Van der Mark does the double at Donington

The odds were stacked against Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) on Sunday. He started from ninth after Saturday’s astonishing win, his first in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. Ahead of him: the two works Kawasakis, an Aruba.it Ducati, and his teammate on pole, among others.

Van der Mark could have stayed complacent following Saturday’s display, but the Dutchman is quickly gaining a reputation for flipping the script on his Superbike rivals.

Michael van der Mark

Van der Mark took the second win of his weekend and his WorldSBK career, once again showing how well he is able to read races. The Dutchman found himself again at the halfway stage with the rider in pole and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) ahead of him. He repeated yesterday’s strategy to perfection, waiting for any quiver or mistake from the men in front, before setting off an ice-blooded attack at the Melbourne Hairpin, and jetting away into the distance.

“It’s incredible to take my first victory but even better to take the double this weekend”, the rider, still ecstatic, acknowledges. “Thanks to Yamaha and the team, they’ve been waiting so long for this. The win yesterday was already something I really wanted, but a double here is simply fantastic”.

Michael van der Mark

Now van der Mark heads into the midway point of the season having hit the perfect point of form. The Dutchman is just 18 points off Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in second, and while the 82-point gap with Jonathan Rea may seem a step too far, with more results like these, van der Mark could turn many more WorldSBK predictions onto their heads in 2018.

WorldSBK Race 1: Van der Mark takes first WorldSBK win

No non-British rider had won at Donington Park since 2012, and from the practice sessions and Superpole, few would have predicted that would change today in race one. But Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) threw out the script for the Prosecco DOC UK Round with a sensational ride, flying from sixth on the grid to his first ever win in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship.

World Superbikes at Donington

Van der Mark is the first Dutch rider to win in the top class, and the first win for a Yamaha rider since Algarve 2011, race two. The Dutchman left both Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) shocked and fighting for the remaining podium places, with the Northern Irishman in second and ‘Superpoleman’ in third.

The psychological battle between the KRTs, leading the first row, started right from the start. Rea made it ahead at the lights, with the pair squabbling through sector one. Sykes struck back three laps later at the Old Hairpin, but went wide at the Melbourne loop. Two laps later, an aggressive Sykes made it back in front, same move, same spot.

The Kawasakis were poised – and had been widely predicted – to dominate Donington weekend, but van der Mark threw a spanner in the works immediately, the only rider able to keep up with Rea and Sykes after passing his teammate Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team). But stalking the KRTs was not enough for the flying Dutchman – Rea went wide at the Melbourne corner on lap 13, the same he’d done a few laps earlier, and van der Mark shot ahead into second.

Michael van der Mark

A couple of laps later, he attacked again. Van der Mark stuck the nose in at Melbourne, yet again, closed the line over Sykes, and blasted away in the lead. But the battle was far from over here: Rea picked his teammate’s pocket around Schwartz with six laps to go, and shot after van der Mark, smelling blood. Yet today it was not to be for the defending champion, the Yamaha rider making no mistakes and meeting the flag.

Behind the sensational podium battle, Lowes finished in fourth, behind his teammate but scoring a fantastic finish at his home race. He will also have the consolation prize of leading the line at race two. Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) finally translated his great qualifying and free practice performances into a great race finish, making it in at Donington in fifth, ahead of his teammate, Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia), in sixth.

Sykes in the lead

With the Kawasaki, Yamaha and Aprilia bikes all phenomenal ahead, it was a sorry day for Ducati, with just Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) making it into the top ten, in eighth position. Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) crashed with five laps to go, and goes into race two with no points.

Loris Baz (GULF Althea BMW Racing Team) made it in in seventh, with Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) finishing ninth following a thrilling battle with his teammate at Donington, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), who went to the floor on the final lap. Closing the top ten was Leon Camier (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) on his full WorldSBK return after injury.

