A two part interview, with Vice President of Honda Racing Corporation, Shuhei Nakamoto, who is retiring after being in the position as MotoGP team leader, for the last eight years.
Part 1
http://www.motoamerica.com/honda-racing-corporation-vp-shuhei-nakamoto-qa-part-one
Part 2
http://www.motoamerica.com/honda-racing-corporation-vp-shuhei-nakamoto-qa-part-two
This blog is dedicated to reporting on motorcycle racing, a recently acquired interest to someone who has followed races on four wheels for nearly two decades. Just a way to add some variety to my motorsports fascination. Covered here will be numerous races from the American and European championships for motorcycles. The American Motorcyclist Association, and the FIM (Federation International de Motorcyclisme).
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Watch MotoAmerica 2016 Superbike Races
If you wish to relive the races from the 2016 MotoAmerica season, you can do so HERE:
http://www.motoamerica.com/motoamerica-video?video=x52wysk
http://www.motoamerica.com/motoamerica-video?video=x52wysk
Monday, November 28, 2016
Guintoli quits World Superbikes in favour of BSB return
Former World Superbike champion Sylvain Guintoli will not return to the series next season, instead choosing to return to the British championship with Hawk Suzuki.
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Portimao returns on provisional 2017 World Superbike calendar
The Portimao circuit in Portugal is set (provisionally), to return to the 2017 FIM World Superbike race schedule. The full race schedule is in the article, and will be published in this blog entry, too.
http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/portimao-returns-on-provisional-2017-world-superbike-calendar-853680/?s=1
Provisional 2017 WSBK race schedule
Round 1: Feb. 24-26 Phillip Island Australia
Round 2: Mar. 10-12 Buriram Thailand
Round 3: Mar. 31-Apr. 2 Aragon Spain
Round 4: Apr. 28-30 Assen Holland
Round 5: May 12-14 Imola Italy
Round 6: May 26-28 Donington England
Round 7: June 16-18 Misano Italy
Round 8: July 7-9 Laguna Seca Monterey, California, USA
Round 9: August 18-20 Lausitzring Germany
Round 10: September 15-17 Portimao Portugal
Round 11: Septmber 29-0ct. 1 Magny-Cours France
Round 12: October 13-15 Venue TBA *Yours truly wonders if it will be Jerez in Spain. But, it could be another track. Stay tuned.
Round 13: November 2-4 Losail Qatar
http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/portimao-returns-on-provisional-2017-world-superbike-calendar-853680/?s=1
Provisional 2017 WSBK race schedule
Round 1: Feb. 24-26 Phillip Island Australia
Round 2: Mar. 10-12 Buriram Thailand
Round 3: Mar. 31-Apr. 2 Aragon Spain
Round 4: Apr. 28-30 Assen Holland
Round 5: May 12-14 Imola Italy
Round 6: May 26-28 Donington England
Round 7: June 16-18 Misano Italy
Round 8: July 7-9 Laguna Seca Monterey, California, USA
Round 9: August 18-20 Lausitzring Germany
Round 10: September 15-17 Portimao Portugal
Round 11: Septmber 29-0ct. 1 Magny-Cours France
Round 12: October 13-15 Venue TBA *Yours truly wonders if it will be Jerez in Spain. But, it could be another track. Stay tuned.
Round 13: November 2-4 Losail Qatar
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Nicky Hayden Undergoes Successful Knee Surgery
Nicky Hayden had a successful surgery, three days ago, to repair a detached MCL on his right knee.
http://www.motoamerica.com/nicky-hayden-undergoes-successful-knee-surgery
http://www.motoamerica.com/nicky-hayden-undergoes-successful-knee-surgery
Friday, November 25, 2016
Giugliano exits World Superbikes with Tyco BSB deal
We knew that after a frankly miserable 2016 season with Ducati in World Superbike, Davide Giugliano would race elsewhere in 2017. Well, he has landed, and has made a deal to race in the British Superbike Championship with Tyco TAS BMW in British Superbikes.
http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/giugliano-exits-world-superbikes-with-tyco-bsb-deal-852534/?s=1
http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/giugliano-exits-world-superbikes-with-tyco-bsb-deal-852534/?s=1
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Ducati accuses Kawasaki riders of "unsportsmanlike" behaviour
Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali has criticised Kawasaki World Superbike riders Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes for “unsportsmanlike” behaviour in the Qatar season finale.
http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/ducati-accuses-kawasaki-riders-of-unsportsmanlike-behaviour-845916/?s=1Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Rea: 2016 title sweeter after "almost easy" 2015 crown
Two-time FIM World Superbike champion, Jonathan Rea, is far more proud of his second championship won this year, than winning his first, last year. Rea claims that he fought for this one and that his 2015 championship victory was almost "too easy".
http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/rea-2016-title-sweeter-after-almost-easy-2015-crown-845492/?s=1
http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/rea-2016-title-sweeter-after-almost-easy-2015-crown-845492/?s=1
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
FIM World Superbike Round 13: Qatar (Season Finale) Race 2
Race two from Qatar (the finale of the 2016 FIM World Superbike season), is set to commence at Losail Circuit in Doha, Qatar.
Twenty five down, one to go. Race one yesterday may have been won by Jonathan Rea. But there is still lots up for grabs as we set off in race two on Sunday night. With Jonathan Rea clinching the title, all eyes will be on the head to head battle for second, between Chaz Davies for Ducati, and Rea's Kawasaki team mate, Tom Sykes. Losail is one of only a handful of tracks that, at one stage or another has hosted the first, and the last rounds of the World Superbike season. The other two venues to hold that distinction are Jerez in Spain and Phillip Island in Australia. This track is as flat as a pancake, and the second longest in length on the 2016 calendar, after the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.
Can Nicky Hayden win tonight's race and grab away fourth from Michael van der Mark? We saw Yamaha back on the podium in Saturday's race. Jonathan Rea is on nine wins with Chaz Davies on ten won this year. Race two, is... next!
It is half past 8PM local time, and we are set to race for the final time in 2016, under the lights, here in Qatar. There is enough electricity in the floodlights here at Losail, to power 3,000 homes. This is the 26th and last race of the season. Let us have a look at current weather conditions before the race begins. We will check them again, just as the riders are on their formation lap to head to the starting grid. Currently the air temperature is 27 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit), and the track temperature is a shade above that at 29 degrees Celsius (84 degrees Fahrenheit). Track temperatures are continuing to drop as we get into the evening hours.
As you get closer to 10PM, the track develops a slimy surface. So, hopefully, we can get this race in, in a 45 minute window and finish by oh, a quarter to ten. Jonathan Rea has become just the fourth rider in WSBK history to win back to back championships. Only Fred Merkel, Doug Polen, and Carl Fogarty, have done it before him. Can Chaz Davies become the first rider since Troy Bayliss (a decade ago in 2006), to win three successive doubles? Saeed Al Sulaiti has one more opportunity to score at least a point in his home race in Qatar.
After crashing yesterday and sitting out race one, Poland's Pawel Szkopek will be starting the finale. Jonathan Rea is indeed the 2016 FIM World Superbike Champion. Rea goes out tonight, on a relatively different motorcycle than he had in last night's competition. Kawasaki is developing parts for 2017. Rea wants to tie Chaz Davies for number of race wins this year. Nine for Rea, and ten for Davies is what the tally reads so far. Everyone is getting towards the end of their engine allocation for the year. Davies can toggle between any engine except for one of the seven he's got. So, he has six engines available even in the finale, not that you'd change engines on the motorcycle during the race, because that would be:
A. silly
B. against the rules
Davies flew in the evening warmup session. Unless something really dramatic happens, don't look for Chaz Davies to be beaten in the race in a fair fight. He's got the best bike on the grid tonight. But, as they say, to finish first, first you must finish. Davies may win the race. If Tom Sykes finishes third or worse, Chaz Davies retains second in the points standings. If Sykes is second, even if Davies goes on to win this race, Sykes will be runner up in points behind team mate, and champ, Jonathan Rea. So, pretty simple points equations going into the finale, as compared to the permutations from race one last night.
Sylvain Guintoli finally brought Yamaha to the podium, after they came back to race in World Superbike this year. We do not know where he will land next year. Two years ago in 2014, Guintoli rode for Aprilia, did the double victory, and won the championship in Qatar. Yamaha has a new exhaust system on the YZF R1. That could be one reason for their major performance improvement this weekend. Guintoli had injuries earlier in the year. But, the Yamaha is surely improving. Progress is being made on that bike, as they passed both the Honda's and Kawasaki's on the one kilometer straightaway on this track.
Pedercini riders Saeed Al Sulaiti and Leon Haslam have done well. Anthony West, was the rider to give Pedercini their best WSBK 2016 finish, coming home fifth in Malaysia. Tom Sykes has a different engine allocation altogether. Four of them have been ruled out. But, he can toggle between his last three motors (5, 6, and 7), for this race. There are no team orders at Kawasaki apparently. But, spare a thought for poor old Davide Giugliano. He is unfit to race tonight because of damage to his right shoulder. So, his 2016 WSBK season, and perhaps, his career as a World Superbike rider, have potentially come to a disappointing end. His Ducati Panigale sits forlornly in it's garage. Only Chaz Davies will represent Aruba Ducati in this race.
We look at Jordi Torres' BMW S1000RR and in the test session at Jerez de la Frontera after the most recent race there, in Spain, Torres was experimenting with new forks on his BMW S1000RR. There are thinner bottoms on these forks, and new fork clamps which attach the fork to the front wheel of the motorcycle. Honda is another team running new forks on their Fireblade motorcycle for Michael van der Mark and Nicky Hayden. Alex Lowes was in a good fight with Jordi Torres in the Saturday race, but could not find a way by the BMW rider. Kawasaki says there are no official team orders and the riders are to decide how they want to race. The two crew chiefs for Kawasaki have their own idea.
Tom Sykes' crew chief, Marcel Twinke says there's been no team orders all year. Jonathan Rea's crew chief Per Arriba said that if they were in a racing situation, Rea would let Sykes go by. These boys are professionals, and obviously, their chief mechanics each believe that. Kawasaki has won everything and Rea has to give something back to Kawasaki. Sportsmanship is the big deal here. This is in essence, the first race of the 2017 season theoretically. Nicky Hayden is on his eighth motor, so, he will start from pit lane, even though he's qualified second on the grid. He was fifth in yesterday's race. The bikes are on their sighting lap. The whole field will fly by, and the marshals will hold Hayden for an extra five seconds.
The Honda mechanics tried to salvage the bike, but they had to change the motor. Last year, Xavi Fores was supposed to start the second race in Qatar for Aruba Ducati, and got sick, so he couldn't. Rea is the pole man. The pit lane closes 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Jonathan Rea will use this race as a test for next year. Rea is using the single throttlebody on his bike. That's a new rule for next year having a single one instead of a split throttlebody on the fuel injection system. Chaz Davies wins the overall Pirelli Best Lap Award. Tom Sykes has the Tissot Super Pole award.
Alex Lowes rolls off sixth. Xavi Fores is seventh. Eighth is Lorenzo Savadori. Michael van der Mark is ninth. Jordi Torres rounds out the top ten. Twelfth is his team mate, Raffaele De Rosa. 11th is Leon Camier. Camier has been an impressive rider this whole season. Josh Brookes rolls off 13th. MV Agusta has improved greatly since their first season in WSBK in 2014 when Claudio Corti was their main rider. 14th on the grid is Alex De Angelis on the Aprilia. Markus Reiterberger on the third BMW starts 16th. Leon Haslam is 15th. We should see more of the same competitiveness in WSBK next year. Honda should be even stronger with Stefan Bradl coming to the team from MotoGP. Yamaha should be on another level next year, too. Kawasaki and Ducati will remain competitive.
BMW might have a say next year once again, too. Aprilia may have two teams next year with SMR and maybe, Ioda. Eugene Laverty will race for Aprilia in 2017. Karel Abraham makes his final WSBK start in 17th as he moves back to MotoGP with Aspar next year. The tire selection from Pirelli is set. Most guys using the SC0 rear and either the SC1 or SC2 compound front tire. The front tire, will be slightly harder if it's an SC2. Jonathan Rea and Nicky Hayden will both use the SC2. Roman Ramos starts 18th on the grid. Chaz Davies is using the SC1 front. So will Tom Sykes. Saeed Al Sulaiti starts 19th. Luca Scassa rolls of 20th. VFT Racing have had a difficult year.
Fabio Menghi, their original rider only ran at Misano after he was hurt initially injuring his back at Phillip Island during testing. The Alfa 4C safety car takes off. Five minutes to go before we start. Pawel Szkopek is 22nd. Dominic Schmitter starts 23rd. Peter Sebestyen is caboose on the field. Jonathan Rea leads the field from pole. We're ready for the WSBK finale. We are on the warmup lap. Given what we've seen from Chaz Davies, and that Ducati has more straight line speed, the Kawasaki's are going to struggle against Chaz Davies. Can Tom Sykes take the fight to Chaz Davies? We have 17 laps ahead of us. Can Jonathan Rea fight with Chaz Davies when the tires begin to drop off?
We have had very little change in the weather. The ambient temperature is the same and the ground temperature has dropped to 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit). The wind speed is at 3 kilometers an hour which is about 1.5 miles an hour. Nicky Hayden lines up at the end of pit lane and the marshal has the flag to wave him off to start after he takes his penalty. Race 26 of 26. The last go for WSBK in 2016. It's time... now! The race is underway! Another great start and the riders are already going side by side!
Both Lorenzo Savadori and Alex Lowes run off the road! Michael van der Mark also runs wide. Drama at the first turn, but things are clean and green at the sharp end. Tom Sykes is right behind Sylvain Guintoli. So, it is confirmed that Lowes and Savadori both ran wide in turn one. Nicky Hayden joins the race from pit lane. Leon Haslam has had an amazing start! He's gone from 15th on the grid up to seventh already! Chaz Davies passes Jonathan Rea. Xavi Fores has moved from seventh up to fifth. Oh dear! Jonathan Rea, the two-time world champion, is off the road!
There's dust, or smoke, or something, at turn one. Rea is now sinking like a stone! The second place battle is Yamaha vs. Kawasaki. It's Sylvain Guintoli vs. Tom Sykes. Rea has rejoined the race down in 13th spot. Davies has pulled out to an 8/10ths of a second lead. Xavi Fores has made his way to fourth spot. Leon Haslam has moved to fifth! Raffaele De Rosa is ahead of him in fifth on the top BMW. We saw De Rosa win the European Superstock 1000 championship here on 2 Wheelin'. He's a wheel man and can definitely ride a motorcycle. De Rosa ran in place of Markus Reiterberger at Laguna Seca, and this outing for him in Qatar is a gift for winning the Stock 1000 crown.
Tom Sykes is up to second. Can he reel in Davies? Sykes tries to pass Guintoli and almost has it, but runs a bit too deep into the corner. Davies sets fastest lap of the race so far at 1:57.534. If Guintoli can beat Sykes, that's the best thing to happen to Chaz Davies so he can secure second in the championship. Xavi Fores is looking for his second podium of the year. He is the 2014 champion in the IDM, the German Superbike championship. The job for Jonathan Rea now, is to fight his way up through the field to get back into a competitive place. Davies, meanwhile, resets fastest lap, taking it to 1:57.476. Rea is in the middle of a BMW sandwich at the moment, between Josh Brookes and Markus Reiterberger.
Raffaele De Rosa is the top BMW for Althea in fourth, racing Leon Haslam. Alex De Angelis runs seventh on the Aprilia. Jordi Torres is eight on another of the Althea BMW's. In the meantime, Michael van der Mark is catching Leon Camier. We come to the corner where Camier wrecked the MV in race one. Chaz Davies has a 1.7 second lead over Tom Sykes. As the championship stands at the moment in the battle for second, Sykes is ahead of Davies by just two points. 447-445. Rea is champ on 486 markers. Davies is more keen to finish the race with another win, than to finish second in the championship. De Rosa tries Haslam again in the braking zone. No dice.
Davies lowers fastest lap again, to 1:57.413. One other contrast between Rea and Sykes is that Sykes carries a larger battery in the back of the bike to power it up, whereas Rea carries a smaller one, to have less inertia and less moving parts, whereas more inertia is what Sykes likes to ride with. The battery is stored just behind the seat. Davies backs the bike into the left hand turn. Oh dear. We see some contact between De Rosa and Haslam. The two of them were side by side through turn five. Haslam has easily lost two or three spots after that kerfuffle. He has dropped down to eighth place.
He is behind De Angelis and Torres. Torres moves by De Angelis on the inside.
