Bautista & van der Mark share Jerez WSBK wins

Jerez saw Alvaro Bautista claim two race wins, in a dominant display that was ended by a crash in Race 2, with team mate Chaz Davies likewise crashing out of contention. Michael van der Mark took over the Race 2 lead and put in a strong performance to claim the win.

Alvaro Bautista – Jerez WSBK 2019

It was a mixed bag for Jonathan Rea who also proved strong, but was penalised off the podium in Race 1 after a collision with Alex Lowes, starting from the back of the grid in the ensuing race. Two fourth place results were finally closed off with a podium in the final race of the weekend, in second.

The results leave Alvaro Bautista in the championship lead with 300 points to Jonathan Rea’s 259-points. Race 2 winner Michael van der Mark is third in the standings with 188 points.

WorldSBK Race 1 – Bautista wins, as Rea and Lowes clash

Jonathan Rea was handed penalties following his collision with Alex Lowes on the final lap, meaning despite initially finishing third, he didn’t feature on the podium in the final revised results.

Jerez WSBK 2019

On the opening lap, it was a frantic start as Jonathan Rea took the holeshot and kept his advantage, despite Alex Bautista trying to get around the outside. However, on the short burst between turn four and five, the Spaniard was able to get ahead of Rea with a well-executed move. At the end of the first lap, Alex Lowes was a solid third, whilst teammate Michael van der Mark had fought his way ahead of Marco Melandri and was fourth.

As the battle for third emerged, Michael van der Mark sat on the tail of Lowes at the beginning of lap three. Half way round the lap however, it was an unconventional pass at turn three that saw the Dutchman get ahead of his teammate and lead the pursuit to Jonathan Rea, who was losing time to Bautista.

Michael van der Mark – Jerez WSBK 2019

It wasn’t long before the Yamahas began to rapidly close down the reigning four-time WorldSBK Champion. The Northern Irishman had no answer for a rampant Van der Mark, who passed him with ease at turn six with 12 laps to go. Soon, it was Alex Lowes’ turn to get ahead of Rea, this time at turn two as Rea made a rare mistake. However, Lowes made a similar mistake at turn five, allowing Rea to go back ahead at turn six before a battle throughout the rest of the race ensued.

There were further battles down the field, with Toprak Razgatlioglu making a blazing start to the race, up to fifth from 11th. Despite this, Marco Melandri was making his presence felt, with a strong block pass at turn six in the middle of the race, whilst Razgatlioglu got the Italian back a lap later at turn one. The battle raged for the rest of the race, with Melandri taking his top five in the end since he was third in race one at Phillip Island.

Alvaro Bautista – Jerez WSBK 2019

With van der Mark clearing off and Bautista on the horizon, Rea and Lowes were left to battle till race end. With multiple clean passes as the two swapped positions, the last lap was the perfect opportunity for a desperate move from Rea, who needs as many damage limitation points as possible. With Bautista winning and van der Mark second, there were shenanigans behind as

Marco Melandri took fourth ahead of Razgatlioglu, whilst Tom Sykes concluded the race in sixth. Chaz Davies recovered to seventh with Sandro Cortese, Leon Haslam and Michael Ruben Rinaldi completed the top ten. Yuki Takahashi crashed at turn one whilst Jordi Torres retired.

Race 1 Result – Top Six

Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati)
Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK)
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing)
Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)

Tissot Sprint – Bautista makes it two at Jerez

The WorldSBK Tissot Superpole Race saw another spectacular performance by Alvaro Bautista, who breezed to his 13th win in his rookie season. The Spaniard took his home win with a comfortable margin but there were plenty of battles behind the runaway rookie.

Alvaro Bautista – Jerez WSBK 2019

Into turn one for the first time off the line and Bautista took the lead, with Marco Melandri second and Leon Haslam, who made it into third position. Tom Sykes was in fourth, with Alex Lowes and his teammate Michael van der Mark. After lap one, starting from 19th on the grid, Jonathan Rea was up to 10th, with Chaz Davies in his sights.

With the race settling down into a rhythm, Bautista wasn’t pulling away as fast as he did in race one on Saturday, as Marco Melandri pulled clear of Leon Haslam in third place and looked to be trying to go with the Spaniard at the head of the field. Michael van der Mark was trying his hardest to make passes but was losing control, as he missed apexes and ran wide when trying to make moves.

