It is time, to return Down Under, for the opening race of the 2017 FIM World Superbike Championship, at the Phillip Island circuit in Victoria, Australia. It is likely to be another Kawasaki vs. Ducati battle once again. 30 years of WSBK kicks off, now! We have a 2.762 mile, 12 turn course here at Phillip Island with flowing corners and tight hairpins. 53 races have been run here since 1990. Jonathan Rea did the double here last year. Will he repeat? 2017 sees the most competitive field we've seen in WSBK.
Track conditions look like this. 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit) air temperature. 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), track temperature. 21 riders will start. This is the first of 13 rounds, and 26 races. Jonathan Rea has scored just his ninth WSBK career pole. Rea has won three of the last four races at Phillip Island. We have new rules this year where the grid is partially inverted for the second race. Welcome back to World Superbike, Marco Melandri, after he ran half a year in MotoGP last year. Marco Melandri is going to be a tough contender against Chaz Davies, Jonathan Rea, and Tom Sykes. He has not done a race simulation yet. At 1/3rd distance, the tires are likely to drop off in performance.
Jonathan Rea ran between the 1:30-1:31 range and Chaz Davies, on his longest run was in the 1:31s. Alex Lowes did a full race distance in testing on Tuesday. The challenge will be to make the Pirelli tires last for 22 laps, the distance scheduled for this race. Alex Lowes and Xavi Fores have been battling each other. Fores crashed in practice, and will start eighth. Pit lane opens in two minutes to form up the grid. Tom Sykes has never had success here at Phillip Island. His issue is, how close can he stay in the lead battle? Will he keep up with Jonathan Rea, Marco Melandri, and Chaz Davies? Honda has had their struggles this weekend, with Nicky Hayden, and new factory WSBK recruit, (former MotoGP racer), Stefan Bradl.
Hayden qualifies 11th. Stefan Bradl will be 15th. Leon Camier on the MV Agusta has also started off on the back foot. But, he's qualified ninth. Eugene Laverty is now back in WSBK and with the Milwaukee Aprilia squad. He wrecked in Super Pole 1. Eugene Laverty has won at Phillip Island twice. Once on an Aprilia, and once, on a Suzuki. Aprilia has won at Phillip Island, six times. The first of those came way back in 2000, with Troy Corser aboard the motorcycle. Jordi Torres and Althea BMW, neither has won here on the island. Will that change, today? The BMW S1000RR in 2017 spec is looking strong at the moment.
The track temperature is rising, which will make it more difficult to maintain grip and score fast lap times. We are working the sighting lap, awaiting an exciting race. Chaz Davies qualified fourth, even though he's not known as a strong qualifier. He started ninth and scored a podium at Phillip Island, last year. Jonathan Rea has pole. In 16 of 29 seasons of World Superbike, the winner of the opening race has gone on to win the championship. Jonathan Rea scores his ninth pole as he signs and kisses the camera. Chaz Davies lines up fourth, looking for his 50th career podium, as is Marco Melandri. Tom Sykes is second. He has a major challenge to try and beat Jonathan Rea. He has to change his riding style.
Jordi Torres rolls off seventh on the BMW S1000RR. This year, according to the tech regs, teams cannot split the throttlebodies for the fuel injection on their engines. Chaz Davies has the Pirelli Best Lap award for this race. Xavi Fores is eighth on the grid. He could have qualified better. Leon Camier on the MV Agusta is ninth, but had an oil leak on the motor in practice. Nicky Hayden is 11th in his new colors of Red Bull. He had one win in Sepang, last year. Lorenzo Savadori completes the top five on the Milwaukee Aprilia after almost crashing on Friday. Markus Reiterberger is 12th on the second of the BMW's. Eugene Laverty is in 13th. Reiterberger and Torres, sadly, are the only two BMW S1000RR's on this year grid. Two BMW factory bikes. No privateer entries.
Alex Lowes is fifth. He is a former British Superbike champion, who wants to be consistent this year. Marco Melandri is third. Stefan Bradl rolls off 15th. Fourteenth on the grid, is birthday boy, and 2016 FIM World Supersport champion, Randy Krummenacher. He is a World Superbike rider, this year. He is racing for Kawasaki Puccetti Racing. Roman Ramos rolls off 17th, and he scored points in every race he ran last year except for four when he had to sit out due to injury. We have the factory Kawasaki's and some privately entered ZX10R's. Why so many, compared to other brands like Honda, BMW, Ducati etc.? The ZX10R is a solid, proven motorcycle. The majority of the field uses the same compound, as the Pirelli SC2, with the SC1 development medium on the rear. Chaz Davies and Xavi Fores will use the SC1 front.
