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2019 WorldSBK

  • BMW Motorrad WorldSBK will continue with Tom Sykes in the 2020 WorldSBK season.

  • The rider took the new BMW S 1000 RR to four podiums in its debut season.

  • He will be joined by Eugene Laverty next year.

BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team and rider Tom Sykes will continue their cooperation into 2020 WorldSBK Championship (FIM World Superbike Championship).

While the tie-up has yet to yield a win this season, Sykes had done well to put it on the podium at Misano, Italy; Donington Park (UK); and Laguna Seca (USA).

Those results were truly impressive, considering that BMW Motorrad announced their intention to join the championship with the new BMW S 1000 RR in November 2018. That left the factory, Shaun Muir team, and riders only a few months to prepare.

2013 WorldSBK Champion Sykes will be joined by Eugene Laverty next year, replacing Markus Reiterberger.

BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director Marc Bongers welcomed Sykes’s continuation with the team as it provides stability. “Continuity and stability are critical factors for the success of the project,” he said. “Tom Sykes has consistently moved in a forward direction with the new S 1000 RR.”

Continuity would mean that the bike will follow a steady and somewhat predictable development path as opposed to swapping riders all the time. As different riders have different riding styles, there will be too many variables to consider. There is no luxury of time for such ventures in world championship racing.

  • Alvaro Bautista is now 81 points behind closest rival Jonathan Rea.

  • There are four rounds left, with eight main races and four Superpole races.

  • With a maximum of 248 points on offer, it may not be enough for Bautista.

In one – if not the most – remarkable turnaround in WorldSBK history, Alvaro Bautista suddenly finds himself at a disadvantage against his main rival Jonathan Rea.

Bautista had given the Ducati factory and fans to cheer about when he won 11 races in a row on the Ducati Panigale V4 R. It was without a doubt the return of Ducati to dominate the series like it once had in through the 90s and early 2000s. Heck, pundits were starting to say that Bautista could very well win every single race of the season.

Oh, but how the mighty have fallen.

Rea put in stunning rides in Imola and Jerez, by winning both races in those two rounds. Bautista’s streak started to unravel, and he crashed in the second race in Jerez.

He crashed again in Race 2 at the next round in Misano (although he finished 3rd in Race 1 and 1st in Superpole). He remounted to finish 14th for 2 points.

Moving on to the British round at Donington Park, Bautista crashed in Race 1. He finished 4th in Superpole and 3rd in Race 2.

The next round in Laguna Seca was the worst. He crashed in Race 1 and was classified as 17th. The crash hurt his hand and he opted to stay out of Superpole. Then he fell again in Race 2.

That’s 5 non-scoring races in 10 races. Rea on the other hand, picked up seven wins, one 5th place, and two 2nd places.

Jonathan Rea – Photo credit WorldSBK.com

As a result, Jonathan Rea on the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR now leads Bautista leads by a massive 81 points.

There are four rounds left with 12 races to go, including Superpole. Each win gets 25 points, while a Superpole win is awarded 12 points. As for finishing second, the rider is awarded 20 points in the Race and 9 points in Superpole.

So, Bautista will obtain 248 points if he won them all. Adding to his current points haul of 352, will result in a total of 600 points. If Rea finished second all the way to the end, he will earn 196 points. Add that to his current accumulation of 433 points and you will have the 2019 and Five-Time WorldSBK Champion.

Bautista could only hope that Rea somehow finish lower than second place in a few races.

Ducati’s lead in the manufacturers’ championship is under threat, too. They are now just one point ahead of the Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK.

Yes, the adage, “To win, you must first finish” is still very applicable.

  • Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki finally ended Alvaro Bautista and Ducati’s WorldSBK 2019 winning streak.

  • Rea won in Race 1 at the Imola circuit in Italy.

  • Bautista finished second after winning the first ten races of the year.

Four-time and reigning WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea and his Kawasaki team ended Alvaro Bautista and Ducati’s winning streak in Race 1 at Imola, Italy.

Bautista and Ducati have scored a perfect ten out of ten races in five rounds prior. However, Rea proved the spoiler when Bautista tried to adapt to the tricky Imola circuit. It was the latter’s first race there. Rea had been strong throughout the practice sessions only to be pipped by Bautista’s teammate Chaz Davies in Superpole for pole position.

Come race day, Rea took the lead as soon as the lights went out, but passed by Davies soon after. It looked like the pair was going to resume their hard battles and rivalry through the last few seasons. Unfortunately, Davies’s bike encountered a problem and forced the Welshman to retire. In so doing, he handed second place to Bautista.