Someone loses their motorcycle into turn 14. Josh Brookes ditches the BMW. Jonathan Rea has to be careful to avoid a dust up with Michael van der Mark as well. Michael van der Mark and Jonathan Rea have made a pass on Leon Camier. Rea makes the pass on van der Mark in the Dutchman's final ride for Honda. Rea also looks to pass Leon Haslam on a similar Kawasaki ZX10R. The Double R version of that bike will be racing next year. Look for the Kawsaki ZX10RR in 2017. A battle forms between two of the BMW's. Jordi Torres is closing on Raffaele De Rosa. How ironic. Torres needs to pass De Rosa, who is using Torres' spare S1000RR in this race.
Markus Reiterberger is down in 13th. But, Torres, I guarantee you, following his spare bike, with De Rosa in the seat, is saying, "dude! Give me back my other bike! I've had enough of this!" Torres shoots past De Rosa and gets some revenge. Alex De Angelis on the Aprilia will try getting by Leon Haslam. De Angelis has run into the Pedercini Kawasaki earlier this year and no doubt has memories. That was at Donington Park in England, back in May, with Anthony West on the motorcycle as opposed to it's current rider, Leon Haslam, son of former 500cc Grand Prix racer "Rocket" Ron Haslam.
We know that both the Aprilia RSV4 and the BMW S1000RR are fantastically quick down the straightaways compared to some of the other bikes in this field. Saeed Al Sulaiti, game over! His bike is on fire! The Qatari rider did not want to go out of his home race and he is fuming, kicking the gravel. Al Sulatiti was just about in the points when his engine absolutely and comprehensively went ka-blammo. He's OK. But he's lit up every ounce of oil in the crankcase. There's oil down on the road and the marshals wisely decide to red flag this race.
We're halfway home and this race takes another twist. Chaz Davies has a three second lead and it will disappear. We will go back to the end of the last full lap. But this race will maintain what it is. We could perhaps run to 2/3rds distance, to lap 11. The pit crews can make changes. Jonathan Rea jumps off the bike and he is perturbed that it isn't running well. There will be a quick start procedure, and we will have a ten lap sprint to the finish of this one according to the marshals from Dorna and the FIM. Rea will get his bike fixed and get new tires. Saeed Al Sulaiti was hoping to get a single point for 15th place, but that will not happen.
The sprockets on the change can be changed. But the gear ratios are stock and set. Fuel goes into the Ducati for Chaz Davies. Michael Laverty is the track spotter for Davies who is a former MotoGP rider and current British Superbike Championship rider. Rea admitted that he went off the track in Laguna Seca in error. Track crews are still cleaning up the oil from Al Sulaiti's blown motor. Red flags are difficult for the riders to refocus for a shortened race. We are yet to be given a time frame for when this race will restart.
We will restart this race in ten minutes, and run for a duration of ten laps. Last minute preparations are going on with changing allowable parts on the bikes. Don't forget that now, Nicky Hayden will start on the grid, and he started this race originally, from the pit lane. The differences in corner speed and where the Kawasaki and the Ducati have the speed in the corners, as well as riding styles between riders such as Tom Sykes, Chaz Davies, and Jonathan Rea, has been a major talking point for this whole season, and in Qatar for the finale it is no exception. Tom Sykes has continued to have recurring rear brake issues this weekend in Qatar, as he has throughout the season.
Sykes has had to use bottles of water to cool the brake so it wouldn't seize up and would release. We have five minutes before pit lane opens, and the pit will be open for one minute and one minute only. We watch Ioda Aprilia and their mechanics at work. The whole team basically moved across from MotoGP into World Superbike. Leon Haslam has been running well on his one round deal with Pedercini. The only riders with anything to lose as we get close to a finish in Qatar this evening are Chaz Davies and Tom Sykes. They want second in the championship, or, another win. We've got a ten lap sprint, coming up.
Anything can happen now. We are out on the next sighting lap to form up on the grid. It is a ten lap shootout. It is going to be very unpredictable. What can Nicky Hayden do? He's up to 15th. Roman Ramos is 16th. Leon Camier is without a motorcycle. He may not restart this race. Ah. Camier has the bike, and is back on track. Camier may have to start at the back of the grid. We have another race start. It is now 20 minutes to 10PM local time. Tough luck for Leon Camier. He will start this race from the back of the grid.
Here we go. A ten lap sprint for all the marbles. Davies, Sykes, and Guintoli on the front row. Red lights on. Red lights, out! Away we go! Chaz Davies makes a great start. Sykes goes inside and Rea and Leon Haslam both are making their moves right now. Rea is struggling off the line. Leon Haslam has moved his way up to third place. Rea gets sat up big time! Davies has the lead over Sykes and Haslam. Ducati, Kawasaki, Kawasaki. Leon Camier has made his way to 15th. Alex De Angelis on the Aprilia, it could be game over for him. Rea is now running sixth. Rea is now in hot pursuit of Sylvain Guintoli.
Raffaele De Rosa runs behind these two on the BMW. It can now be confirmed. Alex De Angelis. Out of race. Rea passes Sylvain Guintoli for fifth. No jump starts. Use the pace well through the race. This is a real opportunity for Pedercini to finish on the podium. Xavi Fores runs wide and allows both Kawasaki's to move through. Haslam passes Rea. Pedercini Kawasaki vs. factory Kawasaki. Rea re-passes Haslam into the next corner. Pedercini has never finished on the podium. They had a fourth place, 16 years ago, at Phillip Island when team owner Lucio Pedercini was a rider himself, back in the year 2000.
Chaz Davies has Tom Sykes within striking distance. Davies is going to get a tough run for his money here. Jonathan Rea sets fastest lap of the race at 1:56.979. A new lap record. Chaz Davies is starting to open a gap. New fast lap as Jonathan Rea brings it down to 1:56.974. Five thousandths of a second faster! Sylvain Guintoli runs wide fending off the attack by Leon Haslam. Sykes is holding off Jonathan Rea and not letting him loose to go after Chaz Davies. The points gap between Sykes and Davies for second and third is down to two. 447-445. Davies now leads by 1.2 seconds with just six laps left in the 2016 season.
Guintoli has passed Haslam. Behind them it's Raffaele De Rosa and Xavi Fores. Jordi Torres makes a move on Michael van der Mark. Nicky Hayden completes the top ten. Rea dives inside Sykes into turn ten. Rea makes the pass and makes it stick. Can Jonathan Rea take the fight to Chaz Davies and go for the win? As it stands now, Chaz Davies will be second in the championship two points ahead of Tom Sykes in third. Rea will go after Davies for the win. Rea is clsoing up. He's just a second behind Davies now. Raffaele De Rosa is still trying to get around Leon Haslam. Sylvain Guintoli won't be on the podium, but he'll still have a good finish.
Nicky Hayden is having a good run in ninth place, just ahead of his Ten Kate Honda team mate, Michael van der Mark, who of course is headed for Yamaha in 2017. Jonathan Rea has yet to win at only two tracks on the current WSBK calendar. Here in Qatar, and, at Jerez de la Frontera, in Spain. Rea has bridged the gap to Davies, running three tenths faster than the Ducati. Davies and Rea are battling. Who finishes runner up if Rea passes Davies? Davies needs to win to finish second in points. Rea sets a new fastest lap at 1:56.999. Check that. It's Davies' personal best lap. Jordi Torres passes Raffaele De Rosa for sixth.
Davies and Rea continue their battle into the final lap. It is now the last lap of the 2016 season. Rea has given up lots of ground to Chaz Davies. Rea is going to let Sykes through on the last lap. Karel Abraham has just crashed out of his last WSBK race before returning to MotoGP in 2017. Davies will take his 11th race win of 2016! Davies will finish second in the championship more or less. Tom Sykes is not making an effort to make any moves. It looks like Kawasaki will stage a photo finish for second. Rea allows Sykes through, as Chaz Davies wins 11 races this year!
World Superbike Race 2: #7 Chaz Davies GBR. Ducati 1199 Panigale R
A fabulous race to end the 2016 season. Sykes finishes second in the championship. Leon Haslam has had a great race tonight on the Pedercini bike, finishing fifth. What a great race! ...And so, the 2016 FIM World Superbike season, comes to an end. This is Chaz Davies' seventh double. He is level with Raymond Roche, the Frenchman, who was the first ever world champ for Ducati in 1990. Have Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea made up for now? Maybe. But, we'll be back soon, in February of 2017, to start it all again at Phillip Island in Australia.
Jonathan Rea has set fastest lap in this race. Chaz Davies wins the Pirelli Best Lap award with ten successive fastest race laps. Maybe Rea and Sykes have made up for the time being. Eleven race wins for Chaz Davies from 26 races. Nine for Jonathan Rea, and five for Tom Sykes. Plus, one, for Nicky Hayden in Malaysia. Chaz Davies has pulled off three doubles in a row, in ten years. Wow! Drama on the podium with the flowers and trophies. No Prosecco on the podium here in Qatar. Jonathan Rea becomes the tenth British rider to win a championship. He is the first back-to-back champion since the turn of the new millennium, and only the the fourth championship winning rider to defend a title.
What a year it has been. Keep your engines running. 2017 is coming, soon. But, your 2016, back-to-back champion is Jonathan Rea. Chaz Davies won 11 races. Kawasaki has won the manufacturer's championship for a second straight year. That's it. What a way to end a fabulous year of racing. We had everything you could have wished for in a fabulous finale. We'll keep you updated through the off season, and we will be racing again in 2017 at Phillip Island in Australia at the end of February. Thanks for joining us for World Superbike, here on 2 Wheelin'. We'll see you, next year. So long, everyone.
Twenty five down, one to go. Race one yesterday may have been won by Jonathan Rea. But there is still lots up for grabs as we set off in race two on Sunday night. With Jonathan Rea clinching the title, all eyes will be on the head to head battle for second, between Chaz Davies for Ducati, and Rea's Kawasaki team mate, Tom Sykes. Losail is one of only a handful of tracks that, at one stage or another has hosted the first, and the last rounds of the World Superbike season. The other two venues to hold that distinction are Jerez in Spain and Phillip Island in Australia. This track is as flat as a pancake, and the second longest in length on the 2016 calendar, after the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.
Can Nicky Hayden win tonight's race and grab away fourth from Michael van der Mark? We saw Yamaha back on the podium in Saturday's race. Jonathan Rea is on nine wins with Chaz Davies on ten won this year. Race two, is... next!
It is half past 8PM local time, and we are set to race for the final time in 2016, under the lights, here in Qatar. There is enough electricity in the floodlights here at Losail, to power 3,000 homes. This is the 26th and last race of the season. Let us have a look at current weather conditions before the race begins. We will check them again, just as the riders are on their formation lap to head to the starting grid. Currently the air temperature is 27 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit), and the track temperature is a shade above that at 29 degrees Celsius (84 degrees Fahrenheit). Track temperatures are continuing to drop as we get into the evening hours.
As you get closer to 10PM, the track develops a slimy surface. So, hopefully, we can get this race in, in a 45 minute window and finish by oh, a quarter to ten. Jonathan Rea has become just the fourth rider in WSBK history to win back to back championships. Only Fred Merkel, Doug Polen, and Carl Fogarty, have done it before him. Can Chaz Davies become the first rider since Troy Bayliss (a decade ago in 2006), to win three successive doubles? Saeed Al Sulaiti has one more opportunity to score at least a point in his home race in Qatar.
After crashing yesterday and sitting out race one, Poland's Pawel Szkopek will be starting the finale. Jonathan Rea is indeed the 2016 FIM World Superbike Champion. Rea goes out tonight, on a relatively different motorcycle than he had in last night's competition. Kawasaki is developing parts for 2017. Rea wants to tie Chaz Davies for number of race wins this year. Nine for Rea, and ten for Davies is what the tally reads so far. Everyone is getting towards the end of their engine allocation for the year. Davies can toggle between any engine except for one of the seven he's got. So, he has six engines available even in the finale, not that you'd change engines on the motorcycle during the race, because that would be:
A. silly
B. against the rules
Davies flew in the evening warmup session. Unless something really dramatic happens, don't look for Chaz Davies to be beaten in the race in a fair fight. He's got the best bike on the grid tonight. But, as they say, to finish first, first you must finish. Davies may win the race. If Tom Sykes finishes third or worse, Chaz Davies retains second in the points standings. If Sykes is second, even if Davies goes on to win this race, Sykes will be runner up in points behind team mate, and champ, Jonathan Rea. So, pretty simple points equations going into the finale, as compared to the permutations from race one last night.
Sylvain Guintoli finally brought Yamaha to the podium, after they came back to race in World Superbike this year. We do not know where he will land next year. Two years ago in 2014, Guintoli rode for Aprilia, did the double victory, and won the championship in Qatar. Yamaha has a new exhaust system on the YZF R1. That could be one reason for their major performance improvement this weekend. Guintoli had injuries earlier in the year. But, the Yamaha is surely improving. Progress is being made on that bike, as they passed both the Honda's and Kawasaki's on the one kilometer straightaway on this track.
Pedercini riders Saeed Al Sulaiti and Leon Haslam have done well. Anthony West, was the rider to give Pedercini their best WSBK 2016 finish, coming home fifth in Malaysia. Tom Sykes has a different engine allocation altogether. Four of them have been ruled out. But, he can toggle between his last three motors (5, 6, and 7), for this race. There are no team orders at Kawasaki apparently. But, spare a thought for poor old Davide Giugliano. He is unfit to race tonight because of damage to his right shoulder. So, his 2016 WSBK season, and perhaps, his career as a World Superbike rider, have potentially come to a disappointing end. His Ducati Panigale sits forlornly in it's garage. Only Chaz Davies will represent Aruba Ducati in this race.
We look at Jordi Torres' BMW S1000RR and in the test session at Jerez de la Frontera after the most recent race there, in Spain, Torres was experimenting with new forks on his BMW S1000RR. There are thinner bottoms on these forks, and new fork clamps which attach the fork to the front wheel of the motorcycle. Honda is another team running new forks on their Fireblade motorcycle for Michael van der Mark and Nicky Hayden. Alex Lowes was in a good fight with Jordi Torres in the Saturday race, but could not find a way by the BMW rider. Kawasaki says there are no official team orders and the riders are to decide how they want to race. The two crew chiefs for Kawasaki have their own idea.
Tom Sykes' crew chief, Marcel Twinke says there's been no team orders all year. Jonathan Rea's crew chief Per Arriba said that if they were in a racing situation, Rea would let Sykes go by. These boys are professionals, and obviously, their chief mechanics each believe that. Kawasaki has won everything and Rea has to give something back to Kawasaki. Sportsmanship is the big deal here. This is in essence, the first race of the 2017 season theoretically. Nicky Hayden is on his eighth motor, so, he will start from pit lane, even though he's qualified second on the grid. He was fifth in yesterday's race. The bikes are on their sighting lap. The whole field will fly by, and the marshals will hold Hayden for an extra five seconds.
The Honda mechanics tried to salvage the bike, but they had to change the motor. Last year, Xavi Fores was supposed to start the second race in Qatar for Aruba Ducati, and got sick, so he couldn't. Rea is the pole man. The pit lane closes 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Jonathan Rea will use this race as a test for next year. Rea is using the single throttlebody on his bike. That's a new rule for next year having a single one instead of a split throttlebody on the fuel injection system. Chaz Davies wins the overall Pirelli Best Lap Award. Tom Sykes has the Tissot Super Pole award.
Alex Lowes rolls off sixth. Xavi Fores is seventh. Eighth is Lorenzo Savadori. Michael van der Mark is ninth. Jordi Torres rounds out the top ten. Twelfth is his team mate, Raffaele De Rosa. 11th is Leon Camier. Camier has been an impressive rider this whole season. Josh Brookes rolls off 13th. MV Agusta has improved greatly since their first season in WSBK in 2014 when Claudio Corti was their main rider. 14th on the grid is Alex De Angelis on the Aprilia. Markus Reiterberger on the third BMW starts 16th. Leon Haslam is 15th. We should see more of the same competitiveness in WSBK next year. Honda should be even stronger with Stefan Bradl coming to the team from MotoGP. Yamaha should be on another level next year, too. Kawasaki and Ducati will remain competitive.
BMW might have a say next year once again, too. Aprilia may have two teams next year with SMR and maybe, Ioda. Eugene Laverty will race for Aprilia in 2017. Karel Abraham makes his final WSBK start in 17th as he moves back to MotoGP with Aspar next year. The tire selection from Pirelli is set. Most guys using the SC0 rear and either the SC1 or SC2 compound front tire. The front tire, will be slightly harder if it's an SC2. Jonathan Rea and Nicky Hayden will both use the SC2. Roman Ramos starts 18th on the grid. Chaz Davies is using the SC1 front. So will Tom Sykes. Saeed Al Sulaiti starts 19th. Luca Scassa rolls of 20th. VFT Racing have had a difficult year.
Fabio Menghi, their original rider only ran at Misano after he was hurt initially injuring his back at Phillip Island during testing. The Alfa 4C safety car takes off. Five minutes to go before we start. Pawel Szkopek is 22nd. Dominic Schmitter starts 23rd. Peter Sebestyen is caboose on the field. Jonathan Rea leads the field from pole. We're ready for the WSBK finale. We are on the warmup lap. Given what we've seen from Chaz Davies, and that Ducati has more straight line speed, the Kawasaki's are going to struggle against Chaz Davies. Can Tom Sykes take the fight to Chaz Davies? We have 17 laps ahead of us. Can Jonathan Rea fight with Chaz Davies when the tires begin to drop off?
We have had very little change in the weather. The ambient temperature is the same and the ground temperature has dropped to 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit). The wind speed is at 3 kilometers an hour which is about 1.5 miles an hour. Nicky Hayden lines up at the end of pit lane and the marshal has the flag to wave him off to start after he takes his penalty. Race 26 of 26. The last go for WSBK in 2016. It's time... now! The race is underway! Another great start and the riders are already going side by side!
Both Lorenzo Savadori and Alex Lowes run off the road! Michael van der Mark also runs wide. Drama at the first turn, but things are clean and green at the sharp end. Tom Sykes is right behind Sylvain Guintoli. So, it is confirmed that Lowes and Savadori both ran wide in turn one. Nicky Hayden joins the race from pit lane. Leon Haslam has had an amazing start! He's gone from 15th on the grid up to seventh already! Chaz Davies passes Jonathan Rea. Xavi Fores has moved from seventh up to fifth. Oh dear! Jonathan Rea, the two-time world champion, is off the road!
There's dust, or smoke, or something, at turn one. Rea is now sinking like a stone! The second place battle is Yamaha vs. Kawasaki. It's Sylvain Guintoli vs. Tom Sykes. Rea has rejoined the race down in 13th spot. Davies has pulled out to an 8/10ths of a second lead. Xavi Fores has made his way to fourth spot. Leon Haslam has moved to fifth! Raffaele De Rosa is ahead of him in fifth on the top BMW. We saw De Rosa win the European Superstock 1000 championship here on 2 Wheelin'. He's a wheel man and can definitely ride a motorcycle. De Rosa ran in place of Markus Reiterberger at Laguna Seca, and this outing for him in Qatar is a gift for winning the Stock 1000 crown.
Tom Sykes is up to second. Can he reel in Davies? Sykes tries to pass Guintoli and almost has it, but runs a bit too deep into the corner. Davies sets fastest lap of the race so far at 1:57.534. If Guintoli can beat Sykes, that's the best thing to happen to Chaz Davies so he can secure second in the championship. Xavi Fores is looking for his second podium of the year. He is the 2014 champion in the IDM, the German Superbike championship. The job for Jonathan Rea now, is to fight his way up through the field to get back into a competitive place. Davies, meanwhile, resets fastest lap, taking it to 1:57.476. Rea is in the middle of a BMW sandwich at the moment, between Josh Brookes and Markus Reiterberger.
Raffaele De Rosa is the top BMW for Althea in fourth, racing Leon Haslam. Alex De Angelis runs seventh on the Aprilia. Jordi Torres is eight on another of the Althea BMW's. In the meantime, Michael van der Mark is catching Leon Camier. We come to the corner where Camier wrecked the MV in race one. Chaz Davies has a 1.7 second lead over Tom Sykes. As the championship stands at the moment in the battle for second, Sykes is ahead of Davies by just two points. 447-445. Rea is champ on 486 markers. Davies is more keen to finish the race with another win, than to finish second in the championship. De Rosa tries Haslam again in the braking zone. No dice.
Davies lowers fastest lap again, to 1:57.413. One other contrast between Rea and Sykes is that Sykes carries a larger battery in the back of the bike to power it up, whereas Rea carries a smaller one, to have less inertia and less moving parts, whereas more inertia is what Sykes likes to ride with. The battery is stored just behind the seat. Davies backs the bike into the left hand turn. Oh dear. We see some contact between De Rosa and Haslam. The two of them were side by side through turn five. Haslam has easily lost two or three spots after that kerfuffle. He has dropped down to eighth place.
He is behind De Angelis and Torres. Torres moves by De Angelis on the inside.
Someone loses their motorcycle into turn 14. Josh Brookes ditches the BMW. Jonathan Rea has to be careful to avoid a dust up with Michael van der Mark as well. Michael van der Mark and Jonathan Rea have made a pass on Leon Camier. Rea makes the pass on van der Mark in the Dutchman's final ride for Honda. Rea also looks to pass Leon Haslam on a similar Kawasaki ZX10R. The Double R version of that bike will be racing next year. Look for the Kawsaki ZX10RR in 2017. A battle forms between two of the BMW's. Jordi Torres is closing on Raffaele De Rosa. How ironic. Torres needs to pass De Rosa, who is using Torres' spare S1000RR in this race.
Markus Reiterberger is down in 13th. But, Torres, I guarantee you, following his spare bike, with De Rosa in the seat, is saying, "dude! Give me back my other bike! I've had enough of this!" Torres shoots past De Rosa and gets some revenge. Alex De Angelis on the Aprilia will try getting by Leon Haslam. De Angelis has run into the Pedercini Kawasaki earlier this year and no doubt has memories. That was at Donington Park in England, back in May, with Anthony West on the motorcycle as opposed to it's current rider, Leon Haslam, son of former 500cc Grand Prix racer "Rocket" Ron Haslam.
We know that both the Aprilia RSV4 and the BMW S1000RR are fantastically quick down the straightaways compared to some of the other bikes in this field. Saeed Al Sulaiti, game over! His bike is on fire! The Qatari rider did not want to go out of his home race and he is fuming, kicking the gravel. Al Sulatiti was just about in the points when his engine absolutely and comprehensively went ka-blammo. He's OK. But he's lit up every ounce of oil in the crankcase. There's oil down on the road and the marshals wisely decide to red flag this race.
We're halfway home and this race takes another twist. Chaz Davies has a three second lead and it will disappear. We will go back to the end of the last full lap. But this race will maintain what it is. We could perhaps run to 2/3rds distance, to lap 11. The pit crews can make changes. Jonathan Rea jumps off the bike and he is perturbed that it isn't running well. There will be a quick start procedure, and we will have a ten lap sprint to the finish of this one according to the marshals from Dorna and the FIM. Rea will get his bike fixed and get new tires. Saeed Al Sulaiti was hoping to get a single point for 15th place, but that will not happen.
The sprockets on the change can be changed. But the gear ratios are stock and set. Fuel goes into the Ducati for Chaz Davies. Michael Laverty is the track spotter for Davies who is a former MotoGP rider and current British Superbike Championship rider. Rea admitted that he went off the track in Laguna Seca in error. Track crews are still cleaning up the oil from Al Sulaiti's blown motor. Red flags are difficult for the riders to refocus for a shortened race. We are yet to be given a time frame for when this race will restart.
We will restart this race in ten minutes, and run for a duration of ten laps. Last minute preparations are going on with changing allowable parts on the bikes. Don't forget that now, Nicky Hayden will start on the grid, and he started this race originally, from the pit lane. The differences in corner speed and where the Kawasaki and the Ducati have the speed in the corners, as well as riding styles between riders such as Tom Sykes, Chaz Davies, and Jonathan Rea, has been a major talking point for this whole season, and in Qatar for the finale it is no exception. Tom Sykes has continued to have recurring rear brake issues this weekend in Qatar, as he has throughout the season.
Sykes has had to use bottles of water to cool the brake so it wouldn't seize up and would release. We have five minutes before pit lane opens, and the pit will be open for one minute and one minute only. We watch Ioda Aprilia and their mechanics at work. The whole team basically moved across from MotoGP into World Superbike. Leon Haslam has been running well on his one round deal with Pedercini. The only riders with anything to lose as we get close to a finish in Qatar this evening are Chaz Davies and Tom Sykes. They want second in the championship, or, another win. We've got a ten lap sprint, coming up.
Anything can happen now. We are out on the next sighting lap to form up on the grid. It is a ten lap shootout. It is going to be very unpredictable. What can Nicky Hayden do? He's up to 15th. Roman Ramos is 16th. Leon Camier is without a motorcycle. He may not restart this race. Ah. Camier has the bike, and is back on track. Camier may have to start at the back of the grid. We have another race start. It is now 20 minutes to 10PM local time. Tough luck for Leon Camier. He will start this race from the back of the grid.
Here we go. A ten lap sprint for all the marbles. Davies, Sykes, and Guintoli on the front row. Red lights on. Red lights, out! Away we go! Chaz Davies makes a great start. Sykes goes inside and Rea and Leon Haslam both are making their moves right now. Rea is struggling off the line. Leon Haslam has moved his way up to third place. Rea gets sat up big time! Davies has the lead over Sykes and Haslam. Ducati, Kawasaki, Kawasaki. Leon Camier has made his way to 15th. Alex De Angelis on the Aprilia, it could be game over for him. Rea is now running sixth. Rea is now in hot pursuit of Sylvain Guintoli.
Raffaele De Rosa runs behind these two on the BMW. It can now be confirmed. Alex De Angelis. Out of race. Rea passes Sylvain Guintoli for fifth. No jump starts. Use the pace well through the race. This is a real opportunity for Pedercini to finish on the podium. Xavi Fores runs wide and allows both Kawasaki's to move through. Haslam passes Rea. Pedercini Kawasaki vs. factory Kawasaki. Rea re-passes Haslam into the next corner. Pedercini has never finished on the podium. They had a fourth place, 16 years ago, at Phillip Island when team owner Lucio Pedercini was a rider himself, back in the year 2000.
Chaz Davies has Tom Sykes within striking distance. Davies is going to get a tough run for his money here. Jonathan Rea sets fastest lap of the race at 1:56.979. A new lap record. Chaz Davies is starting to open a gap. New fast lap as Jonathan Rea brings it down to 1:56.974. Five thousandths of a second faster! Sylvain Guintoli runs wide fending off the attack by Leon Haslam. Sykes is holding off Jonathan Rea and not letting him loose to go after Chaz Davies. The points gap between Sykes and Davies for second and third is down to two. 447-445. Davies now leads by 1.2 seconds with just six laps left in the 2016 season.
Guintoli has passed Haslam. Behind them it's Raffaele De Rosa and Xavi Fores. Jordi Torres makes a move on Michael van der Mark. Nicky Hayden completes the top ten. Rea dives inside Sykes into turn ten. Rea makes the pass and makes it stick. Can Jonathan Rea take the fight to Chaz Davies and go for the win? As it stands now, Chaz Davies will be second in the championship two points ahead of Tom Sykes in third. Rea will go after Davies for the win. Rea is clsoing up. He's just a second behind Davies now. Raffaele De Rosa is still trying to get around Leon Haslam. Sylvain Guintoli won't be on the podium, but he'll still have a good finish.
Nicky Hayden is having a good run in ninth place, just ahead of his Ten Kate Honda team mate, Michael van der Mark, who of course is headed for Yamaha in 2017. Jonathan Rea has yet to win at only two tracks on the current WSBK calendar. Here in Qatar, and, at Jerez de la Frontera, in Spain. Rea has bridged the gap to Davies, running three tenths faster than the Ducati. Davies and Rea are battling. Who finishes runner up if Rea passes Davies? Davies needs to win to finish second in points. Rea sets a new fastest lap at 1:56.999. Check that. It's Davies' personal best lap. Jordi Torres passes Raffaele De Rosa for sixth.
Davies and Rea continue their battle into the final lap. It is now the last lap of the 2016 season. Rea has given up lots of ground to Chaz Davies. Rea is going to let Sykes through on the last lap. Karel Abraham has just crashed out of his last WSBK race before returning to MotoGP in 2017. Davies will take his 11th race win of 2016! Davies will finish second in the championship more or less. Tom Sykes is not making an effort to make any moves. It looks like Kawasaki will stage a photo finish for second. Rea allows Sykes through, as Chaz Davies wins 11 races this year!
World Superbike Race 2: #7 Chaz Davies GBR. Ducati 1199 Panigale R
A fabulous race to end the 2016 season. Sykes finishes second in the championship. Leon Haslam has had a great race tonight on the Pedercini bike, finishing fifth. What a great race! ...And so, the 2016 FIM World Superbike season, comes to an end. This is Chaz Davies' seventh double. He is level with Raymond Roche, the Frenchman, who was the first ever world champ for Ducati in 1990. Have Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea made up for now? Maybe. But, we'll be back soon, in February of 2017, to start it all again at Phillip Island in Australia.
Jonathan Rea has set fastest lap in this race. Chaz Davies wins the Pirelli Best Lap award with ten successive fastest race laps. Maybe Rea and Sykes have made up for the time being. Eleven race wins for Chaz Davies from 26 races. Nine for Jonathan Rea, and five for Tom Sykes. Plus, one, for Nicky Hayden in Malaysia. Chaz Davies has pulled off three doubles in a row, in ten years. Wow! Drama on the podium with the flowers and trophies. No Prosecco on the podium here in Qatar. Jonathan Rea becomes the tenth British rider to win a championship. He is the first back-to-back champion since the turn of the new millennium, and only the the fourth championship winning rider to defend a title.
What a year it has been. Keep your engines running. 2017 is coming, soon. But, your 2016, back-to-back champion is Jonathan Rea. Chaz Davies won 11 races. Kawasaki has won the manufacturer's championship for a second straight year. That's it. What a way to end a fabulous year of racing. We had everything you could have wished for in a fabulous finale. We'll keep you updated through the off season, and we will be racing again in 2017 at Phillip Island in Australia at the end of February. Thanks for joining us for World Superbike, here on 2 Wheelin'. We'll see you, next year. So long, everyone.
Monday, November 21, 2016
FIM World Superbike Round 13: Qatar (season finale) Race 1
We have reached the finale of the 2016 FIM World Superbike season, under the lights, at the Losail circuit in Doha, Qatar. For the second time in three years, we will see this race weekend, be a shootout for the title. The World Superbike Championship first raced here back in 2005. They've raced at night, under the lights, since 2014, when Sylvain Guintoli won the championship for Aprilia. The title fight is of course between Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes, Kawasaki team mates. Rea could easily wrap up the championship in the first race. The track on the Arabian peninsula, is 5.3 kilometers (3.3 miles) long. There is no elevation change. The circuit is as flat as a pancake.
Aprilia has a good record here, having won the last four races here in the Qatari desert. Pause, take a deep breath, and, here we go. This is the 13th and final round of the 2016 FIM World Superbike season. Let's have a look at the weather. As night falls in Qatar the air temperature is 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit), with the track temperature just two degrees warmer at 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit). It is 7:15 P.M. local time, and the temperatures are cooling off at the moment. 2017 marks the 30th anniversary of World Superbike, since it began back in 1988. Only three riders have ever been back to back world champions in WSBK. Fred Merkel from the United States, won back-to-back titles in 1988 and '89. His fellow American, Doug Polen, did so in 1991 and '92. Carl Fogarty won in 1998 and '99.
Jonathan Rea could be the first rider to accomplish the feat of back to back world championships, since the turn of the new millennium. Tom Sykes could also be the first rider to win back to back championships for Kawasaki. Another American rider, Scott Russell, won the championship on a Kawasaki, in 1993. Rea currently holds a 48 point lead over Tom Sykes. Rea starts from pole, and the only way he will be beaten is if Tom Sykes somehow manages to win both races, with Jonathan Rea scoring no more than a single point, for a single, 15th place finish. That seems highly unlikely to occur.
Rea wants to be the ninth rider in history to win the final race and win the title. However, as of late there's been no stopping his rival Chaz Davies on the Ducati. Davies is keen to finish the 2016 season with a lot of race wins, to build momentum through the winter, looking ahead to 2017. Davies could very likely win the most races this year, without winning the championship. It could look a lot like 2014, because that year, Tom Sykes and Marco Melandri, won more races than did the eventual world champion, Sylvain Guintoli. Sykes has won 31 times in his career, and five races in 2016. He wants a 20th podium of the season, here in Qatar. 17 laps scheduled for the first race.
Sykes starts fifth on the grid. Michael van der Mark, says farewell to Honda this weekend. It is the last time we will see #60 on a Honda as van der Mark moves to Yamaha for 2017. It's a bittersweet moment as he leaves Ten Kate Honda. We expected to see a lot more from Pata Yamaha this year, but of course, Sylvain Guintoli was injured earlier on in the season. Guintoli fractured his ankle at Imola in Italy and was sidelined for a few races. Alex Lowes also had several injuries with a fractured collarbone, a fractured shoulder, and an ankle injury. The riders are out on their sighting lap at the moment as Jonathan Rea comes out in front of the red Ducati of Davide Giugliano. The question is, will this be the last weekend that we see Davide Giugliano on the grid at a World Superbike race?
