Davies returns to winning ways in Race 2 at Jerez

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) went one better than in race 1 to win the second race of the day at a very hot and sunny Jerez Circuit in Spain.

Unlike the opening encounter, Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was unable to break away after taking the holeshot for the second time. Despite stretching his advantage in the early stages, the Race 1 winner was passed with ten laps to go by Davies, who went on to grab his ninth win of his career, the fifth of 2015 and the fourth in the last six races.

The race pace was slower this afternoon, as expected because of the increase in track temperature, with Davies pulling away in the second half of the race to win by 1.840s from Jordi Torres, who made amends for his race 1 and edged his Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils team mate Leon Haslam at the line.

Right now it still does not feel real but I am world champion and I am really proud.

Jonathan Rea

Fresh from winning the 2015 Superbike World Championship title in race 1, Jonathan Rea took another fourth position aboard his Kawasaki ahead of Sykes, who seemed rider one who suffered the most in the hotter conditions.

The top 6 was completed by Matteo Baiocco (Althea Racing Ducati) ahead of Michele Pirro (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team), who had another solid race to finish seventh.

8th to 10th positions were taken by Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World SBK Team), who had his 150th WorldSBK race start, and Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing).

Niccolò Canepa finished eleventh after starting on the front row aboard his Althea Racing Ducati with David Salom (Team Pedercini) in twelth place.

Michael van der Mark crashed his Pata Honda out of the podium fight with five laps to go. The Dutchman was however once again in contention until he lost the front at Turn 9. He rejoined to salvage three points with 13th at the flag.

14th was Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia), with the final point taken by the youngest competitor Christophe Ponsson (Team Pedercini Kawasaki). Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) was given a ride through penalty after pulling into the pit lane after a lap, a disappointing end to his weekend after a strong showing in Race 1. By finishing 4th and 5th in Race 2, Rea and Sykes give Kawasaki its first Manufacturer Title.

The WorldSBK riders will return to the track tomorrow for a one-day official test at Jerez, which can be followed via Live Timing and through regular updates on WorldSBK.com.

Jonathan Rea #65 - Kawasaki Racing Team

Race 1 4th Race 2 4th - 2015 WorldSBK Champion

“This is an amazing moment for me in my career. There has been a lot of hard work from myself, sacrifice and dedication from my family, but most of all this championship would not be possible without Kawasaki. I want to thank both my team manager Guim Roda, and Steve Guttridge from KME, who really believed in me and gave me this opportunity. Right now it has not sunk in. Moments like this are even more special because of the challenges I have faced with injuries. When I watched the 2002 World Championship between Colin Edwards and Troy Bayliss I got so much inspiration from it. It became like, ‘I have to do this.’ So even in tough times I never doubted my ability. Right now it still does not feel real but I am world champion and I am really proud.”

Chaz Davies #7 - Aruba.it Racing - Ducati SBK Team

Race 1 2nd Race 2 1st

“What a second race! I thought it would be very difficult to win here today but we did well not to change anything from race 1; the track conditions were very different and it went better. In race 1, I knew that I’d have trouble in the early stages. I was able to match Tom’s pace in the second half but I expected a drop in his tyre performance that never arrived. I’m very pleased with today’s results of course and it’s really important to have taken good points at this stage of the championship. I know the battle for second in the overall standings will be tight and I hope it goes to the wire in Qatar.”

Tom Sykes #66 - Kawasaki Racing Team

Race 1 1st Race 2 5th

“Overall I am fairly satisfied because we have never won at this circuit, so considering the whole season it is fairly acceptable. We struggled in race two and perhaps chose the wrong front tyre. But when you win with that margin at a circuit you have never won at before it’s is still good. I think if we had changed the front tyre we would have had a much different bike. It is great to be part of Kawasaki winning the Manufacturers’ Championship. Obviously the majority of the points have come from Jonathan but I think that over the years I have helped create an environment and package that helped all the riders who have contributed toward Kawasaki’s first Manufacturers’ title.”

Jordi Torres #81 - Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils

Race 1 12th Race 2 2nd

“I’m very happy about the result in Race 2. I really wanted to do well here at home. The team worked perfectly and I gave 100% every time I went out on the track. From about midrace on I had to change my riding style a bit to accommodate tyre wear. With this heat it was very difficult but in free practice we worked on the settings precisely in consideration of this problem. In Race 1 I got off the line well but in the first turn I shifted into neutral and ran on. I tried to recover but I just didn’t have the right feeling with the front brake and I had to settle for collecting some championship points.”

Michael van der Mark #60 - Pata Honda

Race 1 - 3rd Race 2 - 13th

"All weekend I’ve had some difficulties with the clutch, so the start in race one was not perfect. I managed to stay with the guys even though. As the pace dropped a little I was able to close the gap but I had to wait a little more before I could pass Leon [Haslam] and Jonathan [Rea]. In Race 2 I had a good feeling when I got to the back of Torres and Haslam so I was holding back a little bit because I saw they were pushing really hard. Then I just lost the front in a slow corner and crashed. We finally had a weekend without problems and that’s really good for my motivation, and of course the podium is great motivation for the whole team."

WorldSBK Jerez - Race 2

1 - Chaz Davies - Aruba.it Racing - Ducati Superbike Team
2 - Jordi Torres - Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils +1.840
3 - Leon Haslam - Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils +2.335

Standings (11 of 13 rounds completed)

1 - Jonathan Rea - Kawasaki Racing Team 478*
2 - Chaz Davies - Aruba.it Racing - Ducati Superbike Team 353 (-125)
3 - Tom Sykes - Kawasaki Racing Team 331 (-147)

*Already crowned the 2015 Champion

WSBK