Cycle News

Cycle News 2019 Issue 43 October 29

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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exception of Davies—Bautista was already ahead and in second, chasing Rea in the early laps. In the final analysis of the championship there has to be an even greater appreciation of the abilities of five-time championship winners Rea, KRT and Kawasaki, but also a mystery that may never be solved. How do you turn around a massive points lead for the clearly most powerful bike in the paddock into a gigantic loss by season's end? That, as much as Rea and com- pany's repeating brilliance, is the final story of 2019 in WorldSBK. WorldSSP The tension in the runup to the WorldSSP finale—the only real last-round finale of 2019 inside the WorldSBK paddock—was palpable long before a sudden change of race starting time, to avoid a threatening thunderstorm that never actually materialized. With the riders setting off with one hour less preparation, it was already thrilling to have the two main championship rivals, Randy Krummenacher and Federico Car- icasulo (both Bardahl Evan. Bros Yamaha) alongside each other on the grid. "Carica" had pole, and "Krummi" second place. Off the line, Jules Cluzel (GMT94) and his teammate Coren- tin Perolari blitzed to the leading two places, stunning all who watched; Krummenacher then got to third and Caricasulo was down in sixth after just one lap. Perolari would drop to sixth, but with Caricasulo fourth, fifth- placed Krummenacher would win the title by six points. "It's an incredible feeling to be world champion, after working towards this moment for the past 24 years," said Krummenacher. "I can't really take it in at the mo- ment. Today it was a very tough race. After the warm-up I thought I could win today, but in the race, I felt completely different on the bike and I had to fight. In the last laps the feeling was very strong that I was about to win the cham- pionship, which was also pretty stressful, which meant I wasn't as fast as I could have been in the closing stages." Krummenacher won four races and had four other podium visits. In the race itself, Lucas Ma- hias (Kawasaki Puccetti) won his second of 2019, his second for Kawasaki, and his third straight victory in Qatar, despite suffering from a stomach bug and some degree of dehydration. He looked like a pale shadow but rode like the desert wind on a bike not quite as powerful or modern in race trim as a Yamaha. Second in the race was Cluzel, third—again, and for the third po- dium in a row—Isaac Vinales. In the championship Krumme- nacher finished with 213 points, Caricasulo 207, Cluzel 200 and Mahias 168. Gordon Ritchie IN THE WIND P46 Randy Krummenacher played it safe, crossing the line fifth for the title.

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