The Rain was so heavy that it pushed the start of the World Supersport race to after this event so it came as no surprise that World Superbike race two would be declared a wet race and everyone fitted intermediate Pirellis accordingly.
Tom Sykes hit the front first ahead of Alex Lowes, but the tricky conditions meant there was plenty of jockeying for position, with Nicky Hayden and Jonathan Rea getting past Alex Lowes, then Davies passing the Yamaha man and at the end of the first lap, in his debut World Superbike weekend, Anthony West took fifth place off Lowes.
Nicky Hayden, Jonathan Rea and Chaz Davies also passed Tom Sykes on their way forward and Hayden led the race convincingly, while Davide Giugliano took sixth place off Lowes further back and then passed West for fifth. On the third lap, Giugliano and West made short work of Tom Sykes.
On the fourth lap, Nicky Hayden led by over a second and set the fastest lap, as he increased that gap to over two seconds by lap five, while Rea built a second from Davies who had just under a second from Giugliano and it looked like a procession was forming. A few laps later, Davide Giugliano found more grip and closed up on Chaz Davies who also found a bit of pace and held him off.
Davies set the fastest lap, immediately beaten by Giugliano and the Ducatis closed on Rea's Kawasaki in second place. On the tenth lap, the Ducati pair again set the fastest laps successively and closed on Rea, with Davies finding a gap as Rea was an inch wide into the last hairpin, taking second place from him. Giugliano took third from Rea and set the fastest lap again.
Twelve laps in, Hayden had a four second gap at the lead, but Giugliano passed Davies and set about closing the distance. Jonathan Rea, seeing the only man who could take points from his lead in front of him, set the fastest lap and looked for a solution to Davies in third.
Three laps from the end, Giugliano, having set the fastest lap again, started taking lumps out of Hayden's lead, reducing it to two seconds as Rea took third from Davies in a super clean pass unbecoming of the conditions. Anthony West, in forth place six seconds behind Davies, had over six seconds of clear track behind him to a hard-fought battle for sixth that Michael van der Mark would eventually win.
Nicky Hayden got clear instructions from his crew and managed his lead enough to win his first World Superbike race and deny the Italian his own maiden victory as Davide Giugliano finished in second, just over a second behind. Jonathan Rea took third place and increased his lead from fourth-placed Chaz Davies.
Anthony West, on his debut World Superbike weekend, celebrated a fifth place while Tom Sykes struggled back in eighth.
As the Star Spangled Banner played out for the first time since Ben Spies last won, tears fell from the American's face as he took the plaudits for his first victory in a decade.
Results:
Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Gap | Best Lap | Speed |
1 | 69 | N. HAYDEN | Honda CBR1000RR SP | 2'17.273 284,6 | 2'03.435 297,1 | |
2 | 34 | D. GIUGLIANO | Ducati Panigale R | 1.254 | 2'16.716 278,0 | 2'04.052 293,9 |
3 | 1 | J. REA | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 3.684 | 2'16.914 286,1 | 2'03.021 297,1 |
4 | 7 | C. DAVIES | Ducati Panigale R | 5.720 | 2'17.501 280,9 | 2'03.485 294,7 |
5 | 13 | A. WEST | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 15.989 | 2'18.206 281,6 | 2'04.440 296,3 |
6 | 60 | M. VAN DER MARK | Honda CBR1000RR SP | 19.979 | 2'18.103 273,8 | 2'04.183 295,5 |
7 | 15 | A. DE ANGELIS | Aprilia RSV4 RF | 20.028 | 2'18.007 276,6 | 2'06.691 297,9 |
8 | 66 | T. SYKES | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 23.011 | 2'18.505 284,6 | 2'02.246 296,3 |
9 | 2 | L. CAMIER | MV Agusta 1000 F4 | 24.045 | 2'18.280 276,6 | 2'05.399 287,6 |
10 | 21 | M. REITERBERGER | BMW S1000 RR | 25.139 | 2'18.042 279,4 | 2'03.549 300,4 |
11 | 12 | X. FORÉS | Ducati Panigale R | 25.208 | 2'17.949 276,6 | 2'06.787 292,3 |
12 | 25 | J. BROOKES | BMW S1000 RR | 25.835 | 2'18.091 271,7 | 2'06.699 294,7 |
13 | 81 | J. TORRES | BMW S1000 RR | 26.757 | 2'18.194 273,1 | 2'03.855 301,2 |
14 | 32 | L. SAVADORI | Aprilia RSV4 RF | 30.729 | 2'18.035 282,4 | 2'03.612 302,1 |
15 | 16 | J. HOOK | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 1'05.347 | 2'19.662 280,2 | 2'11.197 282,4 |
16 | 4 | G. VIZZIELLO | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 1'17.761 | 2'21.642 277,3 | 2'16.701 280,9 |
17 | 99 | L. SCASSA | Ducati Panigale R | 1'18.121 | 2'20.900 277,3 | 2'07.628 286,9 |
18 | 119 | P. SZKOPEK | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1'31.412 | 2'19.328 272,4 | 2'12.277 286,9 |
19 | 9 | D. SCHMITTER | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 2'07.000 | 2'22.487 273,8 | 2'11.881 279,4 |
20 | 11 | S. AL SULAITI | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 2'08.836 | 2'23.041 269,7 | 2'11.320 280,2 |
21 | 10 | I. TÓTH | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1 Lap | 2'29.329 246,9 | 2'11.720 282,4 |
RET | 22 | A. LOWES | Yamaha YZF R1 | 4 Laps | ||
RET | 17 | K. ABRAHAM | BMW S1000 RR |
Comments
Way to go Nick!
Finally after a 10 year drought, we Nicky Hayden fans have something to celebrate!
