Sepang WSBK: Sykes dominates Race 1, leads Kawasaki 1-2
Tom Sykes scored his second victory of his 2016 World Superbike campaign in Race 1 at Sepang, taking the flag with a lead of 5.6s.
Photo by: Kawasaki Racing Team
Starting from pole, Sykes fell behind Alex Lowes at Turn 1 and was even passed Jonathan Rea, only to fight back and lead by the end of the opening lap.
Sykes quickly separated himself from the chasing group, which saw Rea pass Lowes and force him wide in the process, which also allowed Chaz Davies to sneak past.
Lowes initially kept up with the British duo but dropped back to ninth on Lap 5, promoting Nicky Hayden into the top four.
However, the MotoGP convert failed to hold on to the spot as well as the Honda rider started to struggle for pace at halfway point.
He soon let Davide Giugliano and Markus Reiterberger through, the 22-year-old German then outbraking the Ducati rider at the final turn.
Yet, it was his Althea BMW teammate Jordi Torres securing fourth following a bike failure for Reiterberger.
At the front, Sykes was in a league of his own and Rea shook Davies off to secure a Kawasaki 1-2.
Lowes recovered to fifth, followed by Giugliano and the Hondas of Michael van der Mark and Hayden.
Anthony West, replacing Lucas Mahias at Pedercini Racing, and MV Agusta's Leon Camier completed with the top 10.
Race results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tom Sykes |
Kawasaki ZX-10R | 33:30.487 |
| 2 | Jonathan Rea |
Kawasaki ZX-10R | +5.600 |
| 3 | Chaz Davies |
Ducati 1199 Panigale R | +8.039 |
| 4 |  Jordi Torres |
BMW S1000 RR | +17.666 |
| 5 | Alex Lowes |
Yamaha YZF-R1 | +18.613 |
| 6 |  Davide Giugliano |
Ducati 1199 Panigale R | +19.871 |
| 7 |  Michael van der Mark |
Honda CBR1000RR SP | +24.120 |
| 8 |  Nicky Hayden |
Honda CBR1000RR SP | +25.461 |
| 9 |  Anthony West |
Kawasaki ZX-10R | +32.989 |
| 10 | Leon Camier |
MV Agusta 1000 F4 | +35.464 |
| 11 | Josh Brookes |
BMW S1000 RR | +39.437 |
| 12 |  Karel Abraham |
BMW S1000 RR | +39.860 |
| 13 | Luca Scassa |
Ducati 1199 Panigale R | +46.721 |
| 14 | Xavi Fores |
Ducati 1199 Panigale R | +52.634 |
| 15 | Joshua Hook |
Kawasaki ZX-10R | +1:10.599 |
| 16 |  Dominic Schmitter |
Kawasaki ZX-10R | +1:19.352 |
| 17 |  Saeed Al Sulaiti |
Kawasaki ZX-10R | +1:21.034 |
| 18 | Gianluca Vizziello |
Kawasaki ZX-10R | +1:51.315 |
| 19 |  Imre Toth |
Yamaha YZF-R1 | +1 lap |
| R |  Markus Reiterberger |
BMW S1000 RR | |
| R | Lorenzo Savadori |
Aprilia RSV4 RF | |
| R |  Alex de Angelis |
Aprilia RSV4 RF | |
| R |  Pawel Szkopek |
Yamaha YZF-R1 |
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