Pata Yamaha’s Michael van der Mark did the Donington Dutch double this lunchtime, taking the WorldSBK race two win after a 23-lap thriller in Leicestershire to beat rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu by two seconds after the Puccetti Kawasaki man passed Jonathan Rea on the last lap.
Van der Mark won his first-ever WorldSBK race yesterday and, like British buses, another one came along today after he hunted down and passed team-mate Alex Lowes, and then reigning champion Rea to take the lead.
It was a thriller all round, with several changes of lead and paint swapping aplenty into both fast and slow sections. Leon Haslam (Puccetti Kawasaki) looked set for his own podium but fell at the Melbourne Hairpin early in the race.
Long time leader Alex Lowes slowed to finish fourth as he did yesterday, less than three seconds down on the win.
Aruba Ducati’s Chaz Davies recovered from a tough start, being pushed wide into turn one, to take fifth, overhauling Tom Sykes on the second Kawasaki in the process. Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) was an early contender but finished seventh.
Another heroic ride from Leon Camier (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) saw him eighth, one place ahead of the upwardly mobile Jordi Torres (MV Agusta) and two up on the gradually slowing Loris Baz (Althea BMW).
Marco Melandri finished in 11th, one ahead of Tati Mercado while Jake Gagne (Red Bull Honda) was 13th. Wildcard Luke Mossey, using full electronics for the first time this weekend, took 14th with Bradley Ray in 15th. PJ Jacobsen (Triple M Honda) was 16th.
Gino Rea had to start from the back of the grid after a pre-race problem while Eugene Laverty and Xavi Fores both retired. Mason Law was also a non-finisher and Michael Ruben Rinaldi a non-starter after his bike ceased to function on the grid.
In the championship points, Rea has 245, Davies 181, VDM 163, tied with fourth ranked Sykes.
