Grid for race 1 :

1 1 J. REA GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R

2 66 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R

3 33 M. MELANDRI ITA Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Ducati Panigale R

4 7 C. DAVIES GBR Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Ducati Panigale R

5 22 A. LOWES GBR Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team Yamaha YZF R1

6 32 L. SAVADORI ITA Milwaukee Aprilia Aprilia RSV4 RF

7 81 J. TORRES ESP Althea BMW Racing Team BMW S 1000 RR

8 12 X. FORÉS ESP BARNI Racing Team Ducati Panigale R

9 2 L. CAMIER GBR MV Agusta Reparto Corse MV Agusta 1000 F4

10 60 M. VAN DER MARK NED Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team Yamaha YZF R1

11 69 N. HAYDEN USA Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team Honda CBR1000RR

12 21 M. REITERBERGER GER Althea BMW Racing Team BMW S 1000 RR

13 50 E. LAVERTY IRL Milwaukee Aprilia Aprilia RSV4 RF

14 88 R. KRUMMENACHER SUI Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R

15 6 S. BRADL GER Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team Honda CBR1000RR

16 25 J. BROOKES AUS ERMotorsport-EliteRoads.com.au Yamaha YZF R1

17 40 R. RAMOS ESP Team Kawasaki Go Eleven Kawasaki ZX-10R

18 84 R. RUSSO ITA Guandalini Racing Yamaha YZF R1

19 37 O. JEZEK CZE Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R

20 15 A. DE ANGELIS RSM Pedercini Racing SC-Project Kawasaki ZX-10R

An impressive lap from Jonathan Rea gave him the first pole of the year he and his team mate Tom Sykes both put in extremely fast laps, Marco Melandri also showed his talent in his first outing on the Panigale out qualifying his team mate Chaz Davies. Alex Lowes and Lorenzo Savadori both had strong showings while the Hondas of Nicky Hayden and Stefan Bradl struggled.

Race 1:

As they headed into turn one for the very first time this season it was Melandri who took the lead just ahead of Davies both Sykes and Rea got away from the line well but seemed to get bogged down after the initial launch, Lowes also got away well maintaining his 5th place but hanging in with the front group.By lap 2 Rea made a move on Melandri to take the lead Sykes followed him through unfortunately for Davies he was unable to stay with the Kawasakis and was stuck behind his team mate. Xavi Fores on a customer Ducati was showing well at this early stage of the race staying with and challenging the factory Ducatis of Davies and Melandri.

At the front Melandri made a move on Sykes as they headed into turn one he was able to make the pass thanks to the tow he gained off both Rea and Sykes as it looked at this stage that Kawasakis had the most speed on the straights. Lowes and Van Der Mark were having their own private Yamaha battle over 6th and 7th at this stage of the race with Lowes getting the better of Van Der Mark and looking capable of challenging at the front, Davies meanwhile moved past his team mate and Sykes and set about hunting down Rea who had opened a slight gap at the front.

The pace of the race was not as fast as expected this meant we had a train of riders from 1st-6th all bunched together at almost every corner someone was looking to pass or was diving up the inside , Davies remained 2nd just behind Rea but was being pressured from behind by Sykes.As they went onto lap 6 a slight mistake from Rea lead to both him and Davies running wide into turn 2 opening the door for Melandri to take the lead, Sykes was unable to take advantage as he as being pressured by Fores and Lowes. Melandri continued to lead into lap 7 but Rea,Davies and now Sykes were all over the back of each other Fores,Lowes and Camier who had came from nowehere were not far behind either.

Due to the pace of the race around 1 second covered the top 14 riders on lap 8 the race had settled a bit at this stage with riders looking to formulate a plan of attack as no one at this stage seemed to have the pace to break away. Unfortunately former BSB champion and wildcard this weekend Josh Brookes was forced to retire due to a technicial fault.Sykes took the lead on lap 10 he was ahead of a hard charging Lowes who had dispatched of Melandri. The front group had upped their pace at this stage and opened up a decent gap to Van Der Mark in 7th place. Lowes made a move on Sykes as they went into Siberia almost instantly Rea moved past Melandri to take 3rd place as he looked to regroup after getting mugged on lap 10 after his slight mistake.

