2013 World Superbike Donington Park Results

Tom Sykes Dominates At Donington Park

[caption id="attachment_26551" align="alignright" width="300"] Tom Sykes takes top position with Aprilia's Sylvain Guintoli and Eugene Laverty filling out the podium.[/caption]

Kawasaki rider Tom Sykes got his first ever double win at the World Superbike event at Donington Park in the U.K. Sykes dominated the weekend from the outset, leading every session from the qualifying laps to the main events.

The victories pus Sykes in a prime position to challenge for the motorsports championship, but they weren't enough to pass Sylvain Guintoli for the top spot in the rankings. Guintoli had a solid performance with two podium finishes, which was just enough to keep him at No. 1.

"I have been in World Superbike for a few years now, and I got the first double win on home soil, [which] is a fairy tale," Sykes said. "... We're in a strong situation, we have a good base setting and now we are going to some fantastic circuits."

Marco Melandri landed on the podium with a second-place finish in the first race, while Eugene Laverty earned the third position after the second race. Even with the podium finish, Laverty is still 20 points behind Sykes in the overall standings, but there is plenty of time left to make up ground in the series.

Tom Sykes Wins Both Home Races At Donington!

[caption id="attachment_26547" align="alignright" width="300"] Tom Sykes scored his first career double at Donington.[/caption]

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) scored his first career double at Donington and in doing so moved to within four points of the championship lead after five rounds.

Having set a new track best in Superpole on Saturday Sykes rode brilliantly and almost faultlessly in each 23-lap race at Donington to score not only his first double win, but take a new lap record in race two, a 1'28.074, set on lap four.

He was a start-to-finish leader on each lap each time around and after a small change to his front suspension settings for race two he went four seconds faster than in race one, despite a rise in track temperatures.

Tom now sits in second place on his own, only four points from the lead and with the third place rider 20 points behind after one third of the season has been completed.

[caption id="attachment_26553" align="alignleft" width="300"] Loris Baz achieved his target of a top five finish in the opener.[/caption]

Loris Baz (KRT) had a better first race than second and he achieved his target of a top five finish in the opener, then he went seventh in race two. Most importantly of all, he remains sixth in the championship.

Federico Sandi (Kawasaki Team Pedercini) finished 14th in race two, his team-mate Alex Lundh was 15th, giving each rider a points score on one race. Neither had finished race one, retiring in the pits.

Portimao, in Portugal, on June 9th in the venue for the next round.

Tom Sykes:
"I have been in World Superbike for a few years now and I got the first double win on home soil is a fairy tale. One click on the front suspension between races made the difference and we could see that in the second race time, which was better than the first one. The Ninja ZX-10R is working well and it has been all weekend so I feel very motivated. We are racing in a World Championship and these guys are as fast as you like and very competitive, so it is not as easy at it looked. Kawasaki is a very close unit and we have worked hard and everybody has seen how much better we are in the races. I got the circuit record yesterday and I got the new lap record in race two so I have the full set. I really enjoyed the support from the crowd and I hope they enjoyed the show. No better place to do my first double than at Donington Park. A good weekend and we are closer in the championship, just four points from the top. We're in a strong situation, we have a good base setting and now we are going to some fantastic circuits."

Loris Baz:
"I knew that I had good pace even yesterday. I just did not have a good Superpole qualifying session. But in race one today the good Loris was back! I did not have such a fast start but I wanted to go right to the front quickly but I ran straight on at one corner. I was coming back, coming back, and then overtook without any mistake and finished fifth. In race two I did not have the same feeling as in race one and that meant that I could not push, maybe more me than the bike, and the temperature was a bit different. I was not able to follow Chaz Davies and was waiting to get to the end of the race but I did my best. I am still sixth in the championship and I took some points advantage to Jonathan Rea so that is good."

