World Superbikes - Donington Park, R11

Atrocious weather conditions plagued the first two days of the Donington Park meeting, with every single WSB session held in wet conditions. Any drying track surfaces were soon covered by the waves of rain that came in day and night. A wet Superpole - 12 laps for each rider over a 50-minute session - was taken by Troy Bayliss on his Ducati, making this his sixth pre-race win of the year. That earned him the prize of a car for the most poles in the season. Alongside him on the front row were Kiyonari, Checa and Xaus, but the many wildcard riders were just behind, ready to pounce. James Ellison (Honda) headed up Max Biaggi, with Tom Sykes (Suzuki) up on a multiple crasher, Troy Corser. (see more)

Other top riders struggled in the conditions, with the only factory Suzuki in Superpole belonging to Max Neukirchner. Race 1: AIR HUMIDITY: 81% AIR TEMPERATURE: 16°C TRACK CONDITION: Dry TRACK TEMPERATURE: 16°C The first race was the first chance that the riders had had to use dry choices in anger and therefore Diablo Superbike tyres were fitted, but on machine settings that relied on a lot of educated guesswork, due to the consistently wet practice and warm-up sessions. Kiyonari took the lead, but he crashed on lap two as he pushed too hard in front of Bayliss. Tom Sykes made another wildcard impact, leading Bayliss by over three seconds until a slippery patch at Coppice indicated the possible presence of an oil spill. After two or three riders went down the red flags appeared. On the restart, Bayliss went into the lead and controlled the gap back to Sykes until more rain brought out a final red flag, with Troy taking his first ever win at Donington. Sykes was a fine second, but there was controversy when Ruben Xaus was ruled out of third place when he fell on the slowing down lap. The spare podium spot was thus awarded to Max Biaggi Superbike Result - Race One 1. T Bayliss (Ducati) 29m55.384s 2. T Sykes (Suzuki) +1.266s 3. M Biaggi (Ducati) +28.636s 4. G Lavilla (Honda) +33.566s 5. Y Kagayama (Suzuki) +35.966s 6. J Smrz (Ducati) +36.034s 7. F Nieto (Suzuki) +36.442s 8. L Haslam (Honda) +41.633s 9. K Muggeridge (Honda) +42.075s 10. J Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +43.476s Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki) DNF Race 2: AIR HUMIDITY: 70% AIR TEMPERATURE: 20°C TRACK CONDITION: Wet TRACK TEMPERATURE: 18°C An intense rain shower right at the scheduled start of race two, with everyone having already fitted slick tyres, saw full wets brought into play once more, and the first few laps were conducted in extraordinarily heavy rain. The track stayed wet throughout, and that allowed Kiyonari to lead every lap and take his much-desired race win. Local wild card rider Cal Crutchlow showed that the single make tyre rules in WSB and BSB both work well by finishing a close second, with Troy Corser a heroic third, after suffering six crashes in the wet conditions. Bayliss was a non-finisher, having gone off at high speed at Schwantz Curve. He nonetheless extended his championship lead to 101 points. Superbike Result - Race Two 1. R Kiyonari (Honda) 40m26.508s 2. C Crutchlow (Honda) +2.261s 3. T Corser (Yamaha) +9.727s 4. J Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +20.227s 5. M Fabrizio (Ducati) +27.475s 6. M Biaggi (Ducati) +28.051s, 7. G Lavilla (Honda) +30.922s 8. R Xaus (Ducati) +38.353s 9. C Checa (Honda) +50.196s 10. T Sykes (Suzuki) +57.346s 14. Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki) 19. Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare) Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare) DNF World Supersport AIR HUMIDITY: 81% AIR TEMPERATURE: 16°C TRACK CONDITION: Dry TRACK TEMPERATURE: 16°C Like the Superbike riders, the Supersport men had no real taste of dry weather conditions until the race itself, so settings were something of an issue for some, but not the leading riders. Three Hondas and one Suzuki were in stunning form considering the lack of set-up time, as Barry Veneman joined a Honda trio on a dry track. Veneman was to fade later in the race, leaving the final fight between an eventually fading Rea, second place rider Andrew Pitt and race winner Josh Brookes. The pace was only just outside the lap record despite the lack of set-up time, with Brookes setting the best lap on the 18th lap, proving how well his Pirelli tyres handled this tough challenge from the first lap to the last. Pitt is still the leader overall, 32 points up on Brookes. Race Standings: 1. Joshua Brookes - Honda - AUS - 34'53.607 2. Andrew Pitt - Honda - AUS - 0'0.872 3. Jonathan Rea Honda - GBR - 0'4.846 4. Barry Veneman - Suzuki - NED - 0'5.066 5. Hudson Kennaugh - Yamaha - RSA - 0'8.604 (see less)