Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) is the winner of Race 1 at Donington Park. The Brit rode a perfect race up front for all the 23 laps, displaying pure class and outstanding race craft. Thanks to his 2nd win of the season, the 7th of his career, Sykes edges out Laverty for 2nd place in the standings and he's now just 9 points behind Championship leader Sylvain Guintoli, 3rd at the flag. 

Despite a not so easy first part of the race, Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK) clawed his way back to 2nd place after a successful overtake manoeuvre at the last turn, on lap 16, over Guintoli. Following a competitive first part of the race Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike), couldn't keep up the pace with Sykes and was forced to ride defensively to a final fourth position. The Ulsterman finished ahead Frenchman Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) - who had an up and down performance in race 1 - and Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team). 

The works Aprilia rider had a hard time after running off-track during lap 7 at "Fogarty Esses", and continued to struggle as the race went by. Same type of performance for Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK), able to stay with team mate Melandri in the early stages but finding difficult to push hard later on in the race. An early withdraw from the race for Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) following a crash at "Goddards" on lap 3. Team mate Jules Cluzel ended up 9th ahead of Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma Aprilia). Ayrton Badovini, Carlos Checa and Niccolò Canepa (Team Ducati Alstare) brought their challenge up to the flag to finish 11th , 12th and 13th respectively. 

Donington, 24-25-26 May 2013 Laps 23 = 92,529 Km - 

Time Of Race 34'10.881 - Avg. 162,420 km/h  

Pos R1 R2 Tot Pos Qualifying Grid No. Rider Nat Team Bike LL Gap Fastest Lap Speed Speed Ranking Race Time 

1 1 66 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R 23 1'28.561 270,9 1'27.378 269,6 25 144 2 

2 6 33 M. MELANDRI ITA BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK BMW S1000 RR 23 2.379 1'28.628 271,6 1'28.280 270,9 20 116 4 

3 2 50 S. GUINTOLI FRA Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory 23 3.808 1'28.524 267,5 1'27.716 270,9 16 153 1 

4 4 65 J. REA GBR Pata Honda World Superbike Honda CBR1000RR 23 6.760 1'28.469 268,9 1'28.139 267,5 13 84 7 

5 12 76 L. BAZ FRA Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R 23 13.649 1'28.967 270,9 1'28.850 270,2 11 86 6 

6 8 34 D. GIUGLIANO ITA Althea Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 23 15.551 1'29.199 264,3 1'28.779 264,3 10 59 9 

7 3 58 E. LAVERTY IRL Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory 23 17.453 1'28.657 271,6 1'28.014 270,2 9 133 3 

8 7 19 C. DAVIES GBR BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK BMW S1000 RR 23 19.138 1'29.109 270,2 1'28.644 264,9 8 102 5 

9 11 16 J. CLUZEL FRA Fixi Crescent Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 23 27.738 1'29.782 266,9 1'28.844 266,9 7 48 10 

10 15 84 M.FABRIZIO ITA Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 Factory 23 30.817 1'29.748 264,3 1'29.214 264,9 6 80 8

Maiden career double-win for Sykes today at Donington Park 

Tom Sykes' maiden double-win in the series comes after a total domination in Race 2 for the home rider, who continues his charge to the top now just 4 points away - in anticipation of the final decision by the FIM International Disciplinary Court on Monza Race 2 result. The last time a Kawasaki rider was able to secure both race victories dated back to 2000. Sykes pulled away from the chasing pack in the early stages and managed a 7 seconds lead up to the chequered flag, finishing ahead of works Aprilia duo of Sylvain Guintoli - still Championship leader - and Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team). 

The 26 year old Irishman, at his first rostrum finish on the Leicester track, had to defend his position from a late charge by Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet), who ran off track at "Fogarty Esses" following a final attempt of edging out the opponent from 3rd place. Melandri quickly rejoined to end up 5th behind the competitive Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia), who looked at times in the position to have a shot at the top-3 he's missing from June 2012. Slight improvement for works BMW rider Chaz Davies, 6th at the flag ahead of Frenchman Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team). A 4-way battle for 7th saw Niccolò Canepa having the better of Jules Cluzel (FIXI Crescent Suzuki), Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma Aprilia) and Jonathan Rea. 

The One Event rider for the round waved Team Ducati Alstare's flag high after Checa's withdrawal from Race 2 (left shoulder issues) and Ayrton Badovini's crash at Turn 2 on lap 19. The "nightmare weekend" of Leon Camier was completed by another low-speed crash at turn 12, with the Englishman able to get back on track for a final 13th place.

http://www.worldsbk.com/