VOL. 50 ISSUE 21 MAY 29, 2013
P87
Briefly...
Like the previous round at Monza,
Donington features many areas
where heavy braking is required,
not least in the Foggy Esses (Turn
9) as the riders approach the Melbourne Loop section. Like Monza,
an escape road has now been incorporated into the layout, to prevent any rider who overshoots from
running onto the grass and possibly crashing. The rider can rejoin
the circuit after the end of the Foggy Esses (Turn 10), but if he does
so in such a way that he gained an
advantage, Race Direction can issue a sanction.
R
Tom Sykes is the first
Kawasaki rider to do the
double in 13 years
Tom Sykes had it all his
way at his home round
in the World Superbike
Series at Donington Park,
the Brit winning both
races while also setting a
new lap record at the East
Midlands racetrack.
hope they enjoyed the show."
With his championship lead
being nibbled away by his main
rivals in recent weekends, Aprilia's Guintoli was in great form at
Donington: He was on the front
row at a circuit the Aprilia usually
hates, and but for the amazing
disappearing Kawasaki he could
have won both races himself, or
the second one at least.
"I was more happy with the
way I rode in race two," the
Frenchman said. "I had another
good start which was good, but
straight away I felt that with the
higher temperature the initial grip
of the tire was a little bit down on
race one. I could clearly see that,
but Tom [Sykes] did not see that!
The temperature worked for him.
It was like there were two class-
Memories of winter haunted the
first day at Donington as rain and
freezing winds blew hard across
the valley that Donington sits atop
of. The winds were so severe that
the airplanes that fly close overhead, on a landing run for East
Midlands Airport, were coming in
at outrageous angles of yaw, to
stay on line with the runways that
start just beyond the circuit itself.
It caused similar problems for the
World Superbike and World Supersport riders, few who could ever
remember riding in stronger winds
at Donington.
The Fixi Crescent Suzuki team
took part in a test at Snetterton in
England on the Monday and Tuesday before the Donington weekend
to try out some new electronics
strategies. The test was unsuccessful in nailing a new anti-wheelie idea, but lots of other advances
were made in preparation for Donington itself.
continued on next page
