Laverty denies Sykes a double win
The final race for Round 3 of eni FIM Superbike World Championship at Assen saw a close battle between race 1 winner Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team), who pulled away at the front in the early laps. Sykes stayed on the lead until lap 19, when Laverty decided to take the plunge and made a move on the Brit at Turn 6.
Sykes managed to stay with the Irishman until the end and tried his final shot at the win at Turn 16, with the two riders crossing the line side by side. A 0.089 seconds margin allowed Eugene Laverty to score his 5th career win, the 2nd one in 2013 after Phillip Island Race 2.
Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) successfully defended his 3rd place over Jonathan Rea, who ended on a positive note a difficult round for the Pata Honda World Superbike Team. A below-par race for Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) and Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team), 5th and 6th respectively at the chequered flag.
Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) rode bravely from last place on the grid to a 7th place finish, while his team mate Jules Cluzel was forced to pull in during lap 16 due to a technical problem. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) had a perfect start of the race but struggled to keep the pace, eventually finishing 8th ahead of Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma Aprilia) and Carlos Checa (Team Ducati Alstare).
An unfortunate Davide Giugliano crashed out of Turn 2 during lap 6, while he was in 3rd place. The Italian rider was OK straight after the crash unlike his Aprilia RSV4 that went on fire.
