2013 Silverstone World Superbike Race One: Delayed Start After Mixed Conditions

Silverstone weather wasn’t as clear as was hoped, with the earlier Superstock race cut short by a lap for the rain. The start was delayed in an attempt to let the track conditions to clear up, but they eventually, twenty minutes later than advertised, had to race.

The race was shortened by a lap to 17 laps and Eugene Laverty took the lead on a dry track ahead of Jonathan Rea, Loris Baz and Tom Sykes. Davide Giugliano pulled into the pits and parked his bike while Tom Sykes skipped his Kawasaki’s rear wheel over the tarmac to pass Loris Baz on the brakes. On the third lap, Sykes passed Rea for second place, and was followed by Baz as Rea started to lose places in the longer stretches of track.

At the front, Laverty, Sykes and Baz were covered by a third of a second when Sykes took the lead from Laverty. The top ten had no measurable gaps and close racing was the order of the day with Sylvain Guintoli recording the fastest lap to that point in seventh place and Chaz Davies showing Baz a wheel.

On lap six, everything changed. A white flag was brought out, warning the riders that it had started to rain. Lap times dropped rapidly, fifteen seconds off the pace at half race distance, and Sykes lost his first place to his wet-weather specialist teammate Loris Baz who himself lost the lead to Jonathan Rea who used the confusion and caution of a damp track to charge through the pack and dice with Baz for the lead.

With the uncertainty of the conditions and closeness of the top ten, the lead was fought for by Jules Cluzel, Loris Baz and Jonathan Rea, surrounded by Sylvain Guintoli, Leon Haslam and Leon Camier, while the BMW of Chaz Davies fell back to join his teammate Marco Melandri in tenth place behind Eugene Laverty and Tom Sykes.

Once the crowded fight was settled, Jonathan Rea’s Honda emerged as the leader, with Loris Baz two seconds behind him and five seconds clear of the chaos behind. Jules Cluzel led the fight for third place, but he was quickly passed by Sylvain Guintoli and Leons Haslam and Camier.

Jonathan Rea dragged out his gap to six seconds while Leon Camier scrapped his way through to fight Loris Baz for second. Baz was then caught and passed by Camier, Guintoli and Laverty as the fight for the podium started.

Leon Camier and Eugene Laverty fought hard for second place while the Frenchmen Loris Baz, Sylvain Guintoli and Jules Cluzel scrapped with Leon Haslam for fourth place. Camier passed Laverty a few times, but it would be Laverty that would win that battle.

Jonathan Rea took his first victory of the year, in very mixed conditions, keeping a calm head as he acted as the “donkey”, as he put it, ahead of the pack. Eugene Laverty and Leon Camier filled the rest of the podium while Sylvain Guintoli extended his championship lead in fourth place.

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