WORLD SUPERBIKE
WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 5/MAY 25, 2014
DONINGTON PARK/DONINGTON PARK, ENGLAND
P72
three races.
Ducati's Chaz Davies took
two fifths that he would describe
later as decent results given his
lack of drive grip out of corners.
Melandri, meanwhile,
crashed out of race two early
after being hit by the one-up/
one-down homeboy Lowes.
Lowes got back on and carried
on, leaving Melandri sprawled
and cursing his luck at the Hair-
pin. Lowes would take a mix of
third – his first podium in front of
his home fans – and recover to
ninth in the second 23-lap race.
Melandri was 17th and out
of the points. He said his bike
needs to be tailored to his
whims, not any previous set-
tings that worked for other rid-
ers. Amazingly, he only has a
couple of podiums and a sixth
place to show for his efforts so
far in 2014, on a bike many still
consider the best or second
best of all.
The best bike in World Super-
bike racing is still usually hailed
as the Kawasaki but any linger-
ing doubts about the prowess
of Baz, usually from jealous
fellow riders, were knocked on
the head at Donington. He is
tied for second with Rea in the
championship after five rounds
(Above) Lowes finished third in
race one, but crashed in race two.
He was able to remount, however,
to finish ninth.
(Above right) Fresh off his two wins
at Assen, Jonathan Rea struggled
at Donington to finish with a pair of
sixths.
(Right) It wasn't a great day for the
factory Aprilias with Sylvain Guinto-
li (50) ending up seventh and third
in the two races; his teammate
Marco Melandri was fourth in race
one but crashed out of race two.
