The opening race of the UK Round of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship was contested today at the Donington Park Circuit in central England, with #stefanbradl forced into an early retirement after two thirds of the encounter.
The race got underway after a touching minute’s silence for the late Nicky Hayden, which took place on Donington’s start/finish straight. Nicky’s Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 #69 was surrounded by all Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team members, with an ocean of #people made up of riders, fans, press and organising staff gathering around it.
Under a cloudy sky and with strong winds blowing across the 4.023km British circuit, the 27-year-old German rider maintained his position at the start, and by lap nine he was up to to 14th. With a clear track ahead, Stefan had to defend hard from a resurgent Davies, who had crashed out of the lead the lap before. After heading a group of three riders battling for 15th place, Bradl started to lose ground and ultimately returned to the pit-box at the end of lap 16, where he retired from the race.
On-track action for the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship at Donington Park will resume tomorrow morning at 9:50 local time (GMT +1) for the traditional 15-minute warm up, with the second encounter of the weekend to begin at 15:00.
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