Tom Sykes wins red-flagged first race
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) is the winner of the first eni FIM Superbike World Championship race at the Nurburgring. The race was red-flagged on the eighteenth lap as a result of two crashes that involved Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike) and Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki), who both lost control of their bikes at Turn 9 on the oil left on track by Federico Sandi's Team Pedercini ZX-10R broken engine.
Once the flag came out, Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) was on the lead after a successful overtake at the first turn but, as the final results were based on the previous lap, Sykes was awarded with the victory, with Melandri's team mate Chaz Davies to complete the podium. The three riders, along with Rea, rode together up front, but it was Sykes who led almost the entire race, after overtaking Melandri at the second turn during the opening lap.
Championship leader Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) holds now only a single-point advantage on Sykes after finishing the race in fourth place, ahead of Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia), Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Aprilia) and Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike). Factory Aprilia rider Eugene Laverty ended up 15th after crashing out of Turn 4 in the early stages of the race, and rejoining following a pit-stop. Home rider Max Neukirchner (MR-Racing Ducati) had to withdraw from the race due to a technical problem occurred on the fourth lap.
Jonathan Rea and Leon Camier were both flown by helicopter to the hospital. Rea was diagnosed with a broken left femur, while Camier was sent for precautionary measure due to an injury on the top of his neck.
