WSBK Donington: Tom Sykes, of course !
Started Friday in polar conditions, the European WSBK event in Donington comes to an end under a blazing sun. Unbeatable at each outing, Sykes wins his first double and comes back to Guintoli in the championship.
Starting Friday in polar conditions, the European WSBK event in Donington ends under a blazing sun. Unbeatable on each outing, Sykes wins his first double and comes back to Guintoli in the championship.
Our adored Frenchie, however, has little to be ashamed of: third behind the fiery Melandri in the first round and second in the second, Sylvain could do nothing today against "Major Tom" and his Kawasaki n ° 66. In addition, the n ° 50 can be delighted to have beaten his teammate Laverty in the two races..
In Supersport, another English driver imposed his law: Sam Lowes. Neither could he lose "his" race this afternoon at Donington Park. The Yamaha rider takes a third victory in a row ahead of Sofuoglu and Rolfo, on MV Agusta !
First Superbike race
Sylvain Guintoli takes the best start ahead of Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea but the two English pass in front of the Frenchie (the Frenchman lives near the circuit!) At the exit of the first big curve on the right. Sylvain therefore settled in third place ahead of Eugene Laverty, Marco Melandri, Chaz Davies, Niccolo Canepa, Leon Camier, Davide Giugliano, Jules Cluzel and Loris Baz.
Eager to – too – to do well, Leon Camier is the first to do a straight ahead in the famous "Esses Fogarty", from the first pass. Suzuki n ° 2 loses a handful of space in the operation: the commission will not have to deliberate on the question of a sanction (unlike the "Sykes / Guintoli" case in Monza, still not closed!).
Guintoli widens a tad in the Melbourne hairpin in the same first lap. Laverty, who is however far enough under braking, takes the opportunity to climb to third position in front of his teammate.
The reaction of "Guinters" was not long in coming, however: at the end of the short straight line, n ° 50 returned to n ° 58, under the watchful eyes of BMW riders n ° 33 and n ° 19 (Melandri and Davies of course).
The track record is broken by the three leading men in the second lap! The fastest is none other than Sykes, but Rea does not completely lose contact, just like Guintoli, Laverty and Melandri. Davies on the other hand is unhooked and leads a restless peloton, made up of Giugliano, Canepa, Cluzel, Checa and Baz…
Camier has disappeared in the meantime: the 2009 English champion unfortunately fell in the 4th lap. The hopes of the English team Suzuki Fixi Crescent therefore rest solely on the shoulders of their French rookie: "Djigez Cloudzel" !
For his part, Loris Baz rejoices the Kawasaki clan: the n ° 76 has to do it twice – the first almost sent him to the mat! – but he ended up grabbing 10th place then occupied by Carlos Checa in the 5th lap !
The tempo in the lead does not drop … Three men are still rolling wheel to wheel: Sykes, Rea and Guintoli! Sylvain manages to equal Tom’s lap times, but sometimes makes a few small mistakes that cost him a few tenths. Extremely fast too, Loris Baz dives under Jules Cluzel’s Suzuki in the 6th lap.
In the next loop, it is Melandri who wins against Laverty: the Italian does not want to see the leading trio take off for good! Eugene then tangles the brushes and loses a place (Chaz Davies goes up to fifth position), but especially four seconds on Marco…
While the No.2 Suzuki returns to its garage – where it will be repaired for the second round – the No.66 Kawasaki continues its race in the lead, half a second ahead of the No.65 Honda and 1.7 seconds ahead of the Aprilia n ° 50. The two official BMWs then complete the Top 5: n ° 33 is three seconds behind the Ninja, n ° 19 at nine seconds..
The mid-race is animated by the hunting group: Laverty then Giugliano overtake Davies with authority and leave the Welshman to explain himself with our national Bazooka. Loris is the fastest in the bunch and can claim fifth place !
In front, Tom Sykes has just passed the overdrive: on the 13th lap, the English Ninja is more than two seconds ahead of Jonathan Rea and Sylvain Guintoli. Perhaps alerted that Melandri is lurking in the area, Guinters overtakes Johnny before the end of the 13th lap.
Meanwhile, Loris Baz climbs up the standings: after Giugliano, it’s Davies who must admit defeat against the fast Kawasaki rider n ° 76! Loris is immediately behind the Aprilia n ° 58 … The French rookie, who made his WSBK debut exactly a year ago on this track, is riding at the same pace as the leaders !
In the lead, Sykes maintains his lead by two good seconds. Guintoli does not seem able to get back on the ZX-10R and will have to watch his rear: Melandri and his S1000RR kick Rea and his Fireblade off the podium on the 16th lap and rush to Guinto’s RSV4 ‘…
The attack of n ° 33 was not long in coming: in the final chicane of the course, called "Goddards", the Ravenna Hedgehog skillfully crushed his brake lever and passed in front of our international pilot n ° 50 !
