Marco had two great wins this weekend in the tenth round of the World SBK Championship in Jerez. Showing authority and a successful strategy. In both Race 1 and Race 2 Marco, who had a poor start from 4th on the grid, skilfully and steadfastly came back, demonstrating undisputed superiority. This takes Melandri to five wins this season.
Chaz Davies also had a good weekend and gained the third place in race 1 and the fourth in race 2.
The winner in the Evo class (with the ninth place) in race 1 was David Salom and in race 2 Sylvain Barrier (11th). There were also strong resultsfor Savadori who finished third in Superstock 1000 race.
In the Championship Marco is now 4th and Davies 6th.
Next race in Magny Cours, October 5th.
Here the declarations.
The double win at Jerez also has an impact on the Manufacturers Championship: with the 50 points earned in Spain, Aprilia makes up 23 on Kawasaki which now places them just one point from the top spot in the championship standings.
Marco Melandri: Nolan X-802R
“After the crash in Race 2 at Laguna Seca I was very disappointed because we could have taken a double win there. This weekend my team and I started off well straight away, changing very little on the bike and my RSV4 performed very well today. The second race was a bit more difficult because with the higher temperatures the track has less grip. I tried to be consistent even though I wasn't really fast at the beginning of the race, but I managed to maintain my pace steadily, making up places over my rivals. This was a great Sunday for me. Now I can relax for a few days before getting back on the track.”
Quotes after the races:
Chaz Davies: X-lite X-802R
“I’ve been coming here to Jerez for about fifteen years and have never reached the podium; it’s always been a tough track for me and so of course I’m very pleased with today’s result. In race one, the bike was really behaving well in the opening stages and I was able to make some fast laps but then, from about lap eight onwards, it became increasingly difficult to manage the drop in grip. We made a few changes to the rear to try to improve the ‘skatey’ feeling that we had in race 1 but, to be honest, it wasn’t a lot better in race 2. Our pace wasn’t bad but we didn’t have enough in the second half of the race with which to make consistently fast lap times. But, all in all, a third and a fourth, at what I consider to be one of my weakest tracks, is a good result and I’m really happy. I think these results will give us confidence for the final races of the season.”