Source: Kawasaki Racing Team

World Superbike - The Races At Donington

[caption id="attachment_26563" align="alignright" width="200"] With second place, Sylvain Guintoli confirms his leadership in the rider standings - Photo: Fabrizio Porrozzi[/caption]

 

• Aprilia Ends The Donington Weekend In Grand Style With Three RSV4s In The Top Four Places
  
• Double Podium For Sylvain Guintoli Who Confirms His Leadership In The Rider Standings
  
• Eugene Laverty Finishes Third In Race 2 On A Difficult Track For Him
  

The Aprilia Racing Team finished the weekend at Donington the best possible way, placing both riders on the podium in Race 2. With second place, Sylvain Guintoli confirms his leadership in the rider standings, while Eugene Laverty's third place continues the Northern Irish rider's positive streak. The excellent performance put in by the brand from Noale was rounded out by Davide Giugliano's fourth place (Althea Racing), who is increasingly comfortable astride his RSV4.

In Race 1 Guintoli got off to a brilliant start from the second spot on the grid, with Sykes following close behind. However, the Kawasaki rider demonstrated his particular feeling with the track, relentlessly gaining ground, while a spectacular battle raged behind him between Guintoli, Melandri, Laverty and Rea. A few alarm bells forced Laverty to fall back, while Guintoli continued keeping pace with Melandri. A couple of problems with loss of grip then forced the Frenchman to pass under the chequered flag in third place.

[caption id="attachment_26549" align="alignleft" width="300"] Eugene Laverty's podium in Race 2 was the best result of his Superbike career at Donington - Photo: Fabrizio Porrozzi[/caption]

As mentioned above, in the second race the Aprilia riders were in the fight from the first laps. Sylvain and Eugene set the pace in the pack behind Sykes, with the Frenchman solidly in second place and Laverty skilfully fighting off attacks first by Melandri (which he responded to with a textbook pass) and then by Giugliano who took fourth place with the Althea Racing Team RSV4.

Sylvain's double podium keeps him in lead of the rider standings with a four point advantage over Sykes and 24 in front of team mate Laverty. For Eugene the podium in Race 2 was the best result of his Superbike career at Donington. Aprilia stays solidly in the Manufacturer standings lead with a 28 point advantage in front of Kawasaki, 33 ahead of BMW, 112 over Honda, 126 above Suzuki and 143 in front of Ducati.

Sylvain Guintoli:
"I'm quite pleased with the way Race 2 went, not only because of the result. I pushed hard and gave it my all for the entire race, but Sykes was just impossible to beat today. In the first race, on the other hand, I made a few too many mistakes which cost me second place, and considering the lap times I was putting without them I would have been able to close the gap more. In any case third and second are excellent results for the championship on a track where we are not able to take full advantage of the RSV4's potential. Now we are off for Portimao, a track which is very well suited for the characteristics of my Aprilia, where we will be able to do some good teamwork".

Eugene Laverty:
"At the end of Race 1 I was disappointed. I have always had trouble on this track, but I could have done better than seventh place. On the other hand Race 2 got off to a better start straight away. A few changes we made to my RSV4 between the two races immediately increased my feeling with it. In fact, I was able to defend third place against Melandri's attacks, and as I said at Monza, it's always nice to end the weekend with a podium. The performance in Race 2 is encouraging for the rest of the championship. It shows that even on shorter, more winding tracks we can keep up with the top riders. I like Portimao, I was strong there last year so I'm looking forward to the next round".

Source: Aprilia Racing

Seventh Podium Position Of The Season

[caption id="attachment_26554" align="alignright" width="300"] Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies - 2013 World Superbike Donington Park[/caption]

At the fifth round of the 2013 FIM Superbike World Championship, the BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team celebrated its seventh podium position of the season. Factory rider Marco Melandri finished second in race one at British track, "Donington Park" on his BMW S 1000 RR. In race two, the Italian crossed the line in fifth place. His team-mate and local hero Chaz Davies finished eighth and sixth respectively. In the Riders' Classification, Marco is fourth with 127 points, directly followed by Chaz who is fifth with 112 points. In the Manufacturers' classification, BMW lies third with 175 points. From Donington, the BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team heads directly to Spain, where it will conduct two days of testing at "Motorland Aragón" this week.