Lowes continued to lead well into lap 12 of the race Rea was behind him after he passed Sykes, Melandri was holding off his team mate Davies who in turn was having to fight off the advances of Fores and Camier both of whom were showing well int his race.Eventually on lap 13 after heavy pressure Lowes relinquished 1st to Rea the extra speed of the Kawasaki down the straight just to much to handle for the Yamaha, Sykes also came through towards the end of the lap as he could see Rea making a slight break at the front. Davies was also moving forward at this stage passing both Melandri and Lowes hoping he could stop both Sykes and Rea from checking out. Lowes and Melandri had a coming together in turn 1 with Melandri coming off worst and unfortunately he crashed.

With only 3 laps to go it looked very much like a 3 way battle between Rea,Sykes and Davies for the win, With Lowes,Camier and Fores battling it out for 4th place. Rea made a move on Sykes to take the lead and Davies followed him through as it looked like Sykes was starting to suffer tyre wear problems. As they headed onto the final lap Rea lead the way from Davies who was trying everything and anything to get past but had no answer for the Northern Irish man, Sykes was havng to fend of a late charging Lowes who was hoping to score a podium, Rea managed to hold off Davies and took the first win of the year Sykes did the same to Lowes. Behind them Camier and Fores finished 5th and 6th a very strong showing for both.

An exciting start to the season and an impressive hard fought victory for Rea he was made to work hard for it but showed composure when put under pressure a great race if you are a British fan as the top 5 riders were all from the UK. Now with the reverse grid rule in effect it will be interesting to see how it changes race 2 and if it will stop Rea,Davies ad Sykes from getting on the podium.

1 1 1 J. REA GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R

2 4 7 C. DAVIES GBR Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Ducati Panigale R

3 2 66 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R

4 5 22 A. LOWES GBR Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team Yamaha YZF R1

5 9 2 L. CAMIER GBR MV Agusta Reparto Corse MV Agusta 1000 F4

6 8 12 X. FORÉS ESP BARNI Racing Team Ducati Panigale R

7 7 81 J. TORRES ESP Althea BMW Racing Team BMW S 1000 RR

8 13 50 E. LAVERTY IRL Milwaukee Aprilia Aprilia RSV4 RF

9 10 60 M. VAN DER MARK NED Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team Yamaha YZF R1

10 14 88 R. KRUMMENACHER SUI Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R

11 11 69 N. HAYDEN USA Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team Honda CBR1000RR

12 12 21 M. REITERBERGER GER Althea BMW Racing Team BMW S 1000 RR

13 17 40 R. RAMOS ESP Team Kawasaki Go Eleven Kawasaki ZX-10R

14 20 15 A. DE ANGELIS RSM Pedercini Racing SC-Project Kawasaki ZX-10R

15 15 6 S. BRADL GER Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team Honda CBR1000RR

16 18 84 R. RUSSO ITA Guandalini Racing Yamaha YZF R1

17 21 86 A. BADOVINI ITA Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R

18 19 37 O. JEZEK CZE Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R

————————————————–Not Classified————————————————–

RET 3 33 M. MELANDRI ITA Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Ducati Panigale R

RET 16 25 J. BROOKES AUS ERMotorsport-EliteRoads.com.au Yamaha YZF R1

RET 6 32 L. SAVADORI ITA Milwaukee Aprilia Aprilia RSV4 RF 5

Race 2 :

With the new reverse grid format Sykes, Davies and Rea had to start race 2 from 7th,8th and 9th respectively, Jordi Torres, Eugene Laverty and Michael Van Der Mark were now on row 2 starting from 4th,5th and 6th unfortunately for Torres he was forced to reitre on the warm up lap. The front row was made up of Lowes, Camier and Fores with Lowes taking pole, The rest of the grid was the same as race 1.With the mixed up grid it was Fores who took the lead into turn 1 followed by Lowes and Camier, Davies made a demon start making his way up to 4th followed by Melandri and Rea Sykes seemd to get bogged down and remained in the mid pack.

Lowes made a pass on Fores to take the lead not long into the 1st lap behind them Rea made his way into 4th place passing the Ducatis in quick succession, Eugene Laverty who has struggled to get to grips with the Aprillia to start the season was fighting with Fores and Lowes for the lead but couldnt quite make any of his passes stick.Sykes at this stage was struggling in 8th place the reverse grid really seeming to hamper his pace at the beginning of the race, At the front Fores took the lead on lap 3 and behind him Rea made his way into 3rd passing Lowes and putting Laverty under pressure in 2nd, He dispatched Laverty the next lap as he set about hunting down Fores in the lead of the race.

