Sportbike World Championship: Torres wins, Suzuki on the podium with Fleerackers, nightmare day for Vannucci

Antonio Torres on the Team Prodina Kawasaki ZX-6R 636 clinches the first historic victory in the World Sportbike Championship, the entry class of World Superbike. Joining him on the podium are his teammate Salvador and Fleerackers on Suzuki. A Saturday to forget for Matteo Vannucci.

At first glance, the new championship didn’t look too different from the old Supersport 300, aside from the completely different bikes. A very tight group, some contact, and many crashes. After a splendid pole position on Friday, Matteo Vannucci was hoping to celebrate a win or at least a podium aboard the Aprilia of the Revo team. In the early stages of the race, he fought for the top positions. It seemed within reach, but the race was stopped on lap six to restore the track, which was dirty with oil or other fluids.

At the time of the interruption Vannucci was fourth, while Bruno Ieraci on Triumph was in first place. At the restart, Vannucci got away poorly, dropped to ninth, and as he tried to climb back up he slipped. Shortly before, Elia Bartolini on Triumph had also crashed. Zero points, then, for two of the most anticipated Italians. The best finisher was Ieraci in sixth.

The podium featuring a Suzuki rider is noteworthy. The Hamamatsu manufacturer has returned to the World Superbike paddock after a long absence. In the first phase of the race, there were as many as four leading riders. Then Beekmans fell during lap six, which led to the race being stopped. In any case, the third place for Ferre Fleerackers and fourth for Jeffrey Buis were significant results for a motorcycle brand returning after many years of silence.