WSBK-Jerez

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Rea And Sykes All Set For Possible Championship Decider

Jonathan Rea, Tom Sykes and the entire Kawasaki Racing Team are on their way to Jerez in Spain for the penultimate round of the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship knowing that this could be a truly pivotal weekend.

With Rea in a championship lead he has enjoyed since the very first round, and Sykes in a firm second place, both have opportunities to improve their championship prospects to a dramatic degree in Spain.

Rea will be able to make the title his own this weekend should he grow his current championship advantage of 48 by even a few points. Conversely, two good results for Sykes in relation to Rea will ensure that the championship will go all the way to the final round at the end of October in Qatar. One other rider, Chaz Davies, is still mathematically capable of catching both official Kawasaki riders, as he sits 81 points behind Rea, and 33 behind Sykes, with a maximum of 100 points left for any rider who wins every remaining race.

The 2016 Ninja ZX-10R has already scored 14 wins in its inaugural season in the hands of Jonathan and Tom. As a result of this type of success, Jerez is also a potential championship-winning venue for Kawasaki in the Manufacturers? Award, if results favour the Akashi based manufacturer. Currently Kawasaki has an advantage of 85 points over the closest competitor.

Whatever the outcome of the races on Saturday and Sunday Jerez is already a special venue for both KRT riders. It was the track at which they each secured their respective world championship crowns with Kawasaki. Rea won his championship last year during the Jerez weekend, two years after Sykes had completed his championship win there in 2013.

Jerez will be an unusual weekend no matter what happens at the end of race two, as there will be an official DWO test on Monday 17th, where Tom and Jonathan will have the chance to make preparations for the Losail season finale, and complete more development work on their 2017 set-up.

As things stand it has been a remarkable year for Kawasaki?s official riding duo even before the Jerez weekend gets underway. Rea has grown his career statistics to 38 wins, which are part of his overall podium total of 84. He has secured nine of those race wins in 2016, and 19 podiums, with four more possibilities before the end of the year to take more.

Tom his now posted 31 race wins, 81 podiums and a remarkable 37 Superpole successes. Tom?s win total for the current year stands at five, as part of his 17 podium places. In the points rankings, Jonathan has 426 to Tom?s 378, with Davies on 345.

In 2017 Jonathan and Tom will compete on full WorldSBK specification ZX-10RR machinery, which has even more focus on performance than the already class-leading Ninja ZX-10R. KRT helped to launch the new RR model at the Cologne show last week, to great public acclaim.

The Circuito de Jerez has been a relatively recent but highly popular addition to the WorldSBK calendar. Located close to the historic town of Jerez de la Frontera, the 4.423km circuit boasts a variety of corners and elevation changes, with natural amphitheatres for the spectators to get a clear view of the action.

The final round of WorldSBK in 2016 will be held at the Losail circuit in Qatar, between 28th and 30th October.

Jonathan Rea, stated: ?From last year Jerez holds very special memories so I am excited to go back there. We had a very productive mid-season test at Jerez, where we not only get to refine our current model, we also got to work on some items for 2017. It seems like we are in a good way with the bike in races and this is the first opportunity I have to win the championship this weekend. If we do a good job we can achieve our target of being world champions. That is in the back of my mind but also we have to be clever, because Tom and Chaz are riding really strongly and I am sure some others will also be strong in Jerez. So we need to be prepared to set-up the bike well with the team and then what will be will be. I?ll just try to go out and have two solid races. I have a lot of support coming from back home as well for this weekend.?

Tom Sykes, stated: ?I am looking forward to getting back out on the bike and it is a bit of a pivotal weekend coming up. I am just hoping that we can make something happen. That is all we need and then we are back into it. I am excited to go to Spain again. We definitely found some good speed in France and got back some form in wet conditions. Ultimately, the few wet races we have had this year cost me, as you have only got to look at the points difference in wet conditions. And everything is teeing up nicely in preparation for the following season. Where we are at now means we are definitely able to fight in the dry, and we are looking forward to this weekend. We have also tested at Jerez this year and we have information from those tests. We have changed the bike set-up quite a bit since then but hopefully we can be in the ballpark when we get to Jerez.?

 

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Pata Yamaha Prepares for Penultimate Round

With just two race events left, the season is almost complete for Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK riders Alex Lowes and Sylvain Guintoli. This weekend sees the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship head to its final European destination of 2016, Circuito de Jerez, in southern Spain, for the Gaerne Spanish Round.

Jerez is possibly the most travelled of the WorldSBK circuits, playing host to a number of test outings throughout the winter season as the teams prepare to do battle each year. Lowes is no stranger to the 4,423m technical and demanding layout, having succumbed to its unforgiving curves last November before returning to bury his demons the following January. Despite its turbulent history, Jerez remains one of the British rider's favourite tracks and one he fully aims to tame this weekend as he returns to contest the concluding European races on his YZF-R1. Utilising the past week to recover from his demanding five back-to-back race events, the 26-year-old is eager to get up to speed quickly as the team returns to Spain.

Guintoli has a high success rate at the Andaluc?an circuit from his WorldSBK career to date, having achieved three podiums from his past six appearances. Jerez ushered in the Frenchman's first taste of the Yamaha Superbike during last years' shakedown and he is eager to return to the track to put the hard work into practice as wheels turn in anger for the two 20-lap races.

Nestled in the Andaluc?an region of Cadiz, Circuito de Jerez sits just outside the town of Jerez de la Frontera and hosts the most southern destination on the European calendar. A popular race venue, the 13 corner layout houses eight right and five left-handers, with the finish straight just 600m in length and providing little relief from the constant changes of direction and elevation.

