At the Pirelli Spanish Round in Jerez Rea takes the Superpole® Race while Redding wins Race 2, Locatelli does the double in WorldSSP. The winning solutions in the Superbike range are confirmed, used b

Satisfaction in the Pirelli camp with the performance of their standard tyres, with the SCX solution protagonist in the Superpole^® race and also used in Race 2.

The Pirelli Spanish Round weekend for the MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship at the Jerez – Angel Nieto circuit has just come to an end after some spectacular races.

Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R), after winning Race 1 on Saturday, was reconfirmed as winner of Race 2 as well, thereby giving Ducati a splendid double win and taking first place in the overall championship standings, twenty-four points ahead of reigning World Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR), who took a brilliant win in the TISSOT Superpole^® Race.

In WorldSSP600, Italian rookie Andrea Locatelli (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team / Yamaha YZF R6) took his third win of the championship, confirming his position as leader this season with a fifteen-point advantage over second-place rider Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6). The first European weekend of the MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship ended with the second race in the WorldSSP300 class, where Turkish rider Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSSP300 / Yamaha YZF-R3) took the win.

The second day of the Pirelli Spanish Round in Jerez de la Frontera confirmed the excellent performance of the PIRELLI DIABLO™ Superbike racing slicks range even in the high temperatures, successfully closing out a day where almost all the riders on the grid started with standard tyres, in other words, products that are already sold regularly on the market.

The protagonist of the TISSOT Superpole® Race was the super soft standard SCX tyre (option A), chosen by the entire grid with the exception of Bautista, Haslam and Sykes who were on the standard SC0 (option B). For the front, with the exception of Bautista who was on the medium SC2 (option C), the riders on the grid preferred the standard SC1 soft tyre (option B).

In WorldSBK Race 2, most of the riders confirmed their choices from Race 1 as a testament to the high performance of the standard SC1 front (option B) and SC0 rear (option B). Differing from the rest of the grid was Bautista with the medium SC2 blend on the front (option C), whereas Jonathan Rea confirmed his choice of the X1351 SC0 solution (option C) and Melandri, Gabellini and Lowes gambled on the standard SCX (option A) for the twenty laps of Race 2 as well.

In WorldSSP Race 2, all the riders on the grid confirmed their choice from the day before, relying on the standard SC0 (option A) on the rear. For the front, 12 out of the 22 riders chose the standard SC2 (option B) this time, whereas the remaining riders on the grid used the standard SC1 soft tyre (option A).

WorldSBK TISSOT Superpole Race:

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) demonstrated his desire for redemption straight away, moving into the race lead from the second spot on the grid, with Razgatliouglu (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1) managing to move into second place, overtaking pole man Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R), followed by Michael van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1) and Loris Baz, bringing up the rear of the leading group, made up of three different manufacturers.

Behind them was Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R), starting from the seventh spot on the grid, ahead of the BMW ridden by Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMWS1000 RR), the only rider on the first two rows who opted for the standard SC0 solution.

In the meantime, Rea did the fastest lap, increasing the gap ahead of Toprak, who was hounded consistently by Redding until being forced to retire due to a technical problem. Redding set off after Rea, but the five-time world champion finished first 0.522 ahead of his Ducati-riding compatriot and Michael van der Mark on Yamaha for yet another three-coloured podium.

WorldSBK TISSOT Superpole® Race Standings: 

• 1) J. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
• 2) S. Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
• 3) M. van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
• 4) L. Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1)
• 5) C. Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
• 6) T. Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMWS1000 RR)
• 7) A. Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
• 8) G. Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
• 9) L. Haslam (Team HRC / Honda CBR1000RR)
• 10) Á. Bautista (Team HRC / Honda CBR1000RR)
• 11) M. Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
• 12) X. Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
• 13) E. Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR)
• 14) S. Cortese (OUTDO Kawasaki TPR / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
• 15) M. Scheib (ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
• 16) F. Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
• 17) L. Mercado (Motocorsa Racing / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
• 18) M. Melandri (Barni Racing Team / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
• 19) C. Ponsson ((Nuova M2 Racing / Aprilia RSV4 1000)
• 20) L. Gabellini (MIE Racing Althea HONDA Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
• 21) S. Barrier (Brixx Performance / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
• 22) T. Takahashi (MIE Racing Althea HONDA Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
• RT) T. Razgatlioglu (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1)

