Sykes wins Race 1 at Imola to close up on Championship lead

Imola (Italy) - Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) dominated Race 1 at Imola to score his 9th career win, the 4th this year. Today's pole-sitter managed to pull away from 2nd place Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia) halfway through the race, keeping a strong pace that only the young Italian was able to match, in the first part.

Sykes had a controlled approach in the early laps, making his way up from 4th to the lead, then started making the difference as the race progressed. Giugliano did all he could to stay with the winner, eventually finishing a lonely second, that means his first podium since 2012 Race 1 at Misano.

Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) achieved a solid 3rd place ahead Marco Melandri (BWM Motorrad GoldBet), as the home rider lapped really close to his former team mate, but couldn't get in contention for the podium. The two riders saw a recovering Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike) getting in the mix until the Ulsterman crashed out of Turn 19, during the nineteenth lap, not long after he moved up to 4th place. Rea got the hole-shot at the start, before running wide at Turn 6 and rejoining in 11th position.

Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Aprilia) finished 5th after a good battle with Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) and Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki).

The Championship standings situation is now tighter than ever on top, following Sykes' win and the unlucky withdrawal of Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team), due to a technical problem on Lap 6: the Frenchman keeps the lead, but Sykes is now just 3 points behind.

WSBK