties. We are working still right now to stay at the top and I am so happy to be here. I had good race pace yesterday and today the tires have been working very good until the end. We managed the situation well but at the beginning I was not so fast, but fortunately Tom and Leon were fighting a lot so they lost a bit of time and we could catch them again. We are so happy for this win.”
Leon Haslam: “I found myself on the wrong side of Marco, on the right side of him into the Esses and I nearly went into the back off him so I had to let off the brakes and I am disappointed because I did feel quite good up to that point. Fair play to Marco and we got a BMW 1-2 which is fantastic. Hopefully we can make amends in the next one and not make that mistake. I want to dedicate this result to the late Robert Fearnall, who was a big, big friend of the family and Donington.”
Tom Sykes: “A fantastic race, I really enjoyed it and it certainly felt like a long, seemed to go on for many laps. Overall I think we had a very good show, lots of passing, and a little bit too much at some corners, especially at the Foggy Esses, which seemed to claim a few victims. Overall I am very happy to be on the podium and collecting some good solid points again with the Ninja ZX-10R. Unfortunately we seemed to struggle at one particular part of the track and that definitely affected our race performance, but hopefully we can improve on that very small sector and go better in race two. As for now a podium is good enough.”
Results: 1. Melandri M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 34'26.736; 2. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 0.728; 3. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1.609; 4. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1.819; 5. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2.102; 6. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 4.820; 7. Giugliano D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 7.520; 8. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 7.927; 9. Camier L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 15.144; 10. Fabrizio M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 16.065; 11. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 19.805; 12. Davies C. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 20.170; 13. Berger M. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 21.274; 14. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 21.517; 15. Laverty E. (IRL) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 26.920; 16. Baz L. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 35.025; etc.
After Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) won the first race, the German manufacturer added its name to the list of race-winning makes for the very first time. In Race 2 a classic multi-rider battle ended up in joy and heartbreak for some top riders, as Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) came out on top after a final corner melee.
The end result of one of the best days of racing imaginable is that Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) leads the championship with 128.5 points, from double podium man Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) on 123, and Rea on 108. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) is fourth on 105.5. The top four championship places are now covered by only 23 points, after five rounds and nine individual races.
Race 1
A truly historic 1-2 for BMW saw Melandri win the opening race with his teammate Leon Haslam only 0.728 seconds behind. An eventual five rider fight for the podium places provided overtaking and personal duels aplenty as the race order changed multiple times. Tissot-Superpole winner Sykes won a tense battle to go third, with Rea making up places in the final laps to overhaul Biaggi and take fourth. The leading five were covered by only 2.102 seconds at the end of the race. Checa was sixth, four seconds from the win, making it five different manufacturers in the top six at the flag. Melandri’s win also means that six different riders have now won races this year, representing five different manufacturers – and all with nine rounds and 18 races left to go.
Marco Melandri: “It means a lot to me to win this for such a good factory like BMW, it’s history and something I could not dream about when I was young. I just want to say thanks to BMW in Germany, the team on track and everybody involved in the project. We have been working so hard and we never give up even when we found some difficulties. We are working still right now to stay at the top and I am so happy to be here. I had good race pace yesterday and today the tires have been working very good until the end. We managed the situation well but at the beginning I was not so fast, but fortunately Tom and Leon were fighting a lot so they lost a bit of time and we could catch them again. We are so happy for this win.”
Leon Haslam: “I found myself on the wrong side of Marco, on the right side of him into the Esses and I nearly went into the back off him so I had to let off the brakes and I am disappointed because I did feel quite good up to that point. Fair play to Marco and we got a BMW 1-2 which is fantastic. Hopefully we can make amends in the next one and not make that mistake. I want to dedicate this result to the late Robert Fearnall, who was a big, big friend of the family and Donington.”
Tom Sykes: “A fantastic race, I really enjoyed it and it certainly felt like a long, seemed to go on for many laps. Overall I think we had a very good show, lots of passing, and a little bit too much at some corners, especially at the Foggy Esses, which seemed to claim a few victims. Overall I am very happy to be on the podium and collecting some good solid points again with the Ninja ZX-10R. Unfortunately we seemed to struggle at one particular part of the track and that definitely affected our race performance, but hopefully we can improve on that very small sector and go better in race two. As for now a podium is good enough.”
Results: 1. Melandri M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 34'26.736; 2. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 0.728; 3. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1.609; 4. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1.819; 5. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2.102; 6. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 4.820; 7. Giugliano D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 7.520; 8. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 7.927; 9. Camier L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 15.144; 10. Fabrizio M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 16.065; 11. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 19.805; 12. Davies C. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 20.170; 13. Berger M. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 21.274; 14. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 21.517; 15. Laverty E. (IRL) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 26.920; 16. Baz L. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 35.025; etc.
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