Eugene Laverty and Marco Melandri split a pair of victories at Monza but the most biggest news from the World Superbike weekend was a strange series of appeals after Race Two that saw Tom Sykes finish third, relegated to fourth and then reinstated on the final step of the podium.
The unusual mix-up occurred after Sykes, sitting in third place, ran off track and into the run off area on Turn 5 on his final lap. The Kawasaki rider returned to the track again in third place where he finished ahead of Aprilia‘s Sylvain Guintoli. After the race, Aprilia filed an appeal and race stewards initially assessed Sykes with a penalty, dropping him one-position and awarding third to Guintioli.
This morning however, Kawasaki appealed to the FIM Stewards’ Panel which analyzed the race footage and sector times for Sykes, Guintoli and second-place finisher Melandri and decided to reinstate Sykes in third. But that may still not be the end of it as Aprilia has five days to lodge another appeal, this time to the International Disciplinary Court which would then make a final decision. Continue Reading »