Preview Report

Giugliano and Gagne to take on season finale in Qatar

Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team

Qatar Round

Losail International Circuit, Qatar

WorldSBK 2017, Round 13

The final act of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship takes place this week at the Losail International Circuit with a slight change in the schedule compared to previous editions – which now sees the final day of action set on Saturday 4 November. The Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team is currently on its way to Qatar’s capital city Doha with Davide Giugliano and the returning Jake Gagne as the standard bearers for the season finale.

After a challenging weekend on Spanish soil, Giugliano is looking forward to the Qatari event with the goal to return to the type of form shown in France a month ago. The Italian rider, who turned 28 three days ago, will try and make the most of this final racing weekend of 2017 to try and finish the season on a high note.

Jake Gagne will return on board the WorldSBK-spec version of the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 for the first time since the French Round at Magny-Cours. The 24-year-old from San Diego has never raced in Qatar before – and never under floodlights! – which means that he will need to find his way around the long and flowing 5.380km Losail circuit and get used to different track conditions, lighting and visibility.

World Superbike action will get underway on Thursday at 17:45 local time (GMT +3), with the two races scheduled to get underway on Friday and Saturday at 21:00.

12_Jerez_WorldSBKFP2_Guigliano_C87Q9464
Images are copyright but free for editorial use
11_MagnyCours_WorldSBKFP1_Gagne_C87Q0162
Images are copyright but free for editorial use
Davide Giugliano

Davide Giugliano 34

After Jerez being much harder than we expected, we head to Qatar with great motivation to do well and to finish the season on a positive note. Losail is a very different circuit compared to the European ones and the night races are something absolutely unique, so I’m looking forward to that. We need to start the event on the right foot and hopefully I will be able to give the team a strong result at this track.

Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team
Jake Gagne

Jake Gagne 45

I'm so excited to have another race on the World Superbike Fireblade. A huge thank you goes to Honda and Ten Kate for thinking of me again and giving me another great opportunity. Last time out in France was a big learning weekend for me and I want to keep the forward momentum rolling. Qatar will be a new track for me but I can't wait to start turning laps. I really want to finish the year strong and keep learning.

Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team
Ronald ten Kate

Ronald ten Kate

Team Manager

We look forward to finishing 2017 on a high note, so that it can be a good starting point for the season to come and a good way to wrap up what has been a very challenging year for us. There are still two races to contest, so we will do our best to get some encouraging results. We are happy to have Davide and Jake on our side once again. Both of them have been extremely professional in their appearances with us, so we hope they can have fun out on track in what surely is a unique event on the calendar.

Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team
Qatar Round

Losail International Circuit, Qatar

WorldSBK 2017, Round 13

Rider Standings
Sunday, 22 Oct 2017 - Open world standings grid
# Rider Num Nationality Nat. Points Pts. Team Constructor Constr.
1 Jonathan REA 65 GBR 506 Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki
2 Chaz DAVIES 7 GBR 363 Aruba.it Racing Ducati
3 Tom SYKES 66 GBR 363 Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki
4 Marco MELANDRI 33 ITA 301 Aruba.it Racing Ducati
5 Alex LOWES 22 GBR 225 Pata Yamaha Yamaha
6 Michael VAN DER MARK 60 NDL 210 Pata Yamaha Yamaha
7 Xavi FORES 12 SPA 185 BARNI Racing Team Ducati
8 Leon CAMIER 2 GBR 155 MV Agusta Reparto Corse MV Agusta
9 Jordi TORRES 81 SPA 149 Althea BMW Racing Team BMW
10 Eugene LAVERTY 50 GBR 135 Milwaukee Aprilia Aprilia
11 Leandro MERCADO 36 ARG 115 IodaRacing Team Aprilia
12 Lorenzo SAVADORI 32 ITA 113 Milwaukee Aprilia Aprilia
13 Román RAMOS 40 SPA 106 Team Go Eleven Kawasaki
14 Stefan BRADL 6 GER 67 Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team Honda
15 Randy KRUMMENACHER 15 SWI 50 Puccetti Racing Kawasaki
16 Raffaele DE ROSA 35 ITA 48 Althea BMW Racing Team BMW
17 Nicky HAYDEN 69 USA 40 Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team Honda
18 Alex DE ANGELIS 15 RSM 32 Pedercini Racing SC-Project Kawasaki
19 Markus REITERBERGER 21 GER 29 Van Zon Remeha BMW
20 Ayrton BADOVINI 86 ITA 26 Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki
21 Leon HASLAM GBR 20
22 Sylvain GUINTOLI 05 FRA 18 Puccetti Racing Kawasaki
23 Ondrej JEZEK 37 CZE 18 Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki
24 Davide GIUGLIANO 34 ITA 13 Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team Honda
25 Anthony WEST 13 AUS 13 Team Pedercini Honda
26 Riccardo RUSSO 84 ITA 13 Guandalini Racing Yamaha
27 Alessandro ANDREOZZI 121 ITA 11 Guandalini Racing Yamaha
28 Takumi TAKAHASHI 72 JPN 8 Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team Honda
29 Jake DIXON 94 GBR 7 Dynavolt Intact GP Suter
30 Jake GAGNE 45 USA 6 Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team Honda
31 Joshua BROOKES 25 AUS 4 ERMotorsport-EliteRoads.com.au Yamaha
32 Julian SIMON 60 SPA 4 Garage Plus Interwetten Kalex