Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website In WorldSBK in Australia Pirelli lets the riders maintain a very competitive pace all the way to the finish and Razgatlioglu wins the season opener on Yamaha
february 29, 2020 - Pirelli

In WorldSBK in Australia Pirelli lets the riders maintain a very competitive pace all the way to the finish and Razgatlioglu wins the season opener on Yamaha

Behind the Turkish rider are Alex Lowes on Kawasaki and Scott Redding on Ducati who, along with Michael Van Der Mark on Yamaha, ignite a heart-stopping finale, thanks in part to the consistent performance guaranteed by the Pirelli tyres

Phillip Island (Australia), 29 February 2020 – At the Phillip Island circuit in Australia, the first round of the 2020 MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship season has just come to an end. Taking the win was talented young PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team rider, Toprak Razgatlioglu who, after starting from the fourth spot on the grid, managed to finish first after an extremely heated race where he was protagonist along with teammate Michael Van Der Mark and the new entries in Kawasaki and Ducati, namely Alex Lowes and Scott Redding.
 
Satisfaction in the Pirelli camp as well with the results achieved on a notoriously demanding track for the tyres. In this opening race, the riders opted almost unanimously for the SC1 W1049 development solution on the rear, already the race reference tyre for the past two seasons, which let them to maintain a very competitive race pace from start to finish, allowing spectacular overtaking all the way to the last lap.
 
In this first race, which lost reigning World Champion, Jonathan Rea, on the sixth lap due to contact with Tom Sykes, the Yamahas proved to be competitive straight away, but Redding and Lowes, despite being in their first race on the respective bikes, demonstrated good competitiveness immediately. Also noteworthy was Leon Haslam’s performance, finishing fifth on his Honda. Four different manufacturers in the top five spots demonstrate the outstanding competitiveness of this opening race, as well as the high versatility and adaptability to the different bikes of the tyres developed by Pirelli.
 
The first race of the MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship season started at 3 in the afternoon local time with Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMWS1000 RR) in the first spot of the grid after setting the new track record with a time of 1’29.230 during the morning Superpole® session.
The English rider with the Bavarian manufacturer started well, but even better was defending World Champion, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR), who managed to overtake his former teammate right at the start. The battle between the two was immediately heated and they made contact on the sixth lap. It was Rea who got the worst of it, going wide and ending up with his bike in the gravel. In any case, the Northern Irishman was able to get back on the track in last place.
In the meantime, Sykes led the race ahead of Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) and the PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team riders, Michael Van Der Mark and Toprak Razgatlioglu. The leading quartet was grouped tightly, all within four tenths of a second. During the eleventh lap, the race ended for Xavi Forés, who crashed out on turn 2.
In the meantime, from mid-race, Sykes showed clear signs of difficulty and was overtaken by both Scott Redding and the Yamahas ridden by Van Der Mark and Razgatlioglu, finishing the race ninth. At the same time, Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) managed to claw his way from eighth to fourth place.
The Borgo Panigale new entry managed to lead the race until the fifteenth lap, but then was forced to yield his position, first to Toprak Razgatlioglu and then to Van Der Mark, slipping back to third place. 
 In the final laps, the Yamaha riders, along with Alex Lowes and Scott Redding, engaged in a spectacular battle for the podium spots. In the end, Razgatlioglu gained the upper hand, finishing first ahead of Alex Lowes, second, and Scott Redding, third.
 
WorldSBK Race 1 Standings:
 
1) T. Razgatlioglu (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
2) A. Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
3) S. Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
4) M. van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
5) L. Haslam (Team HRC / Honda CBR1000RR)
6) Á. Bautista (Team HRC / Honda CBR1000RR)
7) L. Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1)
8) C. Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
9) T. Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMWS1000 RR)
10) M. Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
11) E. Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR)
12) F. Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
13) S. Cortese (OUTDO Kawasaki TPR / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
14) G. Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
15) M. Scheib (ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
RT) T. Takahashi (MIE Racing / Honda CBR1000RR)
RT) X. Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
RT) J. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
 
The Pirelli solutions chosen by the WorldSBK riders for Race 1:
 
In Race 1, for the rear, almost all the riders opted for the medium compound W1049 development solution (option A), which had already been the reference tyre for the races held on this circuit last year. The only exceptions were pole man Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMWS1000 RR) and Takuo Takahashi (MIE Racing / Honda CBR1000RR), who preferred using the SC1 Y0966 development tyre (option B).
For the front, most of the riders went with the standard SC2 (option B), although there were some riders who used the standard SC1 tyre (option A).
 
Pirelli statistics for WorldSBK Race 1:
 
• Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR),in 1'30.501 at the 2nd lap
 
• Most used front solution: standard SC2 (12 out of 19 riders)
 
• Most used rear solution: development SC1 W1049 200/65 (16 out of 18 riders)
 
• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tyres: 327.3 km/h, achieved by Á. Bautista (Team HRC / Honda CBR1000RR) in the 5th lap
 
• Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the WorldSBK class: 4 front and 8 rear
 
Number of tyres available for each Superbike rider: 76, including 32 front and 44 rear
 
• Air temperature: 20° C
 
• Asphalt temperature: 39° C

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