World Superbike Championship - Donington - UK

The fifth round of the Superbike Championship, the Donington meet, was the setting of  dramatic confrontations between unbridled riders on 12 and 13 May. There was a succession of spectacular passes in the lead pack and the second race saw several falls, including those of the leaders Leon Haslam and Marco Melandri in the last lap, leaving the field open to Jonathan Rea.

Motul provided its technical support to two teams, ParkinGO (Aprilia RSV4 Factory) and Effenbert Liberty Racing (Ducati 1098 R). After  a lukewarm beginning to the season marked by several falls,  ParkinGO and its rider Chaz Davies at last saw their efforts crowned with success with an encouraging result. The 2011 Supersport Champion indeed clinched 12th and 7th place in the two successive races, results which lead it to be hoped that the difficulties are now going to ebb away for the Italian team.

Meanwhile, the Czech team, Effenbert Liberty Racing, which launched into Superbike two years ago, experienced its first win in April, in Assen, with Sylvain Guintoli, in difficult weather conditions.  In Donington, the French rider managed to enter the top-5 in the second race, confirming the excellent time he secured in the trials. He also stands out as the best Ducati rider on the grid.
The team also entered Maxime Berger and the Czech Jakub Smrz, who was most unlucky by getting pulled down when Carlos Checa fell in the first turn of the second race. 

For the next meet, the teams are going to cross the Atlantic and will come together on 28 May at Miller Motorsport Park circuit next to Salt Lake City.

Superbike Standings
01// Max Biaggi - Aprilia - 128,5 pts
02// Tom Sykes - Kawasaki - 123,5 pts
03// Jonathan Rea - Honda - 108 pts
07// Sylvain Guintoli - Ducati - 85 pts - Motul
10// Jakub Smrz - Ducati - 44,5 pts - Motul
14// Maxime Berger - Ducati - 29,5 pts - Motul 
19// Chaz Davies - Aprilia -17 pts - Motul