Sykes takes Imola double

British world superbike rider Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) has shot to the top of the world superbike championship standings after winning both races in round seven at Imola on Sunday, June 30.

Sykes now holds a 6pt advantage over Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) who suffered a DNF in race one due to a technical problem, before coming back to secure a third place in race two.

It was a day of mixed emotions also for Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia) and Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team), who completed the podium in the first race before both crashing in race two; and Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike), who came back from a no-score in race one to take second in race two.

“I have had two perfect weekends out of the last three events and for this I am truly happy,” said Sykes. “It is a special weekend for many reasons and also the incident last year with my 2012 team-mate Joan Lascorz. There was not one time on any lap when I have exited turn six and not thought about his accident.

“I hope that this is a small, small tribute to him. I have every single individual member of the Kawasaki staff and teams to thank, and our great technical sponsors. Hopefully now this is a beginning of a challenge but we will see how we go.”

Polesitter Sykes dominated race one to score his ninth career win and fourth this year. He managed to pull away from Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia) halfway through the race. Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) achieved a solid third place ahead of Marco Melandri (BWM Motorrad GoldBet) and Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Aprilia).

Rea crashed out on lap 19, not long after he moved up to fourth place. Earlier, Rea had got the hole shot at the start, before running wide at turn six and rejoining in 11th position.

Championship leader Sylvain Guintoli retired due to a technical problem.
In race two, Sykes completed a fantastic double win to become the new championship leader. After the disappointment of the first race, Rea redeemed himself to end up a lonely second ahead of Guintoli. Melandri edged his team mate Chaz Davies for fourth place on the final lap, while Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) won the battle for sixth ahead of Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki).

Davide Giugliano crashed on lap two, while Laverty also suffered the same fate on lap six.

Sam Lowes (Yakhnich Motorsport Yamaha) enjoyed an outstanding recovery, following a difficult start, to finish ahead of team mate Vladimir Leonov thanks to a successful last-turn overtaking move. The Russian rider was able to keep the pace of the winner in the early part of the race, showing a renewed confidence after a tough first half of the season. Pata Honda riders Lorenzo Zanetti and Michael van der Mark finished fourth and fifth respectively, while Australia’s Mitchell Carr (Triumph) was 19th. Matt Davies (Honda) retired with a technical problem.

For full results and standings, click here.

The championship will be back on track today for an official one-day test at Imola, while the next round is scheduled for July 19-21 at Moscow Raceway.