WSBK thrillers on another bad day for SA
MONZA – Round four of the World Superbike championship here yesterday produced two pulsating races with the honours shared between Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty.
The first heat produced a stirring finish with Melandri (BM Motorrad GoldBet) slipping through on the last corner to pip Briton Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing) and Irishman Laverty on the factory Aprilia.
You could have covered the three riders with a blanket with Melandri starting the final lap in third place. At the finish they were sparated by 0,085 of a second.
Welshman Chaz Davies (Motorrad BMW Gold Bet) and Micehl Fabrizio (Red devils Roma Aprilia) were fourth and fifth.
The second race was almost a carbon copy of the first heat, but this time around Laverty edged out Melandri and Sykes.
This time the gap between the first three was just 0,725 of a second, with Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia) and Fabrizio completing the top five.
It was another disappointing day for South African riders with triple SA Superbike champion Greg Gildenhuys (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) an early casualty in the FIM Superstock 1 000 race.
Gildenhuys fell heavily on the opening lap and team-mate Sylvan Barrier then collided with Arentinian rider Leander Mercado (Pedercinini Kawasaki) with the race red flagged.
After the restart the race was reduced to seven laps with local rider Lorenzo Savadori (Pedercini Kawasaki) winning ahead of Frenchman Jeremy Guarnoni (MPS Kawasaki) and Italian Niccolo Canepa on the Barri Racing Ducati Panigale.
Gildenhuys and Barrier were taken to the medical centre but escaped with bumps and bruises.
Another SA champion, Dave McFadden (BWG Racing Kawasaki) was also among the casualties and retired on lap five.
A close Supersport race was won by Turkey’s world champion, Kenan Sofuoglu (Maj Racing Kawasaki) ahead of team-mate Florian Marino and Lorenzo Zanetti on a Pata Honda.
Multiple South African champion Sheridan Morais (PTR Honda) finished in 12th place only four seconds behind Sofuoglu who was his team-mate last year.