World Superbike

A highly determined ride from Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) at the Pirelli Aragón Round on Sunday saw the Welshman get his first win of 2017, with Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) also on the podium.

WorldSBK Race 2 – in sunny but windy conditions at MotorLand Aragon – went down to the last lap, with Davies making amends for his Race 1 crash as he got the better of World Champion Rea over the last two corners.

The pair dueled for the lead in the final stages, with Davies ultimately crossing the line half a second ahead of Rea, to end the Northern Irishman’s five race winning streak. Melandri continued his solid comeback season in third place, around 2.5s back on his victorious teammate.

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) finished in fourth place, the former World Champion suffering from sickness this weekend in Spain. Sykes finished eight down on the podium positions but got the better of Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) on the final lap.

Dutchman Van der Mark equaled his best result of the season so far in fifth. There was frustration for his Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team colleague Alex Lowes on lap 11, as a mistake saw him run off track and drop out of podium contention as he resumed way down the field, having been in fourth before his off-track excursion.

Lowes had started Race 2 at the front of the grid and he had held the lead for several laps. The Englishman eventually finished 13th.

Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team) recovered from the drama of his Saturday DNF, which saw his race end with his Ducati in flames, finishing Sunday’s contest as the top Spanish rider in sixth – just under two seconds ahead of compatriot Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team).

Leandro Mercado (IODARacing), Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) and Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) completed the top ten.

Nicky Hayden (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) suffered a DNF due to a technical problem, whilst Alex De Angelis (Pedercini Racing SC-Project) crashed out at the end of lap 15.

The WorldSBK grid will be back in action at the Acerbis Dutch Round over the 28th-30th April weekend.

 

World Supersport

Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) was the victor in an action-packed WorldSSP race at the Pirelli Aragón Round, with Sheridan Morais (Kallio Racing) and PJ Jacobsen (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) joining the French rider on the podium.

With several front-running riders crashing out over the course of the race Mahias, Morais and Jacobsen were left to fight for the victory. Mahias got the better of South Africa’s Morais on the final corner to win by just +0.014s.

Jacobsen was in the hunt for second in the final stages but the American finished a tenth of a second behind the leading two. The win for Mahias sees him take over at the head of the standings after three rounds.

Jules Cluzel (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) crossed the line three seconds behind the podium finishers in fourth place, with close behind him Michael Canducci (Puccetti Racing Junior Team FMI) in fifth.

Robin Mulhauser (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) crashed alone on the first lap at turn 7, Niki Tuuli (Kallio Racing) crashed at turn 9 on lap 5, with Kyle Smith (GEMAR Team Lorini) then going down at turn 14 on lap 7 having run at the front in the early stages.

Then there was more drama at the start of lap eight as Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) was flipped over his bike and Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was unable to avoid colliding with Caricasulo’s Yamaha.

Returning World Champion Sofuoglu, who missed the opening two rounds with a hand injury, was taken to the medical centre for check-ups, as was Caricasulo.

The top ten was completed by Roberto Rolfo (Team Factory Vamag), Christian Gamarino (BARDAHL EVAN BROS. Honda Racing), Kyle Ryde (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), Hannes Soomer (WILSport Racedays) and Luke Stapleford (Profile Racing).

Estonian rider Soomer’s ninth place result made him the top FIM Europe Supersport Cup finisher, followed by Rob Hartog (Team Hartog – Jenik – Against Cancer) in 12th and Péter Sebestyén (Team SSP Hungary by Pedercini Racing) in 19th.

There were DNFs for Gino Rea (Team Kawasaki Go Eleven) and Alessandro Zaccone (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), the Englishman stopping midrace and the Italian retiring in the opening stages.

The WorldSSP riders will return to action at the Acerbis Dutch Round over the 28th-30th April weekend.

 

World Supersport 300

At the Pirelli Aragón Round on Sunday Scott Deroue (MTM HS Kawasaki) made history with victory in the first ever race of the new WorldSSP300 series, the young Dutchman joined on the podium in Spain by two Spaniards, Daniel Valle (Halcourier Racing) and Mika Perez (WILSport Racedays).

Former Moto3™ rider Deroue started on pole and used his Grand Prix experience to eventually fend off his rivals, crossing the line just 0.047s ahead of Valle after a brilliant race, with Perez also in the hunt for maximum points. Perez had led the race and looked strong for several laps but would ultimately have to settle for third, 0.127s behind Deroue.

Borja Sanchez (Halcourier Racing) was in the mix for the win too, sitting at the back of the front group over the last two laps and finally reaching the checkered flag less than a second off P1.

Angelo Licciardi (Team Trasimeno) finished in fifth place, 10 seconds behind the leading riders. Paolo Grassia (3570 Made in CIV), Giuseppe De Gruttola (SK Racing), Dorren Loureiro (DS Junior Team), Paolo Giacomini (Terra e Moto) and another ex-Moto3™ rider Ana Carrasco (ETG Racing) completed the top ten.

Mykyta Kalinin (Team MOTOXRACING) slid out of the lead with seven laps to go at turn ten, before Kimi Patova (Kallio Racing) and Chris Taylor (MTM HS Kawasaki) crashed out together at turn 17, with five laps to go.

Robert Schotman (GRT Yamaha WorldSSP300 Team) then crashed out of the podium hunt at turn 4 of the penultimate lap. Enzo de la Vega (GRT Yamaha WorldSSP300 Team) was an unfortunate crasher right at the end of the race, as he slid off on the final corner.

Avalon Biddle (Sourz Foods – Benjan Racing) and wild card Marc Garcia (Halcourier Racing) both suffered DNFs due to technical problems.

 

Source: WolrdSBK