Chaz Davies became the seventh different winner of the 2020 WorldSBK season while American star Garrett Gerloff scores his first WorldSBK podium.
Race 2 from MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s was full of drama and intrigue at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) claimed his first win of the 2020 season and became the seventh different winner in 2020, while American rookie Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) claimed his maiden World Superbike podium.
Davies was able to get to the front in the early stages of the races before taking the lead and controlling the race, withstanding pressure from Tissot Superpole Race winner Michael van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team) after the pair passed each other in the first half of the race. Van der Mark then fell into the clutches of Gerloff after the American made a sensational start from fifth place to run in the top three, putting pressure on van der Mark all race.
Gerloff passed van der Mark for second place on the last lap but a mistake from Gerloff on Lap 10 allowed the Dutchman through for second; Gerloff coming home in third place. Davies held on to win his 31st race in his career, equalling Colin Edwards on the all-time list of winners. Gerloff’s podium means he becomes the first American to stand on the WorldSBK podium since Nicky Hayden in 2016.
Championship leader Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) extended his lead at the top of the standings with fourth place, finishing five seconds clear of Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team). Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) finished in sixth place after being passed by Sykes with just a couple of laps to go. Rea had lost ground at the start, but was able to regroup to finish in fourth place and take a 51 point lead into the next round at Magny-Cours.
Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) secured his best result of the season with seventh place as he showed more impressive pace, ahead of Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in eighth. Leon Haslam (Team HRC) was the sole Honda rider in Race 2 and finished in ninth, with Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) in tenth after losing lots of ground at Turn 1 at the start.
Jonas Folger’s (Bonovo Action by MGM Racing) impressive wildcard weekend continued as he battled his way from the back of the grid to 11th place; Folger not setting a time in Tissot Superpole and missing out on a top nine starting grid for Race 2 by the smallest of margins. Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) was 12th after starting from the back of the grid; Caricasulo penalised for irresponsible riding in the Superpole Race after a collision with Haslam
Lorenzo Zanetti (Motocorsa Racing) scored points after being called up to the Championship on Friday evening with 13th place while Takumi Takahashi (MIE Racing HONDA Team) and Xavi Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) completed the points-scoring positions.
Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) did not start the race following a technical issue on the sighting lap; the Spanish rider, who was declared fit following his dramatic highside crash in the Tissot Superpole Race, pulling off the track shortly after leaving the pit lane. Samuele Cavalieri (Barni Racing Team) crashed out in the early stages, while Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Performance) and Valentin Debise (OUTDO Kawasaki TPR) had a coming together on Lap 17 while battling for 15th place. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN), who had been running in the top four for the majority of the race, had a technical issue in the latter stages of the race forcing him to retire from the race on Lap 19.
