Antonio Torres (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) struck gold again in the FIM Sportbike World Championship, landing his second win in the nascent category to lead the Championship in wins. He has shown a penchant for decisive attacks on the top position, an important skill to hone as the World Sportbike class tends to demand grace under fire in the later stages of races. He sits on the doorstep of the Riders’ Championship lead, just ten points behind his teammate and compatriot David Salvador.
RACE 1 PODIUM HEARTBREAK
He saw lights out in the weekend’s first contest from back in P5, yet the Spaniard moved forward up the grid to sit in P3 two tenths behind his teammate by the end of the opening lap. Things got more complicated as the laps piled up, with new faces like Fenton Seabright (PHR Performance Triumph) throwing their hats in the ring, joining the group of four riders within half a second of Matteo Vannucci (Revo-M2) in the lead. Torres fluctuated in and out of the top three positions as the pack at the front made passes galore in the hunt for the podium, but in the end it was Jeffrey Buis's (Track & Trades Wixx Racing) late addition to the assault on the top three spots which shuffled Torres down off the podium, the Dutchman finishing in P2 ahead of Salvador who crossed the line a mere 0.014s ahead of the #47.
REDEMPTION TO CLOSE THE ROUND
After coming up short by such a fine margin, the Spaniard was determined to make the most of Sunday’s WorldSPB Race 2. Starting from the back of the front row, Torres made sure he avoided a clumsy mistake in the cramped opening chicane on Lap 1, and from there wasted little time climbing to the front of the pack by overtaking his teammate on Lap 2, and unseating Bruno Ieraci (CM Triumph Factory Racing) on Lap 3 to finish the lap with a tenuous hold on the race lead, and four riders within four tenths. Ieraci struck back to lead Laps 4 and 5 before Xavi Artigas (MTM Kawasaki) led Lap 6, and Torres got his hands back on the wheel in Lap 7. The leader continued to shuffle through the pack from there. with no rider holding the lead for more than one lap consecutively. After his teammate took the lead on Lap 10, Torres knew it was go time as he uncorked a decisive 1’49.199s effort on Lap 11, which took him up to P2. On the final lap, he sat P3 into the final sector, but Torres took the inside line, and Ieraci followed him through on Turn 20 and Ieraci cut inside the #38, suddenly leaving Salvador at the back of the group. Rounding onto the home straight, Torres’s Kawasaki ZX-6R 636 outgunned Ieraci’s Triumph Daytona 660 to seal the Spaniard’s Race 2 win.
On his rousing Race 2 win and his new P2 status in the Riders’ Championship, Torres said: “Race 2 was very difficult because Bruno is very fast, it was a crazy race, and I’m happy for Salvador and me. I’m only ten points behind him, but the Championship is very long; these races are still early. Aragon is my second-favourite track behind Jerez, see you there!”
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