WORLD SUPERBIKE
WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 6/JUNE 8, 2014
SEPANG INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT/SEPANG, MALAYSIA
P100
nearly all race weekend, but Mar-
co had that little bit extra so I just
could not do it on race day. We
made different tire choices and it
was probably more my advantage
with the twisty edge grip on the
front, but he was very strong on
the hard braking straights."
Melandri only had his own
teammate for final company in
each race, but they were two
very different contests.
First off, three top riders got
bundled out of the first long be-
fore lap one had been completed.
Maybe they would not have been
able to beat the Aprilia boys, but
Sykes was confident after head-
ing up morning warm-up that he
could at least stay with them.
His plan lasted until turn two,
when his teammate Baz tried to
re-pass Alex Lowes on the in-
side, realized he couldn't and
to avoid crossing anyone's path
and knocking them off, he hit the
brakes hard. Too hard, as he lost
the front, took out his own team-
mate and in turn also took out
Lowes. Sykes was locked into
Lowes bike for a time, hurt his
throttle hand and looked a dis-
tinct doubt for the second race.
Verbal riots took place in the
KRT pit garage afterwards, with
some furniture re-arrangement
allegedly involved, followed by
much bike and bridge mending.
Sykes, riding with painkillers,
took the game to the leading men
in race two and was awarded with
a gritty podium finish in third, but
still with genuine worries over
how badly injured his right hand
really was.
Sykes was in no mood for
compromises of opinion even
long after race one had been
concluded and he had a beauti-
fully sculpted third-place trophy
in his non-injured hand.
"In 2012 I had somebody inter-
fere with my championship and
it looks like the most unexpect-
ed person has interfered with it
Sykes was angry and in pain after
the accident, but he bounced back
for a podium in race two despite a
hand injury.
