Local heroes Tom Sykes and Sam Lowes made the most of home-track advantage (and rare British sunshine!) as Sykes swept to Kawasaki’s first double World Superbike since 2000 and Yamaha rider Lowes walked away from the ultra-competitive World Supersport field to lead reigning champion Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) home by an emphatic 11.105 seconds, in a class where winning margins are usually measured in fractions of a second.
South Africans Sheridan Morais (Honda) and Mathew Scholtz (Suzuki) had mixed fortunes in the 600cc race; Morais put up another creditable performance to get the best of a five-way dice for seventh while Scholtz straggled home at the back of a three-way dice for 15th.
RACE 1
Sykes rode a perfect race at the front for all 23 laps for his second win of the season and the seventh of his career. Works BMW star Marco Melandri seemed to struggle in the early part of the race but put in a late charge to claw his way back to second after a last-corner pass on championship-leading Aprilia factory rider Sylvain Guintoli.
Honda’s Jonathan Rea was in strong contention for the first half of the race but dropped back in the closing stages and had to ride defensively to hold on to fourth, ahead of Loris Baz (Kawasaki) and Aprilia lead rider Eugene Laverty who had a hard time after running off the circuit at the Fogarty Esses on lap seven and battling to make up lost time for the rest of the race.
Chaz Davies on the second works BMW was able to stay with team mate Melandri in the early stages but found it difficult to push hard later in the race as his tyres went off, while the tyres on Leon Camier’s Suzuki never had a chance to go off as he crashed at Goddards on lap three.
Honda star Leon Haslam, whose home is less than 25km from the circuit, talked the circuit doctor into letting him ride with a plate holding his broken left together, but the pain was too severe and he withdrew from the grid just before the start.
RACE 2
Sykes pulled away from the chasing pack in the early stages and opened a dominant lead of seven seconds by the flag, finishing ahead of the works Aprilias of Guintoli - still Championship leader, but only by nine points - and Eugene Laverty.
The Irishman had to defend his first podium finish at Donington from a late charge by Melandri who ran off the circuit rack at the Fogarty Esses in a last-lap attempt to pass the Aprilia but lost only place, coming home fifth behind Aprilia privateer Davide Giugliano.
Chaz Davies had a better ride in the second shift, finishing sixth behind Loris Baz (Kawasaki), while a four-way battle for seventh saw wild card Niccolo Canepa (Ducati) get the best of Jules Cluzel (Suzuki), Michel Fabrizio (Aprilia) and Rea to become the only works Ducati rider to finish after veteran Carlos Checa withsdrew due to a shoulder injury and Ayrton Badovini crashed out at Turn 2 on lap 19.
Leon Camier capped a nightmare weekend with another low-speed crash at Turn 12, but was able to get back on track, finishing 13th.
RESULTS – RACE 1
1 Tom Sykes (Britain) Kawasaki ZX-10R – 34min10.881
2 Marco Melandri (Italy) BMW S1000 RR +2.379sec
3 Sylvain Guintoli (France) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +3.808
4 Jonathan Rea (Britain) Honda CBR1000RR +6.760
5 Loris Baz (France) Kawasaki ZX-10R +13.649
6 Davide Giugliano (Italy) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +15.551
7 Eugene Laverty (Ireland) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +17.453
8 Chaz Davies (Britain) BMW S1000 RR +19.138
9 Jules Cluzel (France) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +27.738
10 Michel Fabrizio (Italy) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +30.817
11 Ayrton Badovini (Italy) Ducati Panigale 1199R +31.611
12 Carlos Checa (Spain) Ducati Panigale 1199R +31.816
13 Niccolo Canepa (Italy) Ducati Panigale 1199R +31.930
14 Max Neukirchner (Germany) Ducati Panigale 1199R +43.025
15 Vittorio Iannuzzo (Italy) BMW S1000 RR +4 laps
RACE 2
1 Tom Sykes (Britain) Kawasaki ZX-10R – 34min06.921
2 Sylvain Guintoli (France) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +8.035sec
3 Eugene Laverty (Ireland) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +10.738
4 Davide Giugliano (Italy) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +12.257
5 Marco Melandri (Italy) BMW S1000 RR +15.976
6 Chaz Davies (Britain) BMW S1000 RR +16.475
7 Loris Baz (France) Kawasaki ZX-10R +27.524
8 Niccolo Canepa (Italy) Ducati Panigale 1199R +30.186
9 Jules Cluzel (France) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +30.501
10 Michel Fabrizio (Italy) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +30.885
11 Jonathan Rea (Britain) Honda CBR1000RR +31.529
12 Max Neukirchner (Germany) Ducati Panigale 1199R +46.782
13 Leon Camier (Britain) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +54.509
14 Federico Sandi (Italy) Kawasaki ZX-10R +1min05.789
15 Alex Lundh (Sweden) Kawasaki ZX-10R +1min31.658
16 Vittorio Iannuzzo (Italy) BMW S1000 RR +1min20.719
POINTS (after 5 of 14 rounds)
1 Sylvain Guintoli (France) Aprilia RSV4 Factory – 173
2 Tom Sykes (Britain) Kawasaki ZX-10R – 169
3 Eugene Laverty (Ireland) Aprilia RSV4 Factory – 149
4 Marco Melandri (Italy) BMW S1000 RR – 127
5 Chaz Davies (Britain) BMW S1000 RR – 112
6 Loris Baz (France) Kawasaki ZX-10R – 95
7 Jonathan Rea (Britain) Honda CBR1000RR – 89
8 Michel Fabrizio (Italy) Aprilia RSV4 Factory – 86
9 Davide Giugliano (Italy) Aprilia RSV4 Factory – 72
10 Jules Cluzel (France) Suzuki GSX-R1000 – 55
WORLD SUPERSPORT
Lowes was uncatchable as he came home 11 seconds ahead of Sofuoglu, delighting the crowd with a spectacular wheelie over the finish line, after lapping below 1min32 on every lap aecept the last one and setting a new lap record for the class of 1min30.027 on lap four.
Sofuoglu had to deal with some tough challenges – including a collision with Christian Iddon (MV Agusta) early at the Melbourne hairpin on lap two that forced him to run wide - once he grabbed second he pulled away for a lonely ride to the chequered flag.
Veteran Roberto Rolfo scored a sensational third for MV Agusta; the last time that iconic badge was seen on a world championship podium was when the legendary Giacomo Agostini won the German 500cc Grand Prix at the Nurburgring in 1976!
Lorenzo Zanetti (Honda) and Luca Scassa (Kawasaki) battled it out all the way to the final chicane, where Zanetti passed Sacassa and held on to the line despite a kamikaze passing attempt by Scassa in the final corner.
RESULTS
1 Sam Lowes (Britain) Yamaha R6 – 33min37.767
2 Kenan Sofuoglu (Turkey) Kawasaki ZX-6R +11.105sec
3 Roberto Rolfo (Italy) MV Agusta F3 675 +14.528
4 Lorenzo Zanetti (Italy) Honda CBR600RR +19.999
5 Luca Scassa (Italy) Kawasaki ZX-6R +20.120
6 Jack Kennedy (Ireland) Honda CBR600RR +20.385
7 Sheridan Morais (South Africa) Honda CBR 600RR +24.324
8 Andrea Antonelli (Italy) Kawasaki ZX-6R +27.395
9 Fabien Foret (France) Kawasaki ZX-6R +28.153
10 Glen Richards (Australia) Triumph Daytona 675 +28.264
17 Mathew Scholtz (South Africa) Suzuki GSX-R600 +39.636