Nineteen laps around a cold but dry Imola, would the dominance of yesterday be repeated in these different conditions?
Chaz Davies led into the first corner with Jonathan Rea behind him. Davide Giugliano got an excellent start but was beaten by Tom Sykes round the outside and was then in the wrong place to fend off Lorenzo Savadori who took fourth from him.
The front three, much like in yesterday's race, left everyone else behind and within three laps, Davies was a second clear of the duelling Kawasakis who themselves had a second and a half between them and fourth placed Savadori on the Aprilia. Savadori was leading a five-bike battle for fourth, with Savadori, Giugliano, Marcus Reiterberger, Leon Camier and Nicky Hayden within sniffing distance of fourth, although Hayden dropped off the back and was quickly passed by Alex Lowes who took his place in the throng.
On lap six, Davide Giugliano caught Lorenzo Savadori and hounded him for most of the lap, pouncing on him, forcing him aside on the entrance into the Variante Bassa, the last chicane.
And that was it for the top four places. Chaz Davies had two and a half seconds of clear track behind his Ducati at a third of the race distance and, while Jonathan Rea had a rear-wheel slide onto a straight that let Tom Sykes close up the distance, the two Kawasakis would stay in that formation throughout the race. Even an electronic shutdown, rebooting Rea's dash when he changed to fifth gear, could not gift Sykes second place. Davide Giugliano in fourth, over four seconds off the Kawasakis, would build on his defensive gap to Lorenzo Savadori slowly, he had it over a second at the halfway mark.
Behind the front four, Alex Lowes caught and passed Savadori and a few turns later, Leon Camier did the same, closing over a second to catch and pass the Aprilia on his MV Agusta. Camier took three more laps to catch Lowes, making his pass stick five laps from the chequered flag.
Further back, Jordi Torres was also on the move, struggling for the first half of the race, his BMW started to work how he liked it and he passed Nicky Hayden and Marcus Reiterberger on laps eleven and twelve and Lorenzo Savadori on lap sixteen, finishing the race in seventh. Savadori ran out of fuel at the end of the last lap and went from eighth place to eleventh, freewheeling through the chicane and across the line.
Chaz Davies won race two in front of Ducati's brass, with the double victory, two fastest laps, the lap record and pole position in front of Gigi Dall'Igna, Ducati Corse's general manager. The only bikes he saw in front of him at any point in either race were back markers.
Jonathan Rea, second, lost leads in both races to his teammate Tom Sykes, third, but he was able to keep from being passed every time. Davide Giugliano in a lonely fourth did one better than yesterday and climbs to fifth in the championship. Leon Camier rode an impressive race, finishing in fifth place on a bike that still needs a lot of development.
An Italian bike winning in Italy kept the fans happy, and Chaz Davies did his career prospects no harm.
Results:
Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Gap | Best Lap | Speed |
1 | 7 | C. DAVIES | Ducati Panigale R | 1'47.240 286,0 | 1'45.598 289,1 | |
2 | 1 | J. REA | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 4.262 | 1'47.262 289,8 | 1'46.328 291,4 |
3 | 66 | T. SYKES | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 4.604 | 1'47.550 289,1 | 1'46.331 287,5 |
4 | 34 | D. GIUGLIANO | Ducati Panigale R | 13.093 | 1'47.778 284,5 | 1'46.055 287,5 |
5 | 2 | L. CAMIER | MV Agusta 1000 F4 | 16.250 | 1'48.030 286,0 | 1'46.911 283,7 |
6 | 22 | A. LOWES | Yamaha YZF R1 | 20.078 | 1'47.848 285,2 | 1'48.001 287,5 |
7 | 81 | J. TORRES | BMW S1000 RR | 23.622 | 1'48.174 289,8 | 1'46.867 290,6 |
8 | 69 | N. HAYDEN | Honda CBR1000RR SP | 26.803 | 1'48.128 286,0 | 1'47.429 288,3 |