A battle soon erupted behind them.

Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) sat in third, while Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) fought up to 4thfrom 8thon the grid. Van der Mark’s teammate Alex Lowes followed in 5th, ahead of Rea’s teammate Leon Haslam. Independent rider Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Purcetti Racing) moved in 7th.

At the front, Bautista had no answer to Rea’s pace. The Kawasaki man began to pull away at 0.7s per lap.

Photo credit Visordown

On a day of seeing front runners suffering bike problems, Tom Sykes’s BMW started to slow and eventually retired. At the same time, Lowes started to slip backwards.

With the final position suddenly available, van der Mark and Razgatlioglu battled tooth and nail. The pair swapped paint and traded blows on the penultimate lap to the stage of colliding twice. But it was the Turkish rider Razgatlioglu who presevered to cross the line in 3rd.

There was no problem for Rea, conversely. It was his eighth win at the track and 72ndin WorldSBK. It was Kawsaki’s 128thwin in the series.

Race 2 continues today at 8pm Malaysian local time.

Final results after Race 1:
  1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
  2. Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati)
  3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing)
  4. Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
  5. Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
  6. Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK)
  • The Ducati Panigale V4 R will lose 250 RPM in WorldSBK 2019.

  • While the Honda CBR1000RR will gain 500 RPM.

  • Ducati and Kawasaki are also not allowed to bring engine upgrades to their bikes.

It’s bound to happen as per Dorna and FIM’s rules. The Ducati Panigale V4 R is set to lose 250 RPM off its peak from the next round in Assen.

The decision was made after Alvaro Bautista won the first six races and three Superpoles of the season on the Panigale V4 R. Besides docking its peak RPM (to reduce peak horsepower), Ducati will also lose their concession to bring further engine upgrades for the rest of the year. Consequently, Bautista and teammate Chaz Davies, as well as Eugene Laverty will have to compete on a bike with the same specs as it started the season.

A reduction of 250 RPM will not make a difference to Bautista. In fact, his Aruba.it Ducati team had tested a bike with 250 RPM less in Aragon earlier.

On the other hand, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR will not have its revs cut but they are also not allowed the concession to upgrade their engine, since the gap between Ducati and Kawasaki are only 7 points (below the 9-point threshold).

Other manufacturers are allowed concessions, including BMW and Yamaha (who are racing), as well as Aprilia, Suzuki and MV Agusta (who are not racing).

As for Honda, the CBR1000RR will receive a 500 RPM upgrade. The increase will take effect over two rounds i.e. 250 RPM at Assen and another 250 RPM at Imola, Italy.

Such “revisions” is not new. Kawasaki had their ZX-10RR’s rev limit cut last year after Jonathan Rea’s dominance. The idea is to keep the field competitive for close-in racing.

You can view the FIM ruling here.

The rev limits for different manufacturers are in the table below (Credit: WorldSBK/FIM).

  • Alvaro Bautista and Ducati maintained their 100% win record by destroying the field in Race 1 at Aragon.

  • Bautista finished the race 15 seconds ahead of Jonathan Rea on the Kawasaki.

  • His teammate Chaz Davies finished in 3rd.

Alvaro Bautista and Ducati maintained their 100% win record by destroying the field in Race 1 at Aragon. The Aragon track in Spain hosts Round 3 of the WorldSBK 2019 championship.

Not wanting to be bogged down in a bruising battle like in Race 1 at Buriram, Thailand, Bautista blasted into the lead as soon as the lights went out. He never looked back and was almost a second faster per lap. He would eventually cross the line 15 seconds clear of the second-placed man.

As with the previous MotoGP race in Argentina, Bautista left the rest to battle for second and third places in his wake.

Jonathan Rea – Photo credit WorldSBK.com

Reigning WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea on the Kawasaki fought his way up from 10thon the grid, only to find himself fighting hard against another two Ducatis for the runner-up position.

Chaz Davies – Photo credite WorldSBK.com

 

Bautista’s teammate Chaz Davies appeared to have finally come to grips with the new Panigale V4 R. He had been battling with Eugene Laverty on the satellite Team Go Eleven Ducati Panigale V4 R during the earlier part of the race, when Rea joined the party.

Alex Lowes – Photo credit WorldSBK.com

The trio swapped positions on and on until the final lap, when Laverty ran into the back of Davies. The come-together sent Laverty off the track and caused Davies to lose touch to Rea. Rea escaped to take 2ndplace while Davies brought his bike home in 3rd.

