News 25 May 2015

Sykes unstoppable again in WorldSBK at Donington Park

Sofuoglu wins, teenage wildcard Ryde stars in WSS race.

Source: WorldSBK.

Source: WorldSBK.

Kawasaki Racing Team’s Tom Sykes invigorated his 2015 season by taking the Donington Park double and equalling the great Carl Fogarty’s record of six wins at the English circuit.

Teammate Jonathan Rea came home for second in both battles, while Ducati’s Chaz Davies took third in each encounter to deliver carbon copy UK podiums at Britain’s WorldSBK event of the year.

“A full set this weekend – two race wins, pole position and a new lap record,” Sykes said. “After some battles in race one I had a clean start in race two and I went a little bit faster down Craner and into the Old Hairpin to stop any passes and away we went.

“When I saw that the gap was increasing I just had to be careful in how to manage the race. I was really happy with the race performance because Marcel my crew chief and all the boys have been working really well. It is good to win all the last six races here at Donington. We are getting there now and I am able to do a little bit more of what I want to with the bike.”

Sykes won the opening 23 lap WorldSBK race at Donington Park in dry but cold and overcast conditions after a race long fight with his KRT teammate Rea. The pair swapped positions for virtually the whole race after getting the better of early leader Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils).

The final podium place went to Davies, who also passed Haslam, who finished fourth, with six laps to go. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia) showed incredible pace in the closing stages to snatch fifth at the flag from Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki).

Sykes made it two wins from two starts as he dominated WorldSBK race two. The former champion has now won every race at Donington for the last three years. He made it a clean sweep, adding the fastest lap in race two to the Tissot-Superpole that he secured Saturday, winning by over nine seconds.

Rea saved what could have been a huge crash as rounded Coppice Corner on lap two, the championship leader lucky not to fall. He regrouped with some great overtaking moves to salvage second ahead of Davies, who finished 3rd for the second time today.

Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) was fifth after being passed by Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) on the penultimate lap; the British rider overcoming the pain and discomfort of cracked ribs to finish fourth.

Round seven of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship will take place in Portugal at the Portimao circuit in two weeks.

The sixth round of the World Supersport championship has been won after 20 hard-fought laps by Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), as cooler temperatures descended at Donington Park.

Starting from pole, the Turk was initially overhauled by rival Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) before regrouping and retaking the lead to win for the fourth time in 2015, extending his championship lead in the process.

Despite piling on the pressure Cluzel would eventually finish second, taking the lap record in his efforts to chase down the Kawasaki mounted Sofuoglu. 17-year-old British wildcard Kyle Ryde (Pacedayz European Trackdays) had the huge crowd on their feet with his aggressive riding, the youngster climbing onto the last step of the podium in third.

Australia’s Aiden Wagner made his way into a top 10 position before crashing out of the race’s closing stages, while Glenn Scott marginally missed out on points with a 16th place finish.

Lorenzo Savadori (Nuova M2 Racing Aprilia) came out on top in the 15-lap FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, ahead of fellow Italians Roberto Tamburini (MotoxRacing BMW) and Raffaele De Rosa (Althea Racing Ducati). Bryan Staring finished what was a trying weekend for the Aussie in 12th.

2015 Superbike World Championship
Round six – Donington Park, Great Britain

Superbike race one results:
1. Tom Sykes
2. Jonathan Rea
3. Chaz Davies
4. Leon Haslam
5. Ayrton Badovini
6. Alex Lowes
7. Jordi Torres
8. Sylvain Guintoli
9. Leon Camier
10. David Salom

Superbike race two results:
1. Tom Sykes
2. Jonathan Rea
3. Chaz Davies
4. Leon Haslam
5. Davide Giugliano
6. Alex Lowes
7. Jordi Torres
8. Sylvain Guintoli
9. Ayrton Badovini
10. Matteo Baiocco

Superbike championship standings:
1. Jonathan Rea 280
2. Leon Haslam 179
3. Tom Sykes 178
4. Chaz Davies 155
5. Jordi Torres 117
6. Sylvain Guintoli 92
7. Matteo Baiocco 72
8. Alex Lowes 71
9. Tati Mercado 70
10. Michael van der Mark 67

Supersport race results:
1. Kenan Sofuoglu
2. Jules Cluzel
3. Kyle Ryde
4. Lorenzo Zanetti
5. PJ Jacobsen
6. Luke Stapleford
7. Sam Hornsey
8. Gino Rea
9. Niki Tuuli
10. Andy Reid
16. Glenn Scott (AUS)

Supersport championship standings:
1. Kenan Sofuoglu 130
2. Jules Cluzel 85
3. PJ Jacobsen 79
4. Lorenzo Zanetti 70
5. Gino Rea 54
6. Ratthapark Wilairot 46
7. Kyle Smith 46
8. Roberto Rolfo 46
9. Alex Baldolini 33
10. Marco Faccani 32
25. Aiden Wagner (AUS) 5
26. Glenn Scott (AUS) 4

Click here for detailed results

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