Completan el podio en segundo Haslam y Sykes ,quien superó a Torres, en tercer lugar.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) ha dado un nuevo golpe de autoridad en el Campeonato de WorldSBK 2015 al imponerse con gran rotundidad en la Carrera 1 disputada este domingo en el Chang International Circuit de Tailandia.

El inglés, que ayer logró su segunda Superpole de la temporada, ha sacado partido de su posición en la parrilla para situase al frente de la carrera desde que se han apagado los semáforos e iniciar a continuación una vertiginosa escapada. En la cuarta vuelta su ventaja era ya de 2 segundos sobre su más inmediato perseguidor, su compatriota Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team -Red Devils), que había superado previamente al compañero de equipo de Rea, Tom Sykes.

También Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) ha superado al ex campeón inglés en la sexta vuelta tras una apurada maniobra en la que han llegado a tocarse los carenados de las dos monturas.

Un giro más tarde se ha producido el abandono de Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) a causa de un problema mecánico. La carrera ha tomado un rumbo algo accidentado en esa fase. Uno de los favoritos, Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team), se ha caído en la novena vuelta, aunque ha podido regresar a pista en una retrasada 15ª posición. Lowes también se ha ido al suelo (vuelta 12) en el mismo punto. El inglés de Suzuki también se ha reincorporado a la pista, pero recolocado en la 8ª posición.

Rea ha mantenido su fuerte ritmo hasta el final y en el momento de cruzar la meta mantenía una ventaja de más de 6 segundos sobre Haslam, que ha sido segundo y ha sumado su tercer podio consecutivo en este arranque de temporada. Beneficiado por la caída de Lowes, Sykes ha recuperado la tercera posición y ha podido contabilizar su primer podio de 2015 pese a la persecución a la que le ha sometido Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) en el último tercio de la prueba.

El catalán ha mantenido de inicio un pulso con Troy Bayliss (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team) para consolidarse en la  6ª posición y después ha podido dar cuenta del actual campeón, Sylvain Guintoli (PATA Honda World Superbike Team), que ha cruzado junto a la bandera a cuadros en quinta posición. En los últimos giros, Torres ha amagado con adelantar al piloto de Suzuki, pero finalmente ha tenido que aceptar la 4ª posición, repitiendo su mejor actuación en el Round inicial de Phillip Island.

Lowes ha recuperado terreno en los giros finales y ha cruzado la meta en sexta posición*. Matteo Baiocco (Althea Racing) y el ex campeón australiano Bayliss* han firmado la 7ª y 8ª posición.

David Salom (Team Pedercini) ha firmado un meritorio noveno puesto y ha sumado sus primeros puntos en su regreso a la competición tras la caída y lesión que se produjo en Phillip Island. El argentino Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing) ha completado el top 10 de la carrera.

Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), Niccolò Canepa (Team Hero EBR) both han tenido que abandonar en las primeras etapas, al igual que los wildcard locales Chanon Chumjai (RAC Oil Racing Team) y Anucha Nakcharoensri (YSS TS Racing) y el francés Christophe Ponsson (Grillini Racing Team), que se ha ido al suelo en el quinto giro.

* Posteriormente, A.Lowes (nº 22) y T.Bayliss (nº 21) han sido sancionados con la pérdida de 1 posición para adelantar con bandera amarilla a las 13.23 en la vuelta 14 – art. 1.23.2.

Fuente y Foto: www.worldsbk.com

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The first ever WorldSBK race to be held in Thailand has been won by Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team), who dominated the 20-lap encounter at the all-new Chang International Circuit in Buriram. Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) and Rea’s team mate Tom Sykes joined him on the podium.

Rea led from the start, building up a two-second lead over the chasing pack by the end of lap five and winning by 6.329s at the flag. Courtesy of the seventeenth win of his career, the Briton now lies atop the standings with a five-point lead over Haslam.

Former champion Tom Sykes made a great start from the second row, shadowing his team mate for the opening few turns before he was passed by the Aprilia Racing machine of Leon Haslam, who then set about hunting down Kawasaki-mounted Rea.

