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WorldSBK.com provides the important facts and figures that emerged from last weekend’s eighth round of the 2014 eni FIM Superbike World Championship.

Tom Sykes in race one recorded his 21st win, reaching at the ninth all-time spot Max Biaggi. For the first time in his career Tom was able to win three straight races.

Also Kawasaki recorded a string of three straight wins for the first time since 1994, when they nailed four from Donington race two to Misano race one. The winner was always Scott Russell; Marco Melandri saw his podium string finish after four races: Marco is not able to nail five since 2011, when from Aragon race one to Nurburgring race one he was for seven straight times on the podium.

In race two Jonathan Rea scored his fifteenth win, reaching Marco Melandri at the fifteenth all-time spot. Jonathan recorded his eighth podium on the Algarve track: he managed to be on the podium every year but for 2008, when he was at his maiden Superbike weekend. His eight podiums are a record for this track: his best rival is Guintoli, at five. Jonathan now counts 39 career podiums, the same of 1993 world champion Scott Russell (18th all-time spot).

In race two Davide Giugliano and Chaz Davies took two Ducatis on the podium after a wait of exactly two years for the Italian manufacturer. In the first race in 2012 in Algarve, the two Ducatis on the podium were the ones of Checa and Guintoli, second and third.

Davide Giugliano scored his fourth career second place and he is still waiting for his maiden win. In Superbike history only two riders count four second places and no wins: Gregorio Lavilla and Simon Crafar.

The eighth place in race two for Tom Sykes is his worst result under the flag this year: excluding his fall in race one in Sepang, Tom had always finished among the first seven up to now. Despite his accident with Marco Melandri, Sylvain Guintoli managed to finish in the points in race two, extending his points string to 30 races.
For the first time this year David Salom didn't score points, finishing seventeenth in race two.

QUALIFYING

Tom Sykes scored his 22nd pole in Algarve, assessing himself as the king of qualifying here: he is the only one with more than one pole in the Portuguese track. Tom's total is three, obtained in three straight years from 2012 onwards, while Troy Bayliss, Ben Spies, Cal Crutchlow and Jonathan Rea count one each.

24th front row start for Jonathan Rea, the fifth in Algarve: no other rider counts so many in this track. Carlos Checa, Laverty and Sykes started from the front row three times here.

Chaz Davies recorded his third career front row start after Motorland and Moscow last year.

Marco Melandri, in his four race weekends in Algarve, always qualified in fourth.

For the first time after eleven straight races, there were no Aprilias on the front row of the starting grid: the string had started in Istanbul last year.