 WorldSBK Race 2:

Almost all the riders on the grid confirmed their choices, relying on the standard solutions that had been most used in Race 1, the soft standard SC1 and the soft standard SC0.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR), starting from pole position, once again wasted no time widening the gap ahead of Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R), Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1), Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1), but he was overtaken already on the second lap by Redding’s Ducati while the Turkish Yamaha rider moved up into third position. The compact leading group included two Ducatis, as many Yamahas and a Kawasaki, all within 1.7 seconds of one another. Five-time world champion Rea dropped back to third, overtaken by Ducati rider Davies, and also found himself having to fend off attacks by Toprak who snatched the podium finish from him on the eighth lap.

In the meantime, the two Brits’ Ducatis and Razgatlioglu’s Yamaha managed to pull away from the rest of the group, whereas Italian rider Michael Ruben Rinaldi, after starting from the twelfth spot on the grid with his Ducati, managed to claw his way back up through the ranks, even threatening the two factory Kawasakis, overtaking them on the fifteenth lap and setting off after the Yamaha to battle for third.

The three leading riders made no false moves and Redding finished first, closing out a brilliant weekend for Ducati, ahead of teammate Chaz Davies about 3 seconds behind and Razgatlioglu who took his fourth podium of the season after an unlucky sprint race.

WorldSBK Race 2 Standings: 

• 1) S. Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
• 2) C. Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
• 3) T. Razgatlioglu (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
• 4) M. Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
• 5) A. Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
• 6) J. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
• 7) M. van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
• 8) Á. Bautista (Team HRC / Honda CBR1000RR)
• 9) M. Melandri (Barni Racing Team / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
• 10) G. Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
• 11) T. Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMWS1000 RR)
• 12) L. Haslam (Team HRC / Honda CBR1000RR)
• 13) X. Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
• 14) S. Cortese (OUTDO Kawasaki TPR / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
• 15) L. Mercado (Motocorsa Racing / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
• 16) F. Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
• 17) L. Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1)
• 18) M. Scheib (ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
• 19) L. Gabellini (MIE Racing Althea HONDA Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
• RT) E. Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR)
• RT) C. Ponsson (Nuova M2 Racing / Aprilia RSV4 1000)
• RT) S. Barrier (Brixx Performance / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
• RT) T. Takahashi (MIE Racing Althea HONDA Team / Honda CBR1000RR)

WorldSSP Race 2:

The riders on the grid unanimously confirmed their tyre choices from the day before, racing on the standard SC0 rear, whereas most of the riders opted for the standard SC2 solution on the front. The red flag came out during the warm-up lap due to an accident involving Axel Bassani (Soradis Yamaha Motoxracing / Yamaha YZF R6) and Raffaele De Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse / MV Agusta F3 675), forcing the marshals to delay the race start until 12:56 and shorten it to just eleven laps.

At the start, Andrea Locatelli (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team / Yamaha YZF R6) was once again very quick off the grid, taking the race lead already at the first turn and also doing the fastest lap at 1’42.498, ahead of pole man Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6) and German rider Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R). As the Italian rider Locatelli increased the gap ahead of the rest of the group, a heated battle raged between compatriots Cluzel and Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R) for second ahead of Oettl and Italian rider De Rosa, who had started from the ninth spot on the grid with a quickly repaired bike, managing to take fifth ahead of Yamaha rider Corentin Perolari (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6) and Isaac Viñales (Kallio Racing / Yamaha YZF R6).

Locatelli finished first with a gap of 1.8 seconds ahead of Cluzel and 2.1 seconds ahead of Mahias and his Kawasaki, confirming his lead in the overall standings thanks to this third win with a 15-point advantage over second place.

