ROAD RACE
FIM SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 1 / FEBRUARY 24-26, 2017
PHILLIP ISLAND CIRCUIT/ PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA
P68
motion/relegation grid system started race
two from third place.
Fifth in race two, Fores even beat Sykes,
who had to use up too much tire as he
got bogged down, partly thanks to the
new rules and possibly his lesser passing
abilities than the likes of Rea and Sykes.
People said pre-season that Rea and Sykes
should have no problems with the changed
grid rules, but Sykes might; this and some
gear-change issues, held back his prog-
ress. But by his PI standards, third in race
one had been like a win somewhere else.
Or so he alluded to, himself, after race one.
Understandably, unwelcome notice in
race one was taken of Nicky Hayden and
the Red Bull Honda Fireblade in 11th place,
and almost 20 seconds back from the win-
ner. Stefan Bradl was in even worse condi-
tion, 15th and 28 seconds back. In race
two, the Hondas—which the team only got
their hands on in mid-January—proved to
be one non-finisher (after Hayden crashed
while trying to stay competitive) and 15th
again for Bradl.
"I made a great start and the bike actu-
ally did that very well," Hayden said of race
one. "I don't know what to really say and
rattle off a bunch of excuses and sound like
a complainer, but obviously 11th in race one
is not the result you think in your mind for all
winter.
"I set my fastest lap of the race and was
improving my splits while trying to stay with
the second group, but I over pushed down
into Lukey Heights and came off the bike,"
Hayden said of race two. "I was overriding
trying to make it up on the brakes."
In the overall points after one round Rea
launches himself forward to Buriram with