We are set now, to get underway with the first race of World Superbike 2017. Watch out for Alex de Angelis on his new Kawasaki. He starts on the final row between WSBK newcomers/returnees Ondrej Jezek and Ayrton Badovini. We are on the warmup lap and will race next lap by. So excited for this one! This could be one of the most exciting seasons we've seen in WSBK. Similar track conditions as we get started. The track temp has gone up a degree Fahrenheit, and the air temperature in both Fahrenheit and Celsius, stays constant. Winter is over. It is time to go racing in 2017.
Jonathan Rea' crew chief Per Arriba, looks on. Rea, Sykes, and the returning Marco Melandri on the front row. Watch the lights. When the red lights go out, we are racing at Phillip Island. Red lights, on. Red lights, out! Away we go! Jonathan Rea may have gotten the hole shot, but the Ducati's of Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies shoot into the top two place even before turn one, Doohan corner. Alex Lowes got a good start on the Yamaha but may be eaten up by the Kawasaki's as we get underway. Sykes makes a pass into the Honda hairpin, and Alex Lowes goes past Xavi Fores. Michael van der Mark has taken his new Yamaha YZF R1 up to seventh place.
Jonathan Rea makes a great overtaking move on Chaz Davies, showing the champion from 2016 still has something to say as we get started in 2017. Tom Sykes is chasing down Rea. The rivalry between the Kawasaki duo will be hot again. Xavi Fores is fifth. Kawasaki, Ducati, Yamaha, Aprilia. Eugene Laverty is the top Aprilia. Lorenzo Savadori has dropped to tenth on the other Aprilia. Chaz Davies is all over Marco Melandri right now. Melandri passes Sykes, and runs wide under braking. Can Sykes make a move? Tom Sykes has fastest lap of the race so far at 1:32.271.
Fores and Davies want a piece of this action, too.
Rea now leads Melandri by 3/10ths of a second. Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark run nose to tail in sixth and seventh. Chaz Davies moves past Tom Sykes for third spot. Rea resets fastest lap at 1:31.197. Davies has more speed and wants to get through on Melandri. There's nothing in it in the top four right now. Three wide into turn one! Davies goes ahead of Melandri. Xavi Fores makes a move on Tom Sykes, but runs deep into the corner. Alex Lowes goes to fourth through Siberia corner. Savadori is ahead of van der Mark as Eugene Laverty slips to ninth with Leon Camier rounding out the top ten. Fores goes back ahead of Alex Lowes into MG corner. Melandri takes the lead away as Jonathan Rea slips slightly out of the Southern Loop.
Camier is recovering well, up to eighth on the MV Agusta. Lorenzo Savadori has wrecked in turn six. Game over for Savadori. Lowes and Camier continue their scrum. Fores tries going inside. He's looking to get past Chaz Davies. Camier is 8/10ths of a second than this group. We've got a lead group of 12 or 13 bikes. Fores wants his first podium in a dry race. He was on the podium at a wet Lausitzring in Germany last year. Josh Brookes, riding as a wildcard, has had issues. Marco Melandri still has a good lead over Jonathan Rea, putting a good bit of daylight between himself and the green machine rider. Alex De Angelis is up to 15th and is in the points.
Melandri seeks to be the 100th Italian World Superbike rider to score a podium. Rea won't let him have it easily. It's game over for Josh Brookes. He's out of this one. Through the Hay Shed and towards Lukey Heights, Jonathan Rea carries quite a bit of speed. Eugene Laverty is back up to eighth place, having yo-yo'ed between seventh and tenth since the red lights went out. Michael van der Mark slides the Yamaha, allowing for Laverty and Jordi Torres to get through. Nicky Hayden tries to follow Torres through. Randy Krummenacher has done well in his first WSBK race. Tom Sykes passes Jonathan Rea. Sykes passes Melandri for the lead.
Alex Lowes is surprising everyone at the moment. Leon Camier passes Jordi Torres, too. This isn't a typical race with a rhythm. The track creates close racing. We will be at halfway in a couple laps. Rea closes in on Lowes. We see parity in WSBK just as we expect. Kawasaki, followed by Yamaha, followed by Ducati, followed by MV Agusta. Alex Lowes passes Tom Sykes to take over the race lead. Rea wants to make a pass on Sykes into Lukey Heights, or MG. Sykes is having as good a race as he's had at Phillip Island in a long time. Marco Melandri has a wheelie and keeps going. Ten laps to go in race one.