WorldSSP Race 2 Standings: 

• 1) A. Locatelli (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team / Yamaha YZF R6)
• 2) J. Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6)
• 3) L. Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
• 4) P. Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
• 5) R. De rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse / MV Agusta F3 675)
• 6) C. Perolari (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6)
• 7) I. Viñales (Kallio Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
• 8) S. Odendaal (EAB Ten Kate Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
• 9) H. Soomer (Kallio Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
• 10) M. Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
• 11) D. Webb (WRP Wepol Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
• 12) C. Öncü (Turkish Racing Team / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
• 13) A. Carranza (EMPERADOR Racing Team / Yamaha YZF R6)
• 14) F. Fuligni (MV Agusta Reparto Corse / MV Agusta F3 675)
• 15) A. Verdoïa (bLU cRU WorldSSP by MS Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
• 16) G. Hendra Pratama (bLU cRU WorldSSP by MS Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
• 17) L. Epis (MPM Routz Racing Team / Yamaha YZF R6)
• 18) L. Cresson (OXXO Yamaha Team Toth / Yamaha YZF R6)
• 19) L. Montella (DK MOTORSPORT / Yamaha YZF R6)
• RT) P. Hobelsberger (Dynavolt Honda / Honda CBR600RR)
• RT) H. Okubo (Dynavolt Honda / Honda CBR600RR)
• RT) A. Bassani (Soradis Yamaha Motoxracing / Yamaha YZF R6)

WorldSSP300 Race 2:

The final event of the weekend was the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship race, where victory went to Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSSP300 / Yamaha YZF-R3), finishing ahead of Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300 / Kawasaki Ninja 400), and Brit Tom Booth-Amos (RT Motorsports by SKM - Kawasaki / Kawasaki Ninja 400) who closed out an outstanding weekend, taking his second podium of the season and moving into the lead for the overall standings.

The Pirelli solutions chosen by the riders for the WorldSBK Superpole Race, WorldSBK Race 2 and WorldSSP Race 2:

For the WorldSBK Superpole® race, almost all the riders on the grid chose the standard SC1 soft solution (option B) for the front, with the exception of Álvaro Bautista, who preferred the standard SC2 medium solution (option C). On the rear, on the other hand, the majority of the riders confirmed their choice of the standard SCX super-soft solution (option A), whereas the Hondas ridden by Bautista and Haslam and Tom Sykes’ BMW mounted the standard SC0 solution (option B).

In WorldSBK Race 2 the outstanding performance of the Pirelli standard tyres, already used by many of the riders on Saturday, was confirmed once again. The entire grid chose to race with the standard SC1 soft compound on the front (option B), with the exception of Bautista, who stuck with the standard SC2 medium tyre (option C). For the rear, the most used tyre was once again the standard SC0 soft blend (option B), whereas Gabellini, Melandri and Lowes chose the SCX and Rea went with the X1351 SC0 development solution.

In WorldSSP Race 2, all the riders on the grid confirmed their choice from the day before, relying on the standard SC0 (option A) on the rear. For the front, 12 out of the 22 riders chose the standard SC2 (option B) this time, whereas the remaining riders on the grid used the standard SC1 soft tyre (option A).

Pirelli statistics for the WorldSBK Superpole Race:

• Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) in 1'39.186 on the 2nd lap
• Most used front solution: standard SC1 (22 out of 23 riders)
• Most used rear solution: standard SCX (20 out of 23 riders)
• Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the Superbike class: 5 front and 8 rear
• Number of tyres available for each Superbike rider: 68, including 32 front and 36 rear
• Air temperature: 29° C
• Asphalt temperature: 41° C

 Pirelli statistics for WorldSBK Race 2:

• Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) in 1'40.545 on the 2nd lap
• Most used front solution: standard SC1 (22 out of 23 riders)
• Most used rear solution: standard SC0 (19 out of 23 riders)
• Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the Superbike class: 5 front and 8 rear
• Number of tyres available for each Superbike rider: 68, including 32 front and 36 rear
• Air temperature: 38° C
• Asphalt temperature: 60° C

Pirelli statistics for WorldSSP Race 2:

• Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: Andrea Locatelli (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team / Yamaha YZF R6) in 1'43.498 on the 2nd lap
• Most used front solution: standard SC2 (12 out of 22 riders)
• Most used rear solution: standard SC0 (22 out of 22 riders)
• Air temperature: 34° C
• Asphalt temperature: 50° C