The Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team scored a double points finish in Race 1 at Phillip Island, as Leon Camier fought his way into seventh place and Jake Gagne came home in twelfth at the opening race of the 2018 WorldSBK season.
Starting on the grid in tenth and twelfth place respectively, Camier and Gagne were both able to make decent starts as the lights went out and settled into a good rhythm in the opening laps.
As the race reached half distance, Camier upped the pace and after passing Aprilia rider Eugene Laverty on lap 15 for eighth place, continued to push hard and overtook Yamaha’s Michael van der Mark with a couple of laps remaining to move into P7, the position he held all the way to the finish line.
Meanwhile, Gagne also managed to increase his pace in the latter stages and found himself embroiled in a fierce four-way battle for tenth place and ultimately came home in P12 to score valuable points at the season opener.
Due to his finishing position of P7 in Race 1 Camier will line up in P4 on the row 2 of the grid for Race 2 while Gagne will start on row 4 in P12. Race 2 of the Australian round of WorldSBK starts at 1500 local time (GMT +11).
Leon Camier 2
I made a good start in the race as qualifying didn’t go to plan, but in the opening laps I got involved in a couple of battles that cost me some time. Once I broke away I was able to set a good pace and make up some positions, but
when my rear tyre went away in the last few laps I focused on keeping my position. Hopefully if I can get a good start from fourth on the grid tomorrow and we can find a setting to look after the rear tyre a bit better, we should have a good Race 2.
Jake Gagne 45
For my first race here my first priority was to finish the race and score some points which I did so I’m happy with that. I felt comfortable on the bike and the work we did in practice to preserve the rear tyre worked as I could fight in the group for tenth place in the second half of the race. There was a couple of aggressive moves in the last few laps but I was able to keep up the pace, so for tomorrow my goal is to once again fight for the top ten.
Kervin Bos
Today was a solid start for the team as both riders were able to score points in Race 1 which is what we were after and shows us we can push for a better result tomorrow. It was unfortunate that Leon’s crash meant he couldn’t qualify higher up the grid as I think his race pace means the top five is realistic. However, he is starting from P4 tomorrow which gives us the chance to score a good result tomorrow. Jake was also able to make a step during the race and move up from his grid position and get in the fight for tenth position, he learned a lot today in terms of tyre management so for Race 2 we are also confident another good result is on the cards.
Australian RoundPhillip Island, Australia
WorldSBK 2018, Round 1
- Air Temp: 20°C
- Humidity: 79%
- Ground Temp: 31°C
| # | Rider | Num | Nationality Nat. | Points Pts. | Team | Constructor Constr. | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marco Melandri | 33 | ITA | 25 | Aruba.it Racing | Ducati | 33’40.354 |
| 2 | Tom Sykes | 66 | GBR | 20 | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki | +1.180 |
| 3 | Chaz Davies | 7 | GBR | 16 | Aruba.it Racing | Ducati | +9.265 |
| 4 | Xavi Fores | 12 | SPA | 13 | BARNI Racing Team | Ducati | +9.821 |
| 5 | Jonathan Rea | 65 | GBR | 11 | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki | +13.896 |
| 6 | Alex Lowes | 22 | GBR | 10 | Pata Yamaha | Yamaha | +17.028 |
| 7 | Leon Camier | 2 | GBR | 9 | Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team | Honda | +21.514 |
| 8 | Eugene Laverty | 50 | GBR | 8 | Milwaukee Aprilia | Aprilia | +23.662 |
| 9 | Michael van der Mark | 60 | NDL | 7 | Pata Yamaha | Yamaha | +27.430 |
| 10 | Leandro Mercado | 36 | ARG | 6 | IodaRacing Team | Aprilia | +27.446 |
| 11 | Loris Baz | 76 | FRA | 5 | Althea BMW Racing Team | BMW | +27.748 |
| 12 | Jake Gagne | 45 | USA | 4 | Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team | Honda | +28.466 |
| 13 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | 54 | TUR | 3 | Grillini Racing Team | Kawasaki | +30.000 |
| 14 | Román Ramos | 40 | SPA | 2 | Team Go Eleven | Kawasaki | +53.619 |
| 15 | Ondrej Jezek | 37 | CZE | 1 | Grillini Racing Team | Kawasaki | +1’00 |
| 16 | PJ Jacobsen | 99 | USA | 0 | Triple M Honda World Superbike Team | Honda | +1’00 |
| 17 | Jordi Torres | 81 | SPA | 0 | Althea BMW Racing Team | BMW | + |
| 18 | Yonny Hernandez | 68 | COL | 0 | Team Pedercini | Kawasaki | + |