Coming from sixth place on the grid, Marco started his chase towards the front of the pack in race one on the seventh of the 23 lap race. He closed the gap to the front, waiting for opportunities and taking them by overtaking his competitors. On lap 17, he had improved to second place but leader Tom Sykes had pulled away too far leaving no chance for Marco to catch him, so the Italian crossed the line in second, 2.3 seconds behind Sykes. Chaz had a tough first race from seventh on the grid. In the beginning, he was close behind Marco but the Welshman struggled with grip. He fought numerous battles to keep his position but had to settle with eighth.

In the early stages of race two, both riders kept with the leading group but on lap six, Marco had a near highside. The Italian saved it and kept fifth position but lost a bit of time. In the following laps, Marco and Chaz started to steadily close the gap to the top four riders. In the second half of the race, Marco began his attack for the podium. On lap 16, he overtook Davide Giugliano for fourth, then Eugene Laverty and was in third. He kept this position until the penultimate lap but then fell back behind Laverty. When trying another attempt to regain the podium position on the final lap, Marco went wide onto the grass and slipped back to fifth. Chaz had quite a lonely second part of the race. He lost contact to the top five and had a big gap to the field behind. So his sixth position was not threatened but he was too far back to be involved in the battles in front of him. The winner of the second race was again Sykes.

Marco Melandri:
"It was a weekend of mixed emotions. Race one was really nice, but not easy. I had quite a good start, then I began pushing to gain positions. It was difficult to overtake Johnny and Sylvain and it took time. Then, when I had claimed second position, Tom was too far away and I didn't have enough time to reach him, but I was happy with second place. In race two, my start was not as good but step by step I got closer to the front group. But when I was directly behind Laverty, I started to have some difficulties riding. On the final lap, I tried to overtake him in the chicane, but when entering the corner I could not brake properly so I went wide to avoid a crash. It was a pity as I had hoped to get more points. Now we have to continue working. This week we will go testing and try some new solutions."

Chaz Davies:
"It was not an easy day. The first race was tough as pretty much from the early laps onwards I nearly had no grip. After a few laps the tires started to spin more than I was expecting. The spinning was upsetting the chassis and making the bike nervous, so it was a fight for 23 laps. I tried everything I could to make the bike more stable and to find more grip but I could not do anything. For race two we made quite a few changes and I had better grip for longer so I could stay with the front group for a while. But then grip started lacking again and I could not do anything more. Now we go testing in Aragón where we have a few things to try and I am looking forward to that."

Andrea Buzzoni (General Manager BMW Motorrad WSBK):
"With determination and cleverness, Marco claimed second position in the first of today's races. This was the best result he could get as Sykes was unbeatable. In race two, his start was not that good but he was able to close up to the front group quickly. In the second half of the race, he was racing at the limit - like all riders - and he was close to another podium. Unfortunately, although he rode bravely and tried all he could he was not able to reach it. Chaz had a difficult weekend, on a track which is not one of his favorite ones. But despite this, he collected important points.

We have completed the first third of the season and so far, we can draw a positive summary. The competitiveness in the series has raised a lot and we need to keep working in order to keep our performance level constantly high. In three days, we will start a two day test in Aragón. We have a packed schedule and many solutions to test. We need to keep very focused as the season is still so long."

Andrea Dosoli (Technical Director BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team):
"We claimed another podium and this is important for BMW. It was a very tough weekend because we lost the first day due to weather conditions and this did not help us in finding the perfect set-up. We know that the Superbike World Championship is very competitive and this was confirmed today. To fight for the win, every single detail needs to fit. We saw that our competitors have moved a step forward and now it is our goal to catch up to them and to further improve our bikes to the needs of our riders. One thing we need to work on is our qualifying performance as it is tough to start from the second and third row but also in race trim we had some issues. Marco had difficulties when braking into the corners, while Chaz was lacking rear grip this weekend and could not turn the bike as he would have liked. In race one today, Marco was able to catch up. In race two he struggled and made a mistake because he was riding over the limit of the bike. Our target is to move the limit as our competitors have done. We have a test planned next week in which we will evaluate different settings and updated parts in order to improve in the areas where we are struggling."

