World Superbike Donington: Sykes doubles

After losing ten consecutive match-ups against his teammate Jonathan Rea, Tom Sykes looked down for the count. In Donington, however, the former WSBK champion got back on his feet – or foot pegs – to claim his third consecutive double on the British track and prolong the title fight. After setting the new best lap in Superpole, Sykes first scrapped elbows with his teammate in Race One and then quickly galloped away in Race Two, increasing his career's tally to 24 wins and tying Carl Fogarty's record at the historical track in the East Midlands.

“It was two completely different races,” Sykes observed. “I had fun trading blows with Jonathan (Rea) in Race One, since it was a clean fight, among two riders who respect each other. In the second one, I raced against the pit-board, which is something I enjoy. I didn't get bored (laughs). It just seemed that Johnny had some issues so I put my head down and kept pushing. What matters the most is the final result, which was the same.”

Sykes, due to a slow start to his campaign, still trails his teammate by 102 points in the rankings. The Kawasaki rider is now third in the championship, just one point behind his fellow countryman Leon Haslam (Aprilia), twice fourth riding with a couple of cracked ribs after a heavy crash in Imola. “With the new regulations, at the beginning of the season I felt I was just riding the bike, not racing it,” Sykes explained. “Now, I can finally do what I want with it, and I think it clearly shows. In Imola we turned the corner, and basically we didn't change anything here.”

With Rea twice second, Kawasaki scored its second consecutive one-two finish after Imola, though with inverted positions on the podium. The Japanese manufacturer now has a clear lead in the Constructors' rankings as well, with 290 points againts Ducati's 196 and Aprilia's 195, a self-evident proof of the current “green domination” in the production-based series. “Today was the 'Sykes' show', it looked as if Tom was riding on a different track,” conceded Rea, who barely escaped a potentially disastrous high-side at the beginning of Race Two. “I didn't accept defeat going into this round but I knew that, if there was a track in which my teammate would be in his league and a pain in the *ss, this would be it. I'm looking forward to Portimão, I'll try to go for a double there.”

After suffering two technical failures in Imola, Chaz Davies climbed back to finish twice in third position. Despite being about 15 seconds faster than his total race time from 2014, the Ducati rider trailed Sykes by more than ten seconds on the finish line in both races.

“All in all, I'm happy with today's results but I was just too far from the front, especially Sykes, who does really special things here,” Davies observed. “We need to cut the gap from the Kawasakis. It's tough to beat them on any track. On some, we can fight with them. On others, they're on a different planet. I can only fight as hard as I can every weekend, then we'll see.”

Both Davies and his teammate Giugliano complained about a lack of grip on the Panigale, the only twin-cylinder bike on the grid after EBR was forced to retire. “It wasn't a comfortable race, that's for sure,” the Welshman added. “The grip got progressively worse throughout the day, and the bike kept sliding more and more. The issue is how the bike reacts in between losing rear grip and regaining it. I think it's more of a chassis-related thing, but the electronics could certainly give us a hand. To have a smoother bike, however, you have to take power away. You can't have the penny and the bun.”

Both Ducati and Aprilia reportedly have new parts in the pipeline to be evaluated in two weeks' time, in the post-race tests in Portimão. In the meantime, the Kawasaki duo is the overwhelming favorite to take the center of the stage once again.

World Superbike Donington Park Race One results:
1. Tom Sykes (GBR) Kawasaki
2. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Kawasaki
3. Chaz Davies (GBR) Ducati
4. Leon Haslam (GBR) Aprilia
5. Ayrton Badovini (ITA) BMW
6. Alex Lowes (GBR) Suzuki
7. Jordi Torres (SPA) Aprilia
8. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Honda
9. Leon Camier (GBR) MV Agusta
10. David Salom (SPA) Kawasaki
11. Leandro Mercado (ARG) Ducati
12. Nico Terol (SPA) Ducati
13. Román Ramos (SPA) Kawasaki
14. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Suzuki
15. Niccolò Canepa (ITA) Kawasaki
16. Christophe Ponsson (FRA) Kawasaki
17. Davide Giugliano (ITA) Ducati
18. Gábor Rizmayer (HUN) BMW
19. Imre Toth (HUN) BMW
DNF Santiago Barragán (SPA) Kawasaki
DNF Matteo Baiocco (ITA) Ducati
DNF Michael Van der Mark (NET) Honda

World Superbike Donington Park Race Two results:
1. Tom Sykes (GBR) Kawasaki
2. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Kawasaki
3. Chaz Davies (GBR) Ducati
4. Leon Haslam (GBR) Aprilia
5. Davide Giugliano (ITA) Ducati
6. Alex Lowes (GBR) Suzuki
7. Jordi Torres (SPA) Aprilia
8. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Honda
9. Ayrton Badovini (ITA) BMW
10. Matteo Baiocco (ITA) Ducati
11. Román Ramos (SPA) Kawasaki
12. David Salom (SPA) Kawasaki
13. Leandro Mercado (ARG) Ducati
14. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Suzuki
15. Santiago Barragán (SPA) Kawasaki
16. Gábor Rizmayer (HUN) BMW
17. Imre Toth (HUN) BMW
DNF Christophe Ponsson (FRA) Kawasaki
DNF Nico Terol (SPA) Ducati
DNF Niccolò Canepa (ITA) Kawasaki
DNF Michael Van der Mark (NET) Honda
DNF Leon Camier (GBR) MV Agusta

World Superbike Championship points standings (after 6 of 13 rounds):
1. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Kawasaki 280
2. Leon Haslam (GBR) Aprilia 179
3. Tom Sykes (GBR) Kawasaki 178
4. Chaz Davies (GBR) Ducati 155
5. Jordi Torres (SPA) Aprilia 117
6. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Honda 92
7. Matteo Baiocco (ITA) Ducati 72
8. Alex Lowes (GBR) Suzuki 71 9. Leandro Mercado (ARG) Ducati 70
10. Michael Van der Mark (NET) Honda 67