Round 12's races are scheduled for 13:00 local time on both Saturday and Sunday, with free practice commencing for Lowes and Guintoli at 10:15 on Friday 14th October.

Alex Lowes
Championship: 11th / 107 points

"Jerez is a track we probably ride the most because it gets used a lot for pre-season testing. There are no long straights here so it doesn't give you much rest but it has a flowing feel to it and some really fast corners near the end of the lap. My best corner is turn five, leading on to the back straight, it's a long corner where you can nick a bit of inside kerb then slide the bike on the exit, I smile every time through here. We've had a rollercoaster few rounds recently so I'm really looking to go out strong this weekend and have two good races as the season nears its conclusion. "
Sylvain Guintoli
Championship: 12th / 91 points

"Jerez is a twisty & challenging track. It's very physical, but very enjoyable. It was our first experience of the YZF-R1 during winter testing so it will be good to see how it compares during the summer temperatures. Magny-Cours was a confirmation of our form this year, good qualifying performance but lots of work to do with race pace. We will continue the development as we head to Spain."

 

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Althea BMW returns to Spain for penultimate SBK round

The Althea BMW Racing Team is gearing up for the penultimate round of the 2016 Superbike World Championship, and the final round of the Stock 1000 championship, both of which are taking place this weekend at the Spanish circuit of Jerez. This is the second championship round to take place in Spain after the Superbikes visited Aragon back in April.

Jordi Torres will be hoping to score two great results in front of his home crowd, while Markus Reiterberger, now back to full fitness after recent injury, also aims to do well in the final races of the season. Jerez is a track that both Althea BMW men enjoy racing at, with Torres having finished on the podium last year, when he crossed the line in second place in race 2.

This weekend also marks the final round of the STK1000 championship, and is a particularly significant one for the Althea BMW squad, in that rider Raffaele De Rosa could still lift the title trophy. The Italian rider lies second in the standings, just seven points behind leader Mercado and will therefore be going all out to win Sunday?s race.
Jordi Torres

?We would really like to do well at Jerez, seeing as we completed some positive pre-season tests at the track. It can be a good track for the BMW I think and while we need to work on the tight turns, we can make the most of the long corners where we are stronger. I would love to reach the podium, having come close on several occasions this season. A lot of fans come to Jerez and there?s a great atmosphere so I really want to do a good job and won?t give up...?
Markus Reiterberger

?I?m looking forward to Jerez, a track a like and where we normally enjoy good weather. It could be a good weekend for us, better than recent events where we?ve struggled a little. Pre-season testing went well at Jerez and we were close to the front, so I hope we can work well and put in a good performance this weekend.?

Raffaele De Rosa
?I can?t wait to get to Jerez, not least because it?s a track I really enjoy riding. We?ll see how this battle between me and Mercado plays out? I?m only sorry that the championship is already coming to an end, eight rounds are not enough! Anyway, I?ll do my best this weekend of course, also with a view to my future...?

 

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Hayden and van der Mark ready for battle at Jerez

The Honda WorldSBK Team has arrived at Jerez de la Frontera, where this weekend the Spanish Round of the FIM Superbike World Championship takes place. Nicky Hayden and Michael van der Mark are eager to get back up to speed on board their Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP machines in what will be the penultimate round of the season, the last one to be held on European soil

Despite an early debut back in the series in 1990, the ?Circuito de Jerez? did not return to WorldSBK until 2013, but since then it has been a permanent fixture on the series calendar. Measuring 4.423km, the track is a great mix between fast-flowing interconnected corners and slow, hard-braking hairpins: therefore, riding precision and good set-up are crucial to set competitive lap-times on this track.

Two years ago, Michael van der Mark sealed a well deserved World Supersport title at Jerez at the end of one of the most hectic races in the history of the series. Last year, the 23-year-old Dutch rider took third place in race one at the Andalusian venue. Nicky Hayden has so far climbed twice on the Jerez podium: he was third in 2006 and in 2011, when he scored the last rostrum finish of his MotoGP career.


Nicky Hayden 69

Jerez is really a great track, I like it a lot and I hope we can be really competitive there. There are some fast and flowing corners that should suit our bike well. We definitely have to work to maximise the electronics and gearing in some of the slow corners, but overall it should be a different experience to Magny-Cours. I definitely won?t have to learn the track during the first session and I?m also getting back on the same bike I used in the last race. Hopefully, all this will allow me to get up to speed and to do a better job than I did in France. I can?t wait to get started!


Michael van der Mark 60

I am looking forward to Jerez. We left Magny-Cours with another podium and a good number of points, which helped us consolidate fourth place in the championship. It?s not over yet, so we need to continue this way. Last year we got on the podium and two years ago I won the Championship here, so this track has always been very kind to me. We tested at Jerez during the winter so we know what to expect; hopefully we can improve the bike a bit more in order to be closer to the front and fight for the top 3.

Pieter Breddels-Technical Manager

Michael was very competitive last year in Jerez and he did well both at Lausitzring and Magny-Cours, so things are definitely looking good for him and we hope he can continue to battle for the podium. Nicky knows this track very well and we have been testing during the winter, so I see no reason why he cannot be up there battling for honours. We feel we are ready for the new challenge on a track that suits our bike very well. Then, on Monday we will have a one-day official test that will be useful to try a couple of things with an eye to the future.