Marco Melandri – Jerez WSBK 2019

Bautista led Melandri at the front of the field, whilst Leon Haslam was third and looking strong ahead of Sykes. But it was disaster for Alex Lowes, who crashed out in dramatic fashion at turn seven, resulting in his first back-to-back pointless race since Portimao race one and two in 2017. Lowes was OK but a return to Jerez is rapidly turning into a weekend to forget for the Brno race winner from 2018.

Michael van der Mark was a man on a charge as he passed Haslam at turn six on lap five, before then catching Melandri and passing the Italian at the same corner two laps later. A strong end to the race for Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes saw the Brits pass their fellow countryman Haslam in the closing stages too, remaining in that order until the chequered flag.

Jonathan Rea – Jerez WSBK 2019

Bautista took his 13th win of the season, meaning he will start on pole ahead of van der Mark and Melandri in race two. The second row will see Jonathan Rea start from fourth, ahead of former teammate Tom Sykes and current teammate Leon Haslam. Rea finishing fourth signifies the first time since Jerez in 2015 that the northern Irishman has finished two races consecutively off the podium.

Row three and the final points from the Tissot Superpole Race sees Toprak Razgatlioglu start from seventh, whilst home-hero Jordi Torres was eighth, with the final point going to Sandro Cortese. Chaz Davies finished 10th, just outside of the points, after finishing second in the Tissot Superpole Race in Imola.

Alvaro Bautista also claimed the Tissot Superpole Race win – Jerez WSBK 2019

Tissot Superpole Race Result – Top Six

Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati)
Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK)
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)

WorldSBK Race 2: Van der Mark takes race two, as Bautista crashes

In what was a thrilling race two at Jerez, an uncharacteristic error from Alvaro Bautista at the start of lap two saw the Spaniard suffer his first racing crash in WorldSBK. The battle for the win came alive as Jonathan Rea and Michael van der Mark went head-to-head in the Spanish sun, resulting in the Dutchman taking his first win of 2019, whilst Razgatlioglu romped to third and yet another podium.

Jonathan Rea – Jerez WSBK 2019

Into turn one on the opening lap, Marco Melandri took the initial advantage, whilst a disaster for his fellow Yamaha rider Alex Lowes, who crashed at turn two on the opening lap. Bautista took the lead at turn five and Michael van der Mark followed him through as Melandri went wide. Jonathan Rea took the pair of Yamaha riders at turn six, in a bid to pursue Bautista at the front.

However, it was disaster for the Spaniard at the beginning of lap two as he crashed out of the lead! The championship leader hit the tarmac at turn one, with his ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati tumbling through the gravel. Bautista remounted but retired soon after. The race was now on, as Jonathan Rea led van der Mark and Marco Melandri, ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu and Chaz Davies completing the top five.

Alex Lowes – Jerez WSBK 2019

With 15 laps to go, the top five were covered by a second but disaster struck again, this time at turn five, as Marco Melandri attempted an ambitious pass on Davies, resulting in both riders crashing out. Davies was clearly frustrated with his former teammate, as both of them lost the chance to achieve a good result with Bautista out. Three of the main protagonists had suffered terrible results – Jonathan Rea was now looking like he was going to walk away from Jerez with a strong haul of points.

Michael van der Mark wasn’t prepared to let Rea have it all his own way, as the Dutchman took the lead with 14 laps to go at turn six. Jonathan Rea initially stayed with the Yamaha of van der Mark but couldn’t keep with the relentless pace of the 26-year-old out front, as 10 laps later, he had pulled out a two second lead. Alvaro Bautista had re-joined and was circulating in 16th position, ready to pick up the pieces in case anyone else was to crash out.

Alvaro Bautista – Jerez WSBK 2019

Battles continued to develop down the field, as Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who rocketed through from 11th on the grid to be the top running Ducati in fourth position, ahead of a jostling Sandro Cortese and Leon Haslam, with the Brit getting ahead of the German in the closing stages at turn one.

A crash for Ryuichi Kiyonari at the fast turn 11 resulted in gravel being put all over the circuit and a red flag coming out with two laps to go. Kiyonari walked away from the crash, although his bike was not so fortunate, having barrel rolled.

