13
March
2016
|
09:24
Europe/Amsterdam

WorldSBK: Pirelli standard tyres conquer the Thai circuit with Tom Sykes winning Race 2 and Frenchman Jules Cluzel winning the WorldSSP race astride his MV Agusta

In Race 2 the Brit brought home the second double win of the season for Kawasaki, while teammate Jonathan Rea, second, praises the performance of the Pirelli tyres

At the Chang International Circuit of Buriram, Thailand, the second round of the MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship just came to a close. Today all of the riders in the top category were on the track for Race 2, as well as the Supersport riders for their only race of the weekend after Superpole yesterday. In the Superbike category the green machines from Akashi were once again uncatchable by the rest today with a win, the first of the season for Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), and a second place finish for teammate Jonathan Rea, who had already won Race 1 yesterday. In Supersport, Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) was back on top after an unfortunate race in Australia. The Pirelli racing range products were confirmed as the winning choice for this second round of the MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship. In the top category the riders used DIABLO™ Superbike range slicks, SC0 on the rear and SC2 on the front, and they used grooved DIABLO™ Supercorsa SC0 on the rear and SC1 on the front in Supersport. Pirelli tyre performance in these first races was also praised by reigning FIM World Superbike Champion, Jonathan Rea, who had this to say at the end of the weekend: “I made the fast lap just a few laps from the end, thanks in part to Pirelli and the incredible job they are doing this year! The days of tyre decay after 2 or 3 laps are just a distant memory. Now, if you manage your tyres well in the first part of the race, you can push really hard in the final laps.” In Race 2 of the MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) had a perfect start, taking the race lead from the beginning with teammate Jonathan Rea and Michael Van Der Mark (Honda World Superbike Team) following behind him.The Brit would go on to win the race, but the Northern Irishman did not make life easy for him. In the eleventh lap we saw Rea's first attempt to overtake Sykes. It was an attempt that would be repeated two laps later and then during the penultimate lap where Rea ran long, a mistake that gave the win to his teammate. Behind them, the battle for third was fought by an excellent Michael Van Der Mark (Honda World Superbike Team), third yesterday in Race 1, and Ducati rider Chaz Davies. From mid-race it was the Welshman who got the upper hand, moving up to form a leading trio with Sykes and Rea that was unreachable by the rest, clinching the third step of the podium at the end of the race. In Race 2 it was Kawasaki dominating once again with Rea, this time forced to yield the pace and the top step of the podium to the 2013 FIM World Superbike Champion. Race 2 standings: 1) Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) 2) Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) 3) Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 4) Michael Van Der Mark (Honda World Superbike Team) 5) Nicky Hayden (Honda World Superbike Team) 6) Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Yamaha Official WSBK Team) 8 ) Markus Reiterberger (Althea BMW Racing Team) 9) Lorenzo Savadori (IodaRacing Team) 10) Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) … In the second race of the FIM Supersport World Championship season, after the pole position earned on Saturday, Frenchman Jules Cluzel astride his team MV Agusta Reparto Corse MV Agusta F3 goes on to win the race held today as well. The race was actually quite a heated battle with many exciting passes, especially in the finale, thanks in part to the performance the riders had beneath them in the DIABLO™ Supercorsa range tyres, specifically the rear SC0 all of them chose. Off the line it was the American, Patrick Jacobsen (Honda World Supersport Team) who left the rest behind, moving into the lead. The American seemed well on his way to a win and remained the undisturbed leader until two laps from the end when both the MV Agusta Frenchman and Turkish rider Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) overtook him, relegating him to third place, which is where he stayed until the chequered flag came out. For Cluzel this is the first win of the season, whereas Sofuoglu, after a long battle on the track, got the better of his teammate, Randy Krummenacher (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) who, after a great win in the Australian opening round, was forced to settle for a fourth place finish. Supersport standings: 1) Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) 2) Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) 3) Patrick Jacobsen (Honda World Supersport Team) 4) Randy Krummenacher (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) 5) Kyle Smith (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) 6) Alex Baldolini (Race Department ATK#25) 7) Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) 8 ) Lorenzo Zanetti (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) 9) Gino Rea (GRT Racing Team) 10) Ondrej Jezek (Team GoEleven) … The Pirelli solutions chosen by the riders for Race 2 and Supersport: In Race 2 of the MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship, the riders basically confirmed the choices they had made yesterday for Race 1. On the rear everyone, including Karel Abraham (Milwaukee BMW) and Thai wild card Anucha Nakcharoensri (Yamaha Thailand Racing Team) who had chosen the S1867 SC1 development yesterday for Race 1, opted for the standard SC0 today in Race 2, which had already proven to be the best solution on Saturday to take on the particularly high temperatures of the Thai tarmac. On the front there were no changes with respect to Race 1. The standard SC2 solution was confirmed as the riders' favourite because of its characteristics, the most suited for high external temperatures because it guarantees solidity to the tread band. The Ducati riders, Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano, Michael Van Der Mark (Honda World Superbike Team), Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team) and Matteo Baiocco (VFT Racing) stuck with the S1699 SC1 development solution. In Supersport all of the DIABLO™ Supercorsa range tyres were used. The front solution used the most in the race was the standard SC1, the softest in the range. Only four riders chose the SC2: Patrick Jacobsen, Kyle Smith and Ratthapong Wilaroit on Honda and Lorenzo Zanetti on MV Agusta. On the rear the riders unanimously went with the standard SC0 solution. Pirelli statistics for Race 2: • Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team),in 1'33.997 in the 5th lap • Most used front solution: Standard SC2 (20 out of 25 riders) • Most used rear solution: Standard SC0 (25 out of 25 riders) • Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tyres: 308.6 km/h, achieved by Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) in the 19th lap • Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the Superbike class: 4 front and 5 rear Number of tyres available for each Superbike rider: 52, including 26 front and 26 rear • Air temperature: 36° C • Asphalt temperature: 43° C Pirelli statistics for Supersport: • Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: Kyle Smith (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda),in 1'38.618 in the 8th lap • Most used front solution: Standard SC1 (21 out of 25 riders) • Most used rear solution: Standard SC0 (25 out of 25 riders) • Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tyres: 268.7 km/h, achieved by Lorenzo Zanetti (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) in the 5th lap • Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the Superbike class: 4 front and 4 rear Number of tyres available for each Superbike rider: 45, including 23 front and 25 rear • Air temperature: 36° C • Asphalt temperature: 45° C