Giugliano is one of only 18 riders to start over 100 races in World Superbike, without winning one. Giugliano and Michael van der Mark both celebrated birthdays this past Friday of the race weekend in Qatar. So, Happy Birthday to them both. Will we see a Yamaha on the podium, or will we not? The Yamaha has a straight line speed deficit to the other motorcycles in this field. We do not know where Sylvain Guintoli will land next year. Rumors are swirling that link Guintoli back to Aprilia and have him racing for the Ioda Aprilia squad, next year. Guintoli has been receiving lots of interest from British Superbike, and despite being French, Guintoli does live in England.
The Aprilia's have done well here in the past, but they are surely on the back foot this weekend. Leon Haslam and Jordi Torres gave Aprilia wins here last year. But, their current rider, Lorenzo Savadori, could only muster eighth spot on the starting grid. Alex De Angelis could only manage 15th spot. The permutations are as follows:
If Jonathan Rea finishes this first race on Saturday, scoring at minimum, two points, he is champion no matter what else happens.
If Tom Sykes does not win this race, it's over. Jonathan Rea is guaranteed the championship, no matter what.
If Sykes wins, and Jonathan Rea finishes as low as 14th, Jonathan Rea still earns the championship crown. Sykes has to win, to take the fight into the Sunday race, tomorrow night.
On the sighting lap, we see the bikes throwing flames out the exhaust, both orange, and blue. Anything can happen. Many of the 2017 motorcycles are being prepped for launch. There was an eight hour test session on the Monday after the race at Jerez de la Frontera last time out. Kawasaki will not be able to run split throttle bodies next year. Jonathan Rea earns his second Tissot watch for Super Pole, this year, and the eighth of his career. Rea has thrown down the gauntlet, storming on to pole position, in qualifying.
Will Rea win the title in race one? Rea has only his fourth pole with Kawasaki, ever. He earned them in the opening races of 2015 in Australia and Thailand. Then, he had a long, long, long dry spell only earning poles in France at Magny-Cours, and then, here in Qatar. Nicky Hayden rolls off second. He ran a great lap in qualifying on a qualifying tire. Chaz Davies is another man who has made lightning quick getaways off the line this year. We have a new record to talk about. Jonathan Rea has scored 12 poles this year. That's a new record for the nation's cup, because now, Great Britain has a total of a dozen poles in one season, which has never happened before.
The previous record was 11 for England, tied with the United States. Eleven poles for the U.S.A. in 1991 and 2009. Who were the riders? Doug Polen in '91, and in 2009, it was Ben Spies. Former Moto3 racer Arthur Sissis is here to watch the race tonight. Chaz Davies has won yet another Pirelli Best Lap Award. Chaz Davies could actually win one more race than does Jonathan Rea, this year, should he pull off the victory tonight in one or both races. Kawasaki Industries Deputy Senior Manager Eiko Kirino is here representing KRT in Qatar. It is her first visit to a World Superbike race.
Both of the Yamaha YZF R1's are starting on the second row of the grid, with Sylvain Guintoli and Alex Lowes. Lowes ran faster and outqualified Guintoli last time out at Jerez, for only the first time this season. Tonight, they roll off fourth and sixth respectively. Xavi Fores put his Barni Racing Ducati seventh on the grid. 2014 Evo class champion David Salom comes by to wish Xavi Fores good luck. David Salom has been running and assisting Illia Mykhalchyk in the World Supersport class. Mykhalchyk testing the Team Toth Yamaha YZF R1 World Superbike at Jerez, a few weeks back. Xavi Fores has run very well this weekend in practice.
We are ten minutes away from the start of a 17 lap race. Lorenzo Savadori rolls off eighth. Britain could win it's tenth title. We have seen Carl Fogarty, Neil Hodgson, James Toseland, and Tom Sykes, as the British riders who have won WSBK championships. Tom Sykes is being assisted by his brother Anthony, and his crew chief Marcel Twinke with choosing what helmet visor to run for this race. Sylvain Guintoli rolls off fourth for Yamaha. Michael van der Mark is ninth. These are his final two races for Honda, as he moves to Yamaha in 2017. van der Mark will be Guintoli's replacement on that team.
Jordi Torres completes the top ten on the Althea BMW S1000RR. He won the first race in Qatar last year, riding for Aprilia. Saeed Al Sulaiti is in his home race here in Qatar. Davide Giugliano rolls off 11th and these might be the last races of his WSBK career. Giugliano has been in a lot of pain as of late. Saeed Al Sulaiti had a day job in the Qatari Special Forces before he began his motorcycle racing career. Leon Camier rolls off in 12th place. Raffaele De Rosa rolls off 13th on the sister BMW S1000RR to Jordi Torres, bike #35. He was covering for the injured Markus Reiterberger at Laguna Seca back in July. But, Althea has entered three BMW S1000RR's here in Qatar
De Rosa hopes to race for Althea full-time next year in a three bike BMW squad in WSBK in 2017. We'll see if that happens. Josh Brookes rolls off in 14th place. Here's the 411 on the tires. Everyone is on the same Pirelli rear tire compound, the SC0 compound. With the front tire, it comes down to rider preference. Most riders on the SC1 front tire with a handful of others on the SC2 front tire, to fit their preference, and their individual riding style. Alex De Angelis rolls off 15th. The Alfa Romeo 4C safety car pulls away, and so, we are five minutes away from the start of race one in Qatar.
In the past, we've seen 13 WSBK titles won in race one of the finale, and 15 in the second race of the weekend. We also welcome back, in 16th place, Leon Haslam. Haslam won the final race of the 2015 season right here in Qatar. Leon Haslam racing for Pedercini Kawasaki this weekend, and the ride is a bit of a gift for finishing second overall in the points for the British Superbike Championship. Haslam has had electrical issues through practice and qualifying with the motorcycle. Markus Reiterberger on the second Althea BMW rolls off 17th. Remember, that team has three bikes in this race.
Back to Leon Haslam for a moment. With the electrical issues on the Pedercini Kawasaki, his opportunity to run in the first free practice was wiped out. Chaz Davies could be the favorite for this first race as we look across the front of the grid. Nicky Hayden is second and he did great on the qualifying tire. Jonathan Rea is on the verge of world championship number two. If Sykes is going to be champion, he needs to win both races, with Rea scoring no more than one 15th place finish for one solitary point.
Karel Abraham is making his final two starts in World Superbike, before returning to MotoGP in 2017. Peter Sebestyen starts caboose on the field. 25 riders and motorcycles will start the two races in the finale of WSBK 2016. Can Jonathan Rea become the first rider to win back-to-back world championships, since Carl Fogarty in 1998 and '99? No rider for Kawasaki has ever won two straight titles. Kawasaki does have three rider's championships. American Scott Russell won the 1993 World Superbike Championship. Tom Sykes did it 20 years later in 2013, and last year in 2015, Jonathan Rea won his first WSBK crown.
Rea has a 48 point lead in the standings over Tom Sykes, 462-414. Jonathan Rea has nothing to lose, but Tom Sykes really has to push like no tomorrow if he wants to win another title. Simple math. If Tom Sykes does not win, Jonathan Rea is the champion. We have another weather update just before the lights go out. 27 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit), air temperature. 29 degrees Celsius (84 degrees Fahrenheit), track temperature. Jonathan Rea wants to join an illustrious list of riders who have won two championships. Those riders are such legends as Fred Merkel, Doug Polen, Troy Corser, Colin Edwards, James Toseland, and Max Biaggi. Merkel, Polen, and Fogarty have successfully defended their titles.
Only Troy Bayliss and Carl Fogarty have won more titles. Per Arriba, Jonathan Rea's crew chief looks on. A brand new set of starting lights at Losail are going to illuminate to get this race underway. Is Jonathan Rea going to make history? Red lights, on. Red lights, out! Away we go! Brilliant starts for both Jonathan Rea and Nicky Hayden. Everyone gets off the line well, and here comes Chaz Davies, going for the lead already! Nicky Hayden passes Jonathan Rea, and, Tom Sykes is also moving up right from the get go. Tom Sykes needs to fight through to the front and he's working on making a pass on Nicky Hayden.
Rea is looking good for the title at this moment. Chaz Davies out in front, has great race pace. We see that Leon Haslam has also made a great start on the Pedercini Kawasaki. Already, Haslam has made up five places and is up to 11th after starting in 16th. Lorenzo Savadori runs off the road in turn five and rejoins, but gets shuffled down the order. Michael van der Mark has also sunk like a stone and is down to 17th place. Can Tom Sykes get to the front and take the fight to Jonathan Rea? The Kawasaki struggles for top speed down the kilometer long front straight here in Qatar. Ducati was suffering the same troubles, if you recall, earlier in the year.
The two fastest bikes on the straight are not the ZX10R Kawasaki or the 1199 Panigale Ducati. They are the BMW S1000RR and the Aprilia RSV4. Rea is trying to move around Davies for the lead as we head into lap two. Leon Haslam is fighting for eight spot with Jordi Torres right now. Chaz Davies is under pressure from both Jonathan Rea and Nicky Hayden. Can Sylvain Guintoli get through on Tom Sykes? Don't forget, Guintoli won his title here in Qatar, two years ago. Jordi Torres takes a spot away from Alex Lowes. Lorenzo Savadori is fighting through the field after his early problems, getting around Saeed al Sulaiti and Gianluca Vizziello.
Davide Giugliano has dropped like a stone and is 20th in the order. Likewise, Josh Brookes has been off the road and dropped four spots. Sylvain Guintoli is making an inside pass on Tom Sykes, and we have our first fastest lap of race one. Chaz Davies runs a 1:57.371. Meanwhile, Guintoli is on the attack, going inside Tom Sykes and makes a pass for fourth stick, through corner number one. Remember now, Tom Sykes needs to win this race if he's going to take the title from Jonathan Rea. Sykes' title hopes are going even more pear shaped right now. Sykes has fallen 2.5 seconds behind the leaders. Leon Haslam does pass Alex Lowes for eighth.
Michael van der Mark (in his final ride for Honda), has recovered to 11th after being in 19th at the beginning. We'll keep an eye on how the tires are. Karel Abraham, meanwhile, has fallen a few places down the order too. Abraham is back in action in Qatar. He missed the previous races in Jerez after being ill with a high fever. Abraham has run off the road on the second Milwaukee BMW, someplace. Chaz Davies is pushing, and his left foot comes off the foot peg at turn 14. Rea looks to pass down the start/finish straightaway. He thought he'd have a go at Chaz Davies. Close, but no cigar. We are starting lap four of 17.
Rea said the Kawasaki was struggling for top end speed and observed that the Ducati had plenty. Davies' strength is being king of the late brakers, going deep into the corner. Nicky Hayden is trying to catch Jonathan Rea. But, Rea still has a second and a half in hand over the Honda rider. Sylvain Guintoli is opening a gap towards Tom Sykes. Guintoli loves the speedway here in Doha, and has run well here in the past. Alex Lowes passes Leon Haslam for eighth. Alex De Angelis runs tenth. Michael van der Mark is ninth on the sister Ten Kate Honda right now. Let's do a top 15 rundown at the moment.
1. Chaz Davies
2. Jonathan Rea
3. Nicky Hayden
4. Sylvain Guintoli
5. Tom Sykes
6. Xavi Fores
7. Jordi Torres
8. Alex Lowes
9. Leon Haslam
10. Michael van der Mark
11. Alex De Angelis
12. Leon Camier
13. Raffaele De Rosa
14. Roman Ramos
15. Josh Brookes
For some reason, Pawel Szkopek failed to start this race. There was a tech issue for Szkopek after he wrecked the bike in Super Pole. Team Toth couldn't repair it. Game over for Szkopek. Sylvain Guintoli is hot on Nicky Hayden's heels at the moment was we work lap five of 17. Tom Sykes runs fifth, four seconds behind the leader. Something has also gone awry with Alex De Angelis. Both Leon Camier and Raffaele De Rosa have gotten around him. Nicky Hayden is fighting Sylvain Guintoli. Tom Sykes continues to fall behind Guintoli. Alex Lowes is trying to catch Jordi Torres. Tom Sykes is fifth, and as the points stand at this moment, Rea has a 57 point lead on Sykes. Only 25 points remain in race two. So, Rea should secure the championship at the end of this race.
The gap between Guintoli and Sykes is a second and a half. That's insurmountable for Sykes to be able to cleanly pass and then go for the title. Sykes has to keep fighting. Michael van der Mark, in recovery mode, passes Leon Haslam on the Pedercini Kawasaki. Two years ago, Leon Haslam was riding for Honda. Back then, he and Jonathan Rea were team mates at Ten Kate. Behind these two blokes, another good scrap. Leon Camier makes a move on Raffaele De Rosa. Haslam hopes to improve his Kawasaki for the second race. Davies is running a tenth or so faster than is Jonathan Rea.
Chaz Davies leads, but it looks like Tom Sykes is continually losing ground to Sylvain Guintoli on the Yamaha. Ten laps remain. Next lap, will be halfway. Guintoli is going to make his move on Hayden, as we speak, folks! Guintoli does pass Hayden. Don't go to the fridge, folks. This is a good one! Yamaha could score their first podium of the season. The leaders have just lapped Gianluca Vizziello, who is in 24th place. Sylvain Guintoli could be on for his first podium on the Yamaha and his first since Magny-Cours in 2015 when he rode for Honda. The points situation right now sees Rea on 482 points and Sykes, 57 points behind on 425.
Will Jonathan Rea hold on for his second straight World Superbike championship? Tom Sykes is 1.4 seconds behind Nicky Hayden and is seven or so seconds behind the leaders. Rea might very well have the championship in the bag. Eight laps to go. Rea runs 3/10ths of a second behind Davies. There is another good scrap brewing in the midfield. Check that. This is the sharp end. Xavi Fores on the Ducati vs. Jordi Torres on the BMW, and Alex Lowes on the Yamaha. Fores has really stepped up his game. Torres is the best of the three BMW riders in this race. Can Torres make the move on Fores?
Seven laps left as Jonathan Rea closes on Chaz Davies. Rea isn't close enough to make the move. Davies opens his lead a tenth of a second every lap. The Kawasaki and the Ducati make their speed as individual bikes in different ways. But, in comparing lap times, they are on par with each other. The gap from the leaders to Sylvain Guintoli in third is six seconds. Will Chaz Davies win? He's won five of the last six races. Will it be Jonathan Rea? These two are tied on nine wins apiece right now. The gap between Davies and Rea has increased to 8/10ths of a second. The tires begin to fall off in the final third of the race.
Davide Giugliano has gone into the pit lane. His last weekend as a factory Ducati rider, is a sour one. Giugliano will retire from a race for the fifth time this year. He is only the first retirement of this race. Guintoli wants to make a move. The issue is, his Yamaha YZF R1 is better through the corners, but loses steam on the straightaways compared to the other motorcycles. Davies extends his lead to 1.7 seconds. Rea will take the championship and settle for second instead of trying to have a go at Chaz Davies. It has been 11 years since a rider clinched a title by finishing second. Troy Corser was the last one to do it, in 2005, in race one at Imola, riding a Suzuki.
The Aprilia factory riders swap spots. Lorenzo Savadori passes Alex De Angelis. At the end of lap 12, Karel Abraham hits pit lane. So, problems for the Milwaukee BMW rider. Rea is running 10.6 seconds behind Davies. Sykes has not been able to run as consistently at the front as Rea or Davies. There's a huge five bike battle for tenth place. This is Haslam, Camier, De Rosa, Savadori, and De Angelis! Camier took 6/10ths of a second out of Haslam on the previous lap. Haslam is a veteran Superbike racer. But, he does not have the experience and seat time on this particular bike, with the current tires or the current electronics package. Savadori has recovered from being down the order and has now made a pass on De Rosa.
Savadori and De Rosa, are the two latest FIM Superstock 1000 European Cup champions, scrapping with each other. You have heard about De Rosa's efforts, in Stock 1000, from those race reports right here on 2 Wheelin' throughout 2016. Oh no! Sparks fly up the road as Leon Camier crashes out, ditching the MV Agusta! Poor old Leon Camier! He's had a great race weekend here in Qatar so far. But, as the sparks fly, he'll have to play catch up. It's without doubt game over for Camier. This moves Savadori, De Rosa, De Angelis up one place each. Josh Brookes is once again promoted into the points paying positions.