I really hope Honda does come out with a new bike next year and give Nick a chance to compete for a tittle. Being the first to own a MotoGP title and WSBK title would be a fitting way to end a great career.
His first victory in 10 years
His first victory in 10 years. That must feel good.
In reply to His first victory in 10 years by Firefly
Long time waiting
I started watching MotoGP in 2008 and immediately became a Nicky Hayden fan after watching a couple races and interviews. It's been a Loooong time waiting for this win, having previously massively celebrated podiums. Heh, I remember opening the stream yesterday and thinking "Well, it's quite wet.. this is our chance!"
Hopefully not the last.
Congratulations, Nicky! Now let's hope Honda really does finally come through with a massively updated Fireblade that can get you on the top step consistently.
Congratulations!
That was really great to watch, Hayden taking this impressive win! So well-deserved after many, many years on inferior equipment (and probably still)! Hopefully he'll be up there more often, in the dry as well. Which probably won't be exactly easy.
Also the rest of the race was exciting to watch, even though there was no direct battle for the lead. Nice to see Alex De Angelis back in competitive shape after all his injuries. I still think he has more up his sleeve when he's fit and the Aprilia is sorted. And man, I was holding my breath when Giugliano got at Davies' rear wheel. That overtake that you knew was coming... Scary moment! I really thought about the Dovizioso-Iannone situation, brrr.
And hats off to West, what a debut. Keeping Sykes way behind him and at some point it even looked like he was heading for the top three... I'm surprised he isn't called Anthony Wet yet. Anyway, what a remarkable career. He keeps showing up at the front in some class again and again. I wonder what he can do next time.
NH 69!
I am so happy for Nicky and Earl. I think the new Saturday - Sunday format will help NH hunt for regular podiums.
So happy for Nicky
He deserved this result, and much more. This will probably a one-off for this season though, and the shame is on Honda. Having to wait for wet races to shine is not the way to go.
Also, I wonder what's gonna happen to PATA Yamaha Team now that they have no rider atm...
#69
I try to watch racing while not cheering for a specific rider, because I just want the racing to be good, and I don't want one rider's finish to ruin the race for me.
Nicky Haydedn is one rider I can't help but root for, as I started to watch AMA racing when he won his Superbike title there - before I even knew that MotoGP or World Superbike existed because it just wasn't aired often I guess.
Seeing him make a gap at the front, and manage it the whole race, and then seeing Giugliano take chunks out of it with a few laps to go made it very exciting. Seeing him cross the finish after the last lap, I was pumping my fist in celebration. I'd have yelled, but my wife was still asleep, and I didn't want to wake her up :) Happy wife, happy life!
I usually just watch the races, watch the top 10 riders finish, and skip ahead to the point standings. But today I made sure to watch #69 celebrate in parc ferme, and spray champagne from the top step of the podium for the first time in 10 years.
I hope there's more to come, and more champagne sprayed in celebration!
Eurosport
Could the Eurosport 1 commentary be ANY more boring. Its bad enough when there isnt close racing but only having one monotone commentator is seriously putting me to sleep.
So stoked to see an American back on the top step in dominating fasion (even if its wet I'll take it!)
Grats to the Kentucky kid, and nice to see Guiliano not throw it up the road. Great weekend. Bring on Mugello!
As per usual
Well done Nicky, great result. As per usual the the rider Tom Sykes who most commentators drool about was lost when he fell back & was left behind unable to put in an overtake to progress in the points, this happens frequently with him, he only seems to be on fire when out in the lead, other riders fight to progress, Sykes does not. A very sad day yesterday when we all lost a young incredible newcomer to Road Racing, Malachi Mitchell Thomas who achieved a fourth place in the Supersport Race at the Nothwest 200, may we not forget him.
In reply to As per usual by Efil Rekib (not verified)
Sykes Drive
That's not entirely true. During Monza 2012, it was wet (race directors called Race 2 at 8 wet laps and then decided to award only half points... then Biaggi goes on to win the championship by 1/2 pt, surprise surprise...) and everyone was timid as hell, but Tom Sykes storms off the line and was brutally aggressive and riding seconds faster than anyone else. As the race was called, he was 10sec faster than #2 Leon Haslam, and 24sec faster than #11 Hiroshio Aoyama.
That was easily the most insane wet riding I've ever seen.
Congratulations Nick!
Well done!
Great to see Nicky on the top
Great to see Nicky on the top step again! But somewhat discouraging to note that the performance deficit of the Honda requires the "great equalizer" of a wet track to make it happen. Hoping for better next year.
Like others, I am disappointed with the commentary. I fear budget cuts are responsible here and in defense to Tom Gaymor I'd like to point out that working a race like this alone is a very hard task for an announcer (I speak from a some radio announcing experience). Going for that length of time without any assistance is brutal. Bring back James Whitham! (In fact, my wife refuses to watch the races with me now that Whit is no longer doing commentary — and she's an American who doesn't understand half of what he says!)
A long time coming for Nicky
All those years in GP that Nicky kept suffering as his equipment got worse and worse, starting with his title defense year on the micro machines bike. It's good to see him on the top step again, it's hard to believe how long it's been.
The commentary energy level was more appropriate for a round of golf than a bike race in the rain. I sympathize with having to do the commentary solo, but goodness at least try to sound interested in it.
David - if the title of your summary is a Blade Runner reference, it is very much appreciated. I loved that movie.
In reply to A long time coming for Nicky by Hammerite
Headline
It's my headline and yes, my favourite movie.
parc ferme
What was Nicky drinking in parc ferme? it wasn't an energy drink.
It looked like a 16 oz. can of beer. At first he covered it with a cloth. I think a can of cold beer would be the best thing at the end of a long hard race. But it was unusal.