VOL. 55 ISSUE 27 JULY 10, 2018 P29
with the new big front Pirellis,
was aggressive and effective in
race two, and almost remorseful
that he could get so close but no
cigar.
For VDM in race two, a near
win was good enough, kind of...
"You always want to win after
leading for so many laps," said
VDM. "I had a little bit more
left at the end but the same for
Jonny, as he had the same pace
as we had. I must be happy
with second place, and I am
most happy about the points
we scored this weekend in the
championship."
VDM drew himself further
ahead into third place, after an-
other hard weekend for the rider
behind him, Tom Sykes (Kawa-
saki Racing Team).
Behind the podium movers
and shakers, with van der Mark
fourth in race one, Sykes used a
fork he did not like and finished
fifth, despite securing his 46th
career pole—also a record like
Rea's race wins. Still fifth in race
two, he was, however, much
happier and a couple seconds
closer to Rea.
Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha
WorldSBK), now a race winner
in WorldSBK, too, like his team-
mate VDM, fell in race one and
then recovered to finish sixth in
race two.
Another rider with one stroke
of good and one of bad fortune
was Xavi Fores (Barni Racing
Ducati). He placed sixth and top
Independent Rider in race one,
but his bike quit while he was in
the lead very early in race two.
Not the best circuit for Honda
riders this year, Misano saw
Leon Camier (Red Bull Honda
WorldSBK) ninth and 10th, be-
fore he, like many other WorldS-
BK runners, heads to Japan's
Suzuka 8-Hour in late July.
As for Jake Gagne (Red Bull
Honda WorldSBK), he carded a
13th in race one and 17th in race
two.
"I kept a good pace to fin-
ish P13 in race one, but in race
two the first few laps were
really tough, as I was caught
up behind some slower riders.
But once I got some clean air,
I could set a good pace and
make some passes," Gagne
said. "Considering how far back
I qualified, I'm happy I could put
in a better performance in the
races and score some
points here at Misano."
Compatriot PJ Ja-
cobsen took home 16th
in race one and 19th in
race two.
"Honestly, this year
I either thought it was
going to be really good,
or the opposite way,"
Jacobsen said. "Right
now, for me, it is the
opposite way, and I am
very disappointed how
this first half of the sea-
son is going. I should
not be rolling around at
the back of the WorldS-
BK grid. There are a lot
of fast guys out there,
and I totally respect
that, but I am way more than
what I am showing. And it is just
not working with me right now
with the stuff going on. There
needs to be some improvement
somewhere."
After a spectacular second
race at Misano, Rea leads
Davies by a whopping 92 points.
His intended points lead at this
stage was 75. Rea has 370
points, Davies 278, van der Mark
248 and Sykes 218. A giant gap
in the calendar now, with the
next round not until September
in Portimao.
WorldSSP
For a rider like Federico Cari-
casulo (GRT Yamaha), who is
now fourth in the championship,
2018 has been a very mixed bag
until he won his home race, and
Jake Gagne was in the points in
race one but faded in race two.