Three laps left in race one. In three laps, Chaz Davies will have won more races than any other rider this season. He will score his tenth victory of 2016. It'll be his first ever win in Qatar. It will be Ducati's first win in Qatar since Troy Bayliss scored the W in 2008. Jonathan Rea will finish second,l three seconds behind Davies, and he'll score a second straight World Superbike title. It's not game over for Leon Camier. He's come back into the race to finish it out. Jonathan Rea will set lots of records. He's the first rider to win two titles for Kawasaki. He will be the tenth British rider to win a World Superbike championship. He'll be the third British rider to win two titles, after Carl Fogarty, and James Toseland.
Rea will also have the first successive championship wins since Carl Fogarty at the end of the 1990s. Sylvain Guintoli and Yamaha will finish on the podium. Nicky Hayden is losing time to Tom Sykes. Sykes is catching Hayden for fourth spot. Guintoli will score Yamaha's first podium in five years. This will be Yamaha's first podium since 2011 when they pulled out of the series for the first time. Marco Melandri scored a podium finish ahead of Eugene Laverty in Portimao, Portugal, that year. Both riders are coming back to WSBK next year. Melandri with Aruba Ducati, and Laverty with Milwaukee Aprilia.
Tom Sykes' chances of winning the championship seem to be fading, as he fights with Nicky Hayden for fourth. Yamaha is on the verge of their first 2016 podium. Sykes' race pace has been held back due to his rear brake sticking. Chaz Davies has been in a class by himself this weekend in Qatar, so far. Davies has won five out of the last six races. Every dry race has been won by him since we came back from the summer break, in Germany, back in September. Hayden will have a good result in fifth. He said that the Q (or, Qualifying), tire, was a tough one to run on.
Hayden will be fifth in the championship. The Rea/Sykes battle has been the team battle we've talked about. Jonathan Rea will defend his World Superbike crown, and joining those names we mentioned earlier, to win two titles. Rea is the best, the most consistent rider in the world. Chaz Davies wins his tenth race of the season!
World Superbike Race 1: #7 Chaz Davies GBR. Ducati 1199 Panigale R
World Superbike Champion: #1 Jonathan Rea GBR. Kawasaki ZX10R
For the first time since the turn of the new millennium, we have a two-time World Superbike champion! Carl Fogarty won the title (his fourth), at the Hockenheimring in Germany, in 1999. Yours truly, has decided, to separate the blog entries for each race. Race two, will take a bit longer. So, stay tuned for coverage of race two, coming up, tomorrow.
Aprilia has a good record here, having won the last four races here in the Qatari desert. Pause, take a deep breath, and, here we go. This is the 13th and final round of the 2016 FIM World Superbike season. Let's have a look at the weather. As night falls in Qatar the air temperature is 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit), with the track temperature just two degrees warmer at 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit). It is 7:15 P.M. local time, and the temperatures are cooling off at the moment. 2017 marks the 30th anniversary of World Superbike, since it began back in 1988. Only three riders have ever been back to back world champions in WSBK. Fred Merkel from the United States, won back-to-back titles in 1988 and '89. His fellow American, Doug Polen, did so in 1991 and '92. Carl Fogarty won in 1998 and '99.
Jonathan Rea could be the first rider to accomplish the feat of back to back world championships, since the turn of the new millennium. Tom Sykes could also be the first rider to win back to back championships for Kawasaki. Another American rider, Scott Russell, won the championship on a Kawasaki, in 1993. Rea currently holds a 48 point lead over Tom Sykes. Rea starts from pole, and the only way he will be beaten is if Tom Sykes somehow manages to win both races, with Jonathan Rea scoring no more than a single point, for a single, 15th place finish. That seems highly unlikely to occur.
Rea wants to be the ninth rider in history to win the final race and win the title. However, as of late there's been no stopping his rival Chaz Davies on the Ducati. Davies is keen to finish the 2016 season with a lot of race wins, to build momentum through the winter, looking ahead to 2017. Davies could very likely win the most races this year, without winning the championship. It could look a lot like 2014, because that year, Tom Sykes and Marco Melandri, won more races than did the eventual world champion, Sylvain Guintoli. Sykes has won 31 times in his career, and five races in 2016. He wants a 20th podium of the season, here in Qatar. 17 laps scheduled for the first race.
Sykes starts fifth on the grid. Michael van der Mark, says farewell to Honda this weekend. It is the last time we will see #60 on a Honda as van der Mark moves to Yamaha for 2017. It's a bittersweet moment as he leaves Ten Kate Honda. We expected to see a lot more from Pata Yamaha this year, but of course, Sylvain Guintoli was injured earlier on in the season. Guintoli fractured his ankle at Imola in Italy and was sidelined for a few races. Alex Lowes also had several injuries with a fractured collarbone, a fractured shoulder, and an ankle injury. The riders are out on their sighting lap at the moment as Jonathan Rea comes out in front of the red Ducati of Davide Giugliano. The question is, will this be the last weekend that we see Davide Giugliano on the grid at a World Superbike race?
Giugliano is one of only 18 riders to start over 100 races in World Superbike, without winning one. Giugliano and Michael van der Mark both celebrated birthdays this past Friday of the race weekend in Qatar. So, Happy Birthday to them both. Will we see a Yamaha on the podium, or will we not? The Yamaha has a straight line speed deficit to the other motorcycles in this field. We do not know where Sylvain Guintoli will land next year. Rumors are swirling that link Guintoli back to Aprilia and have him racing for the Ioda Aprilia squad, next year. Guintoli has been receiving lots of interest from British Superbike, and despite being French, Guintoli does live in England.
The Aprilia's have done well here in the past, but they are surely on the back foot this weekend. Leon Haslam and Jordi Torres gave Aprilia wins here last year. But, their current rider, Lorenzo Savadori, could only muster eighth spot on the starting grid. Alex De Angelis could only manage 15th spot. The permutations are as follows:
If Jonathan Rea finishes this first race on Saturday, scoring at minimum, two points, he is champion no matter what else happens.
If Tom Sykes does not win this race, it's over. Jonathan Rea is guaranteed the championship, no matter what.
If Sykes wins, and Jonathan Rea finishes as low as 14th, Jonathan Rea still earns the championship crown. Sykes has to win, to take the fight into the Sunday race, tomorrow night.
On the sighting lap, we see the bikes throwing flames out the exhaust, both orange, and blue. Anything can happen. Many of the 2017 motorcycles are being prepped for launch. There was an eight hour test session on the Monday after the race at Jerez de la Frontera last time out. Kawasaki will not be able to run split throttle bodies next year. Jonathan Rea earns his second Tissot watch for Super Pole, this year, and the eighth of his career. Rea has thrown down the gauntlet, storming on to pole position, in qualifying.
Will Rea win the title in race one? Rea has only his fourth pole with Kawasaki, ever. He earned them in the opening races of 2015 in Australia and Thailand. Then, he had a long, long, long dry spell only earning poles in France at Magny-Cours, and then, here in Qatar. Nicky Hayden rolls off second. He ran a great lap in qualifying on a qualifying tire. Chaz Davies is another man who has made lightning quick getaways off the line this year. We have a new record to talk about. Jonathan Rea has scored 12 poles this year. That's a new record for the nation's cup, because now, Great Britain has a total of a dozen poles in one season, which has never happened before.
The previous record was 11 for England, tied with the United States. Eleven poles for the U.S.A. in 1991 and 2009. Who were the riders? Doug Polen in '91, and in 2009, it was Ben Spies. Former Moto3 racer Arthur Sissis is here to watch the race tonight. Chaz Davies has won yet another Pirelli Best Lap Award. Chaz Davies could actually win one more race than does Jonathan Rea, this year, should he pull off the victory tonight in one or both races. Kawasaki Industries Deputy Senior Manager Eiko Kirino is here representing KRT in Qatar. It is her first visit to a World Superbike race.
Both of the Yamaha YZF R1's are starting on the second row of the grid, with Sylvain Guintoli and Alex Lowes. Lowes ran faster and outqualified Guintoli last time out at Jerez, for only the first time this season. Tonight, they roll off fourth and sixth respectively. Xavi Fores put his Barni Racing Ducati seventh on the grid. 2014 Evo class champion David Salom comes by to wish Xavi Fores good luck. David Salom has been running and assisting Illia Mykhalchyk in the World Supersport class. Mykhalchyk testing the Team Toth Yamaha YZF R1 World Superbike at Jerez, a few weeks back. Xavi Fores has run very well this weekend in practice.
We are ten minutes away from the start of a 17 lap race. Lorenzo Savadori rolls off eighth. Britain could win it's tenth title. We have seen Carl Fogarty, Neil Hodgson, James Toseland, and Tom Sykes, as the British riders who have won WSBK championships. Tom Sykes is being assisted by his brother Anthony, and his crew chief Marcel Twinke with choosing what helmet visor to run for this race. Sylvain Guintoli rolls off fourth for Yamaha. Michael van der Mark is ninth. These are his final two races for Honda, as he moves to Yamaha in 2017. van der Mark will be Guintoli's replacement on that team.
Jordi Torres completes the top ten on the Althea BMW S1000RR. He won the first race in Qatar last year, riding for Aprilia. Saeed Al Sulaiti is in his home race here in Qatar. Davide Giugliano rolls off 11th and these might be the last races of his WSBK career. Giugliano has been in a lot of pain as of late. Saeed Al Sulaiti had a day job in the Qatari Special Forces before he began his motorcycle racing career. Leon Camier rolls off in 12th place. Raffaele De Rosa rolls off 13th on the sister BMW S1000RR to Jordi Torres, bike #35. He was covering for the injured Markus Reiterberger at Laguna Seca back in July. But, Althea has entered three BMW S1000RR's here in Qatar
De Rosa hopes to race for Althea full-time next year in a three bike BMW squad in WSBK in 2017. We'll see if that happens. Josh Brookes rolls off in 14th place. Here's the 411 on the tires. Everyone is on the same Pirelli rear tire compound, the SC0 compound. With the front tire, it comes down to rider preference. Most riders on the SC1 front tire with a handful of others on the SC2 front tire, to fit their preference, and their individual riding style. Alex De Angelis rolls off 15th. The Alfa Romeo 4C safety car pulls away, and so, we are five minutes away from the start of race one in Qatar.
In the past, we've seen 13 WSBK titles won in race one of the finale, and 15 in the second race of the weekend. We also welcome back, in 16th place, Leon Haslam. Haslam won the final race of the 2015 season right here in Qatar. Leon Haslam racing for Pedercini Kawasaki this weekend, and the ride is a bit of a gift for finishing second overall in the points for the British Superbike Championship. Haslam has had electrical issues through practice and qualifying with the motorcycle. Markus Reiterberger on the second Althea BMW rolls off 17th. Remember, that team has three bikes in this race.
Back to Leon Haslam for a moment. With the electrical issues on the Pedercini Kawasaki, his opportunity to run in the first free practice was wiped out. Chaz Davies could be the favorite for this first race as we look across the front of the grid. Nicky Hayden is second and he did great on the qualifying tire. Jonathan Rea is on the verge of world championship number two. If Sykes is going to be champion, he needs to win both races, with Rea scoring no more than one 15th place finish for one solitary point.
Karel Abraham is making his final two starts in World Superbike, before returning to MotoGP in 2017. Peter Sebestyen starts caboose on the field. 25 riders and motorcycles will start the two races in the finale of WSBK 2016. Can Jonathan Rea become the first rider to win back-to-back world championships, since Carl Fogarty in 1998 and '99? No rider for Kawasaki has ever won two straight titles. Kawasaki does have three rider's championships. American Scott Russell won the 1993 World Superbike Championship. Tom Sykes did it 20 years later in 2013, and last year in 2015, Jonathan Rea won his first WSBK crown.
Rea has a 48 point lead in the standings over Tom Sykes, 462-414. Jonathan Rea has nothing to lose, but Tom Sykes really has to push like no tomorrow if he wants to win another title. Simple math. If Tom Sykes does not win, Jonathan Rea is the champion. We have another weather update just before the lights go out. 27 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit), air temperature. 29 degrees Celsius (84 degrees Fahrenheit), track temperature. Jonathan Rea wants to join an illustrious list of riders who have won two championships. Those riders are such legends as Fred Merkel, Doug Polen, Troy Corser, Colin Edwards, James Toseland, and Max Biaggi. Merkel, Polen, and Fogarty have successfully defended their titles.
Only Troy Bayliss and Carl Fogarty have won more titles. Per Arriba, Jonathan Rea's crew chief looks on. A brand new set of starting lights at Losail are going to illuminate to get this race underway. Is Jonathan Rea going to make history? Red lights, on. Red lights, out! Away we go! Brilliant starts for both Jonathan Rea and Nicky Hayden. Everyone gets off the line well, and here comes Chaz Davies, going for the lead already! Nicky Hayden passes Jonathan Rea, and, Tom Sykes is also moving up right from the get go. Tom Sykes needs to fight through to the front and he's working on making a pass on Nicky Hayden.
Rea is looking good for the title at this moment. Chaz Davies out in front, has great race pace. We see that Leon Haslam has also made a great start on the Pedercini Kawasaki. Already, Haslam has made up five places and is up to 11th after starting in 16th. Lorenzo Savadori runs off the road in turn five and rejoins, but gets shuffled down the order. Michael van der Mark has also sunk like a stone and is down to 17th place. Can Tom Sykes get to the front and take the fight to Jonathan Rea? The Kawasaki struggles for top speed down the kilometer long front straight here in Qatar. Ducati was suffering the same troubles, if you recall, earlier in the year.
The two fastest bikes on the straight are not the ZX10R Kawasaki or the 1199 Panigale Ducati. They are the BMW S1000RR and the Aprilia RSV4. Rea is trying to move around Davies for the lead as we head into lap two. Leon Haslam is fighting for eight spot with Jordi Torres right now. Chaz Davies is under pressure from both Jonathan Rea and Nicky Hayden. Can Sylvain Guintoli get through on Tom Sykes? Don't forget, Guintoli won his title here in Qatar, two years ago. Jordi Torres takes a spot away from Alex Lowes. Lorenzo Savadori is fighting through the field after his early problems, getting around Saeed al Sulaiti and Gianluca Vizziello.
Davide Giugliano has dropped like a stone and is 20th in the order. Likewise, Josh Brookes has been off the road and dropped four spots. Sylvain Guintoli is making an inside pass on Tom Sykes, and we have our first fastest lap of race one. Chaz Davies runs a 1:57.371. Meanwhile, Guintoli is on the attack, going inside Tom Sykes and makes a pass for fourth stick, through corner number one. Remember now, Tom Sykes needs to win this race if he's going to take the title from Jonathan Rea. Sykes' title hopes are going even more pear shaped right now. Sykes has fallen 2.5 seconds behind the leaders. Leon Haslam does pass Alex Lowes for eighth.
Michael van der Mark (in his final ride for Honda), has recovered to 11th after being in 19th at the beginning. We'll keep an eye on how the tires are. Karel Abraham, meanwhile, has fallen a few places down the order too. Abraham is back in action in Qatar. He missed the previous races in Jerez after being ill with a high fever. Abraham has run off the road on the second Milwaukee BMW, someplace. Chaz Davies is pushing, and his left foot comes off the foot peg at turn 14. Rea looks to pass down the start/finish straightaway. He thought he'd have a go at Chaz Davies. Close, but no cigar. We are starting lap four of 17.
Rea said the Kawasaki was struggling for top end speed and observed that the Ducati had plenty. Davies' strength is being king of the late brakers, going deep into the corner. Nicky Hayden is trying to catch Jonathan Rea. But, Rea still has a second and a half in hand over the Honda rider. Sylvain Guintoli is opening a gap towards Tom Sykes. Guintoli loves the speedway here in Doha, and has run well here in the past. Alex Lowes passes Leon Haslam for eighth. Alex De Angelis runs tenth. Michael van der Mark is ninth on the sister Ten Kate Honda right now. Let's do a top 15 rundown at the moment.
1. Chaz Davies
2. Jonathan Rea
3. Nicky Hayden
4. Sylvain Guintoli
5. Tom Sykes
6. Xavi Fores
7. Jordi Torres
8. Alex Lowes
9. Leon Haslam
10. Michael van der Mark
11. Alex De Angelis
12. Leon Camier
13. Raffaele De Rosa
14. Roman Ramos
15. Josh Brookes
For some reason, Pawel Szkopek failed to start this race. There was a tech issue for Szkopek after he wrecked the bike in Super Pole. Team Toth couldn't repair it. Game over for Szkopek. Sylvain Guintoli is hot on Nicky Hayden's heels at the moment was we work lap five of 17. Tom Sykes runs fifth, four seconds behind the leader. Something has also gone awry with Alex De Angelis. Both Leon Camier and Raffaele De Rosa have gotten around him. Nicky Hayden is fighting Sylvain Guintoli. Tom Sykes continues to fall behind Guintoli. Alex Lowes is trying to catch Jordi Torres. Tom Sykes is fifth, and as the points stand at this moment, Rea has a 57 point lead on Sykes. Only 25 points remain in race two. So, Rea should secure the championship at the end of this race.