Yamaha have not won a WSBK race since 2011 when Melandri rode for them. Rea wants by Lowes. Lowes has not led a World Superbike race, but he did in British Superbike, where he won the championship in 2014. The lap record for WSBK at the island is 1:31.949. Melandri wants to pass Sykes. We've just passed halfway in race one. Ten laps to go. Will Rea pull the pin ahead of Lowes? Tom Sykes has done very well in this race. Rea is half a second faster than everyone as Davies passes Melandri. Rea, Sykes, and Davies are the top three. These boys were the top three in the points championship in 2016. Melandri wants by Lowes. We saw the Yamaha run well at Phillip Island last year, when Sylvain Guintoli rode it. Guintoli will now race in British Superbike.
Melandri runs deep into the Southern Loop, losing some momentum. He's tumbling like a stone. Marco Melandri has run off the road, through the gravel trap at the Southern Loop. Game over in race one for Melandri. Sykes and Davies have clawed back the gap to Jonathan Rea in P1. Lowes passes Davies for third. Melandri rejoins the race, but is now running 19th. He'll likely start race two in tenth. Leon Camier is coming up the order, and could fight for a podium. Rea is out front, but he doesn't have the pace to open a gap on the competition. Sykes slipstreams past his team mate into the race lead. Will Davies go for second? Yes.
Camier is now pushing harder. The track temperature is really high, getting up into the 40 degrees Celsius range. Xavi Fores is trying to get past Leon Camier. Chaz Davies slides into second. Lowes tries to pass Davies, and he gets second, as Rea has to sit up. Marco Melandri has entered the pits. Game over. He'll have another bite of the cherry in race two on Sunday. Chaz Davies retakes third from Alex Lowes as Tom Sykes ekes out a gap on his rivals. Has Sykes broken away? Tires will be all over the shop at the moment. Camier tries to pass Lowes but that doesn't work. Lowes makes a mistake at MG corner. Rea takes the lead back from Sykes with three laps left.
Sykes is losing ground, but is still with the leaders. It wasn't expected he'd be at the sharp end with Rea and Davies. Davies almost touches the back wheel of Rea's Kawasaki. Two laps left now. Into Honda hairpin, there are different lines between the two riders. We have a lap or so left through Siberia, the Hay Shed, and Lukey Heights. Earlier on, the Aussie Superbikes had a drag race to the finish. The World Superbike first race may be the same. It's the final lap. Davies looks inside and passes for the lead into Doohan corner. Around the Southern Loop and through Stoner corner. Davies will keep his powder dry through Honda hairpin. Over the top of Lukey Heights for the final time.
Davies can't make a move into MG. Two corners to go. Through turn 11. Will Davies have enough speed onto the straight? Davies is in the slipstream. It's a drag race to the line! Rea wins race one at Phillip Island!
World Superbike Race 1: #1 Jonathan Rea GBR. Kawasaki ZX10RR
Race two, is on deck. The Sunday WSBK race, is... next!
Alex Lowes, and Marco Melandri will be the two to look out for in this upcoming race. Jonathan Rea wants to do the double. For race two, the grid, is flipped. It's still hot and sunny down under, as we ready for race two with the aforementioned inverted starting lineup. Current weather conditions sees an ambient temp of 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit), air temperature, and 43 degrees Celsius (109 degree Fahrenheit), track temperature. Jonathan Rea rolls off ninth. Rea will be behind Chaz Davies when this race begins.
Alex Lowes is on pole, and he could return to the podium for the first time since 2015. Xavi Fores moves up to start on the front row. Nicky Hayden is struggling with the new 2017 Honda CBR1000RR. He'll start 12th along with Marco Melandri and Lorenzo Savadori. Jordi Torres will roll off fourth in race two. BMW want their first ever victory at Phillip Island, but they may not get it today. Stefan Bradl struggled on Saturday on the sister Red Bull Honda. He's losing all his time through turn three. Lots of work to do on the new CBR1000RR SP2 Fireblade. Tom Sykes rolls off seventh for race two. He could surprise us again in race two, after qualifying well.
Phillip Island has never been a circuit he likes. So many fast riders are starting in lower places on the grid. Jonathan Rea wants to win three straight championships, this year, something that has never been done in WSBK before, in 30 years. Roman Ramos scored points in every race he started in 2016. Eugene Laverty will start fifth. Xavi Fores rolls off third. Jordi Torres is fourth. Eugene Laverty in fifth. Sixth is Michael van der Mark on the sister Yamaha. Tom Sykes is seventh. Phillip Island's layout lends itself to overtaking. Davies, once again, is eighth. Again, Jonathan Rea is ninth in the lineup. Lorenzo Savadori rolls off 11th.