 

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Good start to Spanish Round for the Honda WorldSBK Team

The opening day of action for the Spanish Round of the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship has been a positive one for the Honda WorldSBK Team. In the combined times of today?s two free practice sessions at Jerez, Michael van der Mark and Nicky Hayden fourth and seventh, respectively. Therefore, both riders have successfully qualified for tomorrow?s Superpole 2, scheduled at 10:55 local time (GMT+2).

Despite the overnight rain, good weather conditions and mild temperatures helped the World Superbike riders to make the most of the two hours of track action available to them. Hayden and van der Mark got up to speed straight away on board their Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP machines and were second and sixth at the end of FP1.

As free practice 2 got underway, van der Mark made good use of a new set of Pirelli tyres and, on his first flying lap, he set his fastest time of the day in 1?41.859. The 23-year-old Dutchman kept himself in third place for the majority of the session, before being demoted to fourth by Lowes moments before the chequered flag was deployed. Between the two sessions, Hayden only managed to improve his best lap-time by 0.121s, but that was enough to earn a solid seventh place finish. The American rider also worked on long runs, which helped himself and his crew gather some valuable information for the rest of the weekend.


Michael van der Mark 60-4th / 1'41.859

I?m quite happy with how today went. We had a decent start in the first session and we were able to improve our lap-time. We made some changes for FP2 and, as soon as I went out on track, I was immediately a lot faster. We wanted to improve some more but unfortunately we were unable to find that last tenth of a second that would have moved us further up in the timesheets. The grip seems to get worse after a couple of laps and that?s definitely something we have to work on. We?re not too far off, but we need to work on that last bit of speed we need.


Nicky Hayden 69-7th / 1'41.994

It has been a quite normal day at the office, really. We have a fairly good base set-up for this track from our last test here in January. The conditions seem to be quite different, but we know this track can change quite a lot at different times of the year. This morning was not too bad, while this afternoon I?d have hoped to improve a bit more, especially because here at Jerez every tenth of a second is crucial. I was seventh at the end of FP2, although still only 0.2s from the top. We did some long-run laps on the tyres today to get some good data and we?ll see what we can do tomorrow.

Pieter Breddels -Technical Manager

The overnight rain made the track quite slippery, but we definitely cannot complain about the weather today. We put together the set-up found during winter testing and the general settings found throughout the season and it all came out nicely for both riders, who were both able to get up to speed straight away. With fresh tyres, Michael was able to improve quite a lot and that gave us some time to further experiment with the settings. In the end, he has a really strong race pace, but it looks like times are generally very close towards the top positions. With Nicky we tried different tyre choices and in the end he went out for a quick lap but the track had slowed down compared to the start of the session, and it was clear by the fact that only few riders were able to improve their lap-times in the final stages. Overall, we?re quite happy with our performance and things are looking good for tomorrow.

 

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Sykes Fastest And Rea Ninth On A Day Of Contrasting Fortunes

The first day of action at the 12th round of the FIM Superbike World Championship ended with Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) fastest in combined practice and his team-mate Jonathan Rea ninth. Rea was only 0.359 seconds off the best pace but such was the level of early competition he was ranked just inside the top ten.

Sykes, currently second in the championship, finished only tenth in the morning FP1 session today but recovered his true pace to end up fastest of all, 0.038 seconds ahead of second quickest competitor, Chaz Davies. Sykes completed 45 laps in total today, working towards finding a full race set-up for the first race on Saturday.

Championship leader Rea was seventh in the FP1 morning session, but could not find the required rear grip exiting corners to make the best use of his Ninja ZX-10R?s full capabilities in the combined timesheets. Although ninth in the rankings his best time was very close to Sykes in what was an intense second practice session. Rea made a significant mid-session set-up change this afternoon meaning his spent some time in the pit box as his crew worked on his machine.

After overnight rains the track at Jerez improved after a slightly damp start to FP1. In FP2 the track was almost up to its best condition under a warm autumnal sun in the south of Spain.

FP3 and Superpole qualifying will now precede the first race of the weekend, which will take place at 13.00 on Saturday 15th October. Both KRT riders have qualified automatically for Superpole 2 on Saturday, which will determine their final grid positions.

Tom Sykes, stated: ?I am quite happy to be fastest here at Jerez, on a circuit I would not consider to be my strongest one. This is positive for us and we are trying out hardest to improve the set-up again to get a little bit more feedback from the Ninja ZX-10R. In general, I have had some limitations this year and I have not found a cure for them yet which can be frustrating. We are still looking at working on set-up, evaluating some other parameters and possibilities. We will keep working now for tomorrow and Sunday. I feel well prepared even on used tyres, but we need to make sure we are strong in qualifying to set ourselves up for the races.?

Jonathan Rea, stated: ?It seems like it is going OK but when we are looking for some improvement it is not coming. I feel I am riding well and the bike is behaving itself on the entry of the corner, and chassis-wise in general, but we are struggling everywhere with traction. We are having more spinning than we did here during testing and the electronics are cutting in everywhere in acceleration. So we just need to focus on that. I normally never struggle with traction and everywhere else on track the bike feels quite good. Consistently we are a couple of tenths off where we should be but there is just one main issue we need to focus on.?

 

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Sizzling Spanish Start as Lowes Hits Jerez Top 3

Alex Lowes opened his penultimate MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship campaign of 2016 in fighting style at Spain's Circuito de Jerez today by claiming third in Friday's free practice times with a best lap of 1'41.804. Sylvain Guintoli was also up to speed quickly setting a 1'41.901 to take sixth, with both Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK riders safely through to Saturday's Superpole 2.

