Double Victory for Sykes

World Superbike 2014

maddix park mx

www.motorcycle-usa.com  By Byron Wilson

Kawasaki Racing’s Tom Sykes notched his third double victory of the 2014 World Superbike Championship, staging two commanding performances at Misano. Sykes’s teammate, Loris Baz, leaves the Italian circuit with two second-place finishes while Aprilia’s Marco Melandri adds to his podium total for the year with double third-place results.
Race 1

Red Devils Roma’s Toni Elias got off to a strong start in Race 1, taking the lead through the opening turns but had Sykes, Melandri’s teammate, Sylvain Guintoli and Baz among others breathing down his neck. Elias tried to maintain the spirited pace but was right at the limit, and soon he started running wide and ceding ground to riders behind, dropping to sixth by Lap 3.

Sykes, Baz, Guintoli and Melandri took over the top four positions and ran steady for a number of rotations. Guintoli was first to start losing ground though as his tire began to drop off mid-race, frustrating his attempts to remain in contention for a podium spot. Melandri slipped past his teammate and eventually built a comfortable gap between himself and Ducati’s Chaz Davies, who also passed Guintoli half-way through the contest for fourth. Guintoli mitigated his losses and held to fifth to the checkers.

Out front Sykes was in a different realm, ticking off consistently fast laps despite  still recovering from a wrist injury sustained at Sepang during the previous round.

Elias was able to calm his pace after the initial laps to finish in sixth ahead of Pata Hona’s Jonathan Rea. Ducati’s Davide Giugliano slipped down the ranks from an early top-five start due to tire wear issues, finishing in eighth. Voltcom Suzuki’s Eugene Laverty took ninth ahead of Rea’s teammate, Leon Haslam, in 10th.

The first outing of the day proved discouraging to the American riders of Team Hero EBR, with both Aaron Yates and Geoff May pulling into the pits during the race with mechanical issues. Trouble continued for the two later in the day, with Yates unable to start Race 2 due to the mechanical gremlins and May forced to pull in a second time before the finish.

World Superbike Misano Race 1 Results 2014 
1. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 
2. Loris Baz (Kawasaki) 
3. Marco Melandri (Aprilia) 
4. Chaz Davies (Ducati) 
5. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia) 
6. Toni Elias (Aprilia) 
7. Jonathan Rea (Honda) 
8. Davide Giugliano (Ducati) 
9. Eugene Laverty (Suzuki) 
10. Leon Haslam (Honda) 
11. David Salom (Kawasaki) 
12. Niccolo Canepa (Ducati) 
13. Claudio Corti (MV Agusta) 
14. Ivan Goi (Ducati) 
15. Sylvain Barrier (BMW) 
16. Jeremy Guarnoni (Kawasaki) 
17. Riccardo Russo (Kawasaki) 
18. Bryan Staring (Kawasaki) 
19. Peter Sebestyen (BMW)



Race 2 

In Race 2 Giugliano was a bit too eager to make up for his eighth-place finish in Race 1 and jumped the start. The Ducati ace ran out to the front during the initial laps but was hit with a ride-through penalty for his infraction and lost the top-spot on Lap 4. Sykes had settled into second-place and took over the lead once Giugliano pulled off track.

From there it was a similar story as the first contest, with Sykes pulling away from the field leaving Baz in second and Melandri in third. Guintoli was able to hold closer to his teammate during the early laps but slipped off the pace slightly toward the end as Melandri and Baz battled for second. Melandri made a few moves on Baz during the latter stages but Baz was always quick to respond, never allowing the Aprilia ace a chance to hold second for more than a corner. 

Rea improved to finish in fifth ahead of Elias while Laverty and Lowes finished in seventh and eighth, respectively. Giugliano turned on the jets after his penalty and battled back up the ranks to take ninth at the finish followed by Kawasaki’s EVO entry, David Salom, in 10th.

Sykes now has 20 career World Superbike wins to his credit and a 39 point lead in the championship tally.



“I am very pleasantly surprised at these results but I knew that the adrenaline and the concentration would give me something extra,” said Sykes afterward. “I honestly was not expecting to get that much extra but massive credit to all the team. The lap times were quite surprising at the start and I was surprised to keep that pace in Race 1. The front and rear were moving a lot but the feedback from the bike was fantastic, so I have to thank Marcel and Danilo and all the mechanics who have all worked over time a long time to deal with my fussy requests! In Race 2 it was even more difficult, the bike was moving a lot more and I was over compensating with my left arm. I had to stay focused but at the end the control of the second race was probably a bit more relaxed than in Race 1.”

Guintoli remains second in the series followed by Baz, who moves ahead of Rea into third. Melandri and Davies remain in fifth and sixth, respectively.

World Superbike Misano Race 2 Results 2014 
1. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 
2. Loris Baz (Kawasaki) 
3. Marco Melandri (Aprilia) 
4. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia) 
5. Jonathan Rea (Honda) 
6. Toni Elias (Aprilia) 
7. Eugene Laverty (Suzuki) 
8. Alex Lowes (Suzuki) 
9. Davide Giugliano (Ducati) 
10. David Salom (Kawasaki) 
11. Sylvain Barrier (BMW) 
12. Leon Haslam (Honda) 
13. Ivan Goi (Ducati) 
14. Riccardo Russo (Kawasaki) 
15. Alessandro Andreozzi (Kawasaki) 
16. Niccolo Canepa (Ducati) 
17. Claudio Corti (MV Aguvsta) 
18. Bryan Staring (Kawasaki) 
19. Peter Sebestyen (BMW)

World Superbike Championship Points 2014 
1. Tom Sykes, 251 
2. Sylvain Guintoli, 212 
3. Loris Baz, 210 
4. Jonathan Rea, 199 
5. Marco Melandri, 179 
6. Chaz Davies, 143 
7. Davide Giugliano, 111 
8. Toni Elias, 109 
9. Eugene Laverty, 106 
10. Leon Haslam, 99
 
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