VOL. 54 ISSUE 39 OCTOBER 3, 2017 P47
all fifth place in the champion-
ship, behind Melandri.
Van der Mark, who was just
behind him in race two for his
second Yamaha podium finish, is
sixth overall.
Barni racing's Xavi Fores,
whose future in that team look-
ing uncertain, was a great fourth
in race two, far from the podium
in lap times but close in the final
order.
He is seventh overall, and in a
championship with three full fac-
tory teams in any normal sense,
this is absolutely as much as
anyone could reasonably ask for.
Melandri was fifth in the second
running, after his bike developed
a problem in morning warm up,
and his newly built one for the
race did not give him the same
feel as his normal machine.
Back in race one, fourth place
was taken by the perennially
over-performing Leon Camier,
who rode his Reparto Corse MV
Agusta to within four seconds of
Sykes in the wet.
Lowes had been fifth, show-
ing that when his bike works and
he is not having to override it, he
can put in the finishes required
by a factory rider. His brother
Sam Lowes, a factory Aprilia
MotoGP rider, was helping him
this weekend.
The wet was kind to no one
except Rea, it seemed, as
Davies was stuck in 10th after
his bike started to misbehave
electronically in the damp track
conditions.
Sixth in race one, Laverty got
something from his weekend, as
his tough season counts down.
Overall 10th is not what he or
Aprilia or his Milwaukee team
expected this year.
The other Aprilia effort in
WorldSBK is the IODA team, and
their rider Leandro Mercado had
two strong rides, one to seventh
in race one and then the second
to sixth in race two. His best
weekend of the year.
For the stand-in Red Bull
Honda riders this weekend,
Davide Giugliano and American
Jake Gagne, there were some
highlights. Giugliano was eighth
and 11th, Gagne recovering from
a race-one DNF with 12th at a
track he had never seen before.
Jonathan Rea was simply in another
league in race one and took the title
and race win with ease.
