Sykes leaves Spain with Championship lead

Alcaniz (Spain) - The second race of the day at MotorLand Aragon was a carbon copy of race 1, with Kawasaki Racing Team riders Tom Sykes and Loris Baz dominating in the Spanish sun.

Baz who had been unable to stick with his team mate in the opening race looked a lot more comfortable this afternoon as did Marco Melandri (Aprilia Racing Team) who was incredibly fast at the end of the race, closing down the two green machines rapidly to put himself in the hunt for the victory.

In a spectacular final three laps the three riders exchanged places a number of times with the deciding move coming at the final hairpin at the Aprilia of Melandri went wide allowing Sykes and Baz to claim a 1-2 finish for the second time today. Melandri finished 3rd .

Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) was 4th, with race one podium finisher Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) and Eugene Laverty (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) completing the top 6.

Race 1 EVO best classified Leon Camier (BMW Motorrad Italia) was involved in a race long dual with Althea Racing Ducati’s Niccolo Canepa and local rider David Salom (Kawasaki Racing Team). In the end Salom took the EVO honours after a last lap mistake from the BMW rider dropped him to 12th overall, handing the category victory to the local rider ahead of Canepa.

Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki), Chaz Davies (Ducati Superbike Team), Claudio Corti (MV Agusta RC – Yakhnich Motorsport) and Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Kawasaki) all fell without injury.

Results: 1. Sykes (Kawasaki) 17 Laps/90.848 km in 33'37.223 average 162.130 kph; 2. Baz (Kawasaki) 0.338; 3. Melandri (Aprilia) 0.470; 4. Guintoli (Aprilia) 5.429; 5. Rea (Honda) 8.861; 6. Laverty (Suzuki) 15.986; 7. Giugliano (Ducati) 18.206; 8. Haslam (Honda) 25.513; 9. Elias (Aprilia) 25.823; 10. Salom (Kawasaki) 38.949; 11. Canepa (Ducati) 39.413; 12. Camier (BMW) 41.486; 13. Morais (Kawasaki) 1'02.587; 14. Scassa (Kawasaki) 1'09.720; 15. Foret (Kawasaki) 1'14.046; 16. Andreozzi (Kawasaki) 1'14.233; 17. Yates (EBR) 1'35.195; 18. Toth (BMW) 1'37.781; 19. Sebestyen (BMW) 1'54.547; 20. May (EBR) 1'57.166; RT. Fabrizio (Kawasaki); RT. Guarnoni (Kawasaki); RT. Corti (MV Agusta); RT. Davies (Ducati); RT. Lowes (Suzuki); EX. Badovini (Bimota) 40.915; EX. Iddon (Bimota).

Standings (Round 2 of 13): 1. Sykes 75; 2. Baz 71; 3. Guintoli 64; 4. Melandri 49; 5. Rea 48; 6. Laverty 46; 7. Giugliano 43; 8. Davies 30; 9. Haslam 25; 10. Elias 23; 11. Salom 22; 12. Canepa 16; 13. Lowes 9; 14. Foret 9; 15. Camier 8; 16. Morais 7; 17. Allerton 6; 18. Guarnoni 4; 19. Corti 3; 20. Scassa 2. Manufacturers: 1. Kawasaki 81; 2. Aprilia 71; 3. Suzuki 49; 4. Honda 48; 5. Ducati 48; 6. BMW 14; 7. MV Agusta 3.

WSBK