As the leading two eased away, the battle for 3^rd was intense with Sykes, front row qualifier Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki), Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team) and Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) embroiled in a titanic fight, that saw a number of close overtaking moves around the 4.5km circuit. Davies crashed out of 5^th at the end of the 9^thlap, the double podium finisher in Australia was able to remount, eventually finishing in 11^th.

By half distance the gap between the leading two was constant but as Alex Lowes slid out of podium contention at the final turn on lap 13, the closest on track battle was for 3^rd between Sykes and WorldSBK rookie Jordi Torres who was looking strong in 4^th and gradually closing in on the former champion.

With the packed grandstand erupting to the cheers of the enthusiastic fans at the end of the final lap, Rea was able to clinch the win. Haslam crossed the line 1.9s ahead of Sykes and Torres, the trio completing the top-four.

Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) rode a lonely race to be classified an eventual 5^th ahead of a recovering Alex Lowes who was able to salvage 10 points with a sixth place finish.

Behind the top-six the remaining top ten positions were rounded out by Matteo Baiocco (Althea Racing Ducati), Troy Bayliss (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team), David Salom (Team Pedercini Kawasaki) and Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing Ducati) who rounded out the top ten respectively after an enthralling race long fight.

Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), Niccolò Canepa (Team Hero EBR) both retired in the early stages along with local wildcard rider Chanon Chumjai (RAC Oil Racing Team). Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Superbike) retired from the top ten at the start of lap seven as did Anucha Nakcharoensri (YSS TS Racing)

Christophe Ponsson (Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki) was the only other faller, the youngest rider on the WorldSBK grid crashed uninjured at turn one on lap five.

Source and Photo: www.worldsbk.com

• The Chang International Circuit hosts the second round of the season

After the thrilling season opener at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Australia, the eni FIM Superbike World Championship returns to the track for the second outing of the year, taking place on March 20-22 at the brand-new Chang International Circuit in Thailand.

The track located near Buriram (which means City of Happiness), in the North Eastern part of the country, is the 48^th to host a WorldSBK event in the history of the series. The Chang International Circuit is also the fifth new venue to debut on the World Superbike calendar in the past five years.

The track’s 4.554km layout is laid on completely flat terrain and features twelve corners, five left and seven right. Following a first fast section mainly made of two straights and two right-hand turns, the riders enter a mixed second part of the track, which connects back to the start/finish straight.

With just one round completed of the 2015 season, two riders sit atop the standings with one win and a second place apiece. Former teammates Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) had a successful start to their new adventures at Phillip Island as they immediately gelled with their new machines both in qualifying and in the race. The two riders rounded out the race-winning numbers for Aprilia and Kawasaki in the series which now stand at 50 and 60, respectively.

In the mix with both of them for most of the two Australian encounters, fellow Briton Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team) left Phillip Island with two encouraging podium finishes and the confidence to consistently challenge for the top step aboard his Panigale R. The Welshman will be joined once again by three-time WorldSBK Champion Troy Bayliss, who is eager to improve his performance after his surprise return to the series at his home round. The soon-to-be 46-year-old will again be the substitute rider for the injured Davide Giugliano.

Last year’s title contenders, the reigning Champion Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike) and runner-up Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) will be aiming to bounce back to the front after a difficult opening round which saw both riders playing catch-up both to the leading trio as well as to their respective teammates.

Still recovering from the neck injury suffered in a testing crash at Jerez at the end of January, Guintoli hopes to be fit enough to face the extreme heat and humidity the riders will encounter in Thailand. The Frenchman is looking forward to making the most out of the Honda package that proved to be very competitive in Australia in the hands of the reigning World Supersport Champion Michael van der Mark, who had an excellent Superbike debut at Phillip Island.

After the promising World Superbike debuts of Spanish rookies Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) and Nico Terol (Althea Racing Ducati), the duo will start from the same level of track-knowledge at Chang as the rest of the field, a factor that could well boost their chances for impressive results in Thailand.

Keen on putting a difficult opening round behind them, the Voltcom Crescent Suzuki pairing of Alex Lowes and Randy de Puniet will try to make the most of the opportunity given by the Thai Round, hoping to quickly find a competitive set-up for their GSX-R machines which suffered a multitude of technical issues at the Phillip Island races.

VIDEO

Source, Photo & Video: Copyright Dorna WSBK Organization