Source: BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team

Jonathan Rea Fourth In Donington Opener

[caption id="attachment_26555" align="alignright" width="300"] Jonathan Rea took fourth place in the first of two races at Donington Park.[/caption]

Jonathan Rea took fourth place in the first of today's two fifth-round World Superbike championship races at Donington Park in the UK, but there was not much else for his Pata Honda team to celebrate this weekend.

Today's two 23-lap races were won by British rider Tom Sykes, but neither featured Rea's Pata Honda team-mate Leon Haslam, who was withdrawn following morning warm-up after consultation with the team's management and medical staff.

Haslam broke his leg badly in a practice crash at Assen in The Netherlands four weeks ago and had undergone intensive therapy to compete at Donington, which is his home round. However, despite qualifying on the fifth row of the grid, his discomfort during warm-up prompted the team's decision.

Rea had shown potential during yesterday's practice session, qualifying in fourth place on the grid, which is where he finished race one. However, an electronics sensor failure just before race two, which restricted him to eleventh place at the flag after 23 difficult laps of the 4.023km Donington circuit.

Jonathan Rea - 4th and 11th
I was pretty happy with my pace at the start of race one but, as soon as my tire started to go, off the electronics were cutting too severely and I lost a lot of pace. I even struggled to compete with Laverty and Guintoli as they came past. Race two was a complete disaster. Already, on the sighting lap, I told the guys that we had a sensor problem on the traction control. They said there wasn't enough time to fix it so I went out on a bike that I was really unsure of. In reality it was cutting way, way too much power and I even tried to turn the traction control off, but it wouldn't turn completely off. It was the worst 23 laps I've ever ridden. I'm really frustrated after all the work we've done - we struggled for dry time at the start of the weekend but made some inroads during warm-up this morning and I felt good in race one. I feel like we should have been on the podium twice today.

Leon Haslam - DNS
Looking at the guys ride around Donington and knowing what I've done here in the past makes it kind of frustrating to sit and watch the races in the motorhome. Jonathan proved in race one that the bike was capable of fighting for the podium and I feel I might have been up there. There are a lot of ifs and buts, but I think it was the right decision not to ride. Even though I haven't been riding today, the leg is still quite sore so I'll get bit more physio, have a few days off, and see how we get on. The surgeon who operated on me says the best thing would be a few days on a warm beach so I'm going to look at an early flight out to Portimao and continue the work out there.

Pieter Breddels - Technical Co-ordinator
Jonathan got a really good start in race one and moved into second behind Tom Sykes. He could keep in touch with Tom for almost half the race, which was very good, but in the end he dropped off a little and finished just off the podium in fourth. We were getting ready for that podium finish in race two when we got a problem with the sensor on the grid. We thought we had solved the problem by bypassing the sensor but it didn't work out and that was the end of his race. Jonathan did not have a bike to compete with at all and I'm very sorry this happened because I think it robbed him of podium finish. Both he and the bike showed potential again this weekend so we'll look forward to Portimao, when we'll get Leon back on the bike as well.

Source: Team Pata Honda

Rookie Jules Cluzel Top-9 At Donington WSB

[caption id="attachment_26558" align="alignright" width="300"] Jules Cluzel continued with his impressive rookie season in the Superbike class by taking two ninth places.[/caption]

FIXI Crescent Suzuki had an afternoon of solid performances and misfortune during today's two races in the fifth round of the 2013 eni FIM Superbike World Championship that was staged at Donington Park in England.

Jules Cluzel continued with his impressive rookie season in the Superbike class by taking two ninth places in today's double-header. Cluzel's two races were almost a mirror image of each other, as the Frenchman got a good start from 11th on the grid and made up two places on the first lap in both events. In race one he got involved in various battles with other riders before settling into a smooth rhythm for the remainder of the race. He was pursued for much of the 23-lap race by former World Champion Carlos Checa, but the FIXI Crescent Suzuki rider kept a consistent pace and managed to hold off the Spaniard. In race two Cluzel pushed harder as the race wore on and learnt a lot more of how the Yoshimura-powered Suzuki GSX-R 1000 performs at the end of a race on used tires. He was pleased with the result and believes he can use the data he gathered in the second race to make improvements in the next events.

