Donington Park WSB has seen all seasons over the years with everything from snow to rain, but thankfully this year the sun decided to stick its head out. Not that it was much consolation for poor old Leon Haslam, whose broken leg ruled him out of the action. That said, he still rode in practice and was only a single second off the pace - hard isn't the word.
Sun-drenched Donington saw great racing
Another pole position for Sykes but to be honest there were about seven riders all in with a realistic shout of the win. Although sadly for the luckless Leon Camier after the first lap it wasn't going to be him as he ran on at the Foggy Esses.
At the front end Sykes was leading the way with Jonathan Rea and then the Aprilia and BMW duos in formation behind. With Rea and Sykes trading fastest laps, Chaz Davies dropped off the leading group while Camier dropped his bike trying to make up for his earlier mistake and Eugene Laverty had a quick excursion across a gravel trap. All of which gave the leaders the chance to escape.
By mid race Sykes had gapped the chasing pack and it looked like all that was left to fight for was second spot, provided the Kawasaki could keep up the blistering pace. With Sylvain Guintoli, Rea and Marco Melandri all busy tripping each other up, Sykes counted down the laps to a fairly comfortable win. Second went to Melandri and third Guintoli, although the speed of Melandri threatened a bit more competition for Sykes in race two...
Melandri, Laverty and Guigliano chase the lead
Seconds away and once again Sykes got the holeshot with Guintoli and Laverty behind. Setting a new lap record on lap three, Sykes really looked like he had the bit between his teeth as he gapped the chasing, and battling, Aprilias. Down the order Camier once again hit the ground at Goddards.
To be fair, after eight laps Sykes had the race won so it was down the order you had to look to see some racing. Melandri was looking excited and chasing down Laverty while Guintoli looked fairly safe in second place. And that's how it finished.
A great first double win for Sykes, valuable points for Guintoli and a podium for Laverty.
Honda's Jonathan Rea among the pack
Supersport saw another Brit winner with on-form Sam Lowes take the silverware in a superb display of start to finish domination topped off with an awesome celebration stand up wheelie. Terrible luck saw Iddon taken out at the Loop just when he looked like he was having a good run on the MV while Kennedy got sixth and Richards 10th.
Race one
1. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki World Racing)
2. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK)
3. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team)
Race two
1. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki World Racing)
2. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team)
3. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team)
Championship places
1. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team)
2. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki World Racing)
3. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team)
Brit watch (race one/race two)
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki World Racing) - 1/1
Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike) - 4/11
Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK) - 8/6
Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) - 7, 3
Leon Camier (Fixi Crescent Suzuki) - DNF, 13
Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike) - DNS