WorldSBK Donington 2018 – Race 1

Results race 1

Michael van der Mark – Yamaha
Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki
Tom Sykes – Kawasaki

WorldSBK Race 2: Van der Mark catapults to 3rd in championship

The floodgates were opened Saturday, and there was no stopping Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team). The Dutchman closed an extraordinary weekend at Donington for the Pata Yamaha team with the second win of his MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship career, a win against oll-odds in another fascinating race at the Prosecco DOC UK Round.

World Superbikes at Donington

A first double for van der Mark, and a first podium for Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), beating none other than Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in the closing stages.

A poor start from Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) saw him gobbled up in the mix at the first turn, ceding two places to Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) and Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing). The Yamaha managed to pick both off in short order however, Haslam at the Fogarty Esses (before the wildcard crashed at Melbourne), and the Italian on lap two. Meanwhile, the two KRTs held a surprisingly aggressive battle, while the other Yamaha quietly made it through to the leading group from ninth on the grid.

Leon Haslam

Quickly, one third in, the battle for the race turned into a three-way fight, with Lowes sticking strong but Rea taking ghost shots around Craner and Melbourne. Meanwhile, van der Mark, much like he did on Saturday, stalked the front two, biding his time. At the back, Razgatlioglu and Savadori fought nail and tooth for fourth, a few seconds back on the leading group.

After two perfect thirds to the race, it all came apart for Lowes at the end. On lap 17, Rea found a spot at the Melbourne loop, where so many moves have been made over the weekend, and pushed in front from the inside of Lowes, with van der Mark picking off the scraps at Redgate and moving to second. And just like Saturday, one lap later, van der Mark made his race-winning move at that same turn 11. The Ductchman shot off from there, giving his pursuers no option to take away his incredible double.

Toprak Razgatlioglu

There was one more surprise left at Donington, however. Amidst the front group bickering, Razgatlioglu found himself with the gap now non-existent. Showing an impressive late-race pace, the Turkish rider picked off Lowes with ease, before setting his sights on the three-time WorldSBK champion. And with one lap to go, he moved up to second. A fitting epilogue to Kenan Sofuoglu’s retirement in the last round: Turkey has a new hero for years to come.

Jonathan Rea

With Rea finally in third, his worst result since the Thai round, and Alex Lowes repeating his Saturday performance in fourth, there was another comeback behind. Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) found his way all the way back to twelfth at the start, but a neat ride from the Welshman pushed him back to fifth, ahead of Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), who couldn’t continue his incredible Donington streak and leaves with his first finish outside the podium since 2011.

Savadori made it to the chequered flag in seventh, just ahead of Leon Camier (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team), who pipped Jordi Torres (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) to eighth at the final turns, and leaves the UK round with two top-ten finishes on his return. Closing the top ten was Loris Baz (GULF Althea BMW Racing Team), with Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) ending a weekend to forget down in eleventh.

WorldSBK Donington 2018 – Race 2

Race results 2

Michael van der Mark – Yamaha
Toprak Razgatlioglu – Kawasaki
Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki

WorldSBK Championship leader board

Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki 245 points
Chaz Davies – Ducati 181 points
Michael van der Mark – Yamaha 163 points
Tom Sykes – Kawasaki 163 points
Marco Melandri – Ducati 136 points

WorldSSP: Cortese blows open WorldSSP title race

Sandro Cortese (Kallio Racing) took the second win of his FIM Supersport World Championship career with a cool, controlled ride in his first venture to Donington Park in nine years.

Sandro Cortese

The German shot up to second at the start, and after taking the lead one third into the race managed to defend his lead professionally to the chequered flag in a three-way battle with Jules Cluzel (NRT) and Raffaele De Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse by Vamag), second and third.

The race start saw Cluzel shoot off into the lead from pole, building a 0.7 gap with Cortese by lap 1. Defending champion Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) fell to fourth, with De Rosa making the best of the inside line and climbing to third.

Jules Cluzel

After Hiraki Okubo (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) crashed out 5 laps in, two packs of three led the race action. Cortese found the moment to attack in lap 8, his one aggressive move through all 20 laps. The German found a gap at Coppice Corner with Cluzel going wide, and sliced in like a hot knife through butter, taking the inside line and rubbing shoulders with the NRT rider. Pushing forward, there was no stopping Cortese with an open track ahead.

