VOL. 53 ISSUE 19 MAY 17, 2016 P41
the flag after 16 laps, as his team
made a small setup change that
Sykes thought was as big as it
was beautiful.
His teammate Jonathan Rea
[Kawasaki Racing Team] was
second, but a stonking 5.6
seconds back, as mystified
as any why his usually winning
game plan did not come off on
day one.
Third in race one was the
closest championship challeng-
er to Rea, Chaz Davies [Aruba.
it Racing – Ducati] who was un-
able to get into contention with
his usual green rivals at a track
he had won at in 2015.
The abiding memory of all
present at Sepang, however, will
be of Nicky Hayden running off
up front like he was on a rocket-
driven Jet Ski in the early laps
of the second (and pretty wet)
16-lap race of the weekend, held
on Sunday.
He had looked forward to
both races after a good qualify-
ing, on a resurfaced track that
proved to have high grip, despite
some early issues in dry condi-
tions (with water seeping back
up through the otherwise grippy
tarmac).
Hayden knows Sepang well
and Sepang paid homage to the
latest rider to win his first World
Superbike race. He only took
12 goes at it (discounting his
two previous rides from another
lifetime before) and it was as
determined a victory as any ex-
MotoGP Champion could have
hoped for.
"The new surface is very
abrasive and they made it drain
and they did a great job because
it drained very, very quick," said
Hayden. "The tires started to
heat up. It was not easy at the
end. I was pushing but I did not
want to make a mistake. I just
wanted to manage the gap to
the flag—and—what can I say? I
know the wet is one thing, but
I will take it any way I can get it.
People can say what they want,
but I have never stopped trying,
so to come here and get another
win makes me very happy."
His win had its nervous mo-
ments, including a late challenge
by the "on-rails" Aruba.it Ducati
of Davide Giugliano as the track
improved.
"Once the gap back to Davide
got under two seconds I did not
really like it," said Hayden. "It
was not really wet and so you
know I would have liked to have
kept it at three seconds, but
I also did not want to make a
mistake. I made a good lap time
near the end but I had to! I didn't
have a choice! I had a little bit
left, but not tons."
Giugliano had been slow
away, fast to finish, and he was
leaning over way further than his
long-time race partner and team-
mate Davies. As the Welsh rider
slowed on a used up wet front,
to drop behind Rea again, Giug-
liano went on hunting Hayden.
That late spurt from the Ameri-
can, however, and no more to
come from Giugliano (unless
he had more laps to go), saw
Hayden win by 1.254 seconds.
Rea was third, having re-passed
Davies, but he was 3.6 from a
win he never quite looked like
taking this weekend, in either
race.
Sykes' win was impressive,
deserved, but Hayden's was an
impossibly popular win.
His main rivals heaped praise
It was a big day
for Nicky Hayden
who captured his
first ever WorldSBK
race win. It was
also Honda's first
since 2014.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
