Phillip Island, Australia - Irish rider Eugene Laverty scored a sensational maiden win with his first ride on the brand-new Suzuki GSX-R1000 - the first time a Suzuki has won a World Superbike race since the second leg at Kyalami in 2010.
For Laverty it was three in a row, after scoring a double at the final round of 2013 at Jerez with former employer Aprilia.
The Nogale squad, however, got their revenge in Race 2 with a superbly judged fifth World Superbike career win for Sylvain Guintoli, back after a long and difficult recovery from a shoulder injury, in a race that was cut short when Laverty’s Suzuki self-destructed.
Multiple South African champion Sheridan Morais, in his debut on the Iron Brain Kawasaki ZX-10R Evo, scored points in both outings with a 15th in Race 1 and 14th in Race 2.
Jules Cluzel made history in a two-part, red-flagged Supersport race with a debut victory for the MV Agusta F3 675, the first for the iconic Italian marque since the legendary Giacomo Agostini won the German 500cc Grand Prix in 1976.
RACE 1
Laverty got a poor start and was seventh at the end of lap one but, after breaking away from early battles with Chaz Davies (Ducati) and Jonathan Rea (Honda), Laverty put on a superb charge to the front, passing Davide Giugliano (Ducati), and Marco Melandri and leader Sylvain Guintoli on the works Aprilia RSV4’s to take the lead on lap 17.
As Laverty pulled away in the closing stages, Melandri got the better of team mate Guintoli for second, while Giugliano had to settle for fourth after losing ground in the final laps.
Loris Baz (Kawasaki) edged Rea to take fifth but Baz's team mate, reigning champion Tom Sykes had a difficult race, eventually ending up seventh ahead of Davies.
Evo riders David Salom (Kawasaki), Niccolò Canepa (Ducati) and local hero Glenn Allerton (standing on for injured BMW Rider Sylvain Barrier) put up an exciting battle for ninth with Salom in front when it mattered by just 0.061sec.
RESULTS
1 Eugene Laverty (Ireland) Suzuki GSX-R1000 – 33min39.440
2 Marco Melandri (Italy) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +2.959sec
3 Sylvain Guintoli (France) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +3.034
4 Davide Giugliano (Italy) Ducati 1199 Panigale R +6.972
5 Loris Baz (Italy) Kawasaki ZX-10R +11.132
6 Jonathan Rea (Britain) Honda CBR1000RR +11.718
7 Tom Sykes (Britain) Kawasaki ZX-10R +15.612
8 Chaz Davies (Britain) Ducati 1199 Panigale R +25.724
9 David Salom (Spain) Kawasaki ZX-10R Evo +37.407
10 Niccolo Canepa (Italy) Ducati 1199 Panigale R Evo +37.468
11 Glen Allerton (Australia) BMW S1000 RR Evo +39.271
12 Fabien Foret (France) Kawasaki ZX-10R Evo +45.212
13 Claudio Corti (Italy) MV Agusta F4 RR +50.249
14 Jeremy Guarnoni (France) Kawasaki ZX-10R Evo +1min17.134
15 Sheridan Morais (South Africa) Kawasaki ZX-10R Evo +1min23.686
RACE 2
Guintoli got another rocket start and was leading from Laverty, Baz and Sykes when the engine of Laverty’s Gixer blew on lap 14, depositing a lot of oil on the circuit and bringing out the red flags.
As more the two-third of race distance had been completed, the result was declared as at the end of lap 14, with Guintoli the winner, ahead of Baz and Sykes.
Giugliano was fourth followed by Honda team mates Rea and Haslam, while Davies on the seconds works Ducati claimed seventh place ahead of Melandri and Aprilia privateers Toni Elias.
Melandri was part of a thrilling 10-way battle for the lead in the early stages, before running wide at Turn 4 on lap eight. Two laps later Brit Alex Lowes on the second Suzuki made the same mistake while chasing the leaders, eventually finishing 13th behind Evo riders Salom, Canepa and former World Supersport champion Fabien Foret (Kawasaki).
Guintoli said afterwards: "I pushed a bit too much in Race 1; I started off really strong but towards the end I couldn't keep the same pace.
“Track conditions were a lot different from the previous days, so in the second race I tried to save the tyre a bit and it worked out.”
“I would like to thank the people who assisted me during my recovery, I feel quite tired now but there is a long break before the next race to be fully fit."