The gap between Guintoli and Sykes is a second and a half. That's insurmountable for Sykes to be able to cleanly pass and then go for the title. Sykes has to keep fighting. Michael van der Mark, in recovery mode, passes Leon Haslam on the Pedercini Kawasaki. Two years ago, Leon Haslam was riding for Honda. Back then, he and Jonathan Rea were team mates at Ten Kate. Behind these two blokes, another good scrap. Leon Camier makes a move on Raffaele De Rosa. Haslam hopes to improve his Kawasaki for the second race. Davies is running a tenth or so faster than is Jonathan Rea.
Chaz Davies leads, but it looks like Tom Sykes is continually losing ground to Sylvain Guintoli on the Yamaha. Ten laps remain. Next lap, will be halfway. Guintoli is going to make his move on Hayden, as we speak, folks! Guintoli does pass Hayden. Don't go to the fridge, folks. This is a good one! Yamaha could score their first podium of the season. The leaders have just lapped Gianluca Vizziello, who is in 24th place. Sylvain Guintoli could be on for his first podium on the Yamaha and his first since Magny-Cours in 2015 when he rode for Honda. The points situation right now sees Rea on 482 points and Sykes, 57 points behind on 425.
Will Jonathan Rea hold on for his second straight World Superbike championship? Tom Sykes is 1.4 seconds behind Nicky Hayden and is seven or so seconds behind the leaders. Rea might very well have the championship in the bag. Eight laps to go. Rea runs 3/10ths of a second behind Davies. There is another good scrap brewing in the midfield. Check that. This is the sharp end. Xavi Fores on the Ducati vs. Jordi Torres on the BMW, and Alex Lowes on the Yamaha. Fores has really stepped up his game. Torres is the best of the three BMW riders in this race. Can Torres make the move on Fores?
Seven laps left as Jonathan Rea closes on Chaz Davies. Rea isn't close enough to make the move. Davies opens his lead a tenth of a second every lap. The Kawasaki and the Ducati make their speed as individual bikes in different ways. But, in comparing lap times, they are on par with each other. The gap from the leaders to Sylvain Guintoli in third is six seconds. Will Chaz Davies win? He's won five of the last six races. Will it be Jonathan Rea? These two are tied on nine wins apiece right now. The gap between Davies and Rea has increased to 8/10ths of a second. The tires begin to fall off in the final third of the race.
Davide Giugliano has gone into the pit lane. His last weekend as a factory Ducati rider, is a sour one. Giugliano will retire from a race for the fifth time this year. He is only the first retirement of this race. Guintoli wants to make a move. The issue is, his Yamaha YZF R1 is better through the corners, but loses steam on the straightaways compared to the other motorcycles. Davies extends his lead to 1.7 seconds. Rea will take the championship and settle for second instead of trying to have a go at Chaz Davies. It has been 11 years since a rider clinched a title by finishing second. Troy Corser was the last one to do it, in 2005, in race one at Imola, riding a Suzuki.
The Aprilia factory riders swap spots. Lorenzo Savadori passes Alex De Angelis. At the end of lap 12, Karel Abraham hits pit lane. So, problems for the Milwaukee BMW rider. Rea is running 10.6 seconds behind Davies. Sykes has not been able to run as consistently at the front as Rea or Davies. There's a huge five bike battle for tenth place. This is Haslam, Camier, De Rosa, Savadori, and De Angelis! Camier took 6/10ths of a second out of Haslam on the previous lap. Haslam is a veteran Superbike racer. But, he does not have the experience and seat time on this particular bike, with the current tires or the current electronics package. Savadori has recovered from being down the order and has now made a pass on De Rosa.
Savadori and De Rosa, are the two latest FIM Superstock 1000 European Cup champions, scrapping with each other. You have heard about De Rosa's efforts, in Stock 1000, from those race reports right here on 2 Wheelin' throughout 2016. Oh no! Sparks fly up the road as Leon Camier crashes out, ditching the MV Agusta! Poor old Leon Camier! He's had a great race weekend here in Qatar so far. But, as the sparks fly, he'll have to play catch up. It's without doubt game over for Camier. This moves Savadori, De Rosa, De Angelis up one place each. Josh Brookes is once again promoted into the points paying positions.
Three laps left in race one. In three laps, Chaz Davies will have won more races than any other rider this season. He will score his tenth victory of 2016. It'll be his first ever win in Qatar. It will be Ducati's first win in Qatar since Troy Bayliss scored the W in 2008. Jonathan Rea will finish second,l three seconds behind Davies, and he'll score a second straight World Superbike title. It's not game over for Leon Camier. He's come back into the race to finish it out. Jonathan Rea will set lots of records. He's the first rider to win two titles for Kawasaki. He will be the tenth British rider to win a World Superbike championship. He'll be the third British rider to win two titles, after Carl Fogarty, and James Toseland.
Rea will also have the first successive championship wins since Carl Fogarty at the end of the 1990s. Sylvain Guintoli and Yamaha will finish on the podium. Nicky Hayden is losing time to Tom Sykes. Sykes is catching Hayden for fourth spot. Guintoli will score Yamaha's first podium in five years. This will be Yamaha's first podium since 2011 when they pulled out of the series for the first time. Marco Melandri scored a podium finish ahead of Eugene Laverty in Portimao, Portugal, that year. Both riders are coming back to WSBK next year. Melandri with Aruba Ducati, and Laverty with Milwaukee Aprilia.
Tom Sykes' chances of winning the championship seem to be fading, as he fights with Nicky Hayden for fourth. Yamaha is on the verge of their first 2016 podium. Sykes' race pace has been held back due to his rear brake sticking. Chaz Davies has been in a class by himself this weekend in Qatar, so far. Davies has won five out of the last six races. Every dry race has been won by him since we came back from the summer break, in Germany, back in September. Hayden will have a good result in fifth. He said that the Q (or, Qualifying), tire, was a tough one to run on.
Hayden will be fifth in the championship. The Rea/Sykes battle has been the team battle we've talked about. Jonathan Rea will defend his World Superbike crown, and joining those names we mentioned earlier, to win two titles. Rea is the best, the most consistent rider in the world. Chaz Davies wins his tenth race of the season!
World Superbike Race 1: #7 Chaz Davies GBR. Ducati 1199 Panigale R
World Superbike Champion: #1 Jonathan Rea GBR. Kawasaki ZX10R
For the first time since the turn of the new millennium, we have a two-time World Superbike champion! Carl Fogarty won the title (his fourth), at the Hockenheimring in Germany, in 1999. Yours truly, has decided, to separate the blog entries for each race. Race two, will take a bit longer. So, stay tuned for coverage of race two, coming up, tomorrow.
Sunday, November 20, 2016
MotoAmerica team news for 2017
Some recent news about who will ride where in MotoAmerica competition in 2017.
Beach and Gerloff Back In Yamaha Blue for 2017
http://www.motoamerica.com/beach-and-gerloff-back-in-yamaha-blue-for-2017-motoamerica-season
Rispoli Targets Superstock Title with FS-3 Racing Kawasaki
http://www.motoamerica.com/rispoli-targets-superstock-title-with-quattro-plant-fs-3-racing-kawasaki
...And Sport Rider magazine's Michael Gilbert, talks about his experience of riding Cameron Beaubier's Yamaha Superbike.
Factory Ride: Cameron Beaubier's Yamaha Superbike
http://www.motoamerica.com/factory-ride-cameron-beaubiers-monster-energy-graves-yamaha-superbike
Beach and Gerloff Back In Yamaha Blue for 2017
http://www.motoamerica.com/beach-and-gerloff-back-in-yamaha-blue-for-2017-motoamerica-season
Rispoli Targets Superstock Title with FS-3 Racing Kawasaki
http://www.motoamerica.com/rispoli-targets-superstock-title-with-quattro-plant-fs-3-racing-kawasaki
...And Sport Rider magazine's Michael Gilbert, talks about his experience of riding Cameron Beaubier's Yamaha Superbike.
Factory Ride: Cameron Beaubier's Yamaha Superbike
http://www.motoamerica.com/factory-ride-cameron-beaubiers-monster-energy-graves-yamaha-superbike
Saturday, November 19, 2016
World Superbike action from Qatar
Stay tuned, tomorrow, for the full race report on the WSBK season finale from the Losail International Circuit, in Doha, Qatar.
Friday, November 18, 2016
FIM World Supersport: Qatar (season finale)
We have reached the final round of this wonderful season in the 2016 FIM World Supersport championship. World Superbike and World Supersport, have raced in Qatar since 2005. We have a new rider and new manufacturer on pole, and there's a three way shootout for second spot in the championship. Stay tuned, fans. The World Supersport finale, under the lights, in Losail is, next!
Temperatures are dropping on this very good evening to you, with the moon shining down. Post time weather conditions are 29 degrees Celsius (84 degrees Fahrenheit), air temperature, and 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), track temperature. We have a northeast breeze of 4 kilometers, 2 miles per hour. We have a slightly smaller grid for the season finale, and that is for obvious reasons as the European Supersport series riders are not competing here in Qatar. The bikes are on their sighting lap. Kenan Sofuoglu has had an amazing year in 2016. Six race wins. Eight podium finishes. Seven pole positions. Quite the stats if your into the whole numerology thing.
Sofuoglu has 196 points and is now a five-time World Supersport champion. Second place is still up for grabs as it will be decided between two-time 2016 race winner Jules Cluzel on the MV Agusta, and Randy Krummenacher who won at Phillip Island in Australia at the start of the season. Cluzel is looking for his third career second place finish in the world championship standings. Krummenacher, meanwhile, is out to steal Jules Cluzel's thunder and make it a 1-2 in the points for Kawasaki Puccetti Racing. Kawasaki won the teams title in Germany and the manufacturers cup in Jerez, Spain. Will Krummenacher finish runner-up? It seems likely, in his one, and it turns out to be, only season in World Supersport, before he moves up to World Superbike in 2017.
P.J. Jacobsen looks to finish strong as he is four points behind Jules Cluzel. Only seven points separate the top three riders in the championship. Kenan Sofuoglu leads Randy Krummenacher by 67 points. It is all to play for here in Qatar. P.J. Jacobsen is the dark horse here. He won two races in 2015 but has not won in 2016. Jacobsen and Cluzel, both these chaps need to secure their future in top level motorcycle road racing, and are making a darn good effort to try and do that for 2017. We have a surprise pole sitter in this race. Luke Stapleford on the Triumph has qualified fastest.
Stapleford, remember, won the 2015 British Supersport championship. Stapleford's qualifying time was 2:01.621. Kenan Sofuoglu rolls off second. Stapleford gives Triumph their first ever WSSP class pole. Randy Krummenacher wants to get a podium place as he has not finished on the rostrum since mid-season at Donington Park in England, back in May. Randy Krummenacher rolls off third this evening. Alex Baldolini rolls off fourth. He is nursing an injury to his right hand. Alex Baldolini has the Dalmatian livery on his motorcycle and on his helmet for this race. Baldolini crashed twice at Magny-Cours and hurt himself, also smashing two helmets. So, his wife Nouria said "why don't you paint Dalmatian spots on the helmet, Alex." That's what he did.
Kyle Smith rolls off in fifth. That is where he is in the championship. Smith won earlier in the year at Assen in Holland, and won this race in Qatar, for Ten Kate Honda, last year. Judging from practice speeds, Smith, and Kenan Sofuoglu are the two to watch out for in this race ahead of us. Seven races have been run by the World Supersport class in Qatar. Guess what? Honda, has won six of them. Jules Cluzel rolls off sixth. Cluzel is amazed he could finish second in points despite all his troubles this year. The one question is, will he have a ride in the championship for 2017? That remains to be seen. Ayrton Badovini will roll off eighth.
Zulfahmi Khairuddin is seventh on the grid. Former Moto3 racer Arthur Sissis is here this weekend, and he raced Khairuddin in Moto3, a few years ago. You likely read about those battles here on 2 Wheelin'. P.J. Jacobsen is ninth. 15 laps scheduled for the World Supersport season finale here in Qatar. Jacobsen has been speaking with teams in World Supersport, Superstock 1000, and the British Superbike/British Supersport championships, about riding for them in 2017. He will not be back with Ten Kate, and this puts into question whether Ten Kate will have a 600cc bike entered for Supersport next year. Honda have ceased production of their race ready CBR600RR.
Ten Kate hopes to be on the WSSP grid next year. Great World Superbike riders such as Jonathan Rea and Michael van der Mark, have won WSSP titles for them. Christoffer Bergman rounds out the top ten. Kyle Ryde rolls off in 11th place. Schmidt Racing, whom Kyle Ryde races for, has been given an extra motor according to the Technical Director for FIM World Superbike, Scott Smart. Ryde has been given a special dispensation for engine mileage because he's ridden three different motorcycles this year, including the MV Agusta F3 675, the Honda CBR600RR, and the Kawasaki ZX6R.
Only 15 laps left to run in the World Supersport season. Roberto Rolfo has exceeded the engine allocation for a third time this year. Rolfo will do just as he did at Jerez, and start this race from the pit lane. Both PTR bikes wrecked in the morning warmup. Hikari Okubo and Stefan Hill have had their bikes repaired and will start. With the smaller grid (because of no European riders), we have a 24 bike field for this race. Lorenzo Zanetti has replaced Gino Rea for the season finale, and Gino Rea will join our commentators for this race, Greg Haines and Steve English, in the broadcast booth.
In the points, Kenan Sofuoglu has sewn up the championship. But there is a hotly contested scrap for second, third, and fourth. Sofuoglu leads Randy Krummenacher by 67 points (196-129). But, the next three riders (Krummenacher, Jules Cluzel, and P.J. Jacobsen), are merely separated by seven points, while remaining 70, and 74 points, respectively, behind Kenan Sofuoglu. Qatar is a very flowing race track and if you make a mistake in one corner, it messes up your entire lap. We revisit the weather conditions and they are exactly the same as when we came on air for this race, oh, a quarter of an hour ago. Loris Cresson is also in this field, along with Lorenzo Zanetti on the MV Agusta and Michael Canducci.
Loris Cresson is on the motorcycle, with the same pit crew, that Kyle Ryde began the season on. In the booth, the boys have picked Kenan Sofuoglu or Luke Stapleford to get the hole shot at the start. What will happen? We're almost ready for the finale of World Supersport 2016. 15 laps ahead. The final 15 laps in World Supersport in 2016! Red lights, on. Red lights, out! Away we go! Alex Baldolini gets a good start. Our guesses were right. Stapleford and Sofuoglu run side by side into turn one. Alex Baldolini, coming back from injury, has taken the lead of this race. Deary me. Luke Stapleford has sunk like a stone, down to sixth spot. Alex Baldolini leads with Randy Krummenacher in second place.
Jules Cluzel is third, as Kyle Smith and Kenan Sofuoglu run side by side for fourth and fifth. Side by side stuff between Ayrton Badovini and Federico Caricasulo. Kenan Sofuoglu is now fifth. P.J. Jacobsen is moving through the field as well. Honda has been strong at Losail in the past. But, MV Agusta cureently holds the lead. Oh dear. If Roberto Rolfo didn't have bad luck, he wouldn't have any. He's on his ninth engine of the year, started from pit lane, and has already crashed out of this race. Game over. Baldolini leads Krummenacher. But, Jules Cluzel wants to put a move on Randy Krummenacher, and I mean, now. This is a battle for second in the race, and second in the championship.
Oh no! More riders down and out, and it appears Luke Stapleford is one of them! Stapleford and Ayrton Badovini are both out of the Supersport finale! This crash happened in turn ten. Correction. Badovini did not crash. It was not bike #86, and rather, it was the #80 of Spaniard Xavier Pinsach on the second Gemar Balloons - Team Lorini Honda CBR600RR. Kyle Ryde may also have mechanical issues with his bike. There's a huge fight for second through fifth place! Stapleford rejoins the race, but is caboose on the field. Baldolini leads while the scrap for second is hotting up between Krummenacher, Cluzel, and Smith. P.J. Jacobsen has passed Kenan Sofuoglu. Baldolini is beginning to pull away.