Marco Melandri is tenth. Nicky Hayden is 12th. Hayden is the only rider to win besides Ducati and Kawasaki, for Honda. Markus Reiterberger is 13th. Randy Krummenacher is 14th. Stefan Bradl starts 15th. Josh Brookes is 16th. He's a self funded wildcard rider for this event. Brookes fell out of race one with cooling issues on the bike. Brookes is riding a Yamaha YZF R1, the same motorcycle he rode to the 2015 British Superbike championship. Roman Ramos is 17th. 22 laps to come, around Phillip Island. Ondrej Jezek is 19th. The Czech rookie hopes to improve and learn how to ride a big 1000cc bike.
Riccardo Russo makes his return to World Superbike, and he is 18th on the grid just in front of Ondrej Jezek. He's had five WSBK starts and is also a veteran of the Euro Stock 1000 Cup. The bikes roll off on their final warmup lap. Leandro Mercado was supposed to race here, but missed it due to having broken ribs in a testing accident. Jordi Torres has a problem with the Althea BMW even before we get this second race underway! It could be game over and we could see just one BMW taking the start. He could very well start from pit lane if the opportunity arises. It might be game over for Torres.
Riders form up on the grid for race two. We are set, to bring the action one more time at Phillip Island. It's true. Jordi Torres won't start this race, leaving Markus Reiterberger as the sole BMW to compete. Look out, once again, for Marco Melandri in this race aboard the Ducati. Red lights, on. Red lights, out! Race two for WSBK at Phillip Island is, go! Xavi Fores, Alex Lowes, and Chaz Davies run 1-2-3 into turn one. The riders make their way to the Southern Loop for the first time in this race, as it looks like the two Kawasaki's got smoked off the starting line. Eugene Laverty on the Aprilia and Michael van der Mark on the Yamaha both get good starts as well.
Xavi Fores runs wide at the Honda hairpin. Jonathan Rea is now beginning to make up ground. Up to the top of Lukey Heights, before plunging downhill into MG corner. Lowes leads Laverty by just a shade. Lowes, Laverty, and Fores are the top three. Rea takes fourth place from Leon Camier who runs wide. Lowes holds the lead, but Eugene Laverty wants to make an inside move going into Siberia. Marco Melandri is ninth and did not have a very good start. Xavi Fores takes the lead away from Eugene Laverty, actually from Alex Lowes. Lowes on the Yamaha falls from first to third. Melandri passes Tom Sykes and sets fastest lap of the race so far. 1:31.375. It is indeed game over for Jordi Torres.
Fores, Laverty, Rea, and Lowes, are the top four right now. Randy Krummenacher has had a disappointing start to race two, currently 19th. It is also game over for Riccardo Russo. He's crashed at turn 11. Jonathan Rea has passed Eugene Laverty for second spot. Davies settles for fifth as he can't pass Lowes. Fores and Rea continue to forge ahead. Marco Melandri wants to pass the Yamaha of Michael van der Mark. All these motorcycles work in different ways, as Lorenzo Savadori moves into the top ten. Xavi Fores is being chased by Rea. Laverty slides after Melandri attempts to pass him. Rea puts the slide job on Fores into Doohan corner and takes the lead.
Chaz Davies has to get ahead of Xavi Fores ASAP. Alex Lowes stays with the top three. The gap behind Lowes to Marco Melandri is a second and a half. Down the Gardner straight they come, and Marco Melandri has recorded another fastest lap in this race. 1:31.178 for Melandri, as Chaz Davies goes for second to try and hunt down Jonathan Rea. Melandri wants to slide inside Lowes but can't make it work. Tom Sykes passes Leon Camier. Lowes gets the drive out of MG corner ahead of Fores. Ayrton Badovini has crashed out of this race. Five wide into the corner! Whoa! In that shemozzle, Chaz Davies has now emerged as the race leader.
Nicky Hayden has fallen behind. Hayden wrecked, but has rejoined the race. Chaz Davies leads Jonathan Rea as Alex Lowes is running very well. Leon Camier moves ahead of Eugene Laverty. Melandri makes the move stick, going inside of Lowes who is still hanging tough. Davies, Rea, Fores, the top three. Nicky Hayden pits his Red Bull Honda after his crash. We are close to halfway through this second race of the weekend. Fores tries Melandri on the inside. A disappointing race for Nicky Hayden in race two, as Honda needs to make the new Fireblade competitive. Marco Melandri does indeed make the move on Xavi Fores.
