Britain’s Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) waited to his home round of Donington to pull off the ultimate weekend of his racing career, taking his maiden double win overnight at the British circuit in round five of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship.   Over the three days, Sykes was in control, leading every session from Friday’s first qualifying.

Thanks to his 8^th wsbk victory, Sykes lies now 2^nd in the championship, only 4 points away from Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team), who remains championship leader after two podium finishes. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) took a 2^nd place in race one, while Eugene Laverty scored his first ever top-3 finish on the Leicestershire track in race two.

The perfect Sunday for UK fans was completed by Sam Lowes’ World Supesport win, the third consecutive for the local boy in 2013. As was the case with Sykes, the Yakhnich Motorsport Yamaha rider was unstoppable in world supersport on what is his favourite circuit.  

Race 1

Tom Sykes was the winner of race one at Donington Park. The Brit rode a perfect race up front for all the 23 laps, displaying pure class and outstanding race craft, avoiding any risk and at the same time not allowing the following riders to close the gap. Despite a challenging first half of the race, Marco Melandri  clawed his way back to 2^nd following a successful overtake manoeuvre at the last turn, on lap 16, over third place Sylvain Guintoli.

Following a competitive first part of the race Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike), couldn’t keep up the pace with Sykes and was forced to ride defensively to a final fourth position. The Ulsterman finished ahead of Frenchman Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) – who had an up and down performance in race one – and Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team). The works Aprilia rider had a hard time after running off-track during lap 7 at “Fogarty Esses”, and continued to struggle as the race went by.

Same type of performance for Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK), able to stay with team mate Melandri in the early stages but finding it difficult to push hard late in the race. An early end of the race for  Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki), following a crash at “Goddards” on lap 3, while team mate Jules Cluzel ended up 9^th in a battle to the finish line ahead of Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma Aprilia) and the Team Ducati Alstare trio of Ayrton Badovini, Carlos Checa and Niccolò Canepa.

After doing his best to line-up his CBR 1000 RR on the grid, Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike) was forced to withdraw the race due to his fitness conditions.

Race 1 results: 1. Sykes (Kawasaki) 23 Laps/92.529 km in 34’10.881 average 162.420 kph; 2. Melandri (BMW) 2.379; 3. Guintoli (Aprilia) 3.808; 4. Rea (Honda) 6.760; 5. Baz (Kawasaki) 13.649; 6. Giugliano (Aprilia) 15.551; 7. Laverty (Aprilia) 17.453; 8. Davies (BMW) 19.138; 9. Cluzel (Suzuki) 27.738; 10. Fabrizio (Aprilia) 30.817; 11. Badovini (Ducati) 31.611; 12. Checa (Ducati) 31.816; 13. Canepa (Ducati) 31.930; 14. Neukirchner (Ducati) 43.025; 15. Iannuzzo (BMW) 4 Laps; RT. Sandi (Kawasaki); RT. Lundh (Kawasaki); RT. Camier (Suzuki).

Race 2

Tom Sykes’ maiden double-win in the series came after a total domination in race two for the home rider, who continues his charge to the top now just four points away – waiting for the final decision by the FIM International Disciplinary Court on Monza race two results. The last time a Kawasaki rider was able to secure both race victories dated back to 2000.

Tom Sykes: “I have been in World Superbike for a few years now and I to take the first double win on home soil is a fairy tale. One click on the front suspension between races made the difference and we could see that in the second race time, which was better than the first one. I got the new best lap yesterday and I got the new lap record in race two so I have the full set. I really enjoyed the support from the crowd and I hope they enjoyed the show. No better place to do my first double than at Donington Park. We’re in a strong situation, we have a good base setting and now we are going to some fantastic circuits.”

Sykes pulled away from the chasing pack in the early stages and managed a seven seconds lead up to the chequered flag, finishing ahead of works Aprilia duo of Sylvain Guintoli – still championship leader – and Eugene Laverty. The 26 year old Irishman, at his first rostrum finish on the Leicester track, had to defend his position from a late charge by Marco Melandri, who ran off track at “Fogarty Esses” following a final attempt of edging out the opponent from 3^rd place.

Eugene Laverty: “At the end of race one, I was disappointed. I have always had some hard time on this track, but I could have done better than seventh place. On the other hand race two got off to a better start straight away. A few changes we made to my RSV4 between the two races immediately increased my feeling with it. In fact, I was able to defend third place against Melandri’s attacks, and as I said at Monza, it’s always nice to end the weekend with a podium. The performance in race two is encouraging for the rest of the championship. It shows that even on shorter, more winding tracks we can keep up with the top riders.”

Melandri quickly rejoined to end up 5^th behind the competitive Davide Giugliano, who looked at times in the position to have a shot at the top-3 he’s missing from June 2012. Slight improvement for official BMW rider Chaz Davies, 6^th at the flag ahead of Frenchman Loris Baz.

