Melandri and Sykes the Laguna masters

Aprilia’s Marco Melandri and Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes came away from round 11 of the 2014 Superbike World Championship with the major spoils, after a regulation race one gave away to a chaotic second encounter.

After 25 thrilling laps, Melandri has won the opening race from his teammate and new lap record holder, Sylvain Guintoli, and Sykes, while the second race saw two red flags and restarts, finally culminating in a seven-lap sprint with Sykes taking the honours from Guintoli and Jonathan Rea (Honda).

Sykes now leads Guintoli in the championship by 44 points.

In race one, polesitter Sykes initially took the holeshot before Melandri and Guintoli both passed the reigning champion at the end of lap one after Sykes made a mistake at the notorious Corkscrew.

Davide Giugliano (Ducati) finished in fourth with Toni Elias (Aprilia) and Rea completing the top six.

Eugene Laverty (Suzuki) was a notable retirement as were Ayrton Badovini (Bimota) and Aaron Yates (Team Hero EBR).

In race two, lap 11 saw the red flags shown after Alex Lowes (Suzuki) suffered a spectacular crash at the Corkscrew. The British rider was taken to the medical centre for further checks but escaped any fractures.

After a short delay the race was restarted over seven laps with grid positions decided by the race positions prior to the stop. It was fast and furious but after only one completed lap the red flags were out again as Sylvain Barrier crashed out on the start and finish straight, suffering a dislocated and fractured left subtalar joint.

In the final attempt, Melandri crashed out of the lead, with Sykes’ 22 WSBK win coming ahead of Guintoli and Rea, with Laverty, Elias and Loris Baz (Kawasaki) rounding out the top six.

David Salom (Kawasaki) was the leading Evo rider, while Australia’s Bryan Staring (Kawasaki) was 13th and 16th.