2015 Misano World Superbike Results
Can anyone stop the Kawasaki Racing Team Ninja ZX-10R duo of Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea? These two dominated round eight of the 2015 World Superbike Championship at Marco Simoncelli Misano Circuit in Italy.
Sykes, who started from the pole after earning his third Superpole win of 2015 World SBK, earned the race-one win. The Brit was untouchable during the opening 21-lap race, eventually taking the checkered flag by 3.613 seconds ahead of Rea. Earning the final podium position was Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Team’s Chaz Davies; the Welshman gave Ducati its 800th podium in World Superbike.
In race two, the fight was between the other Ducati Team Panigale 1199 R pilot, Davide Giugliano, and Rea. But Rea – who chases his first-ever World SBK title – was able to overtake the Italian, and earn his 11th race win of 2015 SBK. Taking the final podium position was Aprilia Racing Team’s Leon Haslam.
En route to his 26th World Superbike career win, Rea also set a new lap record at Misano – a 1:34.720mph. Following Misano World Superbike, Rea now has 375 points, and leads Sykes by 133 points. In third – 16 points behind Sykes is Haslam. In the manufacturer points, Kawasaki leads Ducati by 122 points.
Speaking after Misano World Superbike, Sykes says: “A lot of people would dream about a weekend with a pole position, a win and a fifth place but we were just not able to do it in race two. I do not think I started very well in race two but from the beginning I was lacking some grip and it was very difficult to recover.
“When I started fighting with other riders I was not able to be strong where I needed to be but we tried everything we could. I knew both races would be difficult today but we had a great race one. We were just not able to repeat it in race two. We have had positives and negatives this weekend and we will move on to America now.”
Rea also responded: “Obviously we have to start to think about the championship now but I wanted to win today. In race two Davide Giugliano was a good marker to understand my pace and then with a few laps left I made a move to pass.
“We made a great race and I think at the end we are using our rear tires better than some others. We changed our rear tyre choice from race one and that was always the plan, as the morning was a bit cooler. Kawasaki has given us a bike to win and they proved that today with Tom winning race one and me winning race two. I am so grateful to be in this position and to have the opportunity to fight to wins.”
Following are the official race recaps from World SBK:
2015 Misano World Superbike Results, Race 1 Recap:
The opening race of the day at the Misano World Superbike was won by Sykes, who converted his 27th Pole Position into his 25th career win in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
Leading from the start, Sykes led all 21 laps, coming home ahead of teammate Rea and Davies, who delighted the Italian fans around the circuit with an incredible final lap duel for second position. Davies lunged past Rea into the final corner only to run wide, being passed again on the run to the flag by Rea.
Giugliano put the second official factory Ducati into 4th, the Italian running 2nd for the majority of the 21 lap encounter before being overhauled by the British pairing of Rea and Davies in the final two laps. He did however claim a new lap record, which he set on lap 3.
Haslam was unable to show the pace he had in qualifying coming home fifth, 0.1 of a second ahead of the returning Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) who led Friday practice and had a steady ride to finish sixth. The six time World Champion survived a heart stopping moment on the opening lap when he collided with Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team).
Guintoli would eventually finish 9th after fighting for the full 21 laps with Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia), Michele Pirro (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) who finished 7th and 8th, and his own Pata Honda team-mate Michael van der Mark who finished just behind the Frenchman in 10th.
The final point scorers were Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing), Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki), Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), Roman Ramos (Team Go Eleven) and Matteo Baiocco (Althea Racing).
Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) was running in the leading group before crashing at turn 3 on the third lap. The WorldSBK rookie was physically annoyed with himself as he walked back to the pits.
2015 Misano World Superbike Results, Race 2 Recap:
The second race of the PATA Riviera di Rimini round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship was won by Rea after a long fight with Giugliano.
Giugliano took the lead on lap 7 where he stayed until being passed by Rea with 5 laps to go. The current points leader was kept under constant pressure by the Italian, but held on to record his 11th win of the year by 1.290 seconds. Rea’s double podium finish equals the record set by Troy Corser in 2005 of 16 consecutive podium finishes in a season.
Behind the first two, Haslam got the better of Davies on the second factory Ducati after their own personal race long duel to claim the final podium place.
Race one winner Sykes was strong for the first half of the second encounter before dropping back to fifth at the flag. The former champion finished just ahead of Biaggi an Torres, the Aprilia Racing pairing swapping places throughout the 21 laps.
Michele Pirro rode a lonely race to finish 8th on the third Aruba.it Racing Ducati with Pata Honda team mates Sylvain Guintoli and Michael van der Mark completing the top ten.
The final 5 point scoring riders were Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia), Niccolo Canepa (Althea Racing), Markus Reiterberger (VanZon Rehema BMW), Roman Ramos (Team Go Eleven) and David Salom (Team Pedercini).
Leandro Mercado’s run of point scoring finishes in every race came to an end, the Argentine rider retiring his Barni Racing Ducati at the end of lap 3. Lowes was another of the riders to retire, on lap 9.
2015 Misano World Superbike Photo Gallery