Behind them, Alex Lowes took his Pata Yamaha to 4thwhile Tom Sykes took the new BMW S 1000 RR to 5th.

ANALYSIS

It’s understandable that some are charging that Ducati brought a MotoGP bike to WorldSBK and voiced concerns over Bautista’s domination. But look at where the other Ducatis are. Bautista’s teammate Davies was in 3rdand Laverty almost took 4th. It’s more of how Bautista is able to interpret and unlock the bike’s full potential compared to everyone else. Plus, he’s probably so used to riding those beasts in MotoGP, so the Panigale V4 R is comparatively easy. We’re not saying that the Panigale V4 R isn’t fast, but every bike needs the rider to unlock its capabilities.

Tom Sykes – Photo credit WorldSBK.com

There’s talk of Dorna looking at curtailing the Panigale V4 R’s maximum revs in order to lower its maximum power. The WorldSBK rules provide for this, in order to keep the field close and exciting for fans. However, doing so would handicap not Bautista but the other Ducatis, too.

Tom Sykes did very well on the BMW S 1000 RR. The bike has a stock engine compared to the rest of the field’s. The exhaust, cams, ECU and suspension are standard like a SuperStock bike’s. It ought to go much faster with the race kit.

Race 2 for WorldSBK starts at 8.00pm tonight.

  • Alvaro Bautista and Ducati continued on their dream weekend streak by winning all three races at the Buriram Circuit in Thailand.

  • That makes it six wins out six races, thus far.

  • Defending champion Jonathan Rea put up a fight for the win but was bested by Bautista.

Alvaro Bautista rode his Ducati Panigale V4 R to maximum points after six 2019 Motul FIM WorldSBK races, after winning all three at the Buriram Circuit in Thailand.

Race 1

Bautista being chased by Rea

Defending champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) overtook Bautista into Turn 1. Bautista made up for the disadvantage on Lap 3 in Turn 3, but Rea cut back inside, and the pair collided. Bautista managed to control his bike, but it allowed Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) to slip past.

The Spaniard repassed Lowes on Lap 4 and went after Rea. Bautista caught Rea and passed him with 12 laps to go, and made it stick. He romped away from his challenger to finish 8.2 seconds ahead.

  1. Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Ducati Racing)
  2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
  3. Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
  4. Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
  5. Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)

Tissot Superpole Race

Jonathan Rea – Credit asphaltandrubber

Rea took the holeshot this time but was passed by Bautista. The latter ran wide into Turn 3 was re-overtaken by Rea. But the Ducati rider fought back and retook the lead in Turn 4 and started pulling away.

Meanwhile, Alex Lowes started pressuring Rea. However, Rea made a massive effort to lose Lowes and slashed Bautista’s lead down under half-a-second. His determination also netted him the fastest lap.

Unfortunately, the red flag was shown just as the race was starting to heat up. Again, it was Turn 3 which provided the drama. Leon Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Racing) and Thitipong Warokon (Kawasaki Thailand Racing Team) collided in the hairpin. Warokon was sent to the medical centre and the hospital afterwards.

Bautista was pronounced the winner, followed by Rea with Lowes just behind.

  1. Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Ducati Racing)
  2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
  3. Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
  4. Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
  5. Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)

Race 2

Alex Lowes – Photo credit alexlowes22

Bautista didn’t want to hang around and scrap it out this time. So, he took off from the start and led all the way to the finish, leaving Rea to fight it out with Alex Lowes.

Bautista romped home to finish 10 seconds ahead of Rea and Lowes. His accomplishments equaled Neil Hodgson’s record of winning the first six races of the season in 2013.

Lowes’ teammate van der Mark held off Haslam’s intentions for a finishing order identical to Race 1 and Superpole.

  1. Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Ducati Racing)
  2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
  3. Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
  4. Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
  5. Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
  • Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK launched their 2019 line-up for the World Superbike Championship.

  • Riders are four-time champion Jonathan Rea and new signing Leon Haslam.

  • The season kicks off next weekend at Phillip Island, Australia.

The Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK launched their line-up and bikes to continue their dominance in the 2019 World Superbike Championship.

Four-time and defending WorldSBK Champion Jonathan Rea and new signing Leon Haslam revealed the 2019 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR at a resort not far from the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Australia.

The circuit plays host to the final round of pre-season testing and the first round of the 2019 championship. The tests will take place next Monday and Tuesday, while the season opener begins later that weekend.

