WSBK title on a knife edge
After a win and second place at Magny-Cours, Aprilia’s Sylvain Guintoli is now just 12pts behind Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes with one round remainingThe penultimate round of the 2014 Superbike World Championship on October 5 witnessed a change of momentum for the title race, which will be decided on November 2 at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar. Thanks to a win and a second place in the two wet races at Magny-Cours, Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) narrowed the gap to leader Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) to just 12pts.
The 32-year-old Frenchman was cheered on by a vocal and enthusiastic, race weekend home crowd of over 74,000.
Marco Melandri, who was second and first in the two encounters, completed the perfect race meeting for Aprilia. Sykes on the other hand, did his best to contain the damage by finishing the two encounters in fourth place after claiming an impressive pole position in dry conditions the day before, when he scorched to the fastest ever lap at Magny-Cours.
“It’s been a great weekend for me and the team, as we managed to close the gap to the leader,” said Guintoli. “As soon as I saw the weather forecast for today, I immediately thought there would have been a good chance to make some ground to Tom.
“I’m very happy although I’m already thinking about the Qatari round, as it will be the title decider. It’s a track I know quite well, I like it and I think it will suit the RSV4 well. I wish we were racing there tomorrow!”
The championship is now a straight fight between Sykes and Guintoli, with the pair on 378 and 366pts respectively, followed by Melandri (312), Jonathan Rea (Honda, 301) and Kawasaki’s Loris Baz (282).
Honda riders Rea and Leon Haslam filled third spot in the two races at Magny-Cours, while Australia’s Bryan Staring (Iron Brain Grillini Kawasaki) was 14th in race one but didn’t last the distance in the second.
In world supersport, the race was cut short after 12 of 17 laps, and after a drama-packed showing Frenchman Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) claimed his third win of the year by over 18 seconds.
Newly crowned champion Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport) finished second after falling, remounting and then passing several riders to move back onto the podium on lap 10.
Roberto Rolfo (Go Eleven Kawasaki) started 17th to win a tense fight for the final podium position.
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