Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes took the 2013 World Superbike title with Aprilia’s Eugene Laverty runner-up.

A valiant effort and deserved double win from Aprilia’s Eugene Laverty wasn’t enough to deny Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes of the title of 2013 World Superbike Champion at the season finale in Spain.

Race day at Jerez was a dramatic affair, with factory Aprilia pilot Laverty still in the hunt but ultimately relying on misfortune to strike Sykes to have any chance of taking the title.

From pole, Laverty made a good start to the opening race but found himself locked in battle with BMW Motorrad GoldBet’s Marco Melandri for much of the duration.

Laverty pulled off a final lap, final corner overtake to secure maximum points, with Melandri running second.

It wasn’t, however, enough to stop Sykes, who pieced together a solid race in third and confirmed Kawasaki’s first WSBK title in 20 years with an unassailable points advantage.

Fourth through sixth belonged to Aprilia-mounted riders Sylvain Guintoli, Toni Elias and Davide Giugliano, with BMW’s Chaz Davies seventh, Suzuki’s Leon Camier eighth and Ducati’s Xavi Fores ninth.

Aussie Mark Aitchison was able to convert his stellar ninth place qualifying result to a top 10 finish on the Team Pedercini Kawasaki.

Yamaha Austria Racing Team rider Broc Parkes was able to finish the race in 18th despite a significant tyre problem which resulted in chatter and next to no rear grip.

Race two again belonged to Laverty, who put a pass on Sykes at two-thirds race distance to confirm a double win, his second such achievement of the season.

Sykes brought his ZX-10R home in second, confirming his 17th podium finish of the season, while Guintoli was a lonely third, disappointed not to show the form of his teammate at the finale.

Toni Elias was fourth from Chaz Davies, Levon Camier, Lorenzo Lanzi and Jules Cluzel, with Aitchison improving to ninth, completing an impressive guest ride role with his former Pedercini squad.

Parkes was able to score points in his Yamaha outfit’s second outing, placing a solid 12th.

Yakhnich Motorsport Yamaha’s Sam Lowes got the better of Mahi Racing Team India Kawasaki’s Kenan Sofuoglu as the frontrunners fought it out for one final time in the World Supersport race.

Sofuoglu battled to retain the lead after several overtaking moves but Lowes, already confirmed the class champion, found a way by and built a gap to the chequered flag with two laps left to run.

Roberto Rolfo brought his MV Agusta home in third, confirming another strong podium for the brand, with factory Honda riders Michael Van Der Mark and Lorenzo Zanetti following in fourth and fifth.

Aussie rider Brodie Waters completed his 2013 program with AARK Racing in a solid 26th place, adapting to the considerable learning curve of world championship competition over the past few outings.

Jeremy Guarnoni completed a perfect weekend in the Superstock 1000 class, riding his MRS Kawasaki from pole to a comfortable race win over fellow ZX-10R-mounted riders Leandro Mercado and Romain Lanusse.

Agro-on Racedays Honda’s Kyle Smith took the win in the Superstock 600 class, narrowly outpacing second placed Franco Morbidelli and Alessandro Nocco, second and third respectively.

New Zealand rider Jake Lewis was confirmed the series’ final champion as he took out the European Junior Cup Race in a frenetic race to the finish line.

Augusto Fernandez was second and Joshua Harland third, with Australian Zac Levy not contesting the final round.

2013 World Superbike Championship
Round 14 – Jerez, Spain

Superbike race one:
1. Eugene Laverty
2. Marco Melandri
3. Tom Sykes
4. Sylvain Guintoli
5. Toni Elias
6. Davide Giugliano
7. Chaz Davies
8. Leon Camier
9. Xavi Fores
10. Mark Aitchison
11. Jules Cluzel
12. Sylvain Barrier
13. Ayrton Badovini
14. Max Neukirchner
15. Lorenzo Lanzi
16. Federico Sandi
17. Michel Fabrizio
18. Broc Parkes
19. Vittorio Iannuzzo
DNF. Leon Haslam

Superbike race two:
1. Eugene Laverty
2. Tom Sykes
3. Sylvain Guintoli
4. Toni Elias
5. Chaz Davies
6. Leon Camier
7. Lorenzo Lanzi
8. Jules Cluzel
9. Mark Aitchison
10. Davide Giugliano
11. Max Neukirchner
12. Broc Parkes
13. Sylvain Barrier
14. Michel Fabrizio
15. Federico Sandi
DNF. Leon Haslam
DNF. Ayrton Badovini
DNF. Xavi Fores
DNF. Vittorio Iannuzzo

Superbike championship standings (after 14 of 14 rounds):
1. Tom Sykes 447
2. Eugene Laverty 424
3. Sylvain Guintoli 402
4. Marco Melandri 359
5. Chaz Davies 290
6. Davide Giugliano 211
7. Michel Fabrizio 188
8. Loris Baz 180
9. Jonathan Rea 176
10. Jules Cluzel 175
11. Leon Camier 132
12. Ayrton Badovini 130
13. Leon Haslam 91
14. Max Neukirchner 91
15. Carlos Checa 80
16. Toni Elias 70
17. Federico Sandi 55
18. Mark Aitchison 46
19. Vittorio Iannuzzo 27
20. Lorenzo Lanzi 23
33. Glenn Allerton (AUS) 6
35. Broc Parkes (AUS) 4
37. Jamie Stauffer (AUS) 4

Supersport race:
1. Sam Lowes
2. Kenan Sofuoglu
3. Roberto Rolfo
4. Michael Vd Mark
5. Lorenzo Zanetti
6. Riccardo Russo
7. Kev Coghlan
8. Sheridan Morais
9. Vladimir Leonov
10. Fabien Foret
11. Danny Webb
12. Roberto Tamburini
13. David Salom
14. Mathew Scholtz
15. Marco Faccani
16. Jack Kennedy
17. Massimo Roccoli
18. Matthieu Lagrive
19. Luca Marconi
20. Lee Johnston
26. Brodie Waters (AUS)

Supersport championship standings (after 13 of 13 rounds):
1. Sam Lowes 250
2. Kenan Sofuoglu 201
3. Fabien Foret 140
4. Michael Vd Mark 130
5. Lorenzo Zanetti 119
6. Roberto Rolfo 78
7. Jack Kennedy 76
8. Luca Scassa 75
9. Kev Coghlan 71
10. Vladimir Leonov 63
11. Andrea Antonelli 55
12. Sheridan Morais 55
13. Florian Marino 53
14. Riccardo Russo  48
15. Christian Iddon 45
16. Roberto Tamburini 39
17. Alex Baldolini 34
18. David Salom 30
19. Raffaele De Rosa 25
20. Massimo Roccoli 23

Click here for detailed results