If Race 1 finished as almost always, with Jonathan Rea winning, the second race at Automotodrom Brno went in a totally different way. The victory was an affair between Yamaha riders Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark and finally, after leading most of the 18 laps, Alex Lowes scored his first win ever in World Superbike. And what about Rea, Melandri and Sykes, on the podium in Race 1? Read just below…
It all started during the second lap, when Jonathan Rea crashed at Turn 12 following a contact with his team-mate. As the Nothern Irish gave up the race after trying to rejoin, Marco Melandri went on the gravel (maybe due to a brake issue) at Turn 3, while he was fighting with Yamaha pair. A couple of laps later, Tom Sykes crashed at Turn 10 and rejoined the race in 17th position, before finishing 16th. Marco Melandri, instead, managed to score on point by ranking 15th.
Going back to the fight for the win, the Yamaha pair led the race till the end and Michael van der Mark tried to keep the pace of Alex Lowes. But in the final laps the gap between the two Pata Yamaha fellas increased and so van der Mark could not score his third win in WorldSBK. No fairytale for “Magic Michael”, but an even greater one for Alex Lowes, who finally took his first win in WorldSBK at his 118th (!) race in the championship.
Behind the Yamahas, Chaz Davies went back to the podium after a three-race break. Fourth and fifth place for Milwaukee Aprilia’s Eugene Laverty and Lorenzo Savadori, while Michael Rinaldi ranked sixth followed by Leon Camier.
Photo Credit: Yamaha Racing