Feeling comfortable from the off, both with his recovering fitness and his YZF-R1, Lowes ran strongly at the 4,423m track as Friday's practice sessions commenced. The morning's cool conditions allowed the pace to develop steadily, with the times dropping as the temperatures began to soar. The British rider closed the initial hour in a promising fifth position with a fastest time of 1'42.366 but with the asphalt 11?C hotter, peaking at 35?C, the afternoon soon ramped up. Pleased with the consistent race pace he had run for the majority of the second session, Lowes used the closing minutes to lay down his marker and secure his top-three position in the day's combined times.

Guintoli began the morning session convincingly, sitting sixth after the first 25 minutes until a technical issue cut his practice short. His Pata Yamaha crew working quickly to a solution, his YZF-R1 was back out on track and straight in to second position as the afternoon session began, with the Frenchman continuing to run strongly as the final 60 minutes counted down. Satisfied with his Spanish weekend's progress so far, Guintoli is looking forward to tomorrow's 20-lap race, scheduled for 13:00 local time.

Niki Tuuli continued his compelling run in the FIM Supersport World Championship, despite competing in only his fourth race event in the series, by claiming third after Friday's two practice sessions. The young Finn set a best lap of 1'44.914 on his Kallio Racing YZF-R6 as he heads directly into Saturday's second Superpole at 11:55.

Alex Lowes
3rd / 1'41.804 / 47 laps

"It's been a good day and I feel a lot better on the bike, which after feeling a little second-hand at Magny-Cours is nice! The guys have done a great job, we've gone back to a setting that I know from testing and it's the best feeling I've had over the year on the front of the YZF-R1 so I've got more confidence. If I can keep working hard with that tomorrow to try to improve my confidence a little more, then we should be good. I'm not too worried about the race result I just want to be solid and close the gap on the guys at the front over the race distance, which is my goal for this weekend but so far it's been good!"
Sylvain Guintoli
6th / 1'41.901 / 33 laps

"In the end it was a good day overall for us. It started on the back foot with a bit of a technical issue but we picked it back up straight away from the first laps of FP2 and managed to climb almost all the way up before working on the race pace. It was an interesting day, the track is very slippery with the high temperatures and I think it is going to create some very interesting riding for tomorrow, with loads of riders close together. Hopefully a good qualifying pace for us and a good fight tomorrow."
Paul Denning – Team Principal
"It's been a good Friday here at Jerez. The only negative was a technical issue for Sylvain this morning but both rider and team rebounded very well, with immediate speed this afternoon.

"Alex had a really solid day and has reacted extremely well from the disappointments of the last race. Lots of fast, consistent laps and good technical feedback puts us in a good place for tomorrow.

"Everybody in the team has been very focused today and everyone has done a good job. It's very close on pace between the podium and 10th position, so we need to qualify well tomorrow morning and hope we can continue this progression."

 

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Saturday in Q2 for Octo Pramac Yakhnich. Petrux ends up in the Top 10, Scott 11th

With both riders qualified for the Q2 of the #JapaneseGp, Octo Pramac Yakhnich confirms the positive trend in qualifying, that was also recorded in the last GP of Aragon.
At the Motegi Circuit, Danilo Petrucci managed to qualify directly, while Scott Redding was able to gain second place in Q1, reaching his team mate in the qualifying for the pole position.

Today, Petrux confirmed the good feeling of the free practice lapping with a good pace in FP3 and finishing tenth. Following a good first run in Q2, with the crono of 1'45.728, during the time attack Danilo did not find the conditions to lower his lap-time that earned him the tenth position.

Scott has recorded remarcable progress after the difficulties encountered in the Friday?s free practice. After missing the direct qualification to Q2, for only 10 milliseconds, he stayed focused and managed to win one of the two available places in Q1. In the second run of Q2, Scott set his fastest lap (1'45.728), which gives him the eleventh position on the grid tomorrow.

11th - Scott Redding
1?45.827

I was a little disappointed not to have gone directly into Q2 having finished the Q1 just 10 thousandths of a second behind Danilo. But in the end I am satisfied because the gap was really large yesterday, while today we were able to stay very close to the Top 10. I think the factory bikes have made considerable progress over the last few races, so it is very difficult to stay in front or even also close the Top 8. However, we are on the right path and I am confident for tomorrow.

10th - Danilo Petrucci
1?45.782

I do not know whether to be happy or not, today. This morning I crashed ruining a little our work but in the end I did it to get into Q2 and this allowed me to concentrate on race pace in FP4. In qualifying, however, I was a donkey: I started well and in the second run I tried to wait for a fast driver to follow, I found Lorenzo but I made soon a mistake turning wide. We will see tomorrow what will happen but all things considered I am satisfied with what we have done so far during the weekend.

 

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Kawasaki Wins Manufacturers? Championship After Double KRT Podium

Tom Sykes and his fellow Kawasaki Racing Team rider Jonathan Rea secured second and third place finishes in race one at Jerez today. As a result Kawasaki won the Manufacturers? Award for the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship season - for the second year in succession.

Both Kawasaki Racing Team riders knew they would have strong opening races after Sykes had scored his eighth Superpole of the year this morning, with Rea just one place behind him on the grid. In the warm and dry opening race neither was able to keep the pace of eventual winner Chaz Davies for all 20 laps.

Rea took an early lead but Sykes passed before the end of the first lap, and held his lead until lap four. Despite Tom setting the fastest lap of the race on lap three, Davies passed him one lap later and eased away to a lead that would become a win.

Rea ran behind Sykes for a time but as the race unfolded Sykes eased out an advantage that grew to 3.8 seconds at the flag, closing up the gap somewhat to Rea?s championship lead. Third in race one was still positive progress for Rea, as he had never secured a podium finish at Jerez before today.

