2014 World Superbike Results From Donington Park
Spoiler Alert: 2014 World Superbike results from Donington Park in the UK listed below
Though the Friday and Saturday sessions at Donington Park were plagued by rain, both World Superbike races Sunday were held under dry conditions.
This caused for drastic changes in bike setup, and one team nailed it – Kawasaki Racing. The ZX-10R Ninja pilots Tom Sykes and Loris Baz finished 1-2 in both races, upsetting the point standings after the Donington WSBK round concluded.
The reigning World Superbike Champion Sykes – who also doubled at Donington last season – now leads the series after five of 13 rounds with 185 points. The Brit is now 26 ahead of the two riders tied in second and third – Pata Honda World Superbike’s Jonathan Rea and Baz.
Taking third in race one was Voltcom Crescent Suzuki’s Alex Lowes, and Aprilia Racing Team’s Sylvain Guintoli took the final podium position in race two.
Following are race recaps of 2014 Donington World Superbike.
2014 Donington World Superbike Race 1 Recap:
In race one, Sykes, who qualified seventh, had a horrible start, falling back to 11th. But Sykes would not hold be defeated, and fought his way to his 17th-career victory.
He would battle with Baz and the pole man, Ducati Team’s Davide Giugliano. But the Italian Panigale 1199 R pilot would crash out on the 16th lap, leaving the two Kawasaki’s to fight it out, much to the delight of the crowd.
Finishing a lonely fourth was Aprilia Racing Team’s Marco Melandri. The Italian finished ahead of Ducati Team’s Chaz Davies, Rea – who won three-straight races ahead of Donington – Aprilia Racing Team’s Sylvain Guintoli, Pata Honda World Superbike’s Jonathan Rea and Red Devils Roma Aprilia’s Toni Elias.
Rounding out the top 10 was the top EVO finisher, Kawasaki Racing Team’s David Salom.
As for crashes,Christian Iddon (Team Alstare Bimota) and Eugene Laverty (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) hit the pavement early in the race but walked away uninjured.
2014 Donington World Superbike Race 2 Recap:
Race two at Donington Park was once again a close encounter with the leading bunch of riders locked together until a clash between Lowes and Melandri at the Melbourne Hairpin split the group.
The 23-lap race then saw a three way fight between Guintoli, Baz, and race-one winner Sykes, the Brit eventually edging the victory and taking with it the championship lead.
Just as in race one Baz took second position with Guintoli taking the last podium place after a much stronger second race for the Frenchman. Giugliano recovered from his crash earlier to claim 4th.
Davies finished a lonely fifth ahead of Rea, who finished 6th.
Salom added to the celebrations for Kawasaki in the EVO category, by once again being the best classified rider, finishing a credible 10th overall.
Aaron Yates (Team Hero EBR) and Laverty fell before half distance, neither rider sustaining any injury. Laverty however was able to remount and salvage 3 points.
As in the opening race, Leon Camier (BMW Motorrad Italia) and Geoff May (Team Hero EBR) were not on the grid, Camier nursing an injury sustained in yesterday’s Tissot-Superpole, May unable to take part due to an ongoing technical problem.
2014 Donington World Race 1 Results:
| 1 | Tom Sykes | 34m23.929s | GBR | KAWASAKI | Kawasaki Racing Team |
| 2 | Loris Baz | +1.538s | FRA | KAWASAKI | Kawasaki Racing Team |
| 3 | Alex Lowes | +6.394s | GBR | SUZUKI | Voltcom Crescent Suzuki |
| 4 | Marco Melandri | +11.875s | ITA | APRILIA | Aprilia Racing Team |
| 5 | Chaz Davies | +14.514s | GBR | DUCATI | Ducati Superbike Team |
| 6 | Jonathan Rea | +14.708s | GBR | HONDA | Pata Honda |
| 7 | Sylvain Guintoli | +18.483s | FRA | APRILIA | Aprilia Racing Team |
| 8 | Leon Haslam | +29.295s | GBR | HONDA | Pata Honda |
| 9 | Toni Elias | +31.291s | ESP | APRILIA | Red Devils Roma |
| 10 | David Salom | +46.953s | ESP | KAWASAKI | Kawasaki Racing Team |
2014 Donington World Race 2 Results:
| 1 | Tom Sykes | 34m14.134s | GBR | KAWASAKI | Kawasaki Racing Team |
| 2 | Loris Baz | +3.678s | FRA | KAWASAKI | Kawasaki Racing Team |
| 3 | Sylvain Guintoli | +7.376s | FRA | APRILIA | Aprilia Racing Team |
| 4 | Davide Guigliano | +10.827s | ITA | DUCATI | Ducati Superbike Team |
| 5 | Chaz Davies | +15.140s | GBR | DUCATI | Ducati Superbike Team |
| 6 | Jonathan Rea | +17.975s | GBR | HONDA | Pata Honda |
| 7 | Leon Haslam | +33.737s | GBR | HONDA | Pata Honda |
| 8 | Toni Elias | +40.362s | ESP | APRILIA | Red Devils Roma |
| 9 | Alex Lowes | +41.465s | GBR | SUZUKI | Voltcom Crescent Suzuki |
| 10 | David Salom | +48.929s | ESP | KAWASAKI | Kawasaki Racing Team |
2014 World Superbike Championship Point Standings (after five of 13 rounds):
| 1. | T. SYKES | KAWASAKI | 185 |
| 2. | J. REA | HONDA | 159 |
| 3. | L. BAZ | KAWASAKI | 159 |
| 4. | S. GUINTOLI | APRILIA | 148 |
| 5. | C. DAVIES | DUCATI | 109 |
| 6. | M. MELANDRI | APRILIA | 97 |
| 7. | D. GIUGLIANO | DUCATI | 82 |
| 8. | L. HASLAM | HONDA | 75 |
| 9. | A. LOWES | SUZUKI | 73 |
| 10. | E. LAVERTY | SUZUKI | 65 |
| 11. | T. ELIAS | APRILIA | 65 |
| 12. | D. SALOM | KAWASAKI | 46 |
| 13. | N. CANEPA | DUCATI | 38 |
| 14. | L. CAMIER | BMW | 20 |
| 15. | L. SCASSA | KAWASAKI | 16 |
| 16. | F. FORET | KAWASAKI | 14 |
| 17. | J. GUARNONI | KAWASAKI | 12 |
| 18. | C. CORTI | MV AGUSTA | 10 |
| 19. | S. MORAIS | KAWASAKI | 10 |
| 20. | G. ALLERTON | BMW | 6 |
| 21. | K. BOS | HONDA | 5 |
| 22. | A. ANDREOZZI | KAWASAKI | 4 |
| 23. | M. FABRIZIO | KAWASAKI | 2 |