It goes without reminding that Rea absolutely destroyed the WorldSBK field last year with the Kawasaki. Out of 25 races, he won 17, placed second four times, once third and once fifth. He suffered only 1 retirement throughout the year, while the final Race 2 in Qatar was cancelled.

Jonathan Rea on the 2019 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR

Despite the strong challenges mounted by his rivals Chaz Davies of Ducati and Michael van der Mark of Yamaha, Rea prevailed.

So, what made him such a powerful force?

“What I’ve learned with my experience over the year is to stay calm and focused with my team. We have the best crew in the business, the best motorcycle underneath me. I feel like the pressure is always on me, I need to find my way with the bike. Once we did that last year, we were absolutely unbeatable,” explained Rea.

Leon Haslam is back to racing full time in WorldSBK since 2015. Son of the great Ron Haslam, he shows that speed is in his family’s genes.

Leon Haslam on the 2019 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR

“I’m just waiting to wake up, it’s like a dream. I had 9 good years in WorldSBK but I’ve never had an opportunity like this. To be involved with KRT, Kawasaki, joining the team that has dominated the last four years… I just can’t wait, I want to start racing now,” he said.

Tune in next week and beyond as we bring you news from the world’s premier production racing series.

  • BMW Motorrad is returning to the 2019 World Superbike Championship (WorldSBK).

  • The manufacturer will enter the 2019 BMW S 1000 RR.

  • Tom Sykes and Markus Reiterberger are the team’s riders.

BMW Motorrad announces their return to the 2019 World Superbike Championship (WorldSBK).

BMW is the one manufacturer that’s glaringly missing from WorldSBK. Their last effort was with the GoldBet BMW team which was disbanded after 2013. Their riders were Marco Melandri and Leon Haslam.

The new team will be racing the recently-launched 2019 BMW S 1000 RR. The bikes will be developed and prepared by BMW’s factory in Munich together with the Shaun Muir Racing Team.

BMW Motorrad announced 2013 WorldSBK Champion Tom Sykes and European Superstock 1000 Champion Markus Reiterberger as their riders.

The championship should heat up next year with BMW’s re-entry with the new S 1000 RR. The new bike is new from ground up with emphasis on higher power and compactness. While the stock production 2019 S 1000 RR produces “only” 204 bhp compared to the new bike from Ducati, you can bet that the racing S 1000 RR will be up there among the top runners.

There is hope among racing fans that WorldSBK 2019 will see the end of four-time and current champion Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki’s domination of the series. A one-horse race is never a spectacle.

  • The 2019 World Superbike Championship (WorldSBK) will consist of three races at every stop.

  • The organizers will add a sprint race to Race 1 and Race 2.

  • The additional race ought to bring more exposure to the series.

The 2019 World Superbike Championship will see three races for each round.

There is without doubt that the World Superbike Championship’s (WorldSBK) popularly has been sagging over the past few years.

However, the production-based championship remains an important platform for manufacturers to showcase their engineering abilities.

What does “production-based racing” mean? Manufacturers are required to homologate a certain number of motorcycles to be eligible for racing. In other words, if a certain race bike features specific technologies, its road-going version must also feature the same. This is how we get “homologation” models such as the ZX-10RR, Panigale R and so forth.

WorldSBK is also where fans get to watch bikes like the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R, Ducati Panigale, Honda CBR1000RR, BMW S 1000 RR, etc. duke it out on a world stage. MotoGP bikes are pedigree racing machines, on the other hand.

Dorna WSBK Organization (the subsidiary of the MotoGP rights holder) is aware of these facts and felt that they need to do something to bring the crowd back into watching the series, like it did during its zenith in the early and mid-90’s.

So, a sprint race will be added on Sunday morning.

Dorna WorldSBK and the FIM hope that the extra race will bring more exposure to benefit the teams, sponsors and spectators alike. Further details will be made known in time.

Daniel Carrera, WorldSBK Executive Director explains, “A third ‘sprint race” in the WorldSBK format is something we have been planning for a long time now, so we are delighted to see the plans coming together. We are committed to bringing exciting races year on year, and we think the addition of a sprint race will add to the WorldSBK experience. We are continuing to work on the final adjustments and hope to bring more details in the near future.”

Certain WorldSBK rounds also include World SuperSport (WorldSSP), SuperStock (STK1000) and World SuperSport300 (WorldSSP300) races.

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