An incredible start for the Kawasaki Racing Team pairing of Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea saw the two Brits escape at the front of the race, beginning a more than twenty lap tussle that eventually saw Sykes earn an eighth victory at the Derbyshire track. Reigning Champion Rea crossed the line in P2 to take another podium and keep his incredible haul of points for the title increasing, and Ducati’s Chaz Davies found redemption after a tricky Race 1 in which the Welshman suffered two crashes, completing the podium in third.
Sykes was the pacesetter throughout the weekend and the Yorskhireman’s Kawasaki wasn’t beaten into Turn 1 in Race 2, but teammate Jonathan Rea got an incredible start from the second row to set off in Sykes’ wake around Donington Park. Staying with his teammate, Rea made some moves to take the lead but a small mistake at the final turn saw Sykes regain the lead and then find the legs to pull away to cross the line 2 seconds clear.
Aruba.it rider Chaz Davies made amends for his Race 1 after a difficult Friday with technical problems and locked out the podium in P3, with teammate Davide Giugliano having some issues and unable to repeat his podium from Saturday. The Italian Ducati rider came home in P7.
Lorenzo Savadori had another impressive performance onboard the IodaRacing Aprilia and converted his front row start into a repeat of the rookie Italian’s best ever P4 finish claimed earlier in the season, ahead of MV Agusta rider Leon Camier, riding at home, who put in a sterling ride to bring the Italian marque home in illustrious company in the top 5.
Honda’s Nicky Hayden had a good start and hunted down Giugliano and Savadori in the initial stages, before encountering a drop in pace and eventually succumbing to Camier in the closing stages and coming home in P6. Teammate Michael van der Mark dueled with Milwaukee BMW rider Josh Brookes and beat the Australian over the line to take P8.
Brookes, who has a lot of experience at Donington, moved up through the field to finish in P9 and top BMW at the Milwaukee team’s home race. The top ten was completed by stand in rider Cameron Beaubier riding for Pata Yamaha in place of injured Sylvain Guintoli, with the American putting in a calm and solid performance to gain some good points for the team.
After a history-making weekend at Donington, Round 8 sees WorldSBK back on track at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli on the Riviera di Rimini from 17th – 19th June as Ducati race at home once again.
#UKWorldSBK at Donington: Race 2
1. Tom Sykes Kawasaki Racing Team
2. Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Racing Team +2.017
3. Chaz Davies Aruba.it Racing – Ducati +4.437