Randy Krummenacher wants to pass Jules Cluzel, and Kyle Smith is ahead of them both. No rider jumped the start. That's good to hear. Smith makes an inside pass on Baldolini. Cluzel has also gone around Baldolini. Don't forget that Baldolini hurt his right wrist, which is surely making the bike more difficult to ride. Cluzel has quite the slipstream on Ryde. Will the MV pass the Honda? We have had seven different winners in WSSP here in Qatar between 2005 and 2015. The points situation has shifted again. At this moment, Cluzel passes Krummenacher for second in the standings, and has a six point cushion over the Kawasaki rider. Cluzel is 60 points behind the champ, Sofuoglu, and Krummeancher is 66 behind, with P.J. Jacobsen now 71 points out.
Here is the top ten in the race so far.
1. Kyle Smith
2. Jules Cluzel
3. Alex Baldolini
4. P.J. Jacobsen
5. Randy Krummenacher
6. Kenan Sofuoglu
7. Christian Gammarino
8. Zulfahmi Khairuddin
9. Federico Caricasulo
10. Ayrton Badovini
You wonder if there are team orders at Kawasaki Puccetti Racing. Kenan Sofuoglu is running behind Randy Krummenacher right now. Kyle Smith sets the first fastest lap of this race at 2:02.443. Cluzel seems to carry more corner speed on the MV Agusta than the Honda can. The MV has a good chassis and a good electronics package. Game over for Michael Canducci on one of the GRT MV Agusta's. Xavi Pinsach has gone to the medical center for a precautionary checkup. Pirelli is a little late to the party, with the tire selections for this race. All these boys are using the same SC0 compound rear tire. All the riders are using the SC1 compound front tire. But, there are two options. Either they can choose the development front tire, or the standard front tire.
Kenan Sofuoglu blows by Randy Krummenacher down the front straight. Sofuoglu can see the gap developing between the top riders as you have Alex Baldolini in third, P.J. Jacobsen who is fourth, and yes, Sofuoglu passes Krummenacher for fifth spot. Who completes the top fifteen? We looked at the top ten earlier. Eleventh is Federico Caricasulo of Italy, followed by Christoffer Bergman from Sweden, and behind them are Ondrej Jezek, Lorenzo Zanetti, and Hikari Okubo. Jezek is from Brno, in the Czech Republic, and thus, that speedway is his home track. Zanetti is from Italy, and Okubo hails from Japan.
Jules Cluzel has a new team mate, who has made it to tenth place. Italian, Massimo Roccoli, on bike #52. We are now 1/3rd of the way through this race. Jules Cluzel runs with Kyle Smith and he's in the pound seats to earn second in the championship over Randy Krummenacher. New fastest lap of the race. Jules Cluzel sets a 2:02.710. Kenan Sofuoglu meanwhile, has to deal with passing P.J. Jacobsen. Zulfahmi Khairuddin runs right behind Randy Krummenacher. Gammarino, Badovini, and Roccoli, round out the top ten. Krummenacher has run here in Qatar in Moto2, and Khairuddin has had experience here in Moto3.
Kyle Smith ducks out from the slipstream to get a run on Jules Cluzel, and does it! Cluzel comes back on the outside and Alex Baldolini is keeping watch of all this, too. Kyle Smith leads with ten laps left. The race pace, however, has dropped significantly from what it was earlier. Smith, Cluzel, and Baldolini, are still your top three. Kenan Sofuoglu has now run the fastest first sector time of anybody in this race. Sofuoglu has caught Baldolini. His team mate Randy Krummenacher is doing the same with P.J. Jacobsen. Game over for the second GRT Racing MV Agusta. Lorenzo Zanetti. Out of race. Christian Gammarino is falling down the order, and Kenan Sofuoglu goes underneath Alex Baldolini for position.
This puts Sofuoglu in third. They are dropping like flies towards the end of this race. Luke Stapleford, our polesitter, is the last running motorcycle, way down in 18th place. Make that 19th. With eight laps left in the race and the season, Kyle Smith, is on target for a second straight WSSP win. That is, a second straight win here at the Losail International Circuit, which no rider in WSSP has accomplished. Krummenacher is trapped behind Jacobsen in sixth spot. There's a good scrap for the tenth place now, too, between Roccoli, Bergman, and Badovini. These three are just behind Federico Caricasulo.
Then comes Ondrej Jezek, Loris Cresson, Lachlan Epis, and Hikari Okubo. Epis made a pass on Okubo. We are halfway home, with Smith 9/10ths of a second ahead of Jules Cluzel, and Sofuoglu also gaining on the MV rider. Krummenacher has not bounced back from bad luck, because he won his first and so far only WSSP race at Phillip Island at the beginning of the year, back in February. You have to go way back to Donington Park in May to have seen Krummenacher have a podium finish. Cluzel lets Kenan Sofuoglu go by. Cluzel slots in behind Sofuoglu. It is now well and truly game over for our pole man, Luke Stapleford.
A disappointment to be sure, for the Triumph rider. Seven laps now remain. Can Sofuoglu bridge the second and a half gap to Kyle Smith? Shades of last year, when Smith rode for Ten Kate Honda and was able to edge out Sofuoglu for a Qatar WSSP win. The gap is down to 1.4 seconds with six laps left in the World Supersport season for 2016. Baldolini and Jacobsen are fighting for position, too. Jacobsen has the position. Baldolini wants it. Krummenacher has a better pace than some of his rivals, but he's kind of just laid back and hasn't started to overtake the competition. He's running out of time.
If Jules Cluzel stays third, Krummenacher cannot gain enough points to make a move in the championship before the final points are settled. Krummenacher cuts past Baldolini like a hot knife through butter. Krummenacher has reached the top five. Khairuddin, Caricasulo, Badovini, and Bergman, are the next bikes in line. PTR Honda's book end the top ten at the present time. The gap is down to half a second between Smith and Sofuoglu, who has just run another personal best lap. Cluzel is third and hanging right with Sofuoglu. Honda, Kawasaki, and MV Agusta are all right together.
Depending on the bike you ride, it is harder to tuck your elbows in in front of your knees to reduce aerodynamic drag on the motorcycle. It depends on how much space you have for your arms, and it's almost more of a comfort factor. Kyle Smith does not tuck in his elbows. Jules Cluzel, does. Kyle Smith and Kenan Sofuoglu also battle for the Pirelli Best Lap Award. Nikki Tuuli was eligible. But, he isn't racing here in Qatar this weekend. If Smith wins, it is his second win of 2016. If Sofuoglu does, it is his seventh. Cluzel falls a full second behind Sofuoglu. Cluzel cannot take advantage of the lead battle.
They're side by side over the start/finish line once again! Sofuoglu takes the lead, with three laps left in the season. Smith has to play catch up. Kawasaki leads Honda and the five-time world champ will make Smith earn his second win at Losail, should he get it. MV Agusta runs third. Working lap 13 of 15. Just a couple to go. Sofuoglu and Smith are the only riders in this whole 24 bike field who have won at Qatar before. Smith backs it into the corner and makes a pass. Game on. Two laps remain in the 2016 season. Cluzel is going to settle for third place. There's been less than a tenth of a second between these two. Cluzel appears to have second in the championship, locked up.
It is the final lap of the year in World Supersport! Who's going to win it? Smith is chasing Sofuoglu. Will he pass into one of the tight hairpin turns on this speedway? Will he sit behind Sofuoglu and slingshot Sofuoglu to the finish line? It does not look as though Smith's Honda has the oomph to outshine the Kawasaki until these two get to the start/finish. Sofuoglu looks to have the full advantage right now. Federico Caricasulo makes it to the last lap, but falls out of the race, with mechanical woes. Smith can't go through at turn ten. This is Sofuoglu's race to lose.
Smith closes up. Don't run wide and exceed track limits. Two corners left in WSSP 2016! Smith isn right behind Sofuoglu! Sofuoglu runs wide. Here comes Smith! Smith slides by on the outside! Here's the run to the checkers! Smith has the advantage! It's a drag race! By the tiniest of margins, Smith wins the FIM World Supersport season finale in Qatar! He wins by six thousandths of a second!
World Supersport Race: #111 Kyle Smith GBR. Honda CBR6000RR
Krummenacher finishes fifth and drops to third in the final points. Smith wins the Pirelli Best Lap Award of the season. Smith, Sofuoglu, Cluzel, is your podium at the World Supersport finale! Cluzel beats Krummenacher for second in points. Randy Krummenacher is now off to World Superbike in 2017 with Kawasaki Puccetti Racing, the same team he races for now. Only seven points separate second and third in points.
P.J. Jacobsen went winless this year. Jacobsen's tire has a small tear in it probably due to suspension setup. Alex Baldolini finishes sixth in his 50th race start. Ayrton Badovini jumps past guest commentator, Gino Rea, in the points. Kawasaki are the manufacturer's champions. Poor old Luke Stapleford could have won this race from pole. Jules Cluzel scores his 27th WSSP podium, two away from tying Stephane Chambon in the overall rankings for fourth on the all-time podium finishes list. Again, this is Kyle Smith's second consecutive win in Qatar.
Smith has lived in the south of Spain since he was seven years old and his family moved from England. So, we conclude the 2016 FIM World Supersport championship. Sofuoglu is champ. Kyle Smith, wins two races. Honda has won 106 World Supersport races. What a great season of World Supersport racing it has been. The victory margin of sixth thousandths of a second is the fifth closest finish in World Supersport history. Lachlan Epis is the last classified finisher. Kenan Sofuoglu is five-time champion, with Jules Cluzel second.
Axel Bassani wins the FIM European Supersport Cup. Kawasaki is the manufacturer's champion in World Supersport. So, that was the 12th and final chapter in World Supersport. Thanks for joining us on 2 Wheelin'. Kyle Smith is a two-time winner in Qatar after the fifth closest finish in World Supersport history! We'll see you, next year, in 2017, for more awesome World Supersport action right here on 2 Wheelin'. So long, for now.
Temperatures are dropping on this very good evening to you, with the moon shining down. Post time weather conditions are 29 degrees Celsius (84 degrees Fahrenheit), air temperature, and 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), track temperature. We have a northeast breeze of 4 kilometers, 2 miles per hour. We have a slightly smaller grid for the season finale, and that is for obvious reasons as the European Supersport series riders are not competing here in Qatar. The bikes are on their sighting lap. Kenan Sofuoglu has had an amazing year in 2016. Six race wins. Eight podium finishes. Seven pole positions. Quite the stats if your into the whole numerology thing.
Sofuoglu has 196 points and is now a five-time World Supersport champion. Second place is still up for grabs as it will be decided between two-time 2016 race winner Jules Cluzel on the MV Agusta, and Randy Krummenacher who won at Phillip Island in Australia at the start of the season. Cluzel is looking for his third career second place finish in the world championship standings. Krummenacher, meanwhile, is out to steal Jules Cluzel's thunder and make it a 1-2 in the points for Kawasaki Puccetti Racing. Kawasaki won the teams title in Germany and the manufacturers cup in Jerez, Spain. Will Krummenacher finish runner-up? It seems likely, in his one, and it turns out to be, only season in World Supersport, before he moves up to World Superbike in 2017.
P.J. Jacobsen looks to finish strong as he is four points behind Jules Cluzel. Only seven points separate the top three riders in the championship. Kenan Sofuoglu leads Randy Krummenacher by 67 points. It is all to play for here in Qatar. P.J. Jacobsen is the dark horse here. He won two races in 2015 but has not won in 2016. Jacobsen and Cluzel, both these chaps need to secure their future in top level motorcycle road racing, and are making a darn good effort to try and do that for 2017. We have a surprise pole sitter in this race. Luke Stapleford on the Triumph has qualified fastest.
Stapleford, remember, won the 2015 British Supersport championship. Stapleford's qualifying time was 2:01.621. Kenan Sofuoglu rolls off second. Stapleford gives Triumph their first ever WSSP class pole. Randy Krummenacher wants to get a podium place as he has not finished on the rostrum since mid-season at Donington Park in England, back in May. Randy Krummenacher rolls off third this evening. Alex Baldolini rolls off fourth. He is nursing an injury to his right hand. Alex Baldolini has the Dalmatian livery on his motorcycle and on his helmet for this race. Baldolini crashed twice at Magny-Cours and hurt himself, also smashing two helmets. So, his wife Nouria said "why don't you paint Dalmatian spots on the helmet, Alex." That's what he did.
Kyle Smith rolls off in fifth. That is where he is in the championship. Smith won earlier in the year at Assen in Holland, and won this race in Qatar, for Ten Kate Honda, last year. Judging from practice speeds, Smith, and Kenan Sofuoglu are the two to watch out for in this race ahead of us. Seven races have been run by the World Supersport class in Qatar. Guess what? Honda, has won six of them. Jules Cluzel rolls off sixth. Cluzel is amazed he could finish second in points despite all his troubles this year. The one question is, will he have a ride in the championship for 2017? That remains to be seen. Ayrton Badovini will roll off eighth.
Zulfahmi Khairuddin is seventh on the grid. Former Moto3 racer Arthur Sissis is here this weekend, and he raced Khairuddin in Moto3, a few years ago. You likely read about those battles here on 2 Wheelin'. P.J. Jacobsen is ninth. 15 laps scheduled for the World Supersport season finale here in Qatar. Jacobsen has been speaking with teams in World Supersport, Superstock 1000, and the British Superbike/British Supersport championships, about riding for them in 2017. He will not be back with Ten Kate, and this puts into question whether Ten Kate will have a 600cc bike entered for Supersport next year. Honda have ceased production of their race ready CBR600RR.
Ten Kate hopes to be on the WSSP grid next year. Great World Superbike riders such as Jonathan Rea and Michael van der Mark, have won WSSP titles for them. Christoffer Bergman rounds out the top ten. Kyle Ryde rolls off in 11th place. Schmidt Racing, whom Kyle Ryde races for, has been given an extra motor according to the Technical Director for FIM World Superbike, Scott Smart. Ryde has been given a special dispensation for engine mileage because he's ridden three different motorcycles this year, including the MV Agusta F3 675, the Honda CBR600RR, and the Kawasaki ZX6R.
Only 15 laps left to run in the World Supersport season. Roberto Rolfo has exceeded the engine allocation for a third time this year. Rolfo will do just as he did at Jerez, and start this race from the pit lane. Both PTR bikes wrecked in the morning warmup. Hikari Okubo and Stefan Hill have had their bikes repaired and will start. With the smaller grid (because of no European riders), we have a 24 bike field for this race. Lorenzo Zanetti has replaced Gino Rea for the season finale, and Gino Rea will join our commentators for this race, Greg Haines and Steve English, in the broadcast booth.
In the points, Kenan Sofuoglu has sewn up the championship. But there is a hotly contested scrap for second, third, and fourth. Sofuoglu leads Randy Krummenacher by 67 points (196-129). But, the next three riders (Krummenacher, Jules Cluzel, and P.J. Jacobsen), are merely separated by seven points, while remaining 70, and 74 points, respectively, behind Kenan Sofuoglu. Qatar is a very flowing race track and if you make a mistake in one corner, it messes up your entire lap. We revisit the weather conditions and they are exactly the same as when we came on air for this race, oh, a quarter of an hour ago. Loris Cresson is also in this field, along with Lorenzo Zanetti on the MV Agusta and Michael Canducci.
Loris Cresson is on the motorcycle, with the same pit crew, that Kyle Ryde began the season on. In the booth, the boys have picked Kenan Sofuoglu or Luke Stapleford to get the hole shot at the start. What will happen? We're almost ready for the finale of World Supersport 2016. 15 laps ahead. The final 15 laps in World Supersport in 2016! Red lights, on. Red lights, out! Away we go! Alex Baldolini gets a good start. Our guesses were right. Stapleford and Sofuoglu run side by side into turn one. Alex Baldolini, coming back from injury, has taken the lead of this race. Deary me. Luke Stapleford has sunk like a stone, down to sixth spot. Alex Baldolini leads with Randy Krummenacher in second place.
Jules Cluzel is third, as Kyle Smith and Kenan Sofuoglu run side by side for fourth and fifth. Side by side stuff between Ayrton Badovini and Federico Caricasulo. Kenan Sofuoglu is now fifth. P.J. Jacobsen is moving through the field as well. Honda has been strong at Losail in the past. But, MV Agusta cureently holds the lead. Oh dear. If Roberto Rolfo didn't have bad luck, he wouldn't have any. He's on his ninth engine of the year, started from pit lane, and has already crashed out of this race. Game over. Baldolini leads Krummenacher. But, Jules Cluzel wants to put a move on Randy Krummenacher, and I mean, now. This is a battle for second in the race, and second in the championship.
