Team Pata Honda Results from Round 1 of World Superbike Season Opener at Phillip Island

Phillip Island - Australia    22.02.2015                 Positive start to Pata Honda's 2015 SBK campaign Sylvain Guintoli took two positive results from the opening round of the 2015 World Superbike championship at Phillip Island in Australia this afternoon, with his Pata Honda team-mate Michael van der Mark impressing with a strong fifth place finish in the first race, his WSBK debut. The two 22-lap races around the 4.445km Phillip Island circuit were won by British riders Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam, with 2014 champion Guintoli riding hard in the first outing from his ninth place on the grid to post a seventh at the flag.   Guintoli’s crew made further changes to his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP for race two, but with temperatures above 30°C, the 32-year-old Frenchman, injured in a big testing crash in Spain recently, endured another tough physical battle to bring the CBR home in fifth place.   Fifth was where Dutch sensation Michael van der Mark finished his debut World Superbike race after starting from fourth on the grid and battling in the early stages with the leading group before dropping into a solitary race and finishing four seconds ahead of 2013 WSBK champion Tom Sykes.   The 22-year-old reigning World Supersport champion enjoyed an even better start to race two, blasting past Rea’s Kawasaki into the lead at the start of the eighth lap. Van der Mark led for the following five laps before rear tyre wear forced him back. He finally crashed out of fourth place with just three laps to go but was more than satisfied with his World Superbike debut. Sylvain Guintoli  - 7th and 5th I tried everything I could and we did both races with very different set-ups, although the results were much the same. But at least we’ve got some good data that we can work on now. After missing so much winter testing, I’ve really been treating this weekend as another live test session because I’m still not quite yet clicking with the bike. We’ll just keep working though and come back strong in Thailand. To be honest, I’ve never felt so physically drained after two races. I think the injury from Jerez must have somehow added to the dehydration because I felt really ill during both the races. I’ll focus on recovering as much as possible before the next races now. But one of the highlights of the weekend for me was being on the track with Troy Bayliss. He had already retired when I came to SBK but we had a few laps scrapping out there in race two which was a bit special! Michael van der Mark  - 5th and DNF Friday morning started as a bit of a nightmare really because we changed the bike a lot compared to the test earlier in the week. It was just not working but from the second free practice we started getting faster and faster and when the temperatures went really high yesterday we were still fast and managed the tyres well. I had a good feeling for the races but we were a bit unlucky that the weather was not as hot as yesterday. I had quite a good start to the first race and was aggressive in the first couple of laps, but I couldn’t stay with the front guys. I had a big drop in the tyre as well, so I had to focus on the guy behind me and save some tyre to bring it back in fifth. We made a couple of small electronics changes for the second race but I was hoping for a bit more hot weather. The start wasn’t reall y great but I was really aggressive and could stay with the front guys this time. I even led the race for a few laps which felt really good before I had another big, big drop in the tyre. I tried to follow the guys but just pushed a bit too hard and lost it. But my guys did an amazing job this weekend and to be fifth in my first Superbike race was incredible. To be leading in my second Superbike race was just too good to be true!  Pieter Breddels  - technical co-ordinator We didn’t have an easy first weekend with Sylvain but we kept changing the CBR to give him more feeling for the race and he finished seventh in race one. For race two we changed the bike again and he finished fifth. He’s fifth in the points and considering everything that’s not too bad. We’ll study everything to consider the best way forward but I’m confident that we’ll be stronger in Thailand. Race one for Michael was a lonely ride but to get fifth in your first Superbike race was a very good effort. We made some changes for race two to work the tyre a little better and it worked out well. He got a good start and even led the race for a few laps before dropping back to fourth. He had a small crash three laps from the end so no points there, but for sure he showed the world that on the Honda he has all the speed and talent needed to run at the front. Weather Sunny Intervals Air 30°C Track 42°C Humidity 47%   Race 1 Results   1   Jonathan Rea 33m58.385s GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team 2   Leon Haslam +0.039 GBR APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils 3   Chaz Davies +0.496 GBR DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team 4   Jordi Torres +2.259 ESP APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils 5   Michael van der Mark +9.838 NED HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team 6   Tom Sykes +13.761 GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team 7   Sylvain Guintoli +14.021 FRA HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team 8   Nicolas Terol +15.954 ESP DUCATI Althea Racing 9   Alex Lowes +21.106 GBR SUZUKI Voltcom Crescent Suzuki 10   Leon Camier +24.771 GBR MV MV Agusta Reparto Corse Weather Sunny Intervals Air 31°C Track 38°C Humidity 47%   Race 2 Results   1   Leon Haslam 33m58.711s GBR APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils 2   Jonathan Rea +0.010 GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team 3   Chaz Davies +0.298 GBR DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team 4   Tom Sykes +5.242 GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team 5   Sylvain Guintoli +14.649 FRA HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team 6   Nicolas Terol +16.025 ESP DUCATI Althea Racing 7   Randy de Puniet +22.300 FRA SUZUKI Voltcom Crescent Suzuki 8   Leon Camier +23.606 GBR MV MV Agusta Reparto Corse 9   Matteo Baiocco +23.818 ITA DUCATI Althea Racing 10   Roman Ramos +35.775 ESP KAWASAKI Team GO Eleven   Championship Standings   1   Jonathan Rea 45 pts GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team 2   Leon Haslam 45 pts GBR APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils 3   Chaz Davies 32 pts GBR DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team 4   Tom Sykes 23 pts GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team 5   Sylvain Guintoli 20 pts FRA HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team 6   Nicolas Terol 18 pts ESP DUCATI Althea Racing 7   Leon Haslam 14 pts GBR APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils 8   Jordi Torres 13 pts ESP APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils 9   Matteo Baiocco 12 pts ITA DUCATI Althea Racing 10   Michael van der Mark 11 pts NED HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team   Copyright-free images for editorial use only © 2015 Pata Honda.