A perfect weekend for reigning champion, Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes, taking the double at round five of the world superbike championship at Donington overnight to regain the world championship lead.

Race One:

Reigning champion Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) has won the opening race after a titanic battle with his team mate Loris Baz at Donington Park.

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 Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) taking a well deserved 3rd 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 4th 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.

Race Two:

The second race of the day for the eni FIM Superbike World Championship was once again a close encounter, with reigning World Superbike Champion Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) coming out victorious to take an impressive double in front of his home crowd, just like one year ago.

The 23 lap race then saw a three way fight between Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) and the Kawasaki Racing Team duo Loris Baz and Tom Sykes, with the #1 eventually pulling away in the final laps to claim his 18th career win in the series. Thanks to a masterful performance in both of today’s outings, Sykes now lies on top of the standings, 26 points ahead of Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike) and teammate Loris Baz.

Tom Sykes: “Maybe race one was the best race of my career. 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.”

The leading bunch of riders locked together in the early stages until a clash between first race podium finisher Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) and Marco Melandri (Aprilia Racing Team) at the Melbourne Hairpin split the group. Both riders eventually remounted their bikes, with Lowes recovering several places to end up 9th.

Alex Lowes: “Leading my first World Superbike race was mega! Race 1 was good, although I struggled a bit towards the end. It’s the home race for both the team and myself, so I’m pleased with the result. I’m really disappointed about the second race, I had a good pace and I could have had another top 3 finish. I tried my best and I got away with a ninth place, even though my bike was damaged. We have proved we can run at the front and we’ll move on with the confidence gained here at Donington.”

Just as in race one Loris Baz took second position with Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) taking the last podium place after a much stronger second race for the Frenchman.

Davide Giugliano (Ducati Superbike Team) recovered from his crash earlier to claim 4th.

Other factory Ducati rider Chaz Davies was a lonely 5th ahead of Rea who finished 6th. David 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 Eugene Laverty (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) fell before half distance, neither rider sustaining any injury. Laverty however was able to remount and salvage 3 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 yesterday’s Tissot-Superpole, May unable to take part due to an ongoing technical problem.

Results: 1. Sykes (Kawasaki) 23 Laps/92.529 km in 34’14.134 average 162.163 kph; 2. Baz (Kawasaki) 3.678; 3. Guintoli (Aprilia) 7.376; 4. Giugliano (Ducati) 10.827; 5. Davies (Ducati) 15.140; 6. Rea (Honda) 17.975; 7. Haslam (Honda) 33.737; 8. Elias (Aprilia) 40.362; 9. Lowes (Suzuki) 41.465; 10. Salom (Kawasaki) 48.929; 11. Canepa (Ducati) 49.229; 12. Corti (MV Agusta) 57.984; 13. Laverty (Suzuki) 1’00.751; 14. Guarnoni (Kawasaki) 1’01.697; 15. Andreozzi (Kawasaki) 1’03.349; 16. Morais (Kawasaki) 1’03.820; 17. Melandri (Aprilia) 1’05.485; 18. Foret (Kawasaki) 1’11.049; 19. Lanusse (Kawasaki) 1’15.943; 20. Toth (BMW) 1 Lap; RT. Yates (EBR); SH. Badovini (Bimota) 40.579; SH. Iddon (Bimota) 47.949.

Standings (Round 5 of 13): 1. Sykes 185; 2. Rea 159; 3. Baz 159; 4. Guintoli 148; 5. Davies 109; 6. Melandri 97; 7. Giugliano 82; 8. Haslam 75; 9. Lowes 73; 10. Laverty 65; 11. Elias 65; 12. Salom 46; 13. Canepa 38; 14. Camier 20; 15. Scassa 16; 16. Foret 14; 17. Guarnoni 12; 18. Corti 10; 19. Morais 10; 20. Allerton 6; 21. Bos 5; 22. Andreozzi 4; 23. Fabrizio 2. Manufacturers: 1. Kawasaki 193; 2. Aprilia 162; 3. Honda 159; 4. Ducati 137; 5. Suzuki 115; 6. BMW 26; 7. MV Agusta 10.

World Supersport:

After a thrilling 20 lap World Supersport race at Donington Park, Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) has taken 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. 

Results: 1. Vd Mark (Honda) 20 Laps/80.460 km in 30’47.132 average 156.814 kph; 2. Cluzel (MV Agusta) 0.114; 3. Coghlan (Yamaha) 1.266; 4. Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) 1.556; 5. Marino (Kawasaki) 7.472; 6. Jacobsen (Kawasaki) 10.557; 7. Kennedy (Honda) 13.952; 8. Tamburini (Kawasaki) 14.783; 9. De Rosa (Honda) 15.363; 10. Rolfo (Kawasaki) 16.585; 11. Bussolotti (Honda) 22.829; 12. Wilairot (Honda) 24.005; 13. Russo (Honda) 38.908; 14. Nocco (Kawasaki) 45.198; 15. Leonov (MV Agusta) 46.175; etc.

Standings (Round 5 of 12): 1. Vd Mark 90; 2. Marino 76; 3. Cluzel 62; 4. Coghlan 60; 5. Zanetti 49; 6. De Rosa 45; 7. Sofuoglu 38; 8. Tamburini 37; 9. Rolfo 36; 10. Jacobsen 32; 11. Wahr 23; 12. Bussolotti 21; 13. Russo 21; 14. Menghi 19; 15. Kennedy 19; 16. Gamarino 16; 17. Leonov 13; 18. Wilairot 13; 19. Gowland 9; 20. Nocco 8; 21. Coveña 6; 22. Schmitter 3; 23. Calero 3; 24. Rogers 1. Manufacturers: 1. Honda 111; 2. Kawasaki 87; 3. Yamaha 70; 4. MV Agusta 70; 5. Triumph 9.

Ffi  Ingrid Roepers at iroepers@irpr.com.au or 04 111 989 44

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