VOL. 54 ISSUE 33 AUGUST 22, 2017 P43
Sykes, a record Superpole
setter, the fastest lap setter in
race one, was once again less
potent on the race days than
practice, as he only scored a
third and then a fourth. He had
to fight off several riders—one
literally after he touched Sava-
dori's Aprilia—after his third-row
start in race two.
He slipped to a whopping 70
points behind Rea in Germany,
and is now a much-reduced 35
points ahead of Davies.
It was hardly the stuff of
dreams for Melandri either, but
he took a single podium, which
is an achievement in itself this
season, with three other riders
on the best factory bikes who
are all long-settled into their top-
level team structures.
Leon Camier (MV Agusta
Reparto Corse) and Alex Lowes
(Pata Yamaha WorldSBK)
swapped fifth and sixth places,
with Camier right with Melandri
in race one, almost fourth in-
stead of the diminutive Italian.
Lorenzo Savadori eventually
played for a pair of sevenths for
his Milwaukee Aprilia team, after
securing a front-row start in third
place in Superpole.
Xavi Fores (Barni Racing
Ducati) took eighth in race one,
Jordi Torres (Althea BMW) took
that position in race two, as part
of the Lowes, Camier, Savadori
group that were across the line
in one colorful spread.
Lausitzring gave two wins right
out of the top drawer for Davies
and Ducati. The end result is that
Rea has 381 points, Sykes 311
and Davies 276.
WorldSSP
If you want to know the true
value of testing and getting up-
to-date machinery in racing, ask
WorldSSP rider Sheridan Mo-
rais. He finally got a 2017-spec
Kallio Racing Yamaha YZF-R6
to race after the previous round,
and tested at Lausitzring before
race weekend. And then won
the race.
He was fast in practice,
Superpole winner for the first
time, too. And although his
first WorldSSP race win in 33
attempts came with a degree of
final fortune, he was a worthy
winner in many ways. He had
led the first 16 laps across the
stripe.
"It was really nice to be able
to try to strategize in a race
instead of just hanging in there,"
said the South African rider. "I
feel like the new bike and the
team's hard work have given us
Davies (7) was dominant in
Deutschland, taking a double win
over Jonathan Rea (1).
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
