VOL. 54 ISSUE 17 MAY 2, 2017 P41
by Marco Melandri in race one.
The top places in WorldSBK
right now are being hogged by
the red and green bikes, but other
than Rea's almost metronomic
ability to gain wins and points—195
from a possible 200 says all you
need to know—predictability is a
rare commodity elsewhere.
Melandri's race-two fall, trying
to pass the privateer Panigale
machine of Xavi Fores (Barni Rac-
ing), was unexpected, especially
as he seemingly lost the front on a
slight lean.
Fores had been fourth in race
one, but 22 seconds back from
Rea. Returnee rider from injury,
Lorenzo Savadori, placed fifth in
race one, in a high-water mark fin-
ish for him and Milwaukee Aprilia
so far.
This weekend should have
been a good opportunity for
Michael van der Mark and his blue
and orange paintwork to shine in
the dry conditions in front of his
home fans. In race one, he ran
on into turn one and then later
crashed trying to make up lost
ground from almost dead last.
His Pata Yamaha teammate
Alex Lowes also fell in race one,
but both of the next closest things
to podium bikes in WorldSBK right
now recovered well in race two,
with van der Mark fourth behind
Davies and Lowes up from 15th on
the grid to fifth.
Stefan Bradl had the pleasure
of his first top-six finish in race one
after a troubled practice on a new
spec of engine, giving Red Bull
Honda a respectable story at the
Ten Kate-operated team's home
race.
Nicky Hayden (Red Bull Honda)
finishing 14th was a result of sorts
for a rider with a broken engine
mounting bracket on the right-
hand side—a rider who could not
work out why his bike was misbe-
having so badly.
A ninth in race two was much
better but the whole Red Bull
Honda experience is still not work-
ing to plan after such a late start
to their development work on the
new Fireblade.
All the talk on Saturday was
about Rea's truly stunning pole
pace, and then immediately after
the controversy about him riding
too slow on the racing line, halt-
ing Davies, who was on another
hot lap, if not his outright hottest.
Davies slapped Rea's arm on the
way past, and they both gesticu-
lated to each other. It got nastier
to the point of swearing in the parc
ferme Superpole top-three collec-
tion area, all caught on camera.
All that astounding Superpole
pace finally only got Rea a start
from fourth, his race-one win got
him a start from ninth. He still won
both races to make it six in a row
for him and Kawasaki in Holland,
seven including his 2014 race-two
win on a Honda, and 11 race victo-
ries in the Netherlands all in.
Rea has almost as many points
(195) as his number of WorldSBK
race starts (200 now), of which 45
have been race wins—30 for Ka-
wasaki in the past two years and
a bit. He is now the standalone
Chaz Davies
suffered a first-
race mechanical
and was third in
race two.