About 13 seconds behind Sykes, Baz takes fifth place, overtaking Laverty, sinking into a real mouse hole! Once past the Irishman, our "Green Giant" raises his voice and quickly isolates himself, leaving the two Aprilia colleagues (Laverty and Giugliano) to fight like ragpickers !
With three laps to go, we don’t really see what could deprive Sykes of a second victory this season. The n ° 66 has a lead of nearly three seconds and allows himself to give up the gas slightly … Melandri, him, gives everything he has and inexorably moves away from Guintoli and Rea, separated the one another for a good second.
Two laps from the end, fourteen bikes are still on the track, and the last four are Ducatis: Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini (holders of the Alstare team), Niccolo Canepa (who lends a helping hand to the first two in this event " European ") and Max Neukirchner (private pilot) bring up the rear at the controls of their Panigale 1199Rs, clearly not at the level of 4-cylinders !
Sykes tumbles alone in the lead under the checkered flag! The fastest man of the whole weekend takes a clean and flawless victory. Marco Melandri and Sylvain Guintoli accompany him on the podium, also collecting big and precious points for the rest of the championship.
Jonathan Rea – author of the fastest time in the race – and Loris Baz completed the Top 5, while Jules Cluzel finished in the Top 10, in ninth position exactly, 27 seconds behind the leader. The Ducati armada is finally dominated by Badovini, Checa and Canepa finishing in its wheel.
Supersport Race
Sam Lowes does not start very well nor very straight, and kicks Kenan Sofuoglu a little, so that the two men are beaten at the start of the curve by Florian Marino! Chris Iddon points to a promising fourth place at the helm of his MV Agusta, ahead of Lorenzo Zanetti, who is very urgent at the start of the second round…
The Yamaha R6 n ° 11 takes the reins of the race in this 2nd loop, and leads the two Kawasaki ZX-6R of Marino and Sofuoglu, the F3 of Iddon, the CBR600RR of Zanetti and Kenndy, the Daytona 675 of the guest champion Richards and the other CBR from Morrais.
When braking from the Melbourne hairpin, Iddon could not avoid Sofuoglu’s rear wheel: while the triple Turkish champion was "just" unsettled, the young British super-biker found himself on the ground. The blunder primarily benefits Lowes who, head in the handlebars, flees alone in the lead !
From the 5th lap, Sam found himself far ahead of his pursuers, led by Florian Marino. But the young replacement (from Luis Salom at Kawasaki Intermoto) is under constant pressure from Kenan Sofuoglu. Our compatriot ends up giving in to the braking of the Esses Fogarty, but tries to hang on to No.54, which is the best way to get away from the horde of the peloton !
Because behind our favorite n ° 19 circulate in tight rows Zanetti, Morais, Kennedy, Scassa, De Rosa, Rolfo, Coghlan, Foret, Van den mark, Talmacsi, Linortner and Russo! In the 7th lap, Florian falls back two places.
Extremely at ease on the handlebars of his Yam ‘, Sam Lowes flew over the track and, shortly before halfway, had a lead of almost seven seconds over his n ° 54 enemy, Kenan Sofuoglu. The fight rages in the peloton and the first victim is called Linortner: the Austrian loses the grip in the middle of Melbourne.
From the 12th turn, the hunting party distends. Far behind Lowes and Sofuoglu, Zanetti and Morais run as a duo after the same third place. Marino, Rolfo and Kennedy put on a show and bitterly fight for fifth place.
Luca Scassa rolls alone in eighth position, two seconds ahead of Fabien Foret, unfortunately further diminished by his fall at Monza, as is Michael van den Mark, the young hopeful of the Ten Kate team who circulates in 22nd place, far away of its real level.
Straight ahead, Sam Lowes continues to post incredible lap times: the only driver to have fallen below the 1 ’31 mark in the race, he turns about half a second faster than his great rival Kenan Sofuoglu. Kawasaki rider is now more than 10 seconds from Yamaha.
With only five laps left to go, Roberto Rolfo created a sensation by posting his MV Agusta on the podium … The former Grand Prix driver made the most of his Italian and gradually distance his pursuers: the two Honda of Zanetti and Morais.
Conversely, Florian Marino whips his Ninja a little too much. He even tries to resist an attack from his team-mate Scassa on the last corner of the "Goddards" layout: on the outside, Florian is jostled by Luca and falls. The n ° 19 returns to the track in 21st position, along with Van den Mark !
Three laps from the end, while the podium seems promised in this order to Lowes, Sofuoglu and Rolfo, the hunting group is reformed: Zanetti and Morais are joined by Scassa and Kennedy! Sheridan Morais is the first to crack: he loses the tempo in the Esses Fogarty and lets his two pursuers pass in the same sequence.
While the leading trio calmly attack their last lap, Scassa and Zanetti give it a go! The two Italians fight as if it were victory, under the probably dumbfounded eyes of the Irish Kennedy.
