Estoril WSBK: Davies leads Ducati 1-2 in season finale
Chaz Davies capped off his stint as a factory Ducati rider with a fine victory in the final race of the 2020 World Superbike season at Estoril, leading a 1-2 for the Italian manufacturer.
While polesitter Toprak Razgatlioglu got the best launch off the line, Davies managed to pass him into Turn 1 to take an early lead.
The two were quickly joined by the Kawasaki of Jonathan Rea, who had jumped Michael van der Mark at the start before capitalising on a crash for GRT Yamaha’s Garrett Gerloff to move up to third.
After bringing the gap to under a second, Rea slipped past Razgatlioglu at Turn 1 on lap 8, only for the Turkish rider to immediately repass him. The six-time championship made another attempt at passing Razgatlioglu on the same tour, but clattered into the back of the Yamaha and fell on the ground.
Rea managed to remount on his Kawasaki but could only rejoin the race in 16th, giving Davies a clear run to the finish, the British rider scoring his second victory of the season to end his seven-year stint with Ducati on a high.
While Rea missed out on a 100th career win in WSBK, the 14th place finish he eventually managed helped Kawasaki beat Ducati by a single point in the manufacturers’ championship.
Meanwhile, Scott Redding passed Razgatlioglu three laps from the flag to finish second, while van der Mark recovered from a sluggish start to take fourth.
Honda’s Alvaro Bautista made it three different manufacturers in the top five, while Go Eleven Ducati’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi was the highest rider on a satellite bike in sixth, having secured the independent riders’ title in the Superpole race earlier on Sunday.
Leon Haslam was classified seventh for Honda, while Xavi Fores equalled his best result of the year with eighth on the Puccetti Kawasaki.
Federico Caricasulo was ninth on the sole surviving GRT Yamaha bike, while BMW’s Tom Sykes rounded out the top 10 finishers ahead of wildcard Jonas Folger (MGM Yamaha) and teammate Eugene Laverty.
Race results:
Cla | # | Rider | Bike | Laps | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 7 | Chaz Davies | Ducati | 21 | |
2 | 45 | Scott Redding | Ducati | 21 | 1.951 |
3 | 54 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | Yamaha | 21 | 2.556 |
4 | 60 | Michael van der Mark | Yamaha | 21 | 10.423 |
5 | 19 | Alvaro Bautista | Honda | 21 | 15.473 |
6 | 21 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | Ducati | 21 | 20.277 |
7 | 91 | Leon Haslam | Honda | 21 | 21.074 |
8 | 12 | Xavi Fores | Kawasaki | 21 | 21.291 |
9 | 64 | Federico Caricasulo | Yamaha | 21 | 22.427 |
10 | 66 | Tom Sykes | BMW | 21 | 25.168 |
11 | 94 | Jonas Folger | Yamaha | 21 | 26.945 |
12 | 50 | Eugene Laverty | BMW | 21 | 28.511 |
13 | 36 | Leandro Mercado | Ducati | 21 | 32.281 |
14 | 1 | Jonathan Rea | Kawasaki | 21 | 38.800 |
15 | 71 | Matteo Ferrari | Ducati | 21 | 46.083 |
16 | 51 | Eric Granado | Honda | 21 | 47.000 |
17 | 13 | Takumi Takahashi | Honda | 21 | 47.295 |
18 | 32 | Sheridan Morais | Kawasaki | 21 | 1'01.053 |
19 | 84 | Loris Cresson | Kawasaki | 21 | 1'31.338 |
22 | Alex Lowes | Kawasaki | 15 | ||
76 | Loris Baz | Yamaha | 14 | ||
31 | Garrett Gerloff | Yamaha | 2 | ||
View full results |
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