Leon Camier had an afternoon he would like to forget. He started from fifth on the grid, but a mistake on lap-one in the first race saw him run off the track and get relegated to 15th place. He immediately set about chasing the pack down so that the lead group wouldn't get away, but his eagerness proved his undoing as he crashed heavily on the last corner on lap three and saw any hope disappear as the bike cartwheeled away from him. Camier picked himself up unhurt and made his way back to the FIXI Crescent Suzuki garage on foot. In race two he got a better start and was running in contention with the leaders, but he again hit the deck in the last corner and slid onto the grass. This time, he was able to remount and continue his chase. He was 10-seconds behind the next rider in the field when he rejoined the race, but the Englishman caught and passed a number of riders to move up to 13th place at the chequered flag.

Today's races were held in beautiful sunshine with track temperatures reaching 40°C and the home crowd were treated to victories for British riders in both the Superbike and Supersport classes as Tom Sykes took both victories in the Superbike class and Sam Lowes secured victory in the 600cc category.

FIXI Crescent Suzuki will now return to base in Verwood before heading to Portugal for the next round of the championship at Portimao on Sunday June 9th.

Jules Cluzel:
"I am happy with the second race because we finished in the top-10 and I felt some things that we can use which will help us improve at the next couple of races. At the end of the race I was able to push a bit harder and this is good for me. If I push too hard in the first few laps I make mistakes, so I am now trying to ride like I did in Aragon and wait a bit and build up my performance. When I feel I am ready to start pushing from the first lap I will do that, but at this moment I need to wait a bit. I was happy that I ended the race with my lap-time quite close to my best lap and I feel that we can now do some good things soon."

Leon Camier:
"I had a bad start and was a bit too aggressive in the first race, even though I felt ok on the bike. I was trying to get past Canepa, but in the slower corners I was struggling a bit to get the bike pulled-up. I knew this, but I was desperate to get past him because I could see the front group going away, so it was my mistake and I ran off. Then I was pushing really hard to come back through the field and crashed. I was frustrated in race two because I felt like I didn't have the best grip and the BMWs got past me, so I pushed hard but got caught out at Goddards. The front went from underneath me, I don't really know why it happened, but I couldn't do much about it. I picked the bike up and tried my hardest to come back, but the main pack was too far away to catch them. I will now have to put this behind me and try and do my best at Portimao in a couple of week's time."

Paul Denning - Team Manager:
"I think Jules did a very solid job today and Donington is one of the most difficult tracks to tame a Superbike and get the best out of it, but Jules rode two very measured races and fought with some high-quality riders to secure his two ninth place finishes. He's not missing a lot of lap-time to get into the next group and as the team and Jules gain more experience together of what he needs to go fast, I'm sure the next races will allow us to take a step forward in performance.

"I feel bad for Leon today, but to be honest I feel worse for the team and all our partners that joined us here today. Starting from the middle of the second row, and with the race-pace Leon has had all weekend, should have seen us fighting for the podium in both races, but we didn't come anywhere near that potential. It is unusual for Leon to over-ride to get to where he wants to be, but unfortunately that was the case in the first race and we are just relieved it didn't result in an injury. The second race was a typical 'Goddards - don't know why that happened - crash' and I was pleased he could pick the bike up and run strong lap-times for the rest of the race to get back into the points.

"Overall race-day hasn't delivered what FIXI Crescent Suzuki wanted here at Donington, but we will be drawing the positives from the weekend in terms of performance potential and making sure we get the details right in Portugal."

Source: Team Suzuki

Physical Problems For Carlos Checa At Donington

[caption id="attachment_26562" align="alignright" width="300"] Niccolò Canepa brought his 1199 Panigale home in eighth and thirteenth place.[/caption]

The fifth round of the World Superbike championship took place today at Donington Park but for Team SBK Ducati Alstare, on track with three riders this weekend, it was a somewhat difficult day; while Niccolò Canepa brought his 1199 Panigale home in eighth and thirteenth place, Ayrton Badovini finished race one in eleventh position and Carlos Checa, after suffering with severe pain in his shoulder during race one (in which he finished twelfth), decided not to participate in the second race.