Michael van der Mark – Jerez WSBK 2019

Michael van der Mark was a winner once again completing a faultless weekend, right the way through from FP1 to race two. Second position and closing the gap down to Bautista in the championship to 41 points, Jonathan Rea was happy to be back on the podium. It was another stunning ride from Toprak Razgatlioglu to complete the race in third position. Rinaldi took a career-best fourth, whilst Leon Haslam fought hard to complete the top five.

Just behind the Brit, Sandro Cortese took his best WorldSBK result. Seventh position belonged to Tom Sykes, who had a relatively quiet Acerbis Spanish round, while Jordi Torres, Loris Baz and a superb Tommy Bridewell completed the top ten on a day where Independent teams took the majority of top ten placings.

Jonathan Rea – Jerez WSBK 2019

Leandro Mercado had a good comeback in 11th, ahead of Markus Reiterberger, Yuki Takahashi and Alex Lowes in 14th place being the last of the point-scorers.

Michael van der Mark saying, “What an amazing day! I was a bit upset with myself in the Sprint Race because I tried some optimistic overtakes that lost me a lot of time but in the end, I managed to finish second, which put me on the front row for Race 2. I got a good start but then Johnny passed me quite quickly and I was happy to sit behind him and conserve my tyres after Alvaro crashed out. But his pace wasn’t quite what I wanted to do and I could see the group behind were starting to catch us, so I decided to put in a pass and see if I could pull away, which I did. It’s been an incredible weekend and the bike has been great, with only very small changes required. I’m really happy with the progress made with the bike, so many thanks to the team and to Yamaha for all their hard work.”

Michael van der Mark – Jerez WSBK 2019

Jonathan Rea later stating, “In the final race I did not have the pace of Mikey. I need to check the times but we definitely made a step with the bike set-up from yesterday afternoon to today, especially with the front end feeling in the faster corners. But over the lap there were some areas where I was very close, or even better than Michael, but in one crucial area I just lost too much. It is something we have been working on all weekend and today the bike was better. I needed a clean day today to finish both races strongly. This morning’s race took a lot out of me mentally and physically – coming from the back of the grid to try and make up all those positions in a short space of time. I am looking forward to Misano now.”

Jonathan Rea – Jerez WSBK 2019

Toprak Razgatlioglu saying, “Today I am really happy to take a second podium of the year. In this morning’s short race we tried a new set-up but I did not like it. We came back to the same set-up as we used earlier. Today I followed Michael van der Mark and Johnny, but I was on my limit. I watched Johnny as he has the same bike but my big problem was in turn 11 and 12. In the last eight laps my front tyre had started to slide and I reduced my pace because I was in a podium position.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu – Jerez WSBK 2019

Leon Haslam also sharing, “Every session we were struggling with the front traction and we ran a bit more angle and corner speed compared to some of the other Kawasaki riders and I think that has been hindering me, especially as the temperatures have risen. I have tried to adapt my style and played around a little bit with set-up. I felt in that final race of the weekend I had good pace and could have challenged for that third place but I get stuck behind Tom for too many laps. Then when I got past him I was pushing too hard, like I was before, making too many mistakes. I was just lining Rinaldi up when the red flags came out. Another fifth place, so obviously I am not too happy about the result, but we have managed a lot of problems here this weekend.”

Leon Haslam – Jerez WSBK 2019

Alex Lowes also commented, “It’s been a tough weekend here in Jerez. In Race 2 I was pushing to make up places after starting from tenth on the grid, because I knew we had the pace to run with the guys at the front if we could get there. I got pushed wide in turn two, which is a bit tight when everyone arrives at the same time on the opening lap, and I slid off. Not what I was hoping for, but the bike was working really well at this track, we had good speed and we were consistent. Unfortunately, we were also a bit unlucky. We need to focus on these positives and continue working so in the same way so that we come back stronger in Misano. Congratulations to Michael and the team on the win today.”

Alex Lowes – Jerez WSBK 2019

Álvaro Bautista later saying, “Today was a day of two halves, in the sense that first we won the Superpole Race and then I crashed on lap 2 of the second race. It was a pity because I did nothing strange, I just lost the front, but racing is like that sometimes. The Jerez weekend was amazing, not only because of my two wins but also for the atmosphere here in the paddock, and for all the fans who came to the circuit to witness the show. Now we have only to continue the great work we did this weekend and try and repeat the same sensations in the next round at Misano.”

