Britain’s Jonathan Rea has taken a controversial second World Superbike Championship win of the season at the fifth round of 14 in the series at Donington Park in the British Midlands on Sunday.

Rea collided with fellow Brit Leon Haslam at the final corner led to both Haslam and Italian team-mate Marco Melandri crashing out of another potential BMW 1-2.

A contentious end to a thrilling race in which Haslam, Melandri, Rea, Max Biaggi and Tom Sykes tussled aggressively for the win, the final corner skirmish had been preluded by a last lap in which BMW had looked on course for its second 1-2 of the day.

Indeed, Haslam had gone into the final revolution with the advantage, having worked his way ahead of long-time leader Sykes on lap 17, but with Melandri progressing to second on the last lap with an excellent pass over Biaggi at the Old Hairpin, the battle for victory was on until the concluding bends.

Allowing Haslam to lead through the Esses, Melandri instead lined up his team-mate for a pass into the Melbourne Hairpin – scene for several of his passes through the race – but the Briton was wise to this and allowed him through, only to cut up the inside and regain the position on the exit.

With just Goddards remaining, Haslam turned in to find Melandri making a last-gasp attempt from a fair distance back, the Italian again going past but running very wide.

Unbeknown to Haslam, however, the close-following Rea was subsequently striking for the gap that Melandri had opened up and was alongside just as Haslam turned in. The ensuing contact sent Haslam sliding down and into the path of the recovering Melandri, eliminating both riders from the race just metres from the chequered flag.

Rea, meanwhile, was able to keep it upright as he accelerated to the chequered flag for an unlikely second win of the season for both himself and Honda.

The collision overshadowed what had been an absorbing race, particularly between Haslam, Melandri, Biaggi and Rea, the quartet battling away behind Sykes, who was comfortable out front before fading with six laps remaining.

Indeed, while Rea had put in a feisty performance with robust passes on both Biaggi and Melandri, his chances of victory seemed to have been dashed on lap 16 when he ran wide and onto the grass at Goddards.

However, he would quickly catch up with the lead group, his firm pass on Biaggi at the Melbourne hairpin leading to his dive up the inside of Haslam at the final corner.

Despite appearing rather sheepish on the podium, Rea’s win has done wonders for his title challenge, lifting him to third, just 20.5 points off the lead now.

With Haslam and Melandri out of contention (Haslam would push his bike across the line for 15th and a single point), a rather bemused Biaggi followed through for second, a result that helps him eke his series lead to five points over Sykes, who was promoted to third place for his second podium of the day.

Long before the final corner controversy, Biaggi and Sykes were destined to multiply their advantage in the standings after Carlos Checa compounded his dismal weekend with a crash at the first corner.

Clipping the back of Eugene Laverty’s Aprilia, Checa was sent into the path of his Althea Ducati team-mate Davide Giugliano and Jakub Smrz, the trio duly forced to retire. Checa’s sole sixth place finish means he has dropped 23 points off the championship lead in fourth.

Meanwhile, Leon Camier turned in Suzuki’s best result of the year with a fine ride to fourth, the Briton just three seconds off the leader even before he benefitted from the dramas ahead of him, while Sylvain Guintoli and Ayrton Badovini completed fairly quiet runs to fifth and sixth respectively.

Chaz Davies secured his best finish of the season for ParkinGO Aprilia in seventh position, ahead of Loris Baz and Peter Hickman, the WSBK newcomers claiming impressive top ten finishes on their debuts.

Hiroshi Aoyama completed the top ten on the second Honda, ahead of Niccolo Canepa, Lorenzo Zanetti, Michel Fabrizio – who was punished with a ride through penalty for jumping the start – Mark Aitchison and the hapless Haslam.

Elsewhere, having scored just a single point in race one, Eugene Laverty’s dismal weekend ended with a spectacular crash at the start of the Craner Curves.

