Aprilia’s Sylvain Guintoli has closed the gap on reigning World Superbike champion Tom Sykes by 31 points, after coming away from both races at Jerez with two second place finishes.
But the rider could have snatched a maximum of 50 points from today’s meeting, but his team-mate Marco Melandri put a stop to that, as the former MotoGP racer did the double in the sweltering heat at the Spanish track.
There were no apparent team orders in the Aprilia garage, so the diminutive Italian edged ahead to prevent Guintoli from getting even closer to the points hall of Huddersfield’s finest. The Frenchman did not have the best of qualifying sessions but a good start meant he was at the sharp end in both races, only to be pipped to the post by Melandri.
“Our goal here was to make up points on Tom and that's what we did. Last year I didn't do too well here so I wasn't expecting to be able to battle for the win in both races,” said Guintoli, at the track.
“I gave it my all, working hard to solve the problems we had during practice and pushing to the limit today. The next round is at Magny Cours, a track that I like and where I know I can count on support from our French fans to keep fighting for the championship. With 100 points left on the table anything can still happen.”