After race one Tom is 44 points behind, with one more Jerez race left to run and two more to come in the final round in Qatar in two week?s time.

The headline success today, for all involved from KHI and KRT, was securing the Manufacturers? Championship with three points scoring races left to run. With three races and a possible 75 points up for grabs still, Kawasaki is an unassailable 80 points ahead in the manufacturers? standings.

Kawasaki riders ? either Rea or Sykes in each case ? have already taken 14 race wins in 2016, with eight 1-2 finishes. There have been 38 individual podium finishes for the official Ninja ZX-10R riders.

Tom Sykes, stated: ?It has been a big day for Kawasaki, and for them to win two Manufacturers? Championships on the bounce. We have been building up to this for some years and with two strong riders in the team we are able to deliver. It shows the amount of effort and support they are putting into the Superbike World Championship. To finish second today with two really strong guys either side of me is not too bad but it is also not perfect. We need to find an answer tomorrow as we had a little bit of a battle with the front set-up of the bike today. Hopefully we can then match the pace of Chaz on Sunday.?

Jonathan Rea, stated: ?We definitely did not have the pace for Chaz today. With Tom it seemed like I could hang in there but I was taking a risk. The thing on my mind was that it was better to consolidate our points and move on, to take one step closer to our ultimate goal. We had no traction from early on and some front and rear slides so for tomorrow we need to understand that. All in all I am happy to be on the podium for the first time at Jerez. We have just won the Manufacturers? Championship today, three races out from the end, so that is another good point about today because it shows the hard work that Kawasaki, the team and all the staff have been doing this year, as well as last year. I am happy to contribute to that back-to-back Manufacturers? World Championship.?

Steve Guttridge, Kawasaki Europe Racing Manager, stated: ?The combination of our two super competitive riders and our very professional team organisation again allowed Kawasaki to celebrate the Manufacturers? title. These are good times for Kawasaki and we plan to keep them rolling for the future.?

Guim Roda, Team Manager, stated: ?I think we can be very proud to win the Manufacturers? Championship. That is something we got to with the efforts of many people, suppliers and sponsors, and of course with the big job that Tom and Johnny did. So big thanks to them. To win the manufactures? title in the first year that Kawasaki introduced a new model ZX-10R is really something. It proves the base of the bike is good, so we are very happy to show this potential and help to sell more bikes all over the world. I really feel the customers will ride with the spirit of racing using the street ZX-10R. This title has given us big motivation to continue our work even harder next year."

Yoshimoto Matsuda, Senior Staff Officer KHI Engineering Department R&D, stated: ?We see this as a special year because we are having the 120th anniversary of the founding of Kawasaki Heavy Industries and it makes us so proud to win the Manufacturers? Championship, both last year and this year also. This is very special for us. As the project leader of ZX-10R production and also having the responsibility of the world Superbike machine development this year, we have had a brand new machine to work with. So we are so proud, from both those points of view, to have had this chance and then won.?

 

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Hayden and van der Mark enjoy strong results in race one at Jer Round 12 ? Spain

Circuito de Jerez, Spain

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Nicky Hayden and Michael van der Mark have taken fourth and fifth places, respectively, in today?s 20-lap, twelfth-round WorldSBK race one at Jerez de la Frontera in Spain. Courtesy of today?s results, the two Honda WorldSBK standard bearers managed to further consolidate their positions in the championship standings, with fourth-placed van der Mark now 30 points ahead of his teammate Hayden in fifth.

Hayden did not enjoy the best of starts from row two, as his bike almost stalled off the line. The American rider lost a couple of places but soon got up to speed to battle for sixth with Xavi Fores, before the Spaniard crashed out ? along with Davide Giugliano ? during the second lap. The ?Kentucky Kid? was then promoted to fourth after Lowes fell out of the race on lap 5. With a clear track ahead of him, the 35-year-old American pushed hard to bridge the gap to third place but as riders entered lap 10, he was unable keep the pace of the rivals ahead and started to lose some ground.

Coming from eleventh on the grid to fifth on lap five ? when he got the better of Jordi Torres ? Michael van der Mark started to close in on his teammate. As the two riders entered the final lap, they were separated by only half a second. The 23-year-old Dutchman did all he could to make a final move on Hayden and the two ended up almost side by side at the finish line, with van der Mark coming short of a fourth-place finish by just 0.039s.

The second and final race of the Spanish WorldSBK round will get underway tomorrow at 13:00 local time (GMT +2).

Nicky Hayden 69-4th

I didn?t make a great start but I got up to fourth, picking up a few positions and moving further up after some crashes ahead of me. The bike was working quite well, and the team has done a good job with the set-up and I was trying to close the gap down to Jonathan Rea. At halfway distance, I started pushing the front too much, so Johnny was able to pull a gap on me. After that, I just tried to manage my gap to Michael and come home with fourth. Overall, it wasn?t a disaster but I would have liked to have got up there to try and mix it up with those front three. At the moment, in normal dry conditions they?re just a cut above us and they?re doing a good job, but that?s what we?ll try to do tomorrow.

Michael van der Mark 60-5th

During Superpole I put in a really fast lap on race tyres and, when I put the qualifier on, I had a big moment, but I was still happy with my lap-time. At the end, everybody was so fast so I got pushed down the order. I had quite a good start from P11 and I was lucky that some guys ahead of me crashed out of the race. It took me a couple of laps to pass Torres, but then I was able to make up some ground to Nicky. I didn?t have the best of feeling with the front towards the end and, despite being very close to him, I didn?t want make a mess by trying to out brake him. I hoped he would have run a bit wide in order to catch him at the finish line but that didn?t happen. Fifth is a good result for us today, especially given our starting position; we?re still quite safe in fourth in the standings and I am looking forward to race two.

