DONINGTON, Great Britain – For the second year in a row Tom Sykes swept to victory in both races in the fifth round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship at Donington Park. In the opening contest he beat Kawasaki Racing Team team mate Loris Baz and Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki). Baz was again runner-up in the second race with Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) completing the podium.
Thanks to a masterful performance in both of Sunday’s outings, Sykes now lies on top of the standings, 26 points ahead of Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike) and teammate Loris Baz.
“Maybe race one was the best race of my career,” the defending champion said. “We had a problem on the first laps of race one and Loris came quite aggressively in turn one. I lost some positions and in the first half a lap, on full lean angle the bike was cutting the power. I almost came into the pits but the Ninja cleared itself and after that the bike was working very well.
“In race two I knew Loris would have a good pace and Sylvain always goes well round Donington. I just kept pushing and took the lead and then the win. It is great to take another double and also take the championship lead again.”
Sykes won the opening race after a titanic battle with Baz.
Fighting back from a disastrous start Sykes gradually clawed back the deficit to claim his 17th career victory, the third so far this year, ahead of the young Frenchman, with fellow Brit Lowes taking a well deserved third at the flag.
Davide Giugliano (Ducati Superbike Team) crashed out of the leading group on the 16th lap leaving the two Kawasaki’s to fight it out, much to the delight of the crowd.
Marco Melandri (Aprilia Racing Team) was a lonely fourth ahead of Chaz Davies (Ducati Superbike Team) and Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike Team).
David Salom (Kawasaki Racing Team) was classified as the first of the EVO riders, finishing in 10th overall.
Christian Iddon (Bimota Alstare) and Eugene Laverty (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) crashed out of contention early on, thankfully without injury.
The second race of the day was once again a close encounter, with Sykes coming out victorious to take an impressive double in front of his home crowd.
The 23-lap race saw a three-way fight between Guintoli and the Kawasaki Racing Team duo of Baz and Sykes, with the #1 eventually pulling away in the final laps to claim his 18th career win in the series.
The leading bunch of riders locked together in the early stages until a clash between first race podium finisher Lowes and Melandri at the Melbourne Hairpin split the group. Both riders eventually remounted their bikes, with Lowes recovering several places to end up ninth.
Just as in race one Baz took second position with Guintoli taking the last podium place after a much stronger second race for the Frenchman.
Giugliano recovered from his crash earlier to claim fourth.
Other factory Ducati rider Davies was a lonely fifth ahead of Rea, who finished sixth.
Salom added to the celebrations for Kawasaki in the EVO category, by once again being the best classified rider, finishing a credible 10th overall.
Aaron Yates (Team Hero EBR) and Laverty fell before half distance, neither rider sustaining any injury. Laverty however was able to remount and salvage three points.
As in the opening race, Leon Camier (BMW Motorrad Italia) and Geoff May (Team Hero EBR) were not on the grid, Camier nursing an injury sustained in Saturday’s Tissot-Superpole, May unable to take part due to an ongoing technical problem.
After a thrilling 20-lap World Supersport race at Donington Park, Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) took his second win of the season after a tense final three corners saw him fend off Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta RC-Yakhnich Motorsport).
Kev Coghlan (DMC-Panavto Yamaha) was back on the podium, taking the final place on the rostrum after being in the leading fight until the closing stages.
Former World Champion Kenan Sofuoglu (Mahi Team India Kawasaki) suffered another technical problem while leading but unlike in recent races the Turk was able to bring his machine home in fourth at the flag, unlike Lorenzo Zanetti (Pata Honda World Supersport Team), who retired after his engine let go at Coppice Corner while the Italian was fighting for the lead.
Florian Marino (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) was classified fifth after working his way through the field from his lowly grid position. His team mate PJ Jacobsen was sixth.
Javier Orellana (Europ Food SL) came out victorious in the 10-lap Pata European Junior Cup race, held in drying conditions. The 16-year-old from Mallorca, Spain, who is currently contesting his third season in the series, was able to take the lead and to get a small margin on the five-rider chasing pack on the last lap, crossing the line ahead of Angelo Licciardi (S.E.F.A.B Racing), Augusto Fernandez (WIL Sport), Illan Fernandez (Evo Kids Racing) and Mika Perez (Cuna de Campeones).
Orellana now lies second in the standings, six points behind leader Fernandez.
Superbike Race 1 Results
1.Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 23 Laps/92.529km in 34:23.929 (161.393km/h)
2. Loris Baz (Kawasaki) +1.538
3. Alex Lowes (Suzuki) +6.394
4. Marco Melandri (Aprilia) +11.875
5. Chaz Davies (Ducati) +14.514
6. Jonathan Rea (Honda) +14.708
7. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia) +18.483
8. Leon Haslam (Honda) +29.295
9. Toni Elias (Aprilia) +31.291
10. David Salom(Kawasaki) +46.953
11. Niccolo Canepa (Ducati) +47.170
12. Fabien Foret (Kawasaki) +1:02.583
13. Jeremy Guarnoni (Kawasaki) +1:06.195
14. Alessandro Andreozzi (Kawasaki) +1:11.244
15. Claudio Corti (MV Agusta) +1:12.643
16. Romain Lanusse (Kawasaki) +1:22.209
17. Aaron Yates (EBR) +1 Lap
18. Imre Toth (BMW) +1 Lap
19. Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki) +2 Laps
RT. Davide Giugliano (Ducati)
RT. Eugene Laverty (Suzuki)
Superbike Race 2 Results
1.Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 23 Laps/92.529km in 34:14.134 (162.163km/h)
2. Loris Baz (Kawasaki) +3.678
3. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia) +7.376
4. Davide Giugliano (Ducati) +10.827
5. Chaz Davies (Ducati) +15.140
6. Jonathan Rea (Honda) +17.975
7. Leon Haslam (Honda) +33.737
8. Toni Elias (Aprilia) +40.362
9. Alex Lowes (Suzuki) +41.465
10. David Salom (Kawasaki) +48.929
11. Niccolo Canepa (Ducati) +49.229
12. Claudio Corti (MV Agusta) +57.984
13. Eugene Laverty (Suzuki) +1:00.751
14. Jeremy Guarnoni (Kawasaki) +1:01.697
15. Alessandro Andreozzi (Kawasaki) +1:03.349
16. Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki) +1:03.820
17. Marco Melandri (Aprilia) +1:05.485
18. Fabien Foret (Kawasaki) +1:11.049
19. Romain Lanusse (Kawasaki) +1:15.943
20. Imre Toth (BMW) +1 Lap
RT. Aaron Yates (EBR)
World Superbike Standings (Round 5 of 13)
1.Tom Sykes 185
2. Jonathan Rea 159
3. Loris Baz 159
4. Sylvain Guintoli 148
5. Chaz Davies 109
6. Marco Melandri 97
7. Davide Giugliano 82
8. Leon Haslam 75
9. Alex Lowes 73
10. Eugene Laverty 65
11. Toni Elias 65
12. David Salom 46
13. Niccolo Canepa 38
14. Leon Camier 20
15. Luca Scassa 16
16. Fabien Foret 14
17. Jeremy Guarnoni 12
18. Claudio Corti 10
19. Sheridan Morais 10
20. Kevin Allerton 6
21. Kervin Bos 5
22. Alessandro Andreozzi 4
23. Michele Fabrizio 2
–From World SBK Press Office
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