Britain’s Tom Sykes has maintained his lead in the 2014 World Superbike Championship standings despite suffering a DNF in the first of two races at round six of the series at Sepang, in Malaysia, at the weekend.

The defending champion has his championship lead now reduced to just 13 points.

It was a terrible start to the day for Kawasaki riders Sykes and his team-mate Loris Baz – 1-2 overall coming into the race – after they, together with Alex Lowes, were eliminated in a dramatic first corner tangle in race one.

Meanwhile, Spain’s Marco Melandri has reignited his World Superbike Championship title hopes with a mighty double victory in Sepang after prevailing in a thrilling final lap showdown over his team-mate Sylvain Guintoli.

Having sealed his first win of the season in race one, Melandri came into race two looking to notch up a double win, though he was made to work hard after Guintoli attempted to dominate from the front whilst he fought his way up the order.

Indeed, in a race shortened to 10 laps after Claudio Corti’s MV Agusta expired dramatically at the first start, Guintoli would lead from the second lap, having been edged by a fast-starting Toni Elias initially, while Melandri found himself tripping over the fallen Kawasakis of Sykes and Baz.

With Guintoli forging ahead, Melandri attempted to go with him, but a botched move on Elias at turn nine simply sent both wide.

Undeterred, Melandri quickly recovered his form and was back up to second place by lap five, the Italian heading off in pursuit of Guintoli, who by this stage was almost two seconds up the road. An immediate fastest lap in clear air signalled Melandri’s intentions though and as the end of the race loomed, the pair were nose-to-tail coming into the final lap.

With both riders testing the limit of their Aprilia RSV4s, Melandri made his first move into the turn nine hairpin, only for Guintoli to grab the lead back on the exit. However, Melandri struck again heading onto the long back straight, preluding what was always going come down to a final corner showdown.

As expected, Guintoli attempted to out-brake Melandri into the tight left-hander, but couldn’t tuck the bike in enough to prevent his counterpart from dipping back beneath him and accelerate to victory.

A timely maximum points’ haul at a time when he is said to be under pressure from Aprilia management to deliver stronger results, Melandri’s performance also sees him give his flagging WSBK title hopes a significant boost in the right direction. He is now 54 points off the lead.

Similarly, Guintoli’s strong day sees him close the gap down to Sykes in the overall standings to 13 points, the British rider exercising some damage limitation in race two following his dramatic team-mate-assisted exit from race one, the Kawasaki rider picking up a third-place finish.

Race one offender Baz, meanwhile, would come home in fifth place behind Elias, with Jonathan Rea completing a solid day for PATA Honda in sixth place around a circuit that the bike has struggled at this weekend.

Following his return to the podium in race one, Eugene Laverty crossed the line in seventh place, ahead of Chaz Davies, while Alex Lowes – who was eliminated in the same Baz-Sykes collision – picked up ninth position having battled through the pain barrier of an injured shoulder.

Unable to call on the form that saw him qualify on the front row, Davide Giugliano was a disappointing 10th, ahead of Leon Haslam, while Leon Camier picked up the EVO spoils in 12th place overall ahead of David Salom, Jeremy Guarnoni and Niccolo Canepa.

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RESULTS:

WSBK Sepang – Race one results:

1. Marco Melandri ITA Aprilia Racing RSV4 16 laps

2. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing RSV4 +0.620s

3. Eugene Laverty IRL Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +12.865s

4. Chaz Davies GBR Ducati SBK 1199 Panigale R +15.437s

5. Toni Elias ESP Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 +15.723s

6. Jonathan Rea GBR PATA Honda CBR1000RR +31.304s

7. Leon Haslam GBR PATA Honda CBR1000RR +34.093s

8. Davide Giugliano ITA Ducati SBK 1199 Panigale R +35.804s

9. David Salom ESP Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +42.031s (E)

10. Leon Camier GBR BMW Italia S1000RR +49.465s (E)

11. Jeremy Guarnoni FRA MRS Kawasaki ZX-10R +53.715s (E)

12. Alessandro Andreozzi ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 07.783s (E)

13. Bryan Staring AUS IRON BRAIN Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 10.746 (E)

14. Imre Toth HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR +1m 18.143s

15. Romain Lanusse FRA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 21.026s (E)

16. Aaron Yates USA Team Hero EBR 1190RX +1m 49.054s

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

17. Niccolo Canepa ITA Althea Ducati 1199 Panigale R 12 laps completed (E)

18. Peter Sebestyen HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR 9 laps completed (E)

19. Sheridan Morais RSA IRON BRAIN Kawasaki ZX-10R 8 laps completed (E)

20. Claudio Corti ITA MV Agusta RC F4RR 7 laps completed

21. Fabien Foret FRA MAHI Kawasaki ZX-10R 5 laps completed (E)

22. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 0 laps completed

23. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 0 laps completed

24. Alex Lowes GBR Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 0 laps completed

 

