Sykes double win at Donington,.

[MadKaw]

Sykes Wins Both Home Races At Donington!
WSBK, Donington, Europe, 26 May 2013
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.

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.”

[MadKaw]

Sofuoglu Second In The Race And The Points
WSS, Donington, Europe, 26 May 2013
Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Mahi Racing Team India) scored a second place in the fifth round of the WSS championship at Donington Park and now sits second overall. Fabien Foret was ninth in the race. Sofuoglu had to settle for second in the 22-lap race at Donington, held in warm and dry conditions, but his 20 points for second place at this round push him to second place overall, 30 points from race winner and championship leader Sam Lowes.

Kenan had to fight hard to get clear of a large group of riders who disputed the early podium positions, but when he did he pulled away to have a largely lonely race. He now has a total of 65 points, after one win, two second places and two no-scores so far.

Kawasaki Mahi Racing Team India rider Fabien Foret posted a ninth place finish and improved on his tenth place qualifying position and in doing so he ended his day third in the points, four behind Sofuoglu.

Florian Marino (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) was a strong early starter and looked on for a top five finish but an accidental collision with his team-mate Luca Scassa (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) saw Luca go fifth, and Marino crash out without injury, restarting to finish 21st. Luca is now sixth overall, Florian tenth.

Andrea Antonelli (Goeleven Kawasaki) completed his Donington race in eighth place, just ahead of Foret, while Vladimir Ivanov (Kawasaki DMC-Lorenzini Team) was 11th and well inside the points scores. Riccardo Russo (Puccetti Racing Kawasaki) also scored two points for 14th.

Kevin Coghlan (Kawasaki DMC-Lorenzini Team) encountered a technical issue that eventually forced him out of the race when he ran off track.

Kenan Sofuoglu: “Donington is a difficult track to pass on so for some riders it took three or four laps to get ahead of them, but in any case I could not stay with Sam Lowes. I should not be 11 seconds behind, maybe four or five. I lost some feeling at the beginning because I almost crashed when someone hit me and I lost a lot of time then. The final result is OK and not so bad for the championship either. I think Sam was just too fast here and gathering 20-points was good for this weekend. There are nine races to go in which I can be stronger. I am satisfied with second position today.”

Fabien Foret: “That was the most we could do today considering our starting position and some other things. I do not understand how to go really fast on this track, my bike has some small set-up issues and it was not easy but it is not all about that. It is a bit of everything, a bad position on the grid, and I need something extra at this track. The result is as we see it but let’s move on and we have some better circuits coming soon.”

[Mstevo]

having handed back FOX, I have to go looking for the results the morning after races
Team green are doing well and if they can keep on keeping on Mr Sykes should have pockets full of watches and a big trophy to go with them at years end

It is interesting to see how the field has dwindled to 18, just re enforces how tough it is out there