Oh no! More riders down and out, and it appears Luke Stapleford is one of them! Stapleford and Ayrton Badovini are both out of the Supersport finale! This crash happened in turn ten. Correction. Badovini did not crash. It was not bike #86, and rather, it was the #80 of Spaniard Xavier Pinsach on the second Gemar Balloons - Team Lorini Honda CBR600RR. Kyle Ryde may also have mechanical issues with his bike. There's a huge fight for second through fifth place! Stapleford rejoins the race, but is caboose on the field. Baldolini leads while the scrap for second is hotting up between Krummenacher, Cluzel, and Smith. P.J. Jacobsen has passed Kenan Sofuoglu. Baldolini is beginning to pull away.
Randy Krummenacher wants to pass Jules Cluzel, and Kyle Smith is ahead of them both. No rider jumped the start. That's good to hear. Smith makes an inside pass on Baldolini. Cluzel has also gone around Baldolini. Don't forget that Baldolini hurt his right wrist, which is surely making the bike more difficult to ride. Cluzel has quite the slipstream on Ryde. Will the MV pass the Honda? We have had seven different winners in WSSP here in Qatar between 2005 and 2015. The points situation has shifted again. At this moment, Cluzel passes Krummenacher for second in the standings, and has a six point cushion over the Kawasaki rider. Cluzel is 60 points behind the champ, Sofuoglu, and Krummeancher is 66 behind, with P.J. Jacobsen now 71 points out.
Here is the top ten in the race so far.
1. Kyle Smith
2. Jules Cluzel
3. Alex Baldolini
4. P.J. Jacobsen
5. Randy Krummenacher
6. Kenan Sofuoglu
7. Christian Gammarino
8. Zulfahmi Khairuddin
9. Federico Caricasulo
10. Ayrton Badovini
You wonder if there are team orders at Kawasaki Puccetti Racing. Kenan Sofuoglu is running behind Randy Krummenacher right now. Kyle Smith sets the first fastest lap of this race at 2:02.443. Cluzel seems to carry more corner speed on the MV Agusta than the Honda can. The MV has a good chassis and a good electronics package. Game over for Michael Canducci on one of the GRT MV Agusta's. Xavi Pinsach has gone to the medical center for a precautionary checkup. Pirelli is a little late to the party, with the tire selections for this race. All these boys are using the same SC0 compound rear tire. All the riders are using the SC1 compound front tire. But, there are two options. Either they can choose the development front tire, or the standard front tire.
Kenan Sofuoglu blows by Randy Krummenacher down the front straight. Sofuoglu can see the gap developing between the top riders as you have Alex Baldolini in third, P.J. Jacobsen who is fourth, and yes, Sofuoglu passes Krummenacher for fifth spot. Who completes the top fifteen? We looked at the top ten earlier. Eleventh is Federico Caricasulo of Italy, followed by Christoffer Bergman from Sweden, and behind them are Ondrej Jezek, Lorenzo Zanetti, and Hikari Okubo. Jezek is from Brno, in the Czech Republic, and thus, that speedway is his home track. Zanetti is from Italy, and Okubo hails from Japan.
Jules Cluzel has a new team mate, who has made it to tenth place. Italian, Massimo Roccoli, on bike #52. We are now 1/3rd of the way through this race. Jules Cluzel runs with Kyle Smith and he's in the pound seats to earn second in the championship over Randy Krummenacher. New fastest lap of the race. Jules Cluzel sets a 2:02.710. Kenan Sofuoglu meanwhile, has to deal with passing P.J. Jacobsen. Zulfahmi Khairuddin runs right behind Randy Krummenacher. Gammarino, Badovini, and Roccoli, round out the top ten. Krummenacher has run here in Qatar in Moto2, and Khairuddin has had experience here in Moto3.
Kyle Smith ducks out from the slipstream to get a run on Jules Cluzel, and does it! Cluzel comes back on the outside and Alex Baldolini is keeping watch of all this, too. Kyle Smith leads with ten laps left. The race pace, however, has dropped significantly from what it was earlier. Smith, Cluzel, and Baldolini, are still your top three. Kenan Sofuoglu has now run the fastest first sector time of anybody in this race. Sofuoglu has caught Baldolini. His team mate Randy Krummenacher is doing the same with P.J. Jacobsen. Game over for the second GRT Racing MV Agusta. Lorenzo Zanetti. Out of race. Christian Gammarino is falling down the order, and Kenan Sofuoglu goes underneath Alex Baldolini for position.
This puts Sofuoglu in third. They are dropping like flies towards the end of this race. Luke Stapleford, our polesitter, is the last running motorcycle, way down in 18th place. Make that 19th. With eight laps left in the race and the season, Kyle Smith, is on target for a second straight WSSP win. That is, a second straight win here at the Losail International Circuit, which no rider in WSSP has accomplished. Krummenacher is trapped behind Jacobsen in sixth spot. There's a good scrap for the tenth place now, too, between Roccoli, Bergman, and Badovini. These three are just behind Federico Caricasulo.
Then comes Ondrej Jezek, Loris Cresson, Lachlan Epis, and Hikari Okubo. Epis made a pass on Okubo. We are halfway home, with Smith 9/10ths of a second ahead of Jules Cluzel, and Sofuoglu also gaining on the MV rider. Krummenacher has not bounced back from bad luck, because he won his first and so far only WSSP race at Phillip Island at the beginning of the year, back in February. You have to go way back to Donington Park in May to have seen Krummenacher have a podium finish. Cluzel lets Kenan Sofuoglu go by. Cluzel slots in behind Sofuoglu. It is now well and truly game over for our pole man, Luke Stapleford.
A disappointment to be sure, for the Triumph rider. Seven laps now remain. Can Sofuoglu bridge the second and a half gap to Kyle Smith? Shades of last year, when Smith rode for Ten Kate Honda and was able to edge out Sofuoglu for a Qatar WSSP win. The gap is down to 1.4 seconds with six laps left in the World Supersport season for 2016. Baldolini and Jacobsen are fighting for position, too. Jacobsen has the position. Baldolini wants it. Krummenacher has a better pace than some of his rivals, but he's kind of just laid back and hasn't started to overtake the competition. He's running out of time.
If Jules Cluzel stays third, Krummenacher cannot gain enough points to make a move in the championship before the final points are settled. Krummenacher cuts past Baldolini like a hot knife through butter. Krummenacher has reached the top five. Khairuddin, Caricasulo, Badovini, and Bergman, are the next bikes in line. PTR Honda's book end the top ten at the present time. The gap is down to half a second between Smith and Sofuoglu, who has just run another personal best lap. Cluzel is third and hanging right with Sofuoglu. Honda, Kawasaki, and MV Agusta are all right together.
Depending on the bike you ride, it is harder to tuck your elbows in in front of your knees to reduce aerodynamic drag on the motorcycle. It depends on how much space you have for your arms, and it's almost more of a comfort factor. Kyle Smith does not tuck in his elbows. Jules Cluzel, does. Kyle Smith and Kenan Sofuoglu also battle for the Pirelli Best Lap Award. Nikki Tuuli was eligible. But, he isn't racing here in Qatar this weekend. If Smith wins, it is his second win of 2016. If Sofuoglu does, it is his seventh. Cluzel falls a full second behind Sofuoglu. Cluzel cannot take advantage of the lead battle.
They're side by side over the start/finish line once again! Sofuoglu takes the lead, with three laps left in the season. Smith has to play catch up. Kawasaki leads Honda and the five-time world champ will make Smith earn his second win at Losail, should he get it. MV Agusta runs third. Working lap 13 of 15. Just a couple to go. Sofuoglu and Smith are the only riders in this whole 24 bike field who have won at Qatar before. Smith backs it into the corner and makes a pass. Game on. Two laps remain in the 2016 season. Cluzel is going to settle for third place. There's been less than a tenth of a second between these two. Cluzel appears to have second in the championship, locked up.
It is the final lap of the year in World Supersport! Who's going to win it? Smith is chasing Sofuoglu. Will he pass into one of the tight hairpin turns on this speedway? Will he sit behind Sofuoglu and slingshot Sofuoglu to the finish line? It does not look as though Smith's Honda has the oomph to outshine the Kawasaki until these two get to the start/finish. Sofuoglu looks to have the full advantage right now. Federico Caricasulo makes it to the last lap, but falls out of the race, with mechanical woes. Smith can't go through at turn ten. This is Sofuoglu's race to lose.
Smith closes up. Don't run wide and exceed track limits. Two corners left in WSSP 2016! Smith isn right behind Sofuoglu! Sofuoglu runs wide. Here comes Smith! Smith slides by on the outside! Here's the run to the checkers! Smith has the advantage! It's a drag race! By the tiniest of margins, Smith wins the FIM World Supersport season finale in Qatar! He wins by six thousandths of a second!
World Supersport Race: #111 Kyle Smith GBR. Honda CBR6000RR
Krummenacher finishes fifth and drops to third in the final points. Smith wins the Pirelli Best Lap Award of the season. Smith, Sofuoglu, Cluzel, is your podium at the World Supersport finale! Cluzel beats Krummenacher for second in points. Randy Krummenacher is now off to World Superbike in 2017 with Kawasaki Puccetti Racing, the same team he races for now. Only seven points separate second and third in points.
P.J. Jacobsen went winless this year. Jacobsen's tire has a small tear in it probably due to suspension setup. Alex Baldolini finishes sixth in his 50th race start. Ayrton Badovini jumps past guest commentator, Gino Rea, in the points. Kawasaki are the manufacturer's champions. Poor old Luke Stapleford could have won this race from pole. Jules Cluzel scores his 27th WSSP podium, two away from tying Stephane Chambon in the overall rankings for fourth on the all-time podium finishes list. Again, this is Kyle Smith's second consecutive win in Qatar.
Smith has lived in the south of Spain since he was seven years old and his family moved from England. So, we conclude the 2016 FIM World Supersport championship. Sofuoglu is champ. Kyle Smith, wins two races. Honda has won 106 World Supersport races. What a great season of World Supersport racing it has been. The victory margin of sixth thousandths of a second is the fifth closest finish in World Supersport history. Lachlan Epis is the last classified finisher. Kenan Sofuoglu is five-time champion, with Jules Cluzel second.
Axel Bassani wins the FIM European Supersport Cup. Kawasaki is the manufacturer's champion in World Supersport. So, that was the 12th and final chapter in World Supersport. Thanks for joining us on 2 Wheelin'. Kyle Smith is a two-time winner in Qatar after the fifth closest finish in World Supersport history! We'll see you, next year, in 2017, for more awesome World Supersport action right here on 2 Wheelin'. So long, for now.
Thursday, November 17, 2016
MotoAmerica Champions Will Sign Autographs In Long Beach
If you are in the Long Beach, California area, check this out.
Yamaha previews activities scheduled for International Motorcycle Show.
http://www.motoamerica.com/motoamerica-champions-will-sign-autographs-at-long-beach-motorcycle-show
P.S. World Superbike/World Supersport action, from Qatar, is forthcoming. Stay tuned.
Yamaha previews activities scheduled for International Motorcycle Show.
http://www.motoamerica.com/motoamerica-champions-will-sign-autographs-at-long-beach-motorcycle-show
P.S. World Superbike/World Supersport action, from Qatar, is forthcoming. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
World Supersport/World Superbike
Stay tuned, fans. Will post a report from one of the races from Qatar, tomorrow. Just have to decide which one it will be.
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
American Mark Elder Leaves Ducati MotoGP team for Yamaha
At the conclusion of the 2016 MotoGP season in Valencia, Spain, a big move was made. Long-time Ducati team mechanic, American Mark Elder, has said arriva derci to the Italian marque, and has moved to Yamaha where he will turn the wrenches on Valentino Rossi's motorcycle.
http://www.motoamerica.com/american-mark-elder-leaves-ducati-motogp-for-yamaha
http://www.motoamerica.com/american-mark-elder-leaves-ducati-motogp-for-yamaha
Monday, November 14, 2016
Jorge Lorenzo Q&A: "Bye-Bye Yamaha. Hello, Ducati"
Jorge Lorenzo capped off his career in MotoGP with Yamaha, with a win in the finale yesterday in Valencia, Spain, and now says buon giorno, to Ducati, his new team in MotoGP for 2017.
http://www.motoamerica.com/jorge-lorenzo-bye-bye-yamaha-hello-ducati
http://www.motoamerica.com/jorge-lorenzo-bye-bye-yamaha-hello-ducati
Sunday, November 13, 2016
BeIN Sports Will Broadcast Valencia MotoGP test live
If any readers subscribe to BeIN Sports, check this out.
http://www.motoamerica.com/bein-sports-will-broadcast-valencia-motogp-test-live
http://www.motoamerica.com/bein-sports-will-broadcast-valencia-motogp-test-live
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Jorge Lorenzo Says Goodbye To Yamaha
Folks, I know I have been neglecting to update and write race reports on MotoGP, and this weekend marks the finale of the season in Valencia, Spain. At some point, yes, yours truly will update the second half of the 2016 MotoGP season. But, for now, an article about Jorge Lorenzo saying farewell to Yamaha as he prepares to become a Ducati rider in 2017.
http://www.motoamerica.com/jorge-lorenzo-says-goodbye-to-yamaha
http://www.motoamerica.com/jorge-lorenzo-says-goodbye-to-yamaha
Friday, November 11, 2016
WSBK season finale coverage from Losail
Yours truly, has been pretty busy as of late. But, a promise I can make is, indeed that the coverage of the season finale races for World Superbike and World Supersport at the Losail circuit in Doha, Qatar, will surely be covered in their entirety. Stay tuned for the action.
Thursday, November 10, 2016
VIDEO: Man In A Van With A Plan, The Final Word
Team CW attacks MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 without forgetting America's flat-track roots.
http://www.motoamerica.com/video-man-in-van-with-plan-final-word
http://www.motoamerica.com/video-man-in-van-with-plan-final-word
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Race-Ready 2017 Yamaha YZF-R6 Photo Gallery
New YZF-R1-derived middleweight will contest World Supersport title next season.
http://www.motoamerica.com/race-ready-2017-yamaha-race-yzf-r6-photo-gallery
http://www.motoamerica.com/race-ready-2017-yamaha-race-yzf-r6-photo-gallery
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Josh Hayes Targeting Fifth AMA Superbike Title In 2017
"I still love racing motorcycles. I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing."
http://www.motoamerica.com/josh-hayes-targeting-fifth-ama-superbike-title-in-2017
http://www.motoamerica.com/josh-hayes-targeting-fifth-ama-superbike-title-in-2017
Monday, November 7, 2016
2013 Daytona 200
The biggest motorcycle race in the world, which used to be an international race, but became more centered on American motorcycle racing in it's later years. This is the 2013 edition featuring the 600cc AMA Daytona Sportbike class. Gregg Creamer, and five-time Daytona 200 winner Scott Russell, in the broadcast booth. In the pit lane (for pit stop coverage), are Greg White, and former rider, Jason Pridmore.
Sunday, November 6, 2016
The Big Four: Guidelines To Follow On And Off The Racetrack
Four tips to keep in mind for aspiring motorcycle road racers.
What life lessons can you learn from a teenage road racer? Quite a few, as it turns out.
http://www.motoamerica.com/the-big-four-guidelines-to-follow-on-and-off-racetrack
What life lessons can you learn from a teenage road racer? Quite a few, as it turns out.
http://www.motoamerica.com/the-big-four-guidelines-to-follow-on-and-off-racetrack
Saturday, November 5, 2016
World Superbike highlights
Stay tuned, folks. Yours truly hopes to have all the highlights from the season closer for FIM World Superbike and FIM World Supersport in Qatar, very soon.
Friday, November 4, 2016
Bryce Prince Headed to Guyana
MotoAmerica Superstock 600 champion set to compete in CMRC International Race of Champions.
http://www.motoamerica.com/bryce-prince-headed-to-guyana
http://www.motoamerica.com/bryce-prince-headed-to-guyana
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Roadracing World Open Call For Young Guns, Class of 2017
Annual feature as a response to those who said America lacked talented young riders.
http://www.motoamerica.com/roadracing-world-open-call-for-young-guns-class-2017
http://www.motoamerica.com/roadracing-world-open-call-for-young-guns-class-2017
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Silverstone Story 1985 Barry Sheene and Freddy Spencer
A video documentary of the 1985 FIM 500cc World Championship motorcycle Grand Prix at the Silverstone circuit in Silverstone, England, featuring Barry Sheene, Freddy Spencer, Kenny Roberts, Randy Mammola, and others. Barry Sheene and Murray Walker, narrate the film.
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Chaz Davies Wins Again, Tom Sykes Second In Championship
A brief Sunday race report, once again, from the World Superbike finale in Qatar. Yours truly, is working on a full race report, and that should appear in due time.
http://www.motoamerica.com/chaz-davies-wins-again-tom-sykes-second-in-championship
http://www.motoamerica.com/chaz-davies-wins-again-tom-sykes-second-in-championship
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