De Rosa took advantage of the pair’s squabbles, closing the small gap and setting up a thrilling second half of the race. His moment to push came with five laps to go, pushing up to second over Cluzel after a mistake from the Frenchman. But with one to go, Cluzel struck back, taking another 20 points and confirming that he’s a hot favourite for the title. De Rosa, meanwhile, scores his third consecutive third-place finish, an astonishing feat for the MV Agusta in a Yamaha-heavy top end.

Jules Cluzel

The two WorldSSP leaders up to this point led another stunning battle, but not quite as high up the field as they might have preferred. Randy Krummenacher (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) won this duel the hard way, passing Mahias first at the Old Hairpin, falling back 10 laps later after a huge, race-threatening wobble, before pushing behind the Frenchman again with a lap to go. Fourth and fifth for the pair, respectively, who now fall to third and fourth in the championship, behind the Donington top-2.

Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) struggled to keep up with the leading pace from a seventh position start, and with his sixth place at Donington falls behind in the championship standings.

Anthony West

Ayrton Badovini (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) was the best of the rest at the UK Round, meeting the flag in seventh position, with Thomas Gradinger (NRT) in eighth. Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), returning to racing action at Donington, also made it into the top-ten in ninth, with Andrew Irwin (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) the first of the home riders here at Donington, in tenth.

Anthony West narrowly missed a top ten position, finishing the race in 11th.

World Supersport Donington 2018 – Race

WorldSSP results

Sandro Cortese – Yamaha
Jules Cluzel – Yamaha
Raffaele De Rosa – MV Agusta

WorldSSP Championship point score

Randy Krummenacher – Yamaha 81 points
Lucas Mahias – Yamaha 79 points
Sandro Cortese – Yamaha 77 points
Jules Cluzel – Yamaha 75 points
Federico Caricasulo – Yamaha 69 points

WorldSSP300: Carrasco flies to UK WorldSSP300 victory

Ana Carrasco (DS Junior Team) held and extended her lead in the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship with a dominant display at Donington Park. The Spaniard was unstoppable at the Prosecco DOC UK Round, taking the first-ever Grand Slam in WorldSSP300 – pole, win, fastest lap and all laps led. Behind, another frantic last lap dash saw her teammate Dorren Loureiro (DS Junior Team) taking his first podium finish in WorldSSP300.

Ana Carrasco

Carrasco knew that, just as at Imola, her pace with an open track ahead was nearly unbeatable. All she needed was a good start, which Carrasco nailed down, shooting ahead while Koen Meuffels (KTM Fortron Junior Team) and Mika Pérez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) got caught up in the podium tussle.

With the Murcian, who now leads the championship by 22 points, racing off into the distance, a thrilling battle for second emerged into the final lap.

Ana Carrasco

Ana Carrasco (DS Junior Team) saying, “Its incredible for us, we did a really good job this weekend. The race was difficult, it was a bit more windy than yesterday and I could not make the lap times so easily. It’s really good for us and for the championship, I want to say thanks to my team, and everyone who supports me.”

Scott Deroue (Motoport Kawasaki) had managed to open a gap and controlled his return to the podium midway through the race, but late mistakes, including a last-lap journey through the Fogarty Esses, meant that he dropped all the way back to sixth.

With Deroue out of contention, it was finally Loureiro edging ahead at the flag, with Borja Sánchez (ETG Racing) scoring a second successive podium in third. Enzo De La Vega (GP Project Team) managed his best result of the season in fourth, with Meuffels in fifth.

Jan-Ole Jahnig (Freudenberg KTM Junior Team) made his way to the flag in seventh, with Pérez down to eighth, Galang Hendra Pratama (BIBLION YAMAHA MOTOXRACING) in ninth, and Luca Grunwald (Freudenberg KTM WorldSSP Team), still second in the championship, finishing his Donington weekend in tenth.

Tom Edwards took his first championship point of the season with 15th place, with Lachlan Epis was 28th.