Margin of victory: 1.3 seconds.
Hugely great race. Laverty led from the start but was passed by Guintoli after 14 laps. Fabrizio came from the back to run in second and finish third.
Leon Haslam did a total hero job to run for most of the race in fourth place. He finished seventh.
Laverty said in the post-race that his rear tire looked very usable after the race and he can give it more stick in race two. Sykes' Kawasaki, though, looked like it was chunking after 15 laps or less.
A dramatic crash on lap 10 put Checa and Melandri both out the race and Checa likely injured. Checa ran into the back of Melandri putting them both down and Checa into the local medical center. Will there be a factory Panigale on the grid in race two?
