WSBK: Van der Mark Takes First 2020 Win in Cataluny Superpole Race

Michael van der Mark secured his first win of the season and the 80^th WorldSBK victory for Yamaha in the Catalunya Superpole Race.

The Dutchman inherited the lead when Alvaro Bautista crashed out on Lap 3 and extended his advantage from there. Jonathan Rea finished runner-up while Loris Baz rounded out the podium.

Rea’s championship lead is now up to 48 points over Scott Redding. Chaz Davies sits third, but van der Mark is only five points adrift of the Ducati in fourth.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) had a perfect getaway from pole and took the holeshot into Turn 1 from Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team), Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC). In difference to his main rivals, Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) had not opted for the X compound tyre and struggled from the lights, dropping down to eighth.

Bautista swiftly made his way into third and a trio started to break away with Rea, van der Mark and the Spaniard. Punches were exchanged behind them and the positions kept swapping and changing. Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) established himself firmly in fourth while Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) and Gerrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) were moving up the order. Redding had trouble to keep up on the standard tyre and was running in seventh.

Bautista executed a great manoeuvre going into Lap 3, pushing the Honda power to the limit down the start/finish straight and claiming both, van der Mark and Rea, to take the lead. Delight quickly turned into disaster though when a massive highside at Repsol corner took Bautista out of the race and into the medical centre. The Spaniard was subsequently declared fit for Race 2, despite suffering a right fifth metatarsal base non-displaced fracture.

Van der Mark had dived down Rea’s inside to take second at Repsol before Bautista came off and with the Kawasaki rider taking avoiding action, van der Mark held a small advantage in the lead. Rea looked to inch closer again, but the Dutchman managed the gap.

Redding ran wide on Lap 5 and sacrificed a position to Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GoEleven) but just managed to stay in eighth ahead of Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team). Rinaldi was on the move and claimed Lowes for sixth going into Turn 1 on Lap 6 while ahead of them, Gerloff was all over Davies’ rear tyre.

Out front, van der Mark had started to shake off Rea, the reigning world champion now seemingly managing second with his title rival Redding way down the order. The Yamaha rider took the chequered with a flawless ride giving him a 2.3 second advantage to claim his first victory of the season.

Baz had come dangerously close in the late stages, but Rea held on to runner-up position and crossed the line half a second ahead of the Frenchman. Davies just held Gerloff at bay by a half a tenth, leaving the American in a nevertheless great fifth place. Rinaldi finished sixth ahead of Lowes and Redding while Sykes secured the final point on offer in ninth.

Wildcard Jonas Folger (Bonovo Action by MGM Racing) rounded out the top, beating Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Xavi Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) on the final lap. Stand-in riders Lorenzo Zanetti (Motocorsa Racing) and Valentin Debise (Outdo Kawasaki TPR) were 13^th and 14^th respectively while Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Performance) and Takumi Takahashi (MIE Racing Althea Honda Team) were last to complete the race.

Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) and Leon Haslam (Team HRC) had collided on Lap 2. Haslam was taken to the medical centre and subsequently declared fit with a left thigh contusion. Bautista and Samuele Cavaliere (Barni Racing Team) joined them among the non-finishers.

Toprak Razgatliolgu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team) did not start the race after a crash at Turn 13 in Warm Up. The Turkish rider sustained a chest injury as well as a right foot and ankle contusion and has been transported to hospital for further assessments.