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Pata UK Round Sunday Guide

Saturday, 27 May 2017 18:12 GMT

Take a look at some facts and stats ahead of Sunday’s UK WorldSBK

1st in the Championship – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team)

After 10 straight races in which he was only 1st or 2nd at the flag, 15 straight races on the podium, 17 races in the points and after 4 straight podiums here, Jonathan Rea recorded a DNF. His previous one had been in September last year, at the Lausitzring. Race 1 was only the 7th race out of 63 for Kawasaki in which he hasn't stood on the podium.

2nd in the Championship – Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team)

In Race 1 Tom Sykes set a new record in WorldSBK history, becoming the first rider with 9 straight wins at a given venue. He also recorded his 5th pole here: this is the third track he has recorded a 5th pole around, after Assen and Misano. In Race 2 he can become the third rider in history with at least 10 wins on a given track after Carl Fogarty in Assen (12 wins) and Jonathan Rea, always in Assen (11). According to the new regulations, he will start Race 2 from 9th on the grid: in Donington 7 races have been won by starting 9th or lower; Marco Melandri was the last rider to win from 9th, back in 2011's Race 1. In his career, Sykes has climbed on the podium twice from 9th on the grid or lower: it happened in the 2015 French Round when he was 2nd and 3rd from 9th. This will be put to the test at Donington, as Sykes climbed on the podium in his last 11 races here but has always started from the top-7, with 9 times from pole. His next win will put him on the 5th all-time spot with Troy Corser at 33 wins. Race 1 was his 30th straight race in the points. Kawasaki recorded its 9th straight win in Donington (all by Sykes), but most notably recorded its 6th 1-2 finish here in the last 7 races run in Donington.3rd in the Championship – Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati). Like in Race 1 last year, Chaz Davies crashed after leading the race: last year he remounted only to crash again, this year he managed to finish 8th, his best result in the races in which he has crashed or recorded off-track excursions and was subsequently classified (6 in total).

4th in the Championship – Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

With his 4th place in Race 1, Marco Melandri earned Pole for Race 2: this will be the third time he starts from the top spot after the 2011 Aragon round, when he was on pole twice after recording his only career pole in qualifying. Prior to Race 1 in Donington, Ducati had finished on the podium for 19 straight races.

5th in the Championship – Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team)

Alex Lowes recorded his fourth podium in Race 1. 58 races have passed since his previous one in Buriram Race 2, 2015. He had recorded his maiden podium at Donington, back in 2013. First season podium for Yamaha, and the first since Losail Race 1 last year, when Sylvain Guintoli was third. Yamaha hadn’t enjoyed a podium spot here since 2011, when Marco Melandri was the winner and second in the races.

8th in the Championship – Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse)

Leon Camier was sixth at the flag in the last three races he finished (crashed out from the second Race in Imola).

13th in the Championship – Leandro Mercado (IODARacing)

In Race 1 Tati Mercado equalled his best result this season, obtained in Aragon, Race 1.

12th in the Championship – Stefan Bradl (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team)

In Race 1, after 52 straight races, Honda did not finish in the points.

18th in the Championship – Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing)

In Race 1 Leon Haslam recorded his 39th career podium, the same of 1993 World Champion Scott Russell (21st all-time spot). It was the first podium for Haslam with a Kawasaki machine: in his career he climbed on the podium with 6 different manufacturers (Ducati, Honda, Suzuki, BMW, Aprilia, Kawasaki) equalling the all-time record of Troy Corser (Ducati, Aprilia, Petronas, Suzuki, Yamaha, BMW).