MORE POINTS BUT NO PODIUM FOR PATA HONDA IN THE HEAT OF MALAYSIA

8 June, 2014 - Sepang, Malaysia - World Superbike Championship - WSBK Results - Round #6 Sepang, MAL
 

Jonathon Rea may have moved his way into the World Superbike points lead just two short rounds ago, but the ETS-fuelled Team Pata Honda rider and team-mate Leon Haslam have had their work cut out for them since, and frustratingly for the former champions, the heat of Malaysia - and their rivals - didn’t provide them too much respite..

With track temperatures in the vicinity of 50˚C, the two Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade riders did what they could to add to their impressive points tallys, although they weren’t helped by their opponents, Rea forced off the circuit at the start of the opening 16-lap race, dropping him to rear-of-field.

From there he mounted a fine recovery to work his way back through the field to sixth, gaining ten valuable championship points in the process, and closing down the gap to reigning champion Tom Sykes.

In race two, an interruption due to oil on the circuit impeded Rea’s progress, however he was able to match pace with the leaders, but unable to effect a move, settling for sixth, whilst team-mate Haslam was forced to settle for 11th, to add to his seventh placed finish in race one.

Jonathan Rea - 6th & 6th

It's been a very tough weekend and it's not where we want to be. But we kind of made some steps forward when it mattered, especially in race two when I was able to carry a much better pace than I have all weekend in the heat. But it seems our engine braking system is too sensitive to different conditions and different circuits, which is frustrating because when I had grip at the beginning I had no problem entering the corners but at the end of the race I had a lot of chatter from the rear when the grip went down. But I really enjoyed riding this track, even though we didn't get the full potential out of the CBR this weekend. I look forward to the next race at Misano because it's a circuit that I love.

Leon Haslam - 7th & 11th

I think we've both struggled this weekend, and I'm not sure whether it's the hot conditions or the low grip levels. We made a different plan for this weekend on the chassis and it's definitely showed up some positives. We have a couple of technical issues which set us back a little but in the race it was quite difficult with me and Jonathan riding around for the lesser points positions which is not ideal. Hopefully we can learn a lot from this weekend and take that to Misano.
 

Next Round: June 20-22, 2014 - Misano, Italy

Results WSBK Imola
Race#1
1. Marco Melandri (ITA), Aprilia
2. Silvain Guintoli (FRA), Aprilia
3. Eugene Laverty (IRL), Suzuki
4. Chaz Davies (GBR), Ducati
5. Toni Elias (SPA), Aprilia

6. Jonathon Rea (GBR), Pata Honda
7. Leon Haslam (GBR), Pata Honda

Race#2
1. Marco Melandri (ITA), Aprilia
2. Silvain Guintoli (FRA), Aprilia
3. Tom Sykes (GBR), Kawasaki
4. Toni Elias (SPA), Aprilia

5. Loris Baz (FRA), Kawasaki

6. Jonathon Rea (GBR), Pata Honda
7. Chaz Davies (GBR), Ducati
8. Eugene Laverty (IRL), Suzuki
11. Leon Haslam (GBR), Pata Honda

Standings WSBK after 6 of 13 rounds
1. Sykes, 201 points
2. Guintoli, 188

3. Rea, 179
4. Baz, 170
5. Melandri, 147
6. Davies, 130

7. Giugliano, 96
8. Laverty, 90

9. Haslam, 89

Position	Team	Rider	Bike Brand	ETS Fuel
3	Pata Honda Team	Jonathon Rea	CBR1000RR	ESC 1933
9	Pata Honda Team	Lean Haslam	CBR1000RR	ESC 1933

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