WorldSBK – Thai Round: The Debrief

The second round of the 2019 FIM Superbike World Championship produced both dominant performances and thrilling racing. Grab yourself a brew and here’s a look at the key events from the weekend’s action.

The Championship Is NOT A Forgone Conclusion

It feels almost ridiculous to have to say this so early in the season – only two out of the thirteen rounds have been completed – but, after Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) notched up back-to-back hat tricks this weekend there, were many people quick to jump on this particular bandwagon.

Yes, 6 race wins and a 26-point lead in the championship at first glance looks a little ominous, but not when you see there is still a colossal 682 points left on the table for the 33 remaining races. If Bautista were to suffer a DNF at the opening race next time out in Aragon and nearest rival Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) secured victory, the Spaniard’s lead would be down to just 1 point.

Motorcycle racing, more than any other form of motorsport, has a particular habit of throwing up a surprise when all seems ‘set in stone’. One glaring example of this is the 2002 WSBK season, when Troy Bayliss dominated the first half of the championship, only for Colin Edwards to stage a brilliant fightback and secure the title for himself at the final round of the season.

Admittedly, overhauling the deficit will be a stern challenge provided Bautista doesn’t suffer any non-finishes. The 34-year old is in the form of his life, and is one of the finest short circuit racers in the world – you simply have to be to have raced in MotoGP and World Superbikes in this day and age.  

However, his form has raised a very interesting question: is it Bautista or the Ducati V4R which is the dominant force? We will probably not definitely know until his teammate Chaz Davies is fully fit. However, the technical problems which befell Eugene Laverty (GoEleven Ducati) in Thailand certainly suggest the bike might not be as ‘bomb proof’ as we first thought.  

That comeback in 2002 was down to both Edwards’ ability as a great superbike rider, and that his Honda team worked flat out developing their machine to bridge the gap to Bayliss. An identical scenario with Rea and the KRT outfit will be already happening.

If further comparison is needed, Bayliss was riding a Ducati.

Leon Haslam v Marco Melandri –

Now this was arguably the highlight of the weekend – and worth the admission fee, or whichever TV/Video subscription service you pay for, alone. Having briefly tussled with teammate Jonathan Rea in Australia, Haslam spent the whole of the Thai round locked in a tremendous war with Melandri (GRT Yamaha). The three races saw three brilliant duels between the pair.

The Italian rider had the edge down the kilometre long back straight. So far had he gone to once again maximise straight line performance, stability of the machine was merely a secondary thought as the R1 fishtailed (often violently) as the Yamaha man reached the rev limit in top gear. In stark contrast Haslam had chosen for a setup which suited his physicality, enabling him to haul the Kawasaki through the corners whilst scrubbing off as little speed as possible.

The pair would dice back and forth regularly. Melandri would have the edge during the high speed sectors in the first half of the lap, but through all the switch-backs and long corners of sectors 3 and 4, it was Haslam who held the aces.

The battles were never settled until the very last corner on the final lap. For the record, Haslam won all three. An achievement which cannot be understated: Melandri is one of the most experienced racers on the planet, having ridden almost every bike there is and most (if not quite all) of the world’s premier circuits. Haslam is still adapting to the new ZX10-RR and refamiliarise himself with most of the tracks on the calendar.

Here’s hoping we have more duels like this throughout the season.

World Supersport Delivers Again

One class where we have no such worries about championships being foregone conclusions. The middleweights produced a brilliant race on Sunday, more than making up for the pit-stop affected shenanigans in Australia.  

Randy Krummenacher (Bardahl Evans Bros Team), Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) and Federico Caricasulo (Bardahl Evans Bros Team) will give us a thrilling season-long championship battle. Of this there can be little doubt. Krummenacher, who took the spoils in round one, was forced to produced a battling recovery ride through the pack after dropping down to P9 on the opening lap. The Swiss eventually finished on the podium in second place, edging out Caricasulo into third.

Cluzel was forced to rely on all his race craft to keep his rivals at bay. This was particularly the case during the first half of the race, which saw the top six riders seemingly glued together. In the latter stages the 30-year old Frenchman edged himself clear and held off a late charge from Krummenacher.

The duo sit top of the standings after two rounds, on 45 points apiece. We are in for a thrilling Supersport season!

Finally, there was joy for the MS Racing Yamaha team as Maria Herrera scored her first points in the intermediate class. The 22-year old had never raced at the Buriram circuit prior to last weekend’s round and, after a difficult qualifying session on Saturday, she produced a combative ride during the race which will have made many established names in the class sit up and take notice.

With plenty of domestic racing experience on 600cc machinery (and on larger bikes too), there is good reason to expect her to be a regular points scorer as the championship now returns to more familiar venues.