Britain’s Tom Sykes has taken full advantage of Sylvain Guintoli’s first retirement of the 2013 World Superbike Championship with a comfortable fourth win of the season at Imola, the seventh round of 15 in the series.

Coming into the Italian race with a healthy 28 point advantage over Sykes in the overall standings, it was Guintoli’s turn to suffer misfortune at the hands of his expiring Aprilia, the Frenchman retiring from the race early on having been running in third position.

His demise duly gave Sykes the ultimate opportunity to recover lost ground on his main rival, the Kawasaki rider doing exactly that as he fended off a spirited attack by Davide Giugliano to seal victory by more than seven seconds.

Starting from pole position, Sykes was beaten down to the first bend by fellow front row sitters Jonathan Rea and Giugliano, though Rea’s challenge would falter seconds later when he ran wide on the exit of Villeneuve, dropping himself out of the top ten.

As such, Giugliano moved into the lead aboard the Althea Aprilia, a position he would hold for the opening six laps before Sykes squeezed past into Variante Alta. To Giugliano’s credit, the Italian would cling onto Sykes in the following laps, the pair putting considerable distance between themselves and the chasing pack as they traded fastest laps.

However, Giugliano’s hopes of a fairytale maiden WSBK win on home soil would fade as the race progressed, Sykes’s record-breaking lap on the 14th revolution giving him the break that would see him pull away to the chequered flag.

A fourth win of the year for the British rider, and the ninth of his career, Sykes’s win has duly reduced Guintoli’s lead in the overall standings to three points.

Behind the impressive Giugliano, who matched his best-ever finish at WSBK level in second position, Laverty clung onto the final podium spot to save some face for the factory Aprilia team following Guintoli’s retirement.

Race One results:

1. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 21 Laps
2. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Racing RSV4 +7.198s
3. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV4 +9.484s
4. Marco Melandri ITA BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 +10.323s
5. Michel Fabrizio ITA Red Devils Roma RSV4 +18.697s
6. Chaz Davies GBR BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 +19.531s
7. Leon Camier GBR Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +22.412s
8. Ayrton Badovini ITA Alstare Ducati 1199 R +29.142s
9. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +36.823s
10. Leon Haslam GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR +37.507s
11. Carlos Checa ESP Alstare Ducati 1199 R +39.239s
12. Max Neukirchner GER MR Ducati 1199 R +43.334s
13. Federico Sandi ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 12.069s
14. Noriyuki Haga JPN Grillini Dentalmatic BMW S1000RR +1m 30.685s
15. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA Grillini Dentalmatic BMW S1000RR +1m 30.773s

Not Classified

16. Jonathan Rea GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR 18 laps completed
17. Jules Cluzel FRA Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 13 laps completed
18. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing RSV4 5 laps completed

Fastest lap
Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 47.274s

Did Not Start

Alexander Lundh SWE Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R

Race Two results:

1. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 21 Laps
2. Jonathan Rea GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR +5.032s
3. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing RSV4 +10.201s
4. Marco Melandri ITA BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 +13.120s
5. Chaz Davies GBR BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 +13.630s
6. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +23.949s
7. Leon Camier GBR Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +25.420s
8. Michel Fabrizio ITA Red Devils Roma RSV4 +36.511s
9. Leon Haslam GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR +40.184s
10. Ayrton Badovini ITA Alstare Ducati 1199 R +41.100s
11. Jules Cluzel FRA Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +42.888s
12. Carlos Checa ESP Alstare Ducati 1199 R +52.182s
13. Max Neukirchner GER MR Ducati 1199 R +56.352s
14. Federico Sandi ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 15.992s
15. Noriyuki Haga JPN Grillini Dentalmatic BMW S1000RR +1m 25.210s

Not Classified

16. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV4 4 laps completed
17. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA Grillini Dentalmatic BMW S1000RR 2 laps completed
18. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Racing RSV4 2 laps completed

Fastest lap
Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 47.507s

Did Not Start

Alexander Lundh SWE Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R

Standings after round 7 of 15: