Tom Sykes has stamped his mark on the 2014 World Superbike Championship with a commanding and stylish double victory at Donington Park.
A double winner on home soil last season with Kawasaki, Sykes came into race day with a task on his hands after only qualifying seventh in the wet, but made matters worse by a poor opening lap in race one that dropped him to a low of 11th at one stage.
Blaming an ‘aggressive’ line by team-mate Loris Baz and a strange technical issue for the tardy opening, Sykes would nonetheless reel off a series of scintillating lap times as he powered his way up the order, passing bikes two at a time at one stage to catch long-time leader Baz with six laps of the race remaining.
Embarking on a thrilling battle with his Kawasaki team-mate as they disputed the lead, Sykes would eventually break away with a lap to spare to come home the winner. A 17th career WSBK win for him at the time, Sykes would describe it as one of his finest.
“Maybe race one was the best race of my career,” he said. “Winning the world title will always be the most emotional one but in terms of performance today maybe the top of the list now. We had a problem on the first laps of race one and Loris came quite aggressively in turn one. I am not complaining but this took away my natural line and I got put onto the marbles.
“I lost some positions and in the first half a lap, on full lean angle the bike was cutting the power. I almost came into the pits but the Ninja cleared itself and after that the bike was working very well. I was in tenth or 11th position early on and I was very motivated to move back to the where I feel we should be at the front.
“It was difficult to pass because a lot of guys were using their fresh Pirelli tyres to their full advantage and after six laps I really started to make a plan of attack to win.
Race two would prove somewhat less strenuous for Sykes, though he would still prove his pace by passing both Baz and Sylvain Guintoli for the lead on lap 11 before cruising away to victory number 18.
“In race two I had a good start but I knew Loris would have a good pace and Sylvain Guintoli always goes well round Donington. Sylvain led for half the race but I just kept pushing and took the lead and then the win. It is great to take another double after Aragon and also take the championship lead again. The summer weather really arrived back at Donington for my home round today.”
The results mean Sykes has reclaimed the WSBK championship lead and is now 26 points clear of Jonathan Rea and Baz.