A four-way battle for 7^th saw Niccolò Canepa having the better of Jules Cluzel, Michel Fabrizio and Jonathan Rea. The one event rider for the round waved Team Ducati Alstare’s flag high after Checa’s withdrawal from race two (left shoulder issues) and Ayrton Badovini’s crash at turn two on lap 19. The “nightmare weekend” of Leon Camier was completed by another low-speed crash at turn 12, with the Englishman able to get back on track for a final 13^th place.

Race 2 results: 1. Sykes (Kawasaki) 23 Laps/92.529 km in 34’06.921 average 162.734 kph; 2. Guintoli (Aprilia) 8.035; 3. Laverty (Aprilia) 10.738; 4. Giugliano (Aprilia) 12.257; 5. Melandri (BMW) 15.976; 6. Davies (BMW) 16.475; 7. Baz (Kawasaki) 27.524; 8. Canepa (Ducati) 30.186; 9. Cluzel (Suzuki) 30.501; 10. Fabrizio (Aprilia) 30.885; 11. Rea (Honda) 31.529; 12. Neukirchner (Ducati) 46.782; 13. Camier (Suzuki) 54.509; 14. Sandi (Kawasaki) 1’05.789; 15. Lundh (Kawasaki) 1’20.431; 16. Iannuzzo (BMW) 1’20.719; RT. Badovini (Ducati).

Standings – provisional (round 5 of 15)*: 1. Guintoli 173; 2. Sykes 169; 3. Laverty 149; 4. Melandri 127; 5. Davies 112; 6. Baz 95; 7. Rea 89; 8. Fabrizio 86; 9. Giugliano 72; 10. Cluzel 55; 11. Camier 49; 12. Neukirchner 45; 13. Badovini 37; 14. Checa 33; 15. Haslam 29; etc. Manufacturers: 1. Aprilia 208; 2. Kawasaki 180; 3. BMW 175; 4. Honda 96; 5. Suzuki 82; 6. Ducati 65.

* Possible updated results could be defined by the International Disciplinary Court which is dealing with the appeal lodged by Aprilia Racing Team and rider Sylvain Guintoli, following the decision taken by the FIM Stewards in Monza (Italian Round, last 12 May) to cancel the drop of position sanction (from third to fourth place in race 2) imposed by the Race Direction on rider Tom Sykes.

World Supersport – Sam Lowes wins in perfect fashion

An uncatchable Sam Lowes has won by domination the World Supersport race overnight at Donington Park. The local rider put in a supreme performance to finish with an 11 second margin over 2^nd place Kenan Sofuoglu (Mahi Racing Team India Kawasaki) and delighted the crowd with a spectacular wheelie over the finish line.

Lowes lapped consistently within the 1’31 seconds bracket throughout all the 23 laps – except the final one. Sofuoglu, meanwhile, had to face some tough challenge to get in 2^nd place but once he did, the defending champion could easily pull away for a lonely ride to the chequered flag. The Turkish rider was also involved in a collision with Christian Iddon early in the race at “Melbourne” hairpin (Lap 2) that forced him to run wide and lose some ground.

Roberto Rolfo (Parkingo MV Agusta Corse) scored a sensational 3^rd for the Italian brand, that was last seen on a World Championship podium in 1976: at that time Giacomo Agostini was the winner of the 500cc race at Nurburgring. Rolfo put up an outstanding recover from th 15^th slot on the grid to give Giuliano Rovelli’s squad the first rostrum finish in Supersport since Portimao 2011.

Wollongong’s Mitch Carr finished 24^th on the AARK Triumph, while Honda’s Matt Davies (West Wyalong) was out after five laps.

Race results: 1. Lowes (Yamaha) 22 Laps/88.506 km in 33’37.767 average 157.908 kph; 2. Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) 11.105; 3. Rolfo (MV Agusta) 14.528; 4. Zanetti (Honda) 19.999; 5. Scassa (Kawasaki) 20.120; 6. Kennedy (Honda) 20.385; 7. Morais (Honda) 24.324; 8. Antonelli (Kawasaki) 27.395; 9. Foret (Kawasaki) 28.153; 10. Richards (Triumph) 28.264; 11. Ivanov (Kawasaki) 28.487; 12. Talmacsi (Honda) 29.041; 13. De Rosa (Honda) 29.648; 14. Russo (Kawasaki) 32.602; 15. Baldolini (Suzuki) 38.965; etc.

Standings (round 5 of 14): 1. Lowes 95; 2. Sofuoglu 65; 3. Foret 61; 4. Zanetti 53; 5. Vd Mark 49; 6. Scassa 45; 7. Rolfo 38; 8. Antonelli 37; 9. Kennedy 34; 10. Marino 31; 11. Russo 28; 12. Coghlan 22; 13. Leonov 21; 14. Morais 19; 15. Ivanov 18. Manufacturers: 1. Kawasaki 110; 2. Yamaha 103; 3. Honda 78; 4. MV Agusta 38; 5. Suzuki 9; 6. Triumph 6.

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