2019 WorldSBK
Argentina Day Three

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Overnight in Argentina five-time World Champion and newly crowned 2019 World Champion, Jonathan Rea, did a fantastic double astride his Kawasaki ZX-10RR, winning both the Tissot Superpole Race and Race Two.

After his second place in Saturday’s Race One, which six riders declined to race in due to safety concerns (Link), the Northern Irish champ reminded everyone that he is the reigning World Champion on Sunday.

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WorldSBK Tissot Superpole Race

The Tissot Superpole Race was won by World Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR).

After choosing to change the rear tyre, switching from the X1351 SC0 development solution used in Race 1 to the standard SC0 tyre, the Northern Irishman started well straight away from the third spot on the grid and moved into the race lead on the opening lap, managing to maintain the position all the way to the finish.

Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) was unable to exploit his pole position start, finishing second, more than two-seconds behind the winner.

An outstanding third place went to Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) while finishing behind him were Chaz Davies on and the Yamaha pairing of Alex Lowes and Michael Van Der Mark.

WorldSBK Tissot Superpole Race Results

1. J. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
2. Á. Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
3. T. Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
4. C. Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
5. A. Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
6. M. Van Der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
7. S. Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1)
8. L. Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
9. T. Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR)
10. L. Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
11. J. Torres (Team Pedercini Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
12. L. Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
13. E. Laverty (Team Goeleven / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
14. M. Rinaldi (Barni Racing Team / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
15. M. Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1)
16. A. Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
17. M. Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR)
18. R. Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team / Honda CBR1000RR)

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WorldSBK Race Two

In Race Two Jonathan Rea started from pole position because of his victory in the earlier Superpole Race and led the field.  Rea held sway up front until the seventh lap when Álvaro Bautista momentarily managed to snatch the lead.

However, Rea was having none of it and on the next lap he took back the position he had lost, and maintained the lead all the way to the chequered flag.

Mid-way through the race Chaz Davies was up on the back of the leading duo and on lap 11 managed to sneak past his team-mate to take second place. 

The two Aruba Ducati men then diced for a few laps but towards the end of the race Bautista could not match the late race pace and lost touch with Davies before then being overhauled by both Razgatlioglu and Van der Mark in the final laps. 

Jonathan Rea the eventual victor by five-seconds over Davies with Razgatlioglu rounding out the podium a further nine-seconds in arrears.  Rea extended his consecutive point-scoring finishes run to 45 in a row, the first time a rider has ever achieved this feat.

Further down the field, Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) had a great race, climbing all the way up to the fringes of the top ten. The home hero picked off Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing) and at Turn 10 with eight laps left then dived up the inside of factory Kawasaki rider Leon Haslam to take eighth place. A lap later, and Eugene Laverty (Team Goeleven) sneaked ahead of Haslam and Torres. 

With four laps to go, Mercado got the better of Rinaldi at Turn 15, sparking a massive roar from the partisan crown trackside. However, Laverty got ahead of the pair of them on the front straight, pushing Mercado back to eighth whilst the Irishman went in pursuit of his best result since Aragon to take seventh place behind Alex Lowes.

Tom Sykes had retired seven laps into the race with a mechanical issue.

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WorldSBK Race Two Results

1. J. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
2. C. Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
3. T. Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
4. M. Van Der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
5. Á. Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
6. A. Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
7. E. Laverty (Team Goeleven / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
8. L. Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
9. J. Torres (Team Pedercini Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
10. L. Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
11. M. Rinaldi (Barni Racing Team / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
12. L. Baz (Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1)
13. L. Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
14. M. Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1)
15. S. Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1)
16. M. Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR)
17. R. Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team / Honda CBR1000RR)

WSBK Championship Standings

1. Rea 601
2. Bautista 460
3. Lowes 305
4. Van der Mark 304
5. Razgatlioglu 299
6. Haslam 257
7. Davies 249
8. Sykes 219
9. Melandri 173
10. Torres 132

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World Supersport

GMT94 Yamaha Supported WorldSSP rider, Jules Cluzel, secured his third race win of the season with a dominant performance in a thrilling WorldSSP race at Circuito San Juan Villicum overnight. The Frenchman, who celebrated his 31st birthday on the weekend, took over the race lead from his team-mate and pole sitter, Corentin Perolari, two laps into the race and simply rode away from the field to victory.

From the start, it was an all-French affair at the front of the race, with first Perolari and then Cluzel leading the way, pursued by their fellow countryman Lucas Mahias. Cluzel was quick to take advantage of the battle for position going on behind him and with a series of fast laps, including a new lap record, the GMT94 Yamaha rider had pulled out a gap of three seconds at the front by half race distance.

