RACE one at Monza saw a nail-biting photo finish after a race-long battle for the lead. It was impossible to choose a winner between the front four bikes as the two factory Aprilias of Guintoli and Laverty, Melandri on his BMW and Sykes on the Kawasaki broke away from the rest of the field. Despite an early mistake from pole-sitter Sykes who ran off the track at the second chicane, the Yorkshireman managed to re-join the battle and appeared to have the pace to take the win, taking the lead and then gapping the group with just a few laps to go. Marco Melandri in front of the ever-excitable Italian crowd had other ideas, as he dragged both himself and Eugene Laverty up to the back of the green machine. Swapping positions all the way into the final corner, it was Melandri who made a bold move down the inside of Laverty’s Aprilia into the Parabolica, which in turn allowed Sykes to come through into second and demote the Irishman to third over the line. Melandri was right on the limit, but held on to take his first victory of 2013 by just 0.085 seconds.
Race two was another scintillating high-pressure showdown, with the same four riders putting in near-perfect performances to break away from the rest of the field. Laverty was the first into turn one after starting second on the grid, with Giugliano making a great getaway on his Althea Aprilia moving up to second. He couldn’t hold on to this position for long though, having a huge moment into the second chicane which dropped him down the order.
On lap 7 of 18 it was Laverty’s Aprilia Racing team-mate Sylvain Guintoli who made his move, taking both Sykes and Melandri with a gutsy block pass into turn one, then grabbing the lead from Laverty going into the final corner. He held onto this position until the penultimate lap, when both Laverty and Melandri forced their way through. The Frenchman would go on to lose a further position to a controversial move by Sykes that saw the Kawasaki rider run wide and miss the second chicane, but re-join to maintain third position. While Melandri could not repeat a last-corner lunge for the victory, a first and second at Monza see the Italian’s championship challenge back on track after a tricky start to the 2013 season, and although Guintoli still leads the overall standings, things are now much tighter at the top. The only front-runner not to score strongly around the iconic Italian circuit was Chaz Davies, who took a lonely fifth in race one, but crashed out of race two as he struggled with the braking on his BMW S1000 RR.
EDIT - following an appeal by Aprilia Racing, positions three and four in race two have been reversed as a result of an unfair overtake.
RE-EDIT - a counter appeal by Kawasaki Racing has been successful, and as such the original result stands. If you would like to submit your application for third place in the second World Superbike race from Monza, please contact race control.
World Superbike Monza Race 1 Results
1. Marco Melandri ITA BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 30m 54.925s
2. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +0.085s
3. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV4 +0.107s
4. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing RSV4 +1.844s
5. Chaz Davies GBR BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 +7.629s
6. Michel Fabrizio ITA Red Devils Roma RSV4 +8.407s
7. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +15.555s
8. Jonathan Rea GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR +16.465s
9. Leon Camier GBR Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +16.668s
10. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Racing RSV4 +26.820s
11. Ayrton Badovini ITA Alstare Ducati 1199 R +38.908s
12. Max Neukirchner GER MR Ducati 1199 R +38.951s
13. Fabrizio Lai ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +52.788s
14. Kosuke Akiyoshi JPN Pata Honda CBR1000RR +55.889s
15. Federico Sandi ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +56.006s
16. Mark Aitchison AUS Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +56.827s
17. Jules Cluzel FRA Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +59.545s
Not Classified
18. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA Grillini Dentalmatic BMW S1000RR (+11 Laps)
World Supberbike Monza Race 2 Results
1. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV4 30m 59.653s
2. Marco Melandri ITA BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 +0.143
3. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R (Amended result)
4. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing RSV4 (Amended result)
5. Michel Fabrizio ITA Red Devils Roma RSV4 +9.965s
6. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Racing RSV4 +10.066s
7. Leon Camier GBR Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +12.241s
8. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +29.771s
9. Ayrton Badovini ITA Alstare Ducati 1199 R +35.005s
10. Max Neukirchner GER MR Ducati 1199 R +41.757s
11. Fabrizio Lai ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +52.579s
12. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA Grillini Dentalmatic BMW S1000RR +1m 28.772s
13. Federico Sandi ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R (+1 Lap)
Not Classified
14. Chaz Davies GBR BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 (+7 Laps)
15. Jonathan Rea GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR (+13 Laps)
16. Kosuke Akiyoshi JPN Pata Honda CBR1000RR (+14 Laps)
17. Mark Aitchison AUS Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R (+15 Laps)
18. Jules Cluzel FRA Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 (+17 Laps)