Rea runs wide, allowing Fores to pass for second. We are indeed halfway through race two. Let's have a look at the top fifteen riders at halfway.
1. Chaz Davies
2. Jonathan Rea
3. Xavi Fores
4. Marco Melandri
5. Alex Lowes
6. Tom Sykes
7. Michael van der Mark
8. Leon Camier
9. Eugene Laverty
10. Lorenazo Savadori
11. Stefan Bradl
12. Josh Brookes
13. Markus Reiterberger
14. Roman Ramos
15. Alex De Angelis
Noteworthy too, is Randy Krummenacher, in 16th. Fores and Melandri are pushing hard. Marco Melandri has now taken the third spot from Xavi Fores, and second, from Jonathan Rea. The former 250cc Grand Prix winner is out to try and win again, after a bit of a sabbatical from racing in WSBK and anywhere at all, having also run some MotoGP in 2016. What can Melandri do? He has been comfortable in testing. Sykes is gaining on Alex Lowes, and the rest of the top five. Rea has moved up and Chaz Davies has slid back just a shade. Race one was a sizzler, and this one is, too, as they enter the Hay Shed at turn eight.
Jonathan Rea goes up to second, and Xavi Fores now slides up ahead of Chaz Davies as well. Lowes and Sykes are in the pound seats to witness this scrap up ahead. Melandri leads and wants to win in his first race back in WSBK in a few years. He can taste the Prosecco already. Rea wants by Melandri. Melandri has been able to win coming from midfield. His first ever WSBK win came from that spot on the grid. Melandri wants the 20th win of his career, and the 100th win for an Italian rider in WSBK. Alex Lowes, is aiming for a podium. Lowes had some false neutrals into MG corner on Saturday. We have a steaming battle for eleventh place, between five riders. In this scrap are Markus Reiterberger, Alex De Angelis, Stefan Bradl, Roman Ramos, and Josh Brookes.
Reiterberger is the only BMW in the race right now, as mentioned. Ramos wants by Bradl but can't get there. Melandri, Rea, and Davies, are a few tenths apart at the front. Everyone has preserved and conserved their tires, just before the end of this race. Sykes has lost a lot of time, and is a second behind Xavi Fores at the moment. Four laps remain in race two at Phillip Island, one of the best circuits in the world. Alex Lowes still pressures the top three. Rea tries to move past Melandri, but no./ Trying to make a move between Hay Shed and Lukey Heights, takes loads of bravery, ladies and gentlemen.
Alex Lowes has moved past Marco Melandri for third spot. The Yamaha does well on turn in and under braking. Don't underestimate Marco Melandri. Fores closes up on Melandri, and Melandri has to sit up, as he will be fuming, trying to pass Fores. Chaz Davies passes Jonathan Rea for the lead! Melandri wants to pass Lowes, but that will be a big ask. Lowes, meanwhile is trying his hardest to get by the Kawasaki in the hands of Jonathan Rea. Lowes runs too deep into Siberia and Rea cuts back in front. The battle is on now, for the win, between Rea and Davies. Up over Lukey Heights and down into MG another time. Lowes wants to give Yamaha another win. They haven't done so, ironically, since Marco Melandri rode for them in 2011 and won the second race at Portimao in Portugal, that year.
The last lap of an amazing motorcycle race, is on! Davies vs. Rea. Rea slams into the lead, and here comes Marco Melandri on the second Ducati. Marco Melandri slides around Alex Lowes for third. Through Honda hairpin for the final time. Through the Hay Shed, and into Lukey Heights one more time. Has Davies got enough left in the locker to beat Jonathan Rea? Or, has Rea pulled the pin, and set sail? One corner to go. Will Davies set up a slipstream pass? Or, will he quickly shoot by at the finish? Or, will he have to settle for second?
Davies pours on the steam down Gardner straight for the last time. But, no. Jonathan Rea does the double Down Under!
World Superbike Race 2: #1 Jonathan Rea GBR. Kawasaki ZX10RR
Davies is second. Marco Melandri is third. Lowes and Fores complete the top five. Sykes, van der Mark, Camier, Savadori, and Eugene Laverty, rounds out the top ten. Rea wins Phillip Island from pole. This is Jonathan Rea's 40th career WSBK win. He becomes only the fourth rider to score 40 career wins along with fellow legends of the sport, Carl Fogarty, Noriyuki Haga, and Troy Bayliss. The next round of the FIM World Superbike championship is at Buriram in Thailand, coming up in two week.
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