WSBK Phillip Island, Round 1: Double podium for Ducati

24.02.2018
The Aruba.it Racing - Ducati Team made a double podium with Marco Melandri as winner and Chaz Davies at the third place at the first WSBK-Race this season in Australia. After a long double lead of Kawasaki with Tom Sykes leading followed by Jonathan Rae. In the 14th Round Marco Melandri could pass Jonathan Rae and could finally went into lead in the 18th round, four round before end.

Chaz Davies made it from the sixth to the third place. He passed Jonathan Rae, who had struggles with the rear tire, two rounds before the end.

Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati #33) – 1st place
"It's really unbelievable and i missed it to win here. It's special for me. To win the first race is unbelievable. After a year experience with the Ducati i know my strengths and my weaknesses. I worked hard to get better. The race was amazing, but the other drivers will be stronger tomorrow. Tom was really fast at the beginning and it wasn't easy."

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati #7) – 3rd place
"At the start i though, i have to take time to treat the tires with care. The pace was much faster than in typical Phillip-Island-races. Tom was unbelievable in the first round, so it was up to the other drivers to catch him. It was really a different race. I'm happy that i got on the podium. Of course i had luck because of Johnnies bad luck. I struggled with the left side. In left turns i was really slow and i don't know why. I had also a lot of movement in the bike at acceleration."

Pos	Nr	Driver	Team	Bike	Time	Delay	Rounds
1	33	Marco Melandri	Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team	Ducati	33:40.354		22
2	66	Tom Sykes	Kawasaki Racing Team	Kawasaki	33:41.534	+ 1.180	22
3	7	Chaz Davies	Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team	Ducati	33:49.619	+ 9.265	22
4	12	Javier Fores	Barni Racing Team	Ducati	33:50.175	+ 9.821	22
5	1	Jonathan Rea	Kawasaki Racing Team	Kawasaki	33:54.250	+ 13.896	22
6	22	Alex Lowes	Pata Yamaha Official WSBK Team	Yamaha	33:57.382	+ 17.028	22
7	2	Leon Camier	Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team	Honda	34:01.868	+ 21.514	22
8	50	Eugene Laverty	Milwaukee Aprilia	Aprilia	34:04.016	+ 23.662	22
9	60	Michael van der Mark	Pata Yamaha Official WSBK Team	Yamaha	34:07.784	+ 27.430	22
10	36	Leandro Mercado	Orelac Racing VerdNatura	Kawasaki	34:07.800	+ 27.446	22
11	76	Loris Baz	Gulf Althea BMW Racing Team	BMW	34:08.102	+ 27.748	22
12	45	Jake Gagne	Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team	Honda	34:08.820	+ 28.466	22
13	54	Toprak Razgatlioglu	Kawasaki Puccetti Racing	Kawasaki	34:10.354	+ 30.000	22
14	40	Román Ramos	Team GO Eleven	Kawasaki	34:33.973	+ 53.619	22
15	37	Ondrej Jezek	Guandalini Racing	Yamaha	34:43.036	+ 1:02.682	22
16	99	PJ Jacobsen	Triple M Honda World Superbike Team	Honda	34:50.129	+ 1:09.775	22

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