Pieter Breddels -Technical Manager

We tried something in free practice 3, although we knew that track conditions would change a lot for the race. Both riders were quite happy with the bike so we decided not to make too many more adjustments. When Superpole came, they both said they could have been a little bit faster, but it was a really close session. In the race, Nicky was doing well and almost caught Jonathan for third, but then he simply couldn?t hold on to the same pace in the second half of the race. Meanwhile, Michael did a good job in passing Torres and closing on Nicky, but it was just a little bit too far away to make a comfortable move. For tomorrow, we?ll evaluate a different tyre choice at the front, in order to improve our pace for the latter part of the race.

 

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8th and 9th for Althea BMW in SBK Race 1 at Jerez

The Althea BMW Racing team has concluded SBK race 1 at Jerez in eighth (Torres) and ninth (Reiterberger) position today. In the Superstock 1000 category, Althea BMW man Raffaele De Rosa has qualified fourth for tomorrow?s final race of the season in which he will battle it out with Mercado for the championship title.

STK1000 - qualifying: De Rosa put together a strong qualifying session. Immediately fast, Raffaele was up in second position early on, continuing to lower his lap times throughout the 30-minute session to earn fourth place on tomorrow?s race grid, thanks to a best time of 1?43.871.

Superpole 1: Torres and Reiterberger were out on track in dry conditions for SP1. Torres quickly found good speed, positioning first early on, before consolidating that position in the later stages thanks to a fastest lap of 1?41.264. Reiti also put together some fast laps, closing the brief session in third place (1?41.528). Reiti therefore earned thirteenth place on the grid, while Torres moved on to SP2.
Superpole 2: Torres once again made a good start and was lying second until a few minutes from the end when the times of all the riders began to drop thanks to fresh tyres. A hard-fought battle saw Jordi close seventh, thanks to a best time of 1?40.111.

SBK - Race 1: seventh on the grid, Torres was lapping in sixth position through the opening laps. The Spaniard maintained strong pace through the first ten laps before losing some ground in the second half of the race, crossing the line in final eighth place. Reiti, from row five of the grid, immediately made up three positions and was tenth after the first lap. Lying ninth from the third lap onwards, the German kept up a pace that allowed him to hold that position to the line.
Jordi Torres

?We completed a good Superpole, both the first and second session. The race then took place in warmer conditions but I think we managed it well. I made a good start and tried to be more aggressive through the first laps. I was careful when I saw other riders crashing but tried to stick with Hayden, immediately ahead of me. After six or seven laps though the front started to lock up and as a result I had to modify my riding style to make up for that. Tomorrow we want to change something so that the front tyre lasts longer and offers better grip.?

Markus Reitenberger

?I didn?t make a bad start to the race and gained a couple of positions but I had to push hard to keep with those ahead of me who had a slightly better pace. There were a few crashes so I was careful to avoid finishing the same way. I fought for a top ten finish, and ninth is not bad though we still need to improve. We?ll work hard and try to find something in warm-up which will allow us to complete a better race 2.?

Raffaele De Rosa

?Today went a lot better than yesterday. We?ve improved particularly in terms of race pace which is the most important thing. Tomorrow morning we?ll try something that might allow us to be even faster. It?s a pity not to be on the front row but I?m pleased anyway and tomorrow we?ll do our best to make a great race?.

 

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Spanish Sixth for Guintoli in First Jerez Contest

Sylvain Guintoli took his Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK YZF-R1 to sixth position in the first MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship battle at Circuito de Jerez this afternoon. Alex Lowes also looked to be on for a strong race after an impressive Superpole performance saw him starting from fourth but a fall at turn five cut the potential short.

Starting from the midst of the hunting pack, in ninth, Guintoli maintained his grid position as the opening laps unfolded before advancing to seventh on lap three. With temperatures matching Friday's highs, the surface grip remained tenuous but the Frenchman continued to hold a consistent pace despite the tricky track conditions. Pushing forward and increasing his stride as the race progressed, he took a further position on lap 12 to cross the line sixth, for 10 championship points.

An inspiring morning saw Lowes narrowly miss out on a front-row start in the final Superpole qualifier, missing the mark by just 0.003 seconds to head row two with an impressive lap of 1'39.980 as the top 11 all set times below the circuit's previous best record. Confidence high, the British rider stormed from the lights to take third into the opening corner, battling for the position for the ensuing laps. Having lost and regained the place on a number of occasions he unfortunately found the limit of the tyres at turn five of lap three, retiring his YZF-R1 from the race early.

Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team returns to Circuit de Jerez at 13:00 local time tomorrow as Guintoli and Lowes prepare for 2016's final WorldSBK race on European soil.

Sylvain Guintoli
Race: 6th / +17.834 / 20 laps. Championship: 12th / 101 points

"A solid race and a solid pace, especially in the second part today, catching up with the guys in front. At the start of the race I felt I was struggling quite a lot with front grip but in the second half I managed to keep my lap times quite consistent. We are still working on the geometry of the YZF-R1 to help improve the initial race performance, but it was a solid result for us and we will try to improve the feeling for tomorrow."
Alex Lowes
Race: DNF. Championship: 11th / 107 points

"We've actually worked well all weekend, were strong in qualifying with a good lap and got a great start to today's race. I tried to stay with the front group and enjoyed the battle with Chaz at the beginning before the crash on lap three. We know the work we have to do tonight so we will just try to do better for tomorrow!"
Paul Denning – Team Principal
"Despite Alex's misfortune it's still been a positive Saturday here in Jerez. Qualifying, as expected, was extremely close between second and 12th place and for Alex to make a 39.9 on the YZF-R1, only three thousandths off the front row, was a confidence boosting lap time. Alex's crash early in the race is obviously very disappointing, and he feels that disappointment more than any of us, but there were still some positives to take from the day and from the weekend so far, and with his crew he'll regroup to try to achieve the best results possible tomorrow.

