(From left) Second-placed Chaz Davies of Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team, race winner Leon Haslam of Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils and Kawasaki Racing Team’s  Tom Sykes, who finished third in the race two of the Qatar Round in the World Superbike Championship, celebrate on the podium at Losail International Circuit yesterday.

By Joe Koraith/Losail

History was made and history was denied in a thrilling Qatar edition of the 2015 Superbike and Supersport World Championships at the Losail International Circuit here yesterday. Jonathan Rea, the 2015 WSBK world champion, suffered a bike malfunction in the second race which robbed him of a chance to become the rider to accumulate maximum points in one season. But at the other end of the spectrum, the Qatar fans were treated to edge-of-the-seat battles in all the races with two riders getting their first-ever wins in their category.  
In the end, Rea was just four points short of Colin Edwards’ 2002 record points haul of 552. The Brit rider came second in the first race and needed just four more points to enter the history books but his Kawasaki ZX-10R had another plans.
But it was all smiles for Jordi Torres who emerged victorious in a wheel-to-wheel battle with Rea in Race 1 to take the first WSBK win of his career. Similarly in WSS Brit rider Kyle Smith fended off a spirited challenge from already-crowned world champion Kenan Sofuoglu for his maiden victory.
In the first WSBK race Spaniard Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) claimed the first win of his career after defeating Rea in a thrilling last-lap battle.
Sykes who had claimed the pole position got off to a good start. Rea on the other hand dropped from second to third but he was able to overtake Davies within two laps. Torres started making his move up the order when he overtook teammate Haslam in the seventh lap.
In the ninth lap Rea got past Sykes with an aggressive move which saw him apologise to his teammate. As Rea started to put some distance between him and the battle for second place, Torres was on the charge and went past Sykes in the 11th lap. And then just one lap later, the Spaniard, who had shown a lot of promise during the practice sessions, went past Rea.
The power of Torres’ Aprilia down the straight proved to be too much for Rea’s Kawasaki. The battle between Rea and Torres then went into overdrive in the last action-packed lap where the lead exchanged three times. Rea went past Torres on the outside in the last corner but had gone in too hot and the Spaniard was able to hold his line and grab a thrilling win. This win helped maintain Aprilia’s 100 per cent record of podium finishes here in Qatar. Davies claimed the battle for fourth ahead of Michael van der Mark and Leon Haslam.  
Xavi Fores, who had secured his maiden first row start, finished seventh. Last year’s winner Sylvain Guintoli could only manage tenth. Another rider who lost out was Alex Lowes who was up in third place but his Suzuki encountered problems in the eighth lap and he had to retire.
“I gave 200 per cent in that race. We were on the back foot on Friday but the guys worked like mad to get me up to speed. I had to conserve my tyre during the race and which is why Torres was able to go past me. He was a shark that kept coming. He didn’t let go,” said Rea after the first race.
Torres couldn’t contain his excitement. “We worked real hard during the weekend. My team pushed a lot and got this first victory. When a dream comes true it’s an unbelievable feeling. It’s amazing and I have no words to describe it. I am too excited,” said the Spaniard.
In the second race, Rea got a good start and was leading the race but his bike gave up on him in the sixth lap and the Brit rider was left lamenting his lack of luck. The rest of the race was a thrilling battle between Davies and Haslam and it was the latter who ended up winning it, literally in the last corner of the race. Davies claimed the second position in the championship with his second place finish in the race. Race 1 winner Torres crashed out in the 16th lap.
“Race 1 was a disaster. But to bounce back in race 2 was amazing. The team were fantastic and they never gave up and were always behind me,” said Haslam after his win.
Davies conceded that his error cost him the victory but he was happy with his second place finish in the championship. “Coming second in the championship was the priority. I didn’t know where Tom was. I was running my own race. Leon rode really well. I made one mistake in the whole race but it was the most crucial one and I lost out on the win. But finishing second in the championship is a good way to finish the season,” said Davies.
In World Super Sport, PATA Honda’s Brit Smith secured his maiden victory in this category after fending off already crowned world champion Kenan Sofuoglu, who had to be content with second place. In third place was Lorenzo Zanetti.
Kawasaki Puccetti Racing’s Sofuoglu had pole position, got off to a good start and was leading till the 8th lap when he was overtaken by both Smith and Zanetti down the straight. In the 11th lap Sofuoglu overtook Zanetti and started chasing down Smith who was able to extract a fair amount of lead by then.
But then Sofuoglu gained with every lap and even went past Smith in the penultimate lap but couldn’t make the move stick. Smith went onto claim a historic win for himself.
“There was nothing much to lose. I wanted to get back on to the podium. I was pushing from the beginning to the end. I am really happy to get this win,” Smith said after the race.
The WSS champion Sofuoglu though was left ruing his tyre choice which cost him a win in the final round of the championship. “We chose a hard tyre and that proved to be a big mistake. Right from the start I could feel that I am not fast. I wasn’t getting any grip from the tyres. But I am happy that I was able to get the manufacturer’s title for Kawaski with this second place. I wanted to finish this season with a win but you can’t get that always,” said Sofuoglu.



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