 

RESULTS:

RACE ONE:

1. Marco Melandri ITA BMW Motorrad S1000RR 23 laps
2. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR +0.728s
3. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +1.609s
4. Jonathan Rea GBR Honda WSBK CBR1000RR +1.819s
5. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +2.102s
6. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R +4.820s
7. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Ducati 1098R +7.520s
8. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +7.927s
9. Leon Camier GBR Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 +15.144s
10. Michel Fabrizio ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR +16.065s
11. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR +19.805s
12. Chaz Davies GBR ParkinGO MTC Aprilia RSV-4 +20.170s
13. Maxime Berger FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +21.274s
14. Jakub Smrz CZE Liberty Effenbert Ducati 1098R +21.517s
15. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +26.920s

16. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +35.025s
17. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Honda WSBK CBR1000RR +39.193s
18. Lorenzo Zanetti ITA PATA Ducati 1098R +42.334s
19. Niccolo Canepa ITA Red Devils Ducati 1098R +43.554s
20. Mark Aitchison AUS Grillini Progea BMW S1000RR +2 laps
21. Peter Hickman GBR Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 +8 laps

Not Classified

22. Gary Mason GBR Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 14 laps completed
23. Leandro Mercado ARG Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 0 laps completed

RACE TWO:

1. Jonathan Rea GBR Honda WSBK CBR1000RR 34m 31.847s
2. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +0.508s
3. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +2.029s
4. Leon Camier GBR Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 +4.245s
5. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +6.595s
6. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR +17.469s
7. Chaz Davies GBR ParkinGO MTC Aprilia RSV-4 +17.788s
8. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +21.093s
9. Peter Hickman GBR Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 +21.866s
10. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Honda WSBK CBR1000RR +22.620s
11. Niccolo Canepa ITA Red Devils Ducati 1098R +26.764s
12. Lorenzo Zanetti ITA PATA Ducati 1098R +27.043s
13. Michel Fabrizio ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR +28.390s
14. Mark Aitchison AUS Grillini Progea BMW S1000RR +56.618s
15. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR +1m 20.196s

Not Classified

16. Marco Melandri ITA BMW Motorrad S1000RR 22 laps completed
17. Leandro Mercado ARG Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 19 laps completed
18. Gary Mason GBR Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 14 laps completed
19. Maxime Berger FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R 12 laps completed
20. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Ducati 1098R 11 laps completed
21. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV-4 10 laps completed
22. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R 0 laps completed
23. Jakub Smrz CZE Liberty Effenbert Ducati 1098R 0 laps completed

 

World Superbike Championship rider standings

(After round 5 of 14, previous championship standing in brackets)

1. (1) Max Biaggi Aprilia Racing 128.5 points
2. (3) Tom Sykes Kawasaki Racing 123.5
3. (5) Jonathan Rea Honda WSBK 108
4. (2) Carlos Checa Althea Ducati 105.5
5. (4) Marco Melandri BMW Motorrad 97.5
6. (6) Leon Haslam BMW Motorrad 89
7. (7) Sylvain Guintoli Effenbert Liberty Ducati 85
8. (8) Eugene Laverty Aprilia Racing 65
9. (10) Davide Giugliano Althea Ducati 50
10. (9) Jakub Smrz Liberty Effenbert Ducati 44.5
11. (12) Michel Fabrizio BMW Italia GoldBet 35
12. (17) Leon Camier FIXI Crescent Suzuki 34.5
13. (13) Hiroshi Aoyama Honda WSBK 30.5
14. (11) Maxime Berger Effenbert Liberty Ducati 29.5
15. (18) Ayrton Badovini BMW Italia GoldBet 29
16. (14) Lorenzo Zanetti PATA Ducati 25
17. (15) Niccolo Canepa Red Devils Roma Ducati 25
18. (16) Joan Lascorz Kawasaki Racing 17
19. (23) Chaz Davies ParkinGO MTC Aprilia 17
20. (19) Leandro Mercado Pedercini Kawasaki 9
21. (20) David Salom Pedercini Kawasaki 9
22. (17) Loris Baz Kawasaki Racing 8
23. (21) John Hopkins Crescent Fixi Suzuki 8
24. (17) Peter Hickman FIXI Crescent Suzuki 7
25. (22) Bryan Staring Pedercini Kawasaki 6
26. (25) Mark Aitchison Grillini Progea BMW 3
27. (24) Josh Brookes FIXI Crescent Suzuki 1

Photo courtesy Honda