Sykes Takes Maiden Victory And Then Completes Daily Double
Tom Sykes was long overdue a victory in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship having come close on several occasions and the Rizla Suzuki set the record straight with a dominant seventh round performance at Oulton Park where he completed the daily double.

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Tom Sykes was long overdue a victory in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship having come close on several occasions and the Rizla Suzuki set the record straight with a dominant seventh round performance at Oulton Park where he completed the daily double. He had been on the pace throughout the weekend, missing out on pole by barely a quarter of a second, but with his team Sykes had worked hard to ensure that his bike was perfectly set for the two 18 laps races at the Cheshire circuit. Sykes made the running on the first lap of the opener which began in the damp but soon dried but was taken by James Ellison aboard the Hydrex Bike Animal Honda who headed the pack for the first third when the Rizla Suzuki rider made the decisive move at Hizzy’s chicane. He was able to extend his advantage, taking his first ever Superbike victory by almost five seconds ahead of Ellison who was matching his best result while series leader Shane Byrne took third place on his Airwaves Ducati at the expense of HM Plant Honda rider Leon Haslam. “I was both delighted and relieved,” explained Sykes as he received the winner’s trophy, adding: “It was a tough race as there was a lot to think about with the track conditions. “With about ten laps to go I started to think, “This is it!” so I had to work hard and keep concentrating keeping the bike on line and bringing it back OK. I wasn’t able to really enjoy winning the first race because I knew that I had to go out there and do it all again.” Sykes was ready to take on all challengers in the second race and he had moved ahead of Haslam by the end of the second lap, but then was having to head off the fierce challenges coming in from Cal Crutchlow who was eager to make amends for an error in the first race which dropped him HM Plant Honda to sixth. The Coventry rider tried everything he knew to find a way through, but Sykes had all of the answers as he gave the Suzuki team their first winning double in the series since John Reynolds success at the Cheshire circuit in 2004. Sykes took the victory by inches, or officially 0.097secs, and he enthused: “This is something else, something special – a bit like waiting for the Number 10 but to come along – a long wait and then two come together. “I think I’ll celebrate with a brew and a piece of cake and I might even get some fast food on the way home and a lie in in the morning. Then I’ll start thinking about my World Superbike debut at Brands Hatch next month.” Byrne again had to settle for third, ahead of Haslam, but the champion of 2003 was not complaining as he extended to 312-213 points his lead over Crutchlow in the title stakes. “I tried as hard as I could to get second place from Cal and got ahead on the last lap but made a mistake and had to take third, but I’m not complaining having increased my lead.” Sykes moved third in the standings 176-174 ahead of Haslam. John Laverty continued his domination of the Daily Star Cup with a winning double aboard his Buildbase NW200 Ducati, heading off Martin Jessopp, on the Riders Honda, in the opening race and then Gary Mason aboard the Quay Garage Honda next time out. British Superbike - Oulton Park Race One Result Pos - Rider - Bike - Team - Time 1 - Tom Sykes - Suzuki - Rizla Suzuki - 29:12.2 2 - James Ellison - Honda - Hydrex Bike Animal Honda - 29:16.9 3 - Shane Byrne - Ducati - Airwaves Ducati - 29:17.3 4 - Leon Haslam - Honda - HM Plant Honda - 29:26.5 5 - Simon Andrews - Yamaha - Jentin Racing / Lloyds British - 29:37.7 6 - Cal Crutchlow - Honda - HM Plant Honda - 29:43.6 7 - Michael Rutter - Ducati - North West 200 Ducati - 29:48.5 8 - Billy McConnell - Kawasaki - MSS Discovery Kawasaki - 29:50.8 9 - Michael Laverty - Suzuki - Relentless Suzuki by TAS - 30:00.2 10 - John Laverty - Ducati - Buildbase NW200 Ducati - 30:00.8 11 - Scott Smart - Kawasaki - Hawk Racing - 30:00.9 12 - James Haydon - Kawasaki - MSS Discovery Kawasaki - 30:01.2 13 - Atsushi Watanabe - Suzuki - Rizla Suzuki - 30:08.6 14 - Dean Ellison - Yamaha - Co-ordit Racing - 30:15.9 15 - Tom Grant - Honda - SMT Honda - 30:17.3 16 - Martin Jessopp - Honda - Riders Racing - 30:29.3 17 - Tom Tunstall - Honda - Hardinge - Ice Valley Motorsport - 30:30.9 18 - Dan Stewart - Honda - Wilcock Consulting - 30:32.2 19 - Aaron Zanotti - Honda - Red Viper Racing - 29:31.4 20 - Michael Howarth - Honda - Tena for Men Honda - 30:13.3 Not Classified DNF - Guy Martin - Honda - Hydrex Bike Animal Honda - 28:55.2 DNF - Howie Mainwaring - Suzuki - Lenzkes Clamping Tools GB Ltd - 29:04.1 DNF - David Johnson - Honda - Team MAXXIS - 20:10.6 DNF - Chris Burns - MV Agusta - STP Superbike - 19:04.6 DNF - Shannon Etheridge - Kawasaki - MAR Adept - 17:01.1 DNF - Karl Harris - Yamaha - Team Yamaha - 14:41.9 DNF - Francis Williamson - Ducati - Moto Rapido Racing - 10:44.5 DNF - Tristan Palmer - Honda - Tena for Men Honda - 06:41.3 DNF - Gary Mason - Honda - Quay Garage - 07:25.9 DNF - Kenny Gilbertson - Kawasaki - Astro Racing Kawasaki - 03:45.9 DNF - Leon Morris - Ducati - Brookspeed - 02:17.5 British Superbike - Oulton Park Race Two Result Pos - Rider - Bike - Team - Time 1 - Tom Sykes - Suzuki - Rizla Suzuki - 29:04.554 2 - Cal Crutchlow - Honda - HM Plant Honda - 29:04.651 3 - Shane Byrne - Ducati - Airwaves Ducati - 29:05.173 4 - Leon Haslam - Honda - HM Plant Honda - 29:05.819 5 - James Ellison - Honda - Hydrex Bike Animal Honda - 29:16.203 6 - Simon Andrews - Yamaha - Jentin Racing / Lloyds British - 29:29.809 7 - Michael Laverty - Suzuki - Relentless Suzuki by TAS - 29:31.052 8 - Scott Smart - Kawasaki - Hawk Racing - 29:31.503 9 - Karl Harris - Yamaha - Team Yamaha - 29:35.743 10 - Billy McConnell - Kawasaki - MSS Discovery Kawasaki - 29:35.775 11 - Michael Rutter - Ducati - North West 200 Ducati - 29:37.248 12 - Tristan Palmer - Honda - Tena for Men Honda - 29:39.741 13 - John Laverty - Ducati - Buildbase NW200 Ducati - 29:39.912 14 - Gary Mason - Honda - Quay Garage - 29:40.057 15 - James Haydon - Kawasaki - MSS Discovery Kawasaki - 29:48.548 16 - Dean Ellison - Yamaha - Co-ordit Racing - 29:48.654 17 - Atsushi Watanabe - Suzuki - Rizla Suzuki - 30:02.121 18 - Guy Martin - Honda - Hydrex Bike Animal Honda - 30:03.106 19 - Tom Grant - Honda - SMT Honda - 30:05.530 20 - Martin Jessopp - Honda - Riders Racing - 30:14.907 21 - Dan Stewart - Honda - Wilcock Consulting - 30:17.661 22 - Shannon Etheridge - Kawasaki - MAR Adept - 30:23.189 23 - Tom Tunstall - Honda - Hardinge - Ice Valley Motorsport - 30:23.572 24 - Aaron Zanotti - Honda - Red Viper Racing - 30:43.339 25 - Francis Williamson - Ducati - Moto Rapido Racing - 30:43.653 26 - Michael Howarth - Honda - Tena for Men Honda - 29:43.865 Not Classified DNF - Leon Morris - Ducati - Brookspeed - 19:15.706 DNF - David Johnson - Honda - Team MAXXIS - 10:15.058 DNF - Chris Burns - MV Agusta - STP Superbike - 10:29.251 Championship Points 1 - Shane Byrne (Ducati) - 312 2 - Cal Crutchlow (Honda) - 213 3 - Tom Sykes (Suzuki) - 176 4 - Leon Haslam (Honda) - 174 5 - Leon Camier (Ducati) - 160 6 - James Ellison (Honda) - 150 7 - Michael Rutter (Ducati) - 141 8 - Michael Laverty (Suzuki) - 100 9 - Simon Andrews (Yamaha) - 90 10 - Tristian Palmer (Honda) - 64
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