Racing with Pirelli’s SC1 front tyre in race one, Sykes was able to open up a sizable margin to ease to his fourth win of the season while team-mate and newly crowned world champion Jonathan Rea struggled aboard the same rubber.
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After Race 1 at Jerez, he has now won 12 races this year and picked up 20 podium finishes from the first 21 races.
Along with providing Davies with his fourth win from six races, the second race also saw Kawasaki wrap up the manufacturers title for the first time in World Superbike history.
Michele Pirro (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) finished a credible 6th ahead of Voltcom Crescent Suzuki’s Alex Lowes, Matteo Baiocco (Althea Racing), Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and the outgoing champ Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) who completed the top ten.
“He was always really into motorbikes and we knew from a young age that there was just something about him”, said Rea, whose influence and support was instrumental in setting his son on the path to becoming a world champion.
“Right now it hasn’t sunk in”. The front row gives me a real chance of a good start to get stuck in. Moments like this are even more special because of the amount of challenges I’ve faced with injuries, a broken wrist, and more recently in 2013 with a bad fracture of my femur at the Nurburgring…
“It was a hard race and on every lap I was thinking about the championship and I was really happy in the end”.
Jonathan Rea’s world title is a fitting tribute to both Joey Dunlop and his grandfather, Johnny Rea Snr, who kickstarted the dream and Rea also included his dad in his victory speech.
“I’m very happy to have put pen to paper for another year with Ducati and the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team”, Davies said.
Rea is the fifth British rider to win the crown since World Superbikes commenced in 1988 along with Carl Fogarty, James Toseland, Neil Hodgson and Yorkshireman Sykes.
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Rea was quick right away and Sykes slower than he had expected to be, but in the final push for grid position. “Obviously the majority of the points have come from Jonathan but I think that over the years I have helped create an environment and package that helped all the riders who have contributed toward Kawasaki’s first Manufacturers’ title”.