Alvaro Bautista – Jerez WSBK 2019

Chaz Davies adding, “I was quite aware that this was going to be a difficult weekend but I was hoping that with a good mind-set I could have got some decent results. On this type of circuit, with many longish corners, I was really far away with the set-up. I had a vibration issue with the bike in the Superpole Race, but then the guys did a great job to give me a good bike for the last race, where at least I could ride it OK. But then I got caught up in the incident with Melandri at Turn 5. I’m OK, I just picked up a big bruise on the hip and the side of the leg.”

Chaz Davies – Jerez WSBK 2019

Race 2 Result – Top Six

Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing)
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team)
Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK)

WorldSBK Championionship Standings

Alvaro Bautista – Ducati 300 points
Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki 259 points
Michael van der Mark – Yamaha 188 points
Alex Lowes – Yamaha – 142 points
Leon Haslam – Kawasaki 130 points

WorldSSP: Caricasulo battles back to take Jerez victory

The World Supersport championship took yet another swing in 2019, with the BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team riders of Federico Caricasulo and Randy Krummenacher battling hard throughout the 19-lap encounter with the rest of the field, to come out on top – in that order – ahead of a charging Jules Cluzel.

World Supersport – Jerez WSBK 2019

Lights-out and it was an explosive start from third on the grid for 2017 WorldSSP Champion Lucas Mahias, who took the holeshot ahead of Federico Caricasulo and Randy Krummenacher. Raffaele De Rosa was up to fourth whilst Thomas Gradinger dropped to fifth ahead of Hikari Okubo. Jules Cluzel had a bright start but was fighting hard on the opening lap, in the leading group but making little progress.

It was a leading group of seven at the front of the field, but Lucas Mahias was looking vulnerable, with Randy Krummenacher making his way ahead of the Frenchman, while Caricasulo also made his way ahead of the Kawasaki man. Mahias fought back on Caricasulo but the Italian was having none of it on lap four. As the two battled, Krummenacher pulled clear.

Federico Caricasulo – Jerez WSBK 2019

However, soon they were all back with the Swiss rider, whilst De Rosa passed Mahias on lap five, before Mahias began to look vulnerable. The Frenchman battled with Gradinger between turn nine and ten, which allowed fellow countryman Jules Cluzel to take both. All of the squabbling had allowed the leading three to break clear, with a whole second lost.

But as is the case in WorldSSP, battles soon started at the front and they were all back together again as one group with nine laps to go. Hikari Okubo had dropped off the back of the leading group and was a relatively safe seventh position. Caricasulo and Krummenacher enjoyed swapping paint and trading passes as the teammates continued their season long battle.

Randy Krummenacher – Jerez WSBK 2019

Jules Cluzel went from fifth to third in half a lap, as he got De Rosa for third at turn one with seven laps left to complete. Later in the lap, Krummenacher passed Caricasulo at turn six and held the lead for the next few laps. Cluzel got into second momentarily with six to go at turn 13 but couldn’t hold on as Caricasulo fought back with five to go.

World Supersport – Jerez WSBK 2019

Jules Cluzel’s race pace had been phenomenal, racing up from eighth on the grid and now had the lead as he got ahead of Caricasulo at turn 13. However, it didn’t last long as the Italian fought back and put 0.7s into the chasing pack on the penultimate lap, although Krummenacher was now second as he passed Cluzel at turn six.

Despite Krummenacher’s best efforts, Caricasulo put the hammer down in the closing laps to take a second consecutive Jerez win and setting a new lap record on the final lap. Randy Krummenacher completed yet another BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team 1-2, with Cluzel finishing a hearty third. Thomas Gradinger pushed his way through to fourth ahead of Raffaele De Rosa and early race leader, Lucas Mahias.

Okubo was seventh ahead of home rider Isaac Viñales ahead of Corentin Perolari and Hungarian rider, Peter Sebestyen, who completed the top ten. Hannes Soomer, Loris Cresson Ayrton Badovini, Maria Herrera and Rob Hartog rounded out the points.