WSB Qatar: PH2

Final round of the World Superbikes championship - who comes out on top?

With the championship going down to the wire, who would leave Qatar as WSB champion? Tom Sykes was holding the advantage of a 12-point cushion on Sylvain Guintoli, but with his unhelpful teammate Baz in the mix, not to mention his rumored partner for next year Jonathan Rea, it wasn't going to be easy for the British Kawasaki rider. That said, Guintoli's team mate Melandri proved at the last round he couldn't exactly be relied upon...

Sykes went out to Qatar with a points advantage

From the off Baz lead the way with Rea behind and Guintoli shadowing Sykes. That wouldn't do for the Frenchman and with the Aprilia's traditional top speed advantage you had to think Guinters would be able to get up the sharp end once he settled in.

Lap five and Guinters breezed past Sykes, leaving him with a pair of troublesome Ducatis on his heels as the Aprilia rider started to hunt down Rea. And then Melandri started to make his move...

Mid race and Guintoli slipped past Rea into second while Sykes looked like he was slightly off the pace. Could he pick it up in the latter part of the race? Luckily for him, Melandri was struggling to get past the Ducati of Davies, although with five laps to go this changed...

As Guintoli challenged Baz for the lead, Melandri stuffed it up the inside of Sykes in a brutal overtake. Four to go and having taken the lead, Guintoli now also led the title charge. Could Sykes do some damage limitation? After digging deep, Sykes pulled himself up into third spot and while Guintoli won the race, Sykes entered the last round with an 3 point advantage after Baz failed to let him past to take second spot! Teammates in action again...

Three points between Guintoli and Sykes by final race

With all to play for, the final WSB race of the year promised much. If Guintoli won he would take the title, if Sykes finished ahead of him he would be crowned double champion. Game on!

A perfect start by Sykes saw him lead the field while Guintoli was down in fourth with Rea and wild man Giugliano ahead. You have to hand it to Guinters, he wasn't holding back and by lap four he out dragged Sykes, slipped into second and was making lunges for the lead. Could Sykes stick with him this race? A lap later, as Guintoli took the lead, it was a case of all or nothing for Sykes and he needed to get past Rea quickly before the Frenchman ahead checked out. With nine laps left to go, he was through and it was now a two horse race. Although one horse had a 1.3-second lead...

With Guintoli holding a huge advantage, Sykes' title charge fizzled out and when Rea overtook him you knew it was all over. The title to Guintoli and Sykes second again by a tiny margin. What would have been if team orders had been obeyed?

Results:

Race 1:
Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team)
Melandri (Aprilia Racing Team)
Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike Team)

Race 2:
Melandri (Aprilia Racing Team)
Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team)
Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike Team)

Championship places:
Guintoli - 416
Sykes - 410
Rea - 334

Brit watch (championship places)
Eugene Laverty (Suzuki) - 10 (161)
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) - 2 (410)
Leon Haslam (Honda) - 7 (187)
Jonathan Rea (Honda) - 3 (334)
Chaz Davies (Ducati) - 6 (215)
Alex Lowes (Suzuki) - 11 (139)