Cycle News

VOL. 50 ISSUE 42 OCTOBER 22, 2013 After clinching the championship, a relaxed Sykes made a better effort for the win in race two before Laverty took the win. Second position is not bad to top off the World Championship and I think people would give a lot to be given that chance to win. "I rode to the potential of our package today and we made improvements in race two, but it was clear to see that at the end Eugene [Laverty] had more edge grip than me. I knew he would be strong. When I won the double in France it was quite a relief. Even in race one here in Jerez we were able to split the Aprilia and get on the podiums, which I thought before coming here would be almost impossible. Or, at least, very difficult. But we managed to stand on the podium in each race and become World Champions. I have a lot of people to thank. I appreciate everything they have done. We are back on track on Tuesday, so 2014 begins soon." The first race finish will long be remembered as BMW Motorrad Gold Bet's Marco Melandri pulling a very rude passing move on long time leader Laverty, with two laps to go. Melandri went away and then held Laverty off, taking his line, as well as his ride in 2014, and many other transgressions Laverty thinks he is guilty of. Finding his overtaking path on the inside of the final corner blocked, Laverty put in the pass of the year around the outside of Melandri. His amazing pass was applauded all the way round the final lap, as he scored his eighth win of the year. "Winning as many races as Tom [Sykes], who won the title, shows that me and Tom were fighting for the title," Laverty said after he went on to score a ninth win. "We were the ones doing most of the winning. We had some bad luck as well and it was just the case that I had my bad luck when I was winning and leading races." Melandri was no fan of Laver- P85 Briefly... Leon Camier made a miraculous recovery from his seven fractures in his right foot suffered in Turkey to go sixth fastest in day one at Jerez, finishing ninth overall going into Superpole. "I could feel my foot hurting, but it is not that bad," He said after race day. "It was awkward towards the end, especially in the right-handers when your feet are sort of crumpled up underneath you." David Salom, who rode for the Kawasaki Superbike team for two rounds to replace the injured Loris Baz, is unsure of his 2014 plans. But there is a possibility that he may ride for the Provec Kawasaki squad in World Superbike, if they decide to make an Evo bike as well as the two Kawasaki Racing team machines for Tom Sykes and Loris Baz. Having won the World Championship with Sykes, they had bigger fish to fry. Sylvain Barrier, the World Superstock Champion, rode in the Superbike class for the BMW Motorrad GoldBet team, alongside Chaz Davies and Marco Melandri. The 19-year-old German Champion Markus Reiterberger, who was second on the first day of practice, took his place in the Superstock team. Jonathan Rea was in the paddock, looking fit and healthy despite his fractured and pinned femur. He had no intention of racing as his leg would not put up with a heavy fall again, but he was set to test at the Kawasakiorganized Tuesday test for several teams at Jerez on October 22. continued on next page

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