Did Not Start

Geoff May USA Team Hero EBR 1190RX

 

WSBK Sepang – Race two results:

1. Marco Melandri ITA Aprilia Racing RSV4 10 laps

2. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing RSV4 +0.166s

3. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +2.689s

4. Toni Elias ESP Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 +5.386s

5. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +5.514s

6. Jonathan Rea GBR PATA Honda CBR1000RR +7.073s

7. Eugene Laverty IRL Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +7.476s

8. Chaz Davies GBR Ducati SBK 1199 Panigale R +11.057s

9. Alex Lowes GBR Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +15.866s

10. Davide Giugliano ITA Ducati SBK 1199 Panigale R +16.206s

11. Leon Haslam GBR PATA Honda CBR1000RR +16.488s

12. Leon Camier GBR BMW Italia S1000RR +23.820s (E)

13. David Salom ESP Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +30.653s (E)

14. Jeremy Guarnoni FRA MRS Kawasaki ZX-10R +31.266s (E)

15. Niccolo Canepa ITA Althea Ducati 1199 Panigale R +43.009s (E)

16. Bryan Staring AUS IRON BRAIN Kawasaki ZX-10R +46.127s (E)

17. Sheridan Morais RSA IRON BRAIN Kawasaki ZX-10R +58.167s (E)

18. Imre Toth HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR +1m 00.017s

19. Peter Sebestyen HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR +1m 03.574s (E)

20. Aaron Yates USA Team Hero EBR 1190RX +1m 13.522s

 

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 13th, Iddon 16th)

 

Not Classified

21. Romain Lanusse FRA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 6 laps completed (E)

22. Alessandro Andreozzi ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 3 laps completed (E)

23. Fabien Foret FRA MAHI Kawasaki ZX-10R 0 laps completed (E)

 

Did Not Start

Claudio Corti ITA MV Agusta RC F4RR

Geoff May USA Team Hero EBR 1190RX

 

2014 World Superbike Championship standings after six of 13 rounds:

 

POSITION	RIDER	TEAM	POINTS
1	Tom Sykes	Kawasaki Racing Team	201
2	Sylvain Guintoli	Aprilia Racing	188
3	Jonathan Rea	PATA Honda	179
4	Marco Melandri	Aprilia Racing	147
5	Chaz Davies	Ducati SBK	130
6	Davide Giugliano	Ducati SBK	96
7	Eugene Laverty	Voltcom Crescent Suzuki	90
8	Leon Haslam	PATA Honda	89
9	Toni Elias	Red Devils Roma Aprilia	89
10	Alex Lowes	Voltcom Crescent Suzuki	80
11	David Salom	Kawasaki Racing Team (E)	56
12	Niccolo Canepa	Althea Ducati (E)	39
13	Leon Camier	BMW Italia (E)	30
14	Jeremy Guarnoni	MRS Kawasaki (E)	19
15	Loris Baz	Kawasaki Racing Team	17
16	Luca Scassa	Pedercini Kawasaki (E)	16
17	Fabien Foret	MAHI India Kawasaki (E)	14
18	Claudio Corti	MV Agusta RC Yakhnich	10
19	Sheridan Morais	IRON BRAIN Grillini Kawasaki (E)	10
20	Alessandro Andreozzi	Pedercini Kawasaki (E)	8
21	Glenn Allerton	BMW Italia SBK (E)	6
22	Kervin Bos	Winterb Honda CBR1000RR (E)	5
23	Bryan Staring	IRON BRAIN Grillini Kawasaki (E)	3
24	Imre Toth	BMW Team Toth	2
25	Michel Fabrizio	IRON BRAIN Grillini Kawasaki (E)	2
26	Romain Lanusse	Pedercini Kawasaki (E)	1