Race 1
Warm and sunny conditions for race 1 today with temperatures of 15°C and a track temperature of 26°C. Starting from ninth on the grid, Canepa was eighth at the end of lap one, followed by Checa and Badovini, placed eleventh and twelfth. Towards mid-race Niccolo' made a small mistake, going long, which relegated him to thirteenth place, immediately behind his two team-mates. Lapping at a similar pace to each other during the second half of the race, Ducati Alstare's three flag bearers were unable to close the gap that had opened ahead of them meaning that they crossed the finish line in eleventh (Badovini), twelfth (Checa) and thirteenth (Canepa) position.

Race 2
Due to severe pain in his left shoulder both during and after race 1, Checa decided against riding in race 2. The track temperature had increased to roughly 40°C for race 2. At the end of the opening lap Canepa was in eleventh place, ahead of Badovini, twelfth, and immediately behind Cluzel. On lap seven Badovini unfortunately made a mistake that caused him to lose several positions. From that point on he started to push to make up lost ground but as he entered turn 2 he lost the front which sadly brought his race to a premature end, although fortunately the Italian rider was not hurt in the crash.

Canepa, lapping with the same pace as Cluzel immediately ahead of him, finally got past the French rider on lap seventeen, moving into eighth place as a result. He managed the final part of the race well, keeping his closest rival firmly behind him to cross the line in final eighth position.

Carlos Checa:
"Seeing how the first race went, and the pain that I had in my shoulder both during and after the race, we decided that it was best not to force things by participating in the second. To tell the truth I thought things might be worse today, at what is one of the most physical tracks but, having said that, I need more time to recuperate and get my strength back as I'm suffering particularly in the changes of direction and when entering left-hand turns, where it's important to have both arms at 100%. Of course it's not an injury that affects me in my day to day life but at 300km/h it really hurts. Now we have two weeks, in which I'll continue with the various treatments in preparation for Portimao where I hope to be stronger. From the next round I'd like to be able to focus more on the sporting side of things and less on health issues."

Ayrton Badovini:
"In the first race I lost too much ground in the opening laps and after that there was no way to reach those ahead of me. I felt we made a good step between race 1 and race 2 - in the second I had similar pace to the group ahead of me but unfortunately I lost the front entering turn 2. I didn't hurt myself but it was a pity because I wasn't doing badly. Now I want to continue with our work to better understand what works and what works less well, in order to make less mistakes during the weekend and to be faster in the next races."

Niccolò Canepa:
"Considering that these were my first races I'd say that we are coming out of this weekend with a fairly positive outlook. We've worked well and if we'd had more time on track on Friday then I think we could have done better. We're not far off I don't think, with a bit more time to set the bike up for me and my riding style we could probably have done more. I'm just sorry for the mistake in race 1 but these things can happen in racing. I'd like to thank Francis Batta, Ernesto Marinelli and the team for giving me this opportunity and thanks also to Ducati's development team who've worked so hard for me this weekend."

Source: Ducati Alstare

Donington Park Overview And Point Standings

• Race 1 Conditions: Sunny
  
• Temperature: Air 15°C / Track 26°C
  
• Humidity: 38%
  
• Race 2 Conditions: Sunny
  
• Temperature: Air 17°C / Track 40°C
  
• Humidity: 37%
  

1. Sylvain Guintoli - 173
   
2. Tom Sykes - 169
   
3. Eugene Laverty - 149
   
4. Marco Melandri - 127
   
5. Chaz Davies - 112
   
6. Loris Baz - 95
   
7. Jonathan Rea - 89
   
8. Michel Fabrizio - 86
   
9. Davide Giugliano - 72
   
10. Jules Cluzel - 55
    

1. Aprilia - 208
   
2. Kawasaki - 180
   
3. BMW - 175
   
4. Honda - 96
   
5. Suzuki - 82
   
6. Ducati - 65