RESULTS
1 Sylvain Guintoli (France) Aprilia RSV4 Factory – 21min34.034
2 Loris Baz (Italy) Kawasaki ZX-10R +0.283sec
3 Tom Sykes (Britain) Kawasaki ZX-10R +1.103
4 Davide Giugliano (Italy) Ducati 1199 Panigale R +2.052
5 Jonathan Rea (Britain) Honda CBR1000RR +4.951
6 Leon Haslam (Britain) Honda CBR1000RR +5.673
7 Chaz Davies (Britain) Ducati 1199 Panigale R +9.664
8 Marco Melandri (Italy) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +10.574
9 Toni Elias (Spain) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +11.682
10 David Salom (Spain) Kawasaki ZX-10R Evo +15.065
11 Niccolo Canepa (Italy) Ducati 1199 Panigale R Evo +16.294
12 Fabien Foret (France) Kawasaki ZX-10R Evo +16.919
13 Alex Lowes (Britain) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +19.694
14 Sheridan Morais (South Africa) Kawasaki ZX-10R Evo +27.266
15 Glen Allerton (Australia) BMW S1000 RR Evo +27.845
POINTS (after one of 14 rounds)
1 Sylvain Guintoli (France) Aprilia RSV4 Factory – 41
2 Loris Baz (Italy) Kawasaki ZX-10R – 31
3 Marco Melandri (Italy) Aprilia RSV4 Factory – 28
4 Davide Giugliano (Italy) Ducati 1199 Panigale R – 26
5 Tom Sykes (Britain) Kawasaki ZX-10R – 25
6 Eugene Laverty (Ireland) Suzuki GSX-R1000 – 25
7 Jonathan Rea (Britain) Honda CBR1000RR – 21
8 Chaz Davies (Britain) Ducati 1199 Panigale R – 17
9 David Salom (Spain) Kawasaki ZX-10R Evo – 13
10 Niccolo Canepa (Italy) Ducati 1199 Panigale R Evo – 11
17 Sheridan Morais (South Africa) Kawasaki ZX-10R Evo – 3
WORLD SUPERSPORT
The race was red flagged on lap eight after Jack Kennedy’s Honda CBR600RR did a fair imitation of a hand grenade, bringing to a bitter end a difficult weekend for the Irishman, who was riding with a talus fracture in his right ankle.
After the marshals had cleaned up the mess the race was decided by a five-lap sprint; three-times World Supersport champion Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) took the lead in Turn 1, only to crash out on lap two, along with rising star Michael van der Mark (Honda).
The Dutch rider was able to rejoin, albeit stone last, but Sofuglu’s ZX-6R was too badly damaged to continue.
With two of the favourites out of the running, the race became a spectacular five-way battle, with Cluzel edging Yamaha R6 rider Kev Coghlan at the line by less than a quarter of a second, followed within 0.822sec by Raffaele De Rosa (Honda) and the Kawasakis of Florian Marino and Roberto Tamburini.
RESULTS
1 Jules Cluzel (France) MV Agusta F3 675 – 7min57.585
2 Kev Coghlan (British) Yamaha R6 +0.224sec
3 Raffaele De Rosa (Italy) Honda CBR600RR +0.317
4 Florian Marino (Italy) Kawasaki ZX-6R +0.347
5 Roberto Tamburini (Italy) Kawasaki ZX-6R +0.822
6 Kevin Wahr (Germany) Yamaha R6 +4.010
7 Graeme Gowland (Britain) Triumph 675 R +5.282
8 Riccardo Russo (Italy) Honda CBR600RR +5.310
9 Fabio Menghi (Italy) Yamaha R6 +5.517
10 Christian Gamarino (Italy) Kawasaki ZX-6R +5.858
POINTS (after one of 14 rounds)
1 Jules Cluzel (France) MV Agusta F3 675 – 25
2 Kev Coghlan (British) Yamaha R6 – 20
3 Raffaele De Rosa (Italy) Honda CBR600RR – 16
4 Florian Marino (Italy) Kawasaki ZX-6R – 13
5 Roberto Tamburini (Italy) Kawasaki ZX-6R – 11
6 Kevin Wahr (Germany) Yamaha R6 – 10
7 Graeme Gowland (Britain) Triumph 675 R – 9
8 Riccardo Russo (Italy) Honda CBR600RR – 8
9 Fabio Menghi (Italy) Yamaha R6 – 7
10 Christian Gamarino (Italy) Kawasaki ZX-6R – 6