Laverty does it again in Race 2
Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) stole the show today with an outstanding performance in Race 2 at the Intercity Istanbul Park, that led to his second double win of the career - after the one achieved in 2011 at Monza. The Irishman started his charge on early leader Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) and, after spending half of the race chasing the rival, he eventually closed the gap and overtook the factory Kawasaki Rider on Lap 12, at Turn 14. Laverty then proved he had the pace to stay in the lead and maintained a one-second gap up to the finish line, while Sykes had to settle for second place.
Factory Aprilia rider Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) crossed the line a lonely third, as the Frenchman never managed to get in contention for the win. Fourth place Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) had a challenging first part of the race, in which he had to make his way through a pack of hungry opponents: Toni Elias (Red Devils Roma Aprilia), team mate Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia), who finished 5th, 6th and 9th respectively.
Giugliano, former STK1000 Champion, managed to get a good start, but he lost ground as the race progressed to end up behind Jules Cluzel (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) and Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike). Ayrton Badovini's (Team Ducati Alstare) absence from the grid resulted in the first-ever World Superbike race with no Ducati machines on track, the second one in history with no points for the Italian manufacturer.
