Laverty wins r1 as Sykes take the championship title

Jerez (Spain), Sunday 20 October 2013 – Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) is the new eni FIM Superbike World Champion. The 28 year old from Huddersfield, England, rode a smart race and crossed the line in third place, a result that allowed him to clinch his first-ever World Title, in his fifth year of racing in the series. Sykes also brings the title back to Kawasaki after 20 long years – the last one dated back to 1993 and was won by Scott Russell.

Today’s first race was won by Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) after a superb final lap overtake on Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrrad GoldBet), on the outside, at the last turn. The two riders pulled away in the early laps, with Laverty leader for most of race until the penultimate tour, when the Italian passed the Irishman at Turn 6. Thanks to Laverty’s win, Aprilia retains the Manufacturers’ title.

Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) finished a lonely fourth, ahead of Toni Elias (Red Devils Aprilia) and Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia), both unable to repeat on the race distance the competitive lap-times set in free practice and qualifying. The Top-10 for Race 1 was completed by Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet), Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki), Xavi Fores (Team Ducati Alstare) and Mark Aitchison (Team Pedercini Kawasaki).

Tom Sykes: “Words cannot describe how I feel. I am very level headed but since Magny Cours there are moments where my mind started dreaming. When I was dreaming I had goose bumps and it was magical to even dream I could be world champion. But that was maybe 2% of what I am feeling now after winning the title. In race two it was my intention to do well, even though it would be difficult to top race one as all my energy had kind of gone after the first one. I hoped to be closer to the front but I did not expect to win. I think this was just Eugene’s race, although my Ninja ZX-10R was working very well. All things considered I have to be very happy today. World Champion, podium in the races and it has been an absolute pleasure to race with these guys this year. It was good for the championship that it got decided at the final round again, especially at this beautiful circuit, with these great fans. My team is mostly Spanish so it is a home round for them. The championship win has not fully sunk in yet but it will do soon, I’m sure.”

Race 1 Results: 1. Laverty (Aprilia) 21 Laps/92.820 km in 36’00.919 average 154.634 kph; 2. Melandri (BMW) 0.218; 3. Sykes (Kawasaki) 6.681; 4. Guintoli(Aprilia) 9.327; 5. Elias (Aprilia) 20.446; 6. Giugliano (Aprilia) 27.633; 7. Davies (BMW) 28.621; 8. Camier (Suzuki) 29.548; 9. Fores (Ducati) 29.964; 10. Aitchison (Kawasaki) 36.981; 11. Cluzel (Suzuki) 37.008; 12. Barrier (BMW) 43.179; 13. Badovini (Ducati) 47.260; 14. Neukirchner (Ducati) 52.154;15. Lanzi (Ducati) 52.912; 16. Sandi (Kawasaki) 54.414; 17. Fabrizio (Honda) 1’02.109; 18. Parkes (Yamaha) 1’02.568; 19. Iannuzzo (BMW) 6 Laps; RT. Haslam (Honda).

Race 2

The new World Superbike Champ Tom Sykes took the title earlier in race 1 and completed an outstanding record of 8 Tissot-Superpole and 9 race wins with his 17th podium finish of the year, a second place in Race 2 behind Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team).

The Irishman battled out with Sykes throughout the first half of the race, eventually overtaking the Brit at the of the thirteenth lap and pulling away, to claim his second double-win of the season and the ninth race victory – same number of wins as the new Champion. Other works Aprilia rider Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) completed again the podium by crossing the line a lonely third, ahead of Toni Elias (Red Devils Aprilia), Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) and Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki).

Lorenzo Lanzi (Mesaroli A.S. Ducati) finished his weekend on a positive note as he ended up 7th, followed by Jules Cluzel (FIXI Crescent Suzuki), Mark Aitchison (Team Pedercini Kawasaki) and Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia). Local Xavi Forés (Team Ducati Alstare) crashed out of Turn 1 right after the start of the race, due to a collision with another rider, while Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) did not line up on the grid due to the injured ankle that bothered him also in the first race.

Eugene Laverty: “Two wins that came in different ways, as the second one was kind of easier because I was able to pull away from Tom once I got passed him. I’m happy with this double-win that extended our podium streak in the final part of the season. It’s a shame that we lost some points early on in the year, but I’m not the type of guy who likes to make excuses. Second place overall is a great result, as well as the Manufacturers’ title.”


Results: 1. Laverty (Aprilia) 21 Laps/92.820 km in 36’05.989 average 154.272 kph; 2. Sykes (Kawasaki) 2.711; 3. Guintoli (Aprilia) 5.710; 4. Elias (Aprilia) 15.509; 5. Davies (BMW) 21.830; 6. Camier (Suzuki) 26.558; 7. Lanzi (Ducati) 30.840; 8. Cluzel (Suzuki) 33.056; 9. Aitchison (Kawasaki) 36.299; 10. Giugliano (Aprilia) 40.867; 11. Neukirchner (Ducati) 44.308; 12. Parkes (Yamaha) 52.483; 13. Barrier (BMW) 53.674; 14. Fabrizio (Honda) 1’20.316; 15. Sandi (Kawasaki) 3 Laps; RT. Haslam (Honda); RT. Badovini (Ducati); RT. Fores (Ducati); RT. Iannuzzo (BMW); NS. Melandri (BMW).

Final Standings: 1. Sykes 447; 2. Laverty 424; 3. Guintoli 402; 4. Melandri 359; 5. Davies 290; 6. Giugliano 211; 7. Fabrizio 188; 8. Baz 180; 9. Rea 176; 10. Cluzel 175; 11. Camier 132; 12. Badovini 130; 13. Haslam 91; 14. Neukirchner 91; 15. Checa 80; 16. Elias 70; 17. Sandi 55; 18. Aitchison 46; 19. Iannuzzo 27; 20. Lanzi 23; 21. Salom 22; 22. Clementi 18; 23. Philippe 13; 24. Canepa 12; 25. Lai 11; 26. Pirro 10; 27. Lundh 10; 28. Hayden 8; 29. Young 8; 30. Fores 7; 31. Barrier 7; 32. Reiterberger 7; 33. Allerton 6; 34. Uprak 5; 35. Parkes 4; 36. Smrz 4; 37. Stauffer 4; 38. Ercelik 3; 39. Eslick 2; 40. Akiyoshi 2; 41. Haga 2. Manufacturers: Aprilia 550; 2. Kawasaki 501; 3. BMW 443; 4. Suzuki 243; 5. Honda 236; 6. Ducati 185; 7. Yamaha 8.