Melandri was the man on the move setting fastest lap after fastest lap and was making real progress in closing down the leading group, His team mate Davies had moved into 3rd place just as Rea had taken the lead from Fores Lowes stayed in 4th but a mistake from Laverty dropped him down the pack and he lost touch with the front runners never managing to regain the time. Sykes had regrouped by this stage and was up to 6th place he was matching the times of the front 5 but was unable to make a dent into the gap, Davies made his way past Fores as he was desperate to hang onto Rea and make sure he didnt check out, Melandri was right with the front 4 now pressuring Lowes in 4th who relieved it a bit by passing Fores and taking 3rd from him.

With 14 laps to go Davies made a move on Rea and took the lead using a brilliant slip stream to steam past the Kawasaki on the pit straight, Fores re took 3rd place from Lowes and Melandri followed him through Melandri then passed Rea and Fores was putting him under extreme pressure.The next lap Rea got amazing drive out of the final corner and was able to slip stream both Melandri and Davies and took the lead again with 9 laps to go the race was turning into a real battle, Melandri took 2nd from Davies with Fores hanging on in 4th.

Melandri was pushing hard to make up for his DNF in race 1 he made a pass on Rea to take the lead behind them Davies was having a back and forth battle with Fores. Lowes had regrouped at this stage after seeming to fall away he managed to pass Fores, Ahead of them Melandri continued to lead from Rea and Davies but there was barely a gap between them.Sykes had made a late charge to get close to the front but with around 6 laps to go it seemed that he had put to much pressure on his tyres and looked to have to settle for 6th place not the best start t his championship challenge, Fores also seemed to be losing touch with the front 4 a strong showing again from the Spaniard on the customer Ducati.

At the front Rea and Davies both passed Melandri Davies shadowing Rea at every opportunity not wanting him to get away, Lowes also passed Melandri who seemed to be rattled as he fell back into the clutches of Fores, With 2 laps to go Davies took the lead Lowes continued to push in 3rd place passing Rea but losing the place almost instantly.

As they went onto the final lap Rea again slip streamed Davies and took the lead into turn 1, Melandri after his wobble looked to have regrouped and was back in the hunt passing Lowes to go into 3rd. Rea managed to hold on for the win Davies never let up the entire final lap but didnt quite have enough to beat him Melandri came home 3rd with Lowes finishing 4th again Fores and Sykes completed the top 6.

Overall a very entertaining start to the 2017 championship and if it continues like this for the rest of the year we are in for some brilliant racing Rea continued to show his class but he was put under more pressure than we have been used to seeing with him.

1 1 1 J. REA GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R

2 4 7 C. DAVIES GBR Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Ducati Panigale R

3 3 33 M. MELANDRI ITA Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Ducati Panigale R

4 5 22 A. LOWES GBR Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team Yamaha YZF R1

5 8 12 X. FORÉS ESP BARNI Racing Team Ducati Panigale R

6 2 66 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R

7 10 60 M. VAN DER MARK NED Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team Yamaha YZF R1

8 9 2 L. CAMIER GBR MV Agusta Reparto Corse MV Agusta 1000 F4

9 6 32 L. SAVADORI ITA Milwaukee Aprilia Aprilia RSV4 RF

10 13 50 E. LAVERTY IRL Milwaukee Aprilia Aprilia RSV4 RF

11 20 15 A. DE ANGELIS RSM Pedercini Racing SC-Project Kawasaki ZX-10R

12 16 25 J. BROOKES AUS ERMotorsport-EliteRoads.com.au Yamaha YZF R1

13 12 21 M. REITERBERGER GER Althea BMW Racing Team BMW S 1000 RR

14 17 40 R. RAMOS ESP Team Kawasaki Go Eleven Kawasaki ZX-10R

15 15 6 S. BRADL GER Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team Honda CBR1000RR

16 14 88 R. KRUMMENACHER SUI Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R

17 19 37 O. JEZEK CZE Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R

————————————————–Not Classified————————————————–

RET 11 69 N. HAYDEN USA Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team Honda CBR1000RR

RET 21 86 A. BADOVINI ITA Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R

RET 18 84 R. RUSSO ITA Guandalini Racing Yamaha YZF R1

RET 7 81 J. TORRES ESP Althea BMW Racing Team BMW S 1000 RR