Ducati’s Chaz Davies romped to back to back races in Germany, with a superb performance in Race 2 at the Lausitzring.
The Welsh wizard became the King of the ‘Ring, with his third dry weather victory in a row at the circuit. It wasn’t an easy day for the riders however, with spits of rain and the threat of showers hanging in the air.
“I knew the second race was going to be tighter,” said Davies. “It was hard to come from the third row, I made some good passes out there, and had a lot of fun.”
Chaz Davies had kept his cards close to his chest, prior to Race 1 in Germany at the Lausitzring. Starting from the second row of the grid the Ducati rider stormed into second at the first corner and into the lead on Lap 2.
For that point onwards he controlled the race with a well judged ride that showed remarkable consistency.
Grinding out fast lap after fast lap, he turned the screws on Jonathan Rea, until ultimately the Kawasaki rider had to concede the race, and allowed Davies to cruise to the finish line.
For Rea, the 20 points allowed him to extend his championship lead over Tom Sykes, but it was a hard fought and well earned podium.
The great experiment that is Marco Melandri’s return to motorcycle racing has apparently paid off, with the Italian rider re-signing with the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team for the 2018 World Superbike Championship season.
The contract renewal is for only one year, with Melandri continuing to ride alongside Chaz Davies on the Ducati Panigale R superbike. Of course for the 2019 season, Ducati Corse will race in WorldSBK with its new V4 superbike, at which time both its riders’ contracts will be up for renewal.
Yamaha confirmed today its rider line-up for 2018, with Alex Lowes re-signed to the Japanese manufacturer.
Despite having consistently been the man most likely to break the Kawasaki and Ducati monopoly, Lowes’ future had been uncertain until his Suzuka 8-Hours success.
Having stood on the WorldSBK rostrum twice for Yamaha this year, it looked like a foregone conclusion that a new contract would be signed, sealed, and delivered early in the summer.
As it was, patience was key for Lowes, but in the end he got the deal that he had been chasing.
It looks set to be a quiet year on the rider market for World Superbike, with the leading seats already filled for 2018, but there will still be some significant deals announced in the coming weeks and months.
Jonathan Rea, Tom Sykes, Chaz Davies, and Marco Melandri are all secure in their seats for next year, but Sykes had been linked with a move away from Kawasaki earlier this summer.
Prior to winning two races before the summer break, the 2013 World Champion had been touted as a potential target of Yamaha, but with wins in the bag it looks highly unlikely that he will make a switch.
For Ducati there is little reason to change their status quo, and the only change in their ranks could be the addition of a second bike to the Barni squad.
The Italian entry has thrived with Xavi Fores in the last year, and came close to adding a second machine for this year. If there is a fourth Ducati on the grid it will likely have a rider bringing money to the table for Barni.
Episode 58 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast chronicles a busy week in California, as we head down to Laguna Seca for the World Superbike and MotoAmerica racing rounds.
The weekend involved getting the first glimpse of the Ducati 1299 Panigale R Final Edition, the last v-twin superbike from the Italian brand. We also got to talk to Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali about the company’s new V4 superbike, with more than a few surprises being told about the new machine.
Of course there was the on-track action, which includes yours truly getting a some seat time the Monday after the races, riding at a no noise restriction track day (something that almost never happens) with the good folk at Pirelli tires.
While there, we sat down with Giorgio Barbier, the Director of Pirelli’s Motorcycle Racing program. We talked a bit of shop while at the track day, and have included that conversation towards the end of the show, for your listening pleasure.
The audio isn’t perfect, since we’re right on the track – did I mention there was no noise restriction for the bikes? – but you should be able to hear Giorgio with no problems.
You can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well.
The Pata Yamaha team issued the following press release, containing an interview with Alex Lowes. In it, the rider talks about something others are not keen on discussing, using a sports psychologist in search of better results. An interesting read.