"Sylvain also rode a good qualifying but was just at the wrong end of the queue and this compromised the final result a little. Sixth position and catching the two competitors in front throughout the second half of the race is again a positive sign which we will look to build on for tomorrow."

 

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De Rosa and the Althea BMW team secure the Superstock 1000 title at Jerez!

The Althea BMW Racing team and rider Raffaele De Rosa triumphed today at the Spanish circuit of Jerez de la Frontera, closing the race in fifth position to secure the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup with their BMW S 1000 RR! This is a first title win for the Neapolitan rider, and the second Stock title for the Italian team after that scored in 2011. In the SBK race, Jordi Torres and Markus Reiterberger concluded in eighth and fourteenth place respectively.

Superstock 1000 ? Race ? the race got underway in very unexpected circumstances after Mercado, De Rosa?s only real rival for the title, suffered a technical problem on the sighting lap which prevented him from participating in this all-important race. From third on the grid, De Rosa was aware that he needed to complete the race and score at least eight points in order to secure the title. Having made a good start, he was lying seventh before moving up to sixth on lap five. Not wanting to take any unnecessary risks, Raffaele managed the race well, maintaining sixth position until the final corner when he moved into fifth and crossed the finish line as the new Superstock 1000 FIM Cup champion! This is the first title win for the Italian, who concludes the season with 115 points to Mercado?s 111.

Superbike - Race 2 ? from seventh, Torres lost a little ground at the start and was lying ninth behind VD Mark and For?s. He was able to pass his fellow countryman on lap seven to move into eighth. The Spaniard then ran a solitary second half of the race, separated from both those immediately ahead and those chasing him by several seconds, crossing the line in final eighth position.
For Reiterberger it proved to be a similar race to that of yesterday. Having gained ground at the start, he was oscillating between tenth and eleventh place up until the mid-race point, after which the German gradually fell back, concluding the race fourteenth.
With only one round left to run, Jordi Torres continues to hold seventh place with 195 points, Reiterberger lies 16th with 81 points. BMW is fourth in the manufacturer's classification with 216 points, while Althea BMW also lies fourth in the team rankings (281 points).

Raffaele De Rosa
?I dedicate this title to my family - who have always supported me even through the difficult times - and to the team, with whom I?ve worked for two years now and I am so grateful for all their help. To be honest, the race wasn?t easy. I?m sorry about what happened to Tati. When I saw he was out, it kind of unnerved me a little, it was so unexpected and I had to change my race strategy as a result. I definitely lapped a little slower than usual, but I was tense and not wanting to make any mistakes of course. I?ve been working towards this for several years and so am extremely happy that the result has arrived after all our efforts??

Jordi Torres

?We changed the front tyre for today?s race, hoping for better durability, but there will still a drop in performance. We did however lap with more consistent lap times compared to yesterday, but the result was very similar in the end. Despite the final outcome, I can be pleased with the fact that I gave it my all, I was more aggressive and I didn?t make any mistakes. Tomorrow we?ll make the most of the test session and use it to try and find some good solutions.?

Markus Reitenberger

?Today?s race was not a good one. I felt OK through the first two laps and had good pace but then I had some problems after passing Giugliano, my sensations with the bike changed and I had difficulties with the front tyre, which almost caused me to crash on more than one occasion. I made a mistake as a result, losing some time, and I am of course very disappointed with fourteenth place. The team is working so hard and I?m sorry the results are not better than they are. I hope we can find something during tomorrow?s tests.?

Genesio Bevilacqua -General manager

?Today is an historic day for us, both for the team and for BMW as we?ve both been working towards this result for several years. I?m extremely happy for the team, as they have done a great job together with Raffaele and the German technicians. This is a fitting reward for the work carried out by both the team and the manufacturer. We still have a few problems to resolve in Superbike, and we need to work to find that level of performance that I know is within reach. It was not a good race for us overall today and I hope we can bounce back already in Qatar. We are optimistic as we look to the future though, having put in place an important work schedule with BMW in terms of development. Once again, my compliments go to De Rosa and the entire team for their fantastic work.?

 

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Final Round Showdown Coming For Rea And Sykes After Jerez Podiums

Jonathan Rea finished second and Tom Sykes third in the second 20-lap FIM Superbike World Championship Race at Jerez, meaning that one of the two official Kawasaki Racing Team riders will definitely be crowned champion at the final round in Qatar in two week?s time. Which one will be champion is still to be determined, however, after their strong combined Jerez podium performances.


Having guaranteed the Manufacturers? Championship for Kawasaki on Saturday, when Sykes was second and Rea third, both official KRT riders aimed to try and overcome Chaz Davies on Sunday, to overturn his race one success. Davies was to win his second race of the weekend all the same but this time around Rea finished ahead of Sykes on the podium, in second place.

The second Jerez race was held in marginally warmer conditions than the first race on Saturday and with some set-up and tyre choice changes on board the KRT riders pushed hard to maintain their championship challenges. Rea passed Sykes at half race distance and from then on they ran together, finally crossing the line only 0.137 seconds from each other.

