Photography by Gold & Goose
All season Sylvain Guintoli heard the criticism. The affable Frenchman was too soft, and too willing to finish second or third. But the ever steady Guintoli had a strategy and he stuck with it and it worked out marvelously, concluding with being crowned 2014 Eni FIM Superbike World Champion. The Aprilia rider threw caution to the wind and turned in his best-ever weekend to make a spectacular come-from-behind charge to pass Tom Sykes in the final race to win the title. He was three points down coming into the last race and emerged the winner by six points (416-410).
Guintoli admitted to self-doubt at times this season, but was thrilled he was able to overcome those and find the inner strength to win when it counted.
“I don’t think it’s sunk in, I can’t believe it,” said Guintoli, who in race two scored his fifth victory of 2014. “This last month I’ve been picturing this double win. I knew I had it in me somewhere, but I didn’t know if I was going to find it. These races were just great. I just felt so good with the bike. It was amazing. I never felt so good riding any bike before, so I just enjoyed that. It’s just been such hard work all season trying to not make too many mistakes. Tom has been very fast and consistent all the while. When the gap was 44 points it was a difficult situation, but we managed to pull it back and in the end team orders didn’t come into play anyway, so I’m happy with that. I know there was a lot of controversy over that. You know, the last round and I showed that I’ve got the speed and I’ve got what it takes to win as well. I proved that to myself, so I’m happy. The title thing is going to sink in later on, but for now I’m just overwhelmed.”
Jonathan Rea closed out the 2014 campaign on a high note with a solid second-place finish. That earned him third in the final standings by a single point over Marco Melandri. Rea battled with and got by 2013 champ Sykes late in the race. The margin of victory for Guintoli at the finish was 3.568 seconds. Sykes took third, his bike seemingly not up to its normal world-class standards on this night.
Sykes showed true sportsmanship by being one of the first to come over and congratulate Guintoli.
At the start of race two Sykes led into turn one with Rea, Davide Giugliano and Guintoli on his tail. Second-place in race one, Baz ran wide in the first turn, probably putting him out of the picture to help his Kawasaki teammate.
On the second lap it was Rea going to the lead, popping out of the slipstream going into turn one. Sykes remained second just ahead of Giugliano, while Guintoli looked patient in a close fourth. He knew his Aprilia had the power to spare and he proved it by easily zipping past Giugliano on lap three, to move to third.
Eugene Laverty crashed out his Suzuki early, but was up and OK.
On lap four Guintoli blew past Sykes on the front straight to second, using the ample power of his Aprilia. That’s just what Sykes did not want to see, but he seemed powerless to do anything about it.
On lap five Guintoli motored past Rea on the main straight for the lead and put himself into the championship lead, by a single point. Sykes didn’t seem to have the speed to match Guintoli, but now he desperately needed to get by Rea to second to preserve his championship.
Aaron Yates crashed for a second time on lap six, sliding on his face off the track into a tumble in the gravel trap. It was a hard hit and he was lifted off the circuit on a stretcher by corner marshals, but Yates lifted his head and seemed to be talking with the marshals.
On lap eight Sykes made the pass he needed; late on the brakes into turn one on Rea. Sykes found himself 1.3 seconds behind the leader at the halfway point. He still had to pass him to retain the title. On lap eight Guintoli clocked a 1:57.9, the WSBK fastest lap ever at Losail. He did it again the next lap. Guintoli was clearly pulling away from Sykes.
The battle for second heated up late in the race. Rea had better mid-corner speed than Sykes, but Sykes found the better drives out of the turns and was a demon on the brakes. It mattered little in terms of the championship though; Sykes needed to catch Guintoli, but the Frenchman kept building on his lead each lap.
With two laps to go Sykes championship hopes slipped even further from his fingers when Rea got past for second. Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies rounded the top five at the finish.
World Superbike Race 2 results from Losail Intl. Circuit – Nov. 2, 2014
1 5 50 S. GUINTOLI FRA Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory 17
2 7 65 J. REA GBR PATA Honda World Superbike Honda CBR1000RR 17 3.568
3 3 1 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R 17 5.092
4 8 33 M. MELANDRI ITA Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory 17 8.305
5 4 7 C. DAVIES GBR Ducati Superbike Team Ducati 1199 Panigale R 17 8.390
6 10 24 T. ELIAS ESP Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 Factory 17 8.654
7 2 76 L. BAZ FRA Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R 17 9.115
8 1 34 D. GIUGLIANO ITA Ducati Superbike Team Ducati 1199 Panigale R 17 13.015
9 11 22 A. LOWES GBR Voltcom Crescent Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 17 13.478
10 6 91 L. HASLAM GBR PATA Honda World Superbike Honda CBR1000RR 17 25.471
11 12 44 D. SALOM ESP Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO 17 37.964
12 14 59 N. CANEPA ITA Althea Racing Ducati 1199 Panigale R EVO 17 38.001
13 17 67 B. STARING AUS IRON BRAIN Grillini Kawasaki Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO 17 46.248
14 20 71 C. CORTI ITA MV Agusta Reparto Corse MV Agusta F4 RR 17 51.926
15 15 21 A. ANDREOZZI ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO 17 56.331
16 19 99 G. MAY USA Team Hero EBR EBR 1190 RX 17 1’23.937
17 23 10 I. TOTH HUN BMW Team Toth BMW S1000 RR 16 1 Lap
18 16 95 A. CUDLIN AUS Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO 16 1 Lap
————————————————–Not Classified————————————————–
RET 13 52 S. BARRIER FRA BMW Motorrad Italia SBK BMW S1000 RR EVO 5 12 Laps
RET 21 20 A. YATES USA Team Hero EBR EBR 1190 RX 4 13 Laps
RET 18 11 J. GUARNONI FRA MRS Kawasaki Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO 3 14 Laps
RET 9 58 E. LAVERTY IRL Voltcom Crescent Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 2 15 Laps
