Some great racing at Donington yesterday saw BMW take its first ever race victory with Marco Melandri aboard. Melandri topped the podium in Race 1 with teammate Leon Haslam finishing second and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) finishing third. Race 2 was a wild affair, with BMW again in contention for the victory before both its riders went down in the final corner, allowing Jonathan Rea (Honda) to take the win ahead of second place Max Biaggi (Aprilia) and third place Sykes.
Biaggi leads the points after 5 of 14 rounds. For additional details, results and points, visit the official WSB site.
I might have to follow WSBK a little more closely. Sounds like real racing. MotoGP is getting a little… I have to say, it’s getting a little boring for my taste. We need more action at the front!
re: “I might have to follow WSBK a little more closely.”
whaddaya mean might…? it’s been around with 25 years of product relevency, get on it…!
GREAT to see BMW fighting it out for a win! I admit that Melandri used poor judgment in the last turn of round 2. But that’s racing, eh? He’ll be back, and so will Haslam.
For Leon Haslam’s and BMW’s sake, I hope that Melandri got a stern talking-to after race 2. Yes, it was Rea’s move that knocked LH down, but the entire situation was brought about by Melandri’s absurd impossi-lunge in that corner when the race was for all intents and purposes, over.
If he just kept it in his pants, he would have had a 1-2, and BMW would have had two historic wins in a breakthrough weekend. Instead, he attempted a ridiculous never-successful-in-100-tries lunge from waaaay too far back, and punched a hole that Rea rightfully went for. The fact that Melandri did this against his team mate makes it completely unforgivable.
Wow, what a couple of amazing races though…plus the F1 race was great too (I know, hard to believe). What’s next…a compelling MotoGP race? I know, I know…but I dare to dream.
Melandri shows no respect to Haslam. I hope he got his ass chewed for his stupid pass attempt.
Marco wasn’t the one that took out Haslam, Rea did the deed, chew his ass.
Awesome races! I forget how good these races can be. Those guys at the front REALLY wanted it! I was entertained! Better than Eslick’s Buell burnout last week at Sears Point…maybe.
Interesting to see BMW go 1-2 in the first race, but I’ll bet that the team did a collective Homer Simpson-style “Dohh!” at the final lap of the second.
I agree these were finally exciting races. Hate to see Checa go down, but when he is on, then the races here are as boring as any others out there.
World SBK was a serious snooze-fest last year, worse than AMA by a mile. At least the AMA had Hayes/Young last year. World SBK was Checa, Checa, Checa.
re: “World SBK was a serious snooze-fest last year”
not for fraternal order of ducatisti.
AMA/DMG needs to watch World Superbike and take a few clues from them on rules. When’s the last time the US series had a race like that?
Every week in the 600 classes. Same with Moto 2. WSBK rarely has a 5 bike battle. Can’t remember the last time that happened.
MotoGP is the series that needs help. The fast guys are fun to watch but there are only three of them. And the starting grid is so sparse it is pathetic.
re: “And the starting grid is so sparse it is pathetic.”
and the finishing grid even more pathetic as 3/4 of the CRT’s retire with DNF’s. ironic when you consider their superbike counterparts (in a higher state of tune) have no problem seeing the checkers in 2 races.
What a GREAT race, especially the end of race 2!!
Wow!!
Say it ain’t so Yamaha. I miss watching their bikes.
I miss Nori Haga sliding a R1 more than anything else. 🙁