Estoril WSBK: Redding takes victory after tyre gamble
Ducati rider Scott Redding secured victory in the first victory of the Estoril World Superbike weekend after gambling on Pirelli's soft-compound SCX rear tyre.
Watch: WSBK: Redding takes victory after tyre gamble
From second on the grid, Redding seized the lead from Kawasaki rival Jonathan Rea at the start of the 21-lap contest and led for the duration, securing his second race win in a row.
Both Redding and Toprak Razgatlioglu, starting third on his Yamaha, went for the SCX rear tyre (designed for WSBK's shorter Superpole races), while poleman Rea went for the standard SC0 tyre option.
The extra grip off the line allowed Redding and Razgatlioglu to pass Rea and move into the top two positions, and they would ultimately finish in that order with Rea in third place.
Razgatlioglu appeared poised to attack Redding in the closing stages but couldn't find a way by the Ducati rider, and had to focus on fending off Rea in the battle for second late on.
Redding crossed the line with 0.877s in hand over Razgatlioglu in the final reckoning, with Rea just a further 0.038s back.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi on the second works Ducati, also using the SCX rear, temporarily demoted championship leader Rea to fourth, but was repassed on the third lap.
Rinaldi was eventually caught by the GRT Yamaha of Garrett Gerloff, who passed for fourth place on lap 18.
Chaz Davies charged his way through from a lowly 15th on the grid aboard his Go Eleven Ducati to finish a solid sixth, ahead of the lead works BMW of Michael van der Mark.
Alvaro Bautista was eighth aboard the best of the Hondas, followed by the Barni Ducati of MotoGP convert Tito Rabat and the second factory Yamaha of Andrea Locatelli.
Tom Sykes (BMW) ended up in a disappointing 14th place after starting in the middle of the second row, while Lucas Mahias (Puccetti Kawasaki) likewise failed to capitalise on his grid slot, finishing 13th behind the second Honda of Leon Haslam.
Both Alex Lowes (Kawasaki), who started 10th after losing his best lap in qualifying, and Eugene Laverty (RC Squadra BMW) crashed out at Turn 7.
Race results:
Cla | # | Rider | Bike | Laps | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 45 | Scott Redding | Ducati | 21 | |
2 | 54 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | Yamaha | 21 | 0.877 |
3 | 1 | Jonathan Rea | Kawasaki | 21 | 0.915 |
4 | 31 | Garrett Gerloff | Yamaha | 21 | 9.518 |
5 | 21 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | Ducati | 21 | 13.636 |
6 | 7 | Chaz Davies | Ducati | 21 | 17.177 |
7 | 60 | Michael van der Mark | BMW | 21 | 19.316 |
8 | 19 | Alvaro Bautista | Honda | 21 | 20.185 |
9 | 53 | Tito Rabat | Ducati | 21 | 25.625 |
10 | 55 | Andrea Locatelli | Yamaha | 21 | 27.772 |
11 | 47 | Axel Bassani | Ducati | 21 | 30.349 |
12 | 91 | Leon Haslam | Honda | 21 | 35.722 |
13 | 44 | Lucas Mahias | Kawasaki | 21 | 35.885 |
14 | 66 | Tom Sykes | BMW | 21 | 36.887 |
15 | 3 | Kohta Nozane | Yamaha | 21 | 45.434 |
16 | 94 | Jonas Folger | BMW | 21 | 46.472 |
17 | 32 | Isaac Viñales | Kawasaki | 21 | 51.132 |
18 | 50 | Eugene Laverty | BMW | 21 | 1'09.888 |
19 | 22 | Alex Lowes | Kawasaki | 21 | 1'09.903 |
20 | 84 | Loris Cresson | Kawasaki | 21 | 1'26.686 |
23 | Christophe Ponsson | Yamaha | 15 | ||
76 | Samuele Cavalieri | Kawasaki | 7 | ||
View full results |
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