Donington Park WSB: Melandri takes race one win

Italian Marco Melandri has won race one at Donington Park and taken BMW’s first WSB victory.

It was a one-two for BMW as Brit Leon Haslam claimed second place ahead of pole sitter Tom Sykes.

Haslam took the lead from the start, with a brave move round the outside of Sykes and Melandri.

Haslam ran wide at the end of lap four, letting Sykes take the lead, but Haslam quickly retook the lead.

Haslam then ran on to the gravel at the Foggy Esses with only a handful of laps remaining, handing team-mate Melandri a comfrotable lead at the front.

Despite a heroic last lap charge from Haslam, he was unable to retake the lead.

Max Biaggi still leads the championship by one point ahead of Sykes after finishing fifth. The Italian was unable to halt the strong late charge from Honda rider Jonathan Rea, who finished fourth. Reigning champion Carlos Checa finished sixth.

Brits Leon Camier and Chaz Davies finished ninth and 12th respectively.

Despite a strong start, Aprilia rider Eugene Laverty was unable to improve on his poor qualifying position, the Irishman finishing 15th.

1. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 34’26.736
2. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 34’27.464
3. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 34’28.345
4. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 34’28.555
5. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 34’28.838
6. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 34’31.556
7. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 34’34.256
8. Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 34’34.663
9. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 34’41.880
10. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 34’42.801
11. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 34’46.541
12. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 34’46.906
13. Maxime Berger (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 34’48.010
14. Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) Ducati 1098R 34’48.253
15. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 34’53.656
16. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 35’01.761
17. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 35’05.929
18. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 35’09.070
19. Niccolò Canepa (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1098R 35’10.290
NC. Mark Aitchison (Grillini Progea Superbike Team) BMW S1000 RR 35’50.353
NC. Peter Hickman (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 35’17.985
RT. Gary Mason (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 22’08.892
RT. Leandro Mercado (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R