WORLD SUPERBIKE
WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
FINAL ROUND/NOVEMBER 2, 2014
LOSAIL CIRCUIT/LOSAIL, QATAR
P38
"Near the end I thought to my-
self, 'this is it, you are doing it,'
but I thought like that for about
half a lap and then missed all my
apexes, so I just focused on the
lap time and just kept it steady. I
enjoyed the last five laps. It is just
a great moment."
After all the team order fallout
at the previous round, Guintoli
was happy to have won by more
than the five points his teammate
Melandri had gifted him in race
one in France.
"It is fantastic to finish like this
because it sets the team orders
thing right," the Frenchman said.
"Marco gave me five points in
France, but I won by six."
There were even more team
order controversies at this round,
as Kawasaki's Loris Baz refused
a very clear 'Lose 1P' signal from
his pit board to let Sykes go to
second in race one.
Cue a verbal match neither rid-
er chose to hide. But it was all ac-
ademic because Sykes could not
stay in the second place he held
for most of race two, so whatever
Baz did in race one it would not
have counted.
Sykes paid tribute to Guintoli
and Aprilia, and knew his work
was cut out for him in the last
few rounds, but it was an earlier
Tom Sykes' (1)
12-point lead
over Guintoli (50)
evaporated in the
desert with a pair of
third-place finishes
to Guintoli's double
wins.
