Britain’s Tom Sykes capped off a perfect Superbike World Championship weekend in Misano by taking his Kawasaki to pole position and then scoring a dominant double victory for the third time in 2014.

The reigning world champion erased all bad memories from Malaysia by easing clear of Kawasaki team-mate Loris Baz in both races at this seventh round of the series in Italy to take his 20th and 21st World Superbike victories.

Although he was suffering from an injured right hand sustained in that first race spill at Sepang, no one was able to live with Sykes’ pace as he consistently lapped two/three tenths faster than his pursuers.

“I’m happy but I don’t look it!” said a tired Sykes, sitting down after all the exertion of two races in sweltering Italian heat. “We kept things simple. The temperature changed and we understood where we needed to change in the set up. We got a good clean start, stayed out of trouble and the ZX-10R did everything that I wanted it to do,” he said.

“I’ve been trying to work on consistency throughout the weekend and in the race we were able to dig deep and we took one more step with that. The bike worked well.”

Asked whether two wins had been his aim coming into the seventh round of the season considering his injuries Sykes said he was always confident he could still challenge for victory.

“The target is always to win but, if the race started to develop in a different way, then I would have come up with a different plan. I felt good so I pushed it to the limit.

“I had to work hard, there were some corners where I had to compensate with the braking and delay how I got on the throttle. The guys gave me a good pit board and I was able to respond accordingly.”

Sykes finished the first race a comfortable five seconds clear of Baz and aside from Davide Giugliano leading in the opening laps of the second race after jumping the start, Sykes was never challenged and continued to lap the second race in the 1 minute 36 second bracket up until lap 19. Baz and Melandri’s times, meanwhile, dropped below that mark as early as lap 12.

With much focus on Sykes’s growing rift with Loris Baz following their fallout in Malaysia, Sykes opted to play down the issues, admitting his competitive nature gets the better of him.

“I’ve been trying to keep my own business to myself,” he said. “I just try and focus on my own problems and the good thing is we understand where we are and where we need to be,” he said. “I surprised myself a bit. The lap times have been incredible, credit to Pirelli. It was a nice, enjoyable race.”

“I’m still disappointed at losing points but that’s me. I’m very competitive and sometimes very bitter. I’m always trying to succeed so it was a big shame. It’s still a disappointment but this weekend is helping put some gremlins to bed.”

With Sylvain Guintoli failing to finish on the podium in either race at Misano, Sykes extended his lead to 39 points over the French Aprilia rider.

RACE ONE:

1. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 21 laps
2. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +5.012s
3. Marco Melandri ITA Aprilia Racing RSV4 +6.417s
4. Chaz Davies GBR Ducati SBK 1199 Panigale R +7.783s
5. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing RSV4 +16.248s
6. Toni Elias ESP Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 +17.399s
7. Jonathan Rea GBR PATA Honda CBR1000RR +21.162s
8. Davide Giugliano ITA Ducati SBK 1199 Panigale R +26.393s
9. Eugene Laverty IRL Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +26.842s
10. Leon Haslam GBR PATA Honda CBR1000RR +40.600s
11. David Salom ESP Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +42.064s (E)
12. Niccolo Canepa ITA Althea Ducati 1199 Panigale R +46.804s (E)
13. Claudio Corti ITA MV Agusta RC F4RR +48.909s
14. Ivan Goi ITA Barni Ducati 1199 Panigale R +50.429s (E)
15. Sylvain Barrier FRA BMW Italia S1000RR +52.452s (E)

16. Jeremy Guarnoni FRA MRS Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 02.476s (E)
17. Riccardo Russo ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 11.815s (E)
18. Bryan Staring AUS IRON BRAIN Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 23.649s (E)
19. Peter Sebestyen HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR +1 lap (E)

Ayrton Badovini ITA Bimota Alstare BB3 (E) *
Christian Iddon GBR Bimota Alstare BB3 (E) *

* Ineligible to score points, removed from results (Badovini across the line 12th, Iddon 16th)

Not Classified

22. Sheridan Morais RSA IRON BRAIN Kawasaki ZX-10R 17 laps completed (E)
23. Alex Lowes GBR Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 13 laps completed
24. Aaron Yates USA Team Hero EBR 1190RX 10 laps completed
25. Fabien Foret FRA MAHI Kawasaki ZX-10R 9 laps completed (E)
26. Matteo Baiocco ITA Grandi Corse Ducati 1199 Panigale R 7 laps completed (E)
27. Alessandro Andreozzi ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 5 laps completed (E)
28. Geoff May USA Team Hero EBR 1190RX 1 lap completed

Did Not Start

Imre Toth HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR
Michael Savary SUI Dream Team MV Agusta RC F4RR

RACE TWO:

1. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 21 laps
2. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +3.083s
3. Marco Melandri ITA Aprilia Racing RSV4 +3.413s
4. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing RSV4 +5.092s
5. Jonathan Rea GBR PATA Honda CBR1000RR +18.975s
6. Toni Elias ESP Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 +19.365s
7. Eugene Laverty IRL Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +20.177s
8. Alex Lowes GBR Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +20.439s
9. Davide Giugliano ITA Ducati SBK 1199 Panigale R +33.820s
10. David Salom ESP Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +42.156s (E)
11. Sylvain Barrier FRA BMW Italia S1000RR +43.581s (E)
12. Leon Haslam GBR PATA Honda CBR1000RR +51.993s
13. Ivan Goi ITA Barni Ducati 1199 Panigale R +53.714s (E)
14. Riccardo Russo ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +59.316s (E)
15. Alessandro Andreozzi ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 00.914s (E)

16. Niccolo Canepa ITA Althea Ducati 1199 Panigale R +1m 01.839s (E)
17. Claudio Corti ITA MV Agusta RC F4RR +1m 07.178s
18. Bryan Staring AUS IRON BRAIN Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 13.510s (E)
19. Peter Sebestyen HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR +1m 31.715s (E)

Ayrton Badovini ITA Bimota Alstare BB3 (E) *
Christian Iddon GBR Bimota Alstare BB3 (E) *

* Ineligible to score points, removed from results (Badovini across the line 12th, Iddon DNF)

Not Classified

20. Jeremy Guarnoni FRA MRS Kawasaki ZX-10R 17 laps completed (E)
21. Geoff May USA Team Hero EBR 1190RX 16 laps completed
22. Chaz Davies GBR Ducati SBK 1199 Panigale R 15 laps completed
23. Sheridan Morais RSA IRON BRAIN Kawasaki ZX-10R 10 laps completed (E)

Did Not Start

Aaron Yates USA Team Hero EBR 1190RX
Fabien Foret FRA MAHI Kawasaki ZX-10R (E)
Matteo Baiocco ITA Grandi Corse Ducati 1199 Panigale R (E)
Imre Toth HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR
Michael Savary SUI Dream Team MV Agusta RC F4RR

2014 WSBK CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (AFTER 7 ROUND OF 13)