9 | 60 | M. VAN DER MARK | Honda CBR1000RR SP | 28.577 | 1'48.732 286,0 | 1'47.563 287,5 |
10 | 12 | X. FORÉS | Ducati Panigale R | 32.630 | 1'48.759 285,2 | 1'47.811 286,0 |
11 | 32 | L. SAVADORI | Aprilia RSV4 RF | 34.669 | 1'48.212 289,8 | 1'46.531 289,8 |
12 | 21 | M. REITERBERGER | BMW S1000 RR | 38.244 | 1'48.414 289,8 | 1'46.952 290,6 |
13 | 25 | J. BROOKES | BMW S1000 RR | 41.100 | 1'49.194 288,3 | 1'48.046 286,0 |
14 | 15 | A. DE ANGELIS | Aprilia RSV4 RF | 1'12.823 | 1'49.639 285,2 | 1'49.321 286,0 |
15 | 9 | D. SCHMITTER | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 1'55.258 | 1'52.505 273,7 | 1'49.857 277,9 |
16 | 11 | S. AL SULAITI | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 1 Lap | 1'52.848 277,9 | 1'52.108 273,7 |
17 | 119 | P. SZKOPEK | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1 Lap | 1'52.582 279,3 | 1'51.020 277,2 |
RET | 151 | M. BAIOCCO | Ducati Panigale R | 8 Laps | ||
RET | 17 | K. ABRAHAM | BMW S1000 RR | 18 Laps | ||
RET | 16 | J. HOOK | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 18 Laps |
Comments
Honda
I think a lot of loyal (or merely chauvinistic American) Hayden fans were hoping for more this year, but this weekend Honda just didn't seem to have it, even for Van Der Mark. Oh well, hats off to Chaz. Maybe Ducati will give him a wildcard GP16 ride later this season.
In reply to Honda by dman904
'mericans
i'm just happy the dutch are helping to minimise the american unemployment rate in world level motorcycle racing. thanks ronald!
In reply to Honda by dman904
Dreaming...
Chaz and Casey on Ducati's factory GP bikes for 2017.
Seriously, that would be a hell of a temptation for Casey... to share a GP garage with one of his best mates.
It would be special to see the pair of them at the Suzuka 8 Hour on a Panigale too - who do you guys reckon the third rider should be? : )
In reply to Dreaming... by v4racer
3rd Rider
Eugene Laverty can ride anything. He'd be a great third.
Watch out Jorge.........
Watch out Jorge...........here comes Chaz!
Mixed race
That was a race with mixed aspects. It was not very interesting at the front, but there was a lot going on from 4th place onwards. One thing that strikes me is that many riders had inconsistent pace; fast in the beginning, fading at the end, or the other way around, or even changing several times from fast to slower during the race. At least that means that you never know what might happen later on, which is good for watching.
Impressive riding by Leon Camier on the MV Agusta for sure! Great that he and MV are getting stronger results, they both deserve it for keeping up that tough battle! That F4 looks really well composed and controllable, which bodes well for future results.
The Hondas on the other hand looked like they need to be ridden with care somehow, as if you can't really push them with confidence. Just my impression of course. Van der Mark was nowhere this time, I wonder what his story is. And I really feel that Nicky Hayden has the speed to be further up front. Still already a decent performance on a difficult track he's never been to before.
Lorenzo Savadori on the Aprilia was really going for it, but he started to have serious slides at the end. Too bad we did not get to see his last two or three laps, I think that must have been pretty spectacular. If they can solve their grip issues in the second half of the races, he's going to be a strong contender, I'd say.
P.S. Jordi Torres is of course riding a BMW, not an Aprilia anymore. Typo there, Jared ;-)
In reply to Mixed race by Powervalve58
Typos
Damn, I knew that. I was thinking of Savadori of course. I'll correct that above. The curse of very, very short deadlines, fixed with the mutability of the web.
In reply to Mixed race by Powervalve58
The story with Van der Mark
The story with Van der Mark is the same as it was with Rea. Fast guy on a slow bike.
Hayden finishing in front of him is very much an anomoly.