Sam Lowes celebrates his win – his third in a row! – even before having crossed the last corner! His dominance is even more overwhelming than that of Sykes in the first Superbike round, and the public congratulate him accordingly. Sofuoglu obtains a discreet but solid second place.
In Italy it is certain, we will remember Roberto Rolfo’s third place more, since it is the very first podium of the F3 in World Supersport, the first of the brand since 1976 … Let it be said. : MV Agusta is really back in competition !
In the championship, Kenan Sofuoglu climbed to second position but conceded five new points to leader Sam Lowes (95 to 65). Fabien Foret retrogrades to third place but saves the furniture by collecting 7 points from ninth place (61) … Florian Marino is in tenth position with the same score as in arriving: 31 points.
Second Superbike race
Tom Sykes struggled to channel the ardor of his ZX-10R when the red lights went out but still managed to dive into the lead in the first curve. He is ahead of Sylvain Guintoli, Eugene Laverty, Jonathan Rea, Davide Giugliano, Leon Camier, Marco Melandri, Chaz Davies, Loris Baz and Jules Cluzel.
From the first lap, the two official Aprilia crossed swords, and the n ° 58 gained the upper hand over its twin at n ° 50. There are still 21 laps to go but the tone is set: no quarter !
Sykes sets the pace at the start of the race and tries to give company to all of his little comrades. Laverty and Guintoli deviate slightly from the rest of the peloton then dominated by Giugliano, Rea and Melandri.
Davies, Camier and Baz on the other hand close this hunting group. Cluzel follows a little further, his Suzuki dominating the Ducati Alstare of Canepa and Badovini. Checa, like Haslam, forfeited this second round: his shoulder hurts too much – and his Panigale is not working well enough? – to hope for a good result. We will find him in Portugal in two weeks…
Tom and his Kawasaki go on laps at a staggering speed: the English Ninja explodes Rea’s record in the first round and enjoys a two-second lead at the end of the 4th lap. Laverty tries to resist Guintoli’s repeated assaults but the Frenchie unleashes a lightning attack under Starkey’s Bridge and plunges into the Irishman’s second place !
As fast as Guintoli, Giugliano and his private Aprilia from the Althea team are slowly but surely going up on the other official Aprilia. Behind this superb Italian duo, Melandri is very hot on the handlebars of his S1000RR but remains on his two wheels and continues his race in fifth position, just ahead of his teammate Davies.
As in the first round, Loris Baz gradually increases the pace: on the 9th lap, n ° 76 occupies seventh place and is only two seconds behind BMW n ° 33 and n ° 19 … Jules Cluzel meanwhile , is in ninth position, behind Rea and ahead of Canepa.
The halfway mark soon to be crossed, Tom Sykes has more than five seconds ahead of the three Aprilia of Sylvain Guintoli, Eugene Laverty and Davide Giugliano. Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies are seven seconds behind the leader and do their best to get back on the three RSV4s…
Unfortunately, Loris Baz cannot join the ascent – impossible ?! – BMWs. Jules Cluzel continues to fight with Niccolo Canepa while Jonathan Rea irresistibly downgrades the standings: fourth in the first round, the Northern Irish driver comes out of the Top 10 of this second race…
In front, Sykes continues his race alone. Guintoli also isolated himself in second position, a big second ahead of his teammate Laverty and Giugliano now caught by Melandri, but not by Davies! The n ° 33 performed, as usual, a second half of the race much better than the first.
Marco snatched fourth place from his compatriot Davide on the 16th lap and immediately hit his next target: Eugene! Fortunately for him, Sylvain is a good distance from the hungry Melandri and even rides at a slightly higher pace..
Melandri infiltrates inside Laverty in the entrance to the Melbourne hairpin and retains the advantage upon exiting. Giugliano cannot take advantage of this to overtake the Irishman and remains in fifth place. Moments later, Badovini fell: luckily Canepa was there, in eighth place, to defend the Ducati colors !
The last three laps are on and Laverty is not left behind by Melandri! The n ° 58 even takes the upper hand in the 22nd braking lap of the "Esses de King Carl" and launches into the final lap on the third step of the podium … Sykes and Guintoli roll far ahead of the infernal duo.
Placed outside Laverty when braking Esses Fogarty – the famous one! -, Melandri cannot register his motorbike in the turn and goes straight ahead! The n ° 33 crosses a large section of grass and can only reach the tarmac and go around after having offered his Giugliano his fourth place….
Meanwhile, Tom Sykes wins the first double of his career! The 2012 vice-world champion is accompanied on this second podium of the "European" event by his two great rivals in the championship: the leader Sylvain Guintoli and the third, Eugene Laverty.
In the general classification precisely, Guintoli is only 4 points ahead of Sykes, and 24 over his teammate Laverty. Back on the podium "at home" at Donington Park, Guinters will have to win again if he wants to keep the championship lead against the impressive Sykes…
The next release is already scheduled: June 9 in Portimao. To be continued, like today’s races, almost live on the Site. Stay connected !
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