While Cluzel was focused on pulling away, Bardahl Evan Bros. Yamaha Supported WorldSSP rider, Federico Caricasulo, was steadily making his way through the field, picking off riders as he went to eventually head the group chasing the race leader.

With Mahias, Perolari, Kallio Racing Yamaha’s Isaac Viñales and Bardahl Yamaha teammate, Randy Krummenacher, in his wake, Caricasulo started pushing to reduce Cluzel’s lead, whilst simultaneously defending against attacks from a hard charging Mahias.

With six laps to go Mahias overtook Caricasulo to take second, dragging Krummenacher past the Italian in his wake and Perolari took advantage when the Bardahl Yamaha rider ran wide to also force his way past, relegating Caricasulo to fifth.

Mahias pushed hard to close the gap to Cluzel, but the GMT94 Yamaha rider’s lead proved unsurmountable and he crossed the line with more than a two second advantage to take his third race win of the season. The result saw Cluzel close the gap to championship leader Krummenacher to 22 points and, numerically at least, still a championship contender going into the final round of the season in Qatar.

Mahias took second place, with Viñales getting the better of a five-way battle to claim a second successive podium finish in third.

Pole sitter Perolari held off the Bardahl Yamaha riders to finish fourth, with Caricasulo fifth and Krummenacher forced to settle for seventh place behind Raffaele De Rosa, after losing ground following contact with his team-mate on the penultimate lap. 

Krummenacher retains his lead in the championship standings but saw his advantage over teamate Caricasulo reduced from 10 to 8 points with just the final round in Qatar remaining.

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Jules Cluzel – P1

“That was an amazing feeling. Ahead of the race I thought we could secure a good result today, but nothing like this. It was a dream race; I pushed at the beginning, but I didn’t know what pace the others were capable of until I saw that I was pulling away at the front. I could see the gap going up, but when it got to 2.2 seconds it got more difficult as it stayed like that for quite a while. But I wanted three seconds, so I pushed harder and with six laps to go my advantage was slightly more than that. Then I started to relax a little bit and just tried to manage the gap to the end of the race. Like I said, an amazing feeling and massive thanks to the team because this weekend we made a big step and today I had one of the best feelings on the bike.”

Isaac Viñales – P3

“That was an incredible race, but a hard one too! I lost quite a lot of time in the first few laps and had to chase back onto the leading group, then I made a mistake and lost contact again, which meant another chase to recover the couple of seconds lost. I managed to fight my way to the front of the group in the closing stages and then hold everyone off to finish on the podium for the second time in as many races. I’m really happy.”

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Argentina WorldSSP Race Results

1. Jules Cluzel Yamaha FRA 32’45.310
2. Lucas Mahias Kawasaki FRA 00’02.406
3. Isaac Vinales Yamaha ESP 00’03.473
4. Corentin Perolari Yamaha FRA 00’05.700
5. Federico Caricasulo Yamaha ITA 00’05.768
6. Raffaele De Rosa MV Agusta ITA 00’06.331
7. Randy Krummenacher Yamaha CHE 00’07.066
8. Thomas Gradinger Yamaha AUT 00’14.045
9. Kyle Smith Honda GBR 00’17.035
10. Ayrton Badovini Kawasaki ITA 00’25.822
11. Peter Sebestyen Yamaha HUN 00’30.018
12. Hikari Okubo Kawasaki JPN 00’30.406
13. Christian Stange Kawasaki DEU 00’31.573
14. Loris Cresson Yamaha BEL 00’41.953
15. Hannes Soomer Honda EST 00’48.523

WorldSSP Championship Points

1. Randy Krummenacher Yamaha CHE 202
2. Federico Caricasulo Yamaha ITA 194
3. Jules Cluzel Yamaha FRA 180
4. Lucas Mahias Kawasaki FRA 143
5. Hikari Okubo Kawasaki JPN 97
6. Raffaele De Rosa MV Agusta ITA 92
7. Thomas Gradinger Yamaha AUT 86
8. Corentin Perolari Yamaha FRA 81
9. Ayrton Badovini Kawasaki ITA 59
10. Peter Sebestyen Yamaha HUN 54
11. Isaac Viñales Yamaha ESP 45
12. Loris Cresson Yamaha BEL 41
13. Isaac Vinales Yamaha ESP 36
14. Jules Danilo Honda FRA 36
15. Hannes Soomer Honda EST 34

Source: MCNews.com.au