Rea drew himself 48 points ahead of his team-mate today with only one round and two races left to run. That margin was just two points short of guaranteeing Rea the Riders? Championship at the Spanish round but he goes into the Losail race weekend as hot favourite, with only 50 points available for Sykes if he wins both races.

Jonathan now only has to score two points or more to win his second consecutive Riders? Championship with KRT. Only he or his fellow Ninja ZX-10R rider Tom can now win the championship itself, as Davies will be unable to score enough points in the races that remain to get ahead of Rea. Tom has an arithmetical chance of winning the title but also has to ensure he finishes second overall, if the goal of taking the championship proves impossible.

The last of 13 rounds of WorldSBK racing will be held at the Losail circuit in Qatar, between 28th and 30th October.

Jonathan Rea, stated: ?I am satisfied with the championship gap. We can go to Qatar in a relaxed mood and look to pick up the target there. To date we have had nine race wins and done a very good job. I struggled with traction front and rear today and Jerez is a low grip track. As soon as the grip went off I was starting to struggle a lot, although not like yesterday. We changed a lot on the bike for Sunday, including the engine character. I had confidence with my team that it was in the right direction and I think we made one step forward. The temperature was up today so it was quite a different race, and slower at the end.?

Tom Sykes, stated: ?Third is the best we could manage today but that is racing. It was a good race and a good fight over the distance but I just came out third best today. I was very close to Jonathan at the end but just not enough. I could have so easily tucked the front in some areas but we saw it through to a podium finish. We will move on from this and try to be stronger. We have a 48-point deficit and we need to find a better set-up in Qatar to allow me to be aggressive from start to finish. I feel I am not able to do what I need to do right now. I do not want to lose second in the championship if we can help it. We have an important test tomorrow and utilise this in the best way.?

Behind the official KRT Riders Anthony West (Pedercini Racing Kawasaki) secured a strong ninth place and at his home round Roman Ramos (GoEleven Kawasaki) placed 11th. Gianluca Vizziello (Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki) scored a point for 15th. Dominic Schmitter (Grillini Racing Kawasaki) placed 18th but Saeed Al Sulaiti (Pedercini Racing Kawasaki) slid off on lap nine. In the championship Ramos is 15th with 85 points and West 17th with 64.

 

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Another strong performance for the Honda WorldSBK Team in race two at Jerez

Nicky Hayden and Michael van der Mark have completed the Spanish Round of the FIM Superbike World Championship with another strong performance, as the two Honda WorldSBK riders were fourth and sixth, respectively, at the end of race two at ?Circuito de Jerez? today.

Hayden got a good launch from fifth place on the grid and immediately showed some aggressiveness on track, which helped him moving up to fourth place at turn five during the opening lap of the encounter. The competitive rhythm shown in the early stages of the race helped the ?Kentucky Kid? consolidate his position, although as the laps went by he seemed unable to stay in contention for a rostrum finish.

The 35-year-old American kept pushing as hard as he could on board his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP machine and ? with three laps to go ? he had narrowed down to half a second his gap to third place. Nicky kept riding at the limit up to the chequered flag, although he could not get close enough to make a final move on Sykes.

Michael van der Mark maintained his position after the start and, after taking a bit of time to get past some of his rivals, by lap ten he joined Lowes and Guintoli in the battle for fifth place. After elevating himself up to sixth, he tried all he could not to lose touch with his former team mate and ? with a really quick final lap of the encounter ? he crossed the line 0.5s away from fifth place.

With only the two Qatari races left in the season, van der Mark is still fourth in the championship standings, 23 points ahead of Hayden in fifth.

Nicky Hayden 69-4th

It wasn?t an easy race, especially in the beginning, because the guys ahead were just too fast for me. Chaz got to the front quicker today and during the first laps, with new tyres, I just couldn?t run at their pace. On used tyres my bike was working really well, so I was able to chip away at them and bring that gap back, but it was a little too late. On the last lap I just wasn?t close enough to put a wheel in anywhere. The team did a great job this weekend because the bike worked really well around here; I?m just a little frustrated that I wasn?t able to be faster in the beginning to go with them. Also, at the end of the race, if you want a podium you need to step up and make something happen, but today I just couldn?t do it. Two fourth places are not the end of the world, but certainly a couple of podiums would have been nicer.

Michael van der Mark 60=6th

I?m quite disappointed with today, to be honest. This morning we tried something with the bike that I was sure could have helped us during the race, although during warm up it didn?t look like that. I got a great start to the race but unfortunately I had a small electronic issue that cost me many places. My pace during the race was not exhilarating but not too bad either and, in the end, I was almost as fast as the podium guys and I could even see them in the distance. I?m surely not happy, because I know I could have been much closer to the podium, but now we need to know what happened and get ready for the last round.

Pieter Breddels -Technical Manager

It was a good day for us. We made a few changes in the morning, but nothing major. We decided to go with different tyres with Nicky, both at the front and rear, and in the second part of the race it worked really well for him. Unfortunately, this tyre combination did not allow him to stay with the leaders at the beginning, but towards the end he was on the rear wheel of the Kawasaki ahead so really close to a podium position. Overall, he rode really well and did a great job. Michael?s bike had a bit of a hiccup at the start that lasted only a short while, but that was enough to cost him several places. He rode very well and was able to recover some of them again, up to the point when he got really close to fifth. Sixth place is not too bad, considering the small issue he had at the start, so all in all we?re happy with our performance this weekend and we are looking forward to the last round in Qatar.