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The decision on whether to be conservative or aggressive with your choices wasn’t the key in Magny-Cours, rather it was just about having belief in your convictions.

With a drying track, Chaz Davies was one of the few riders to start the race with intermediate tires, and the gamble proved worth the risk for the Ducati rider, as he romped to victory.

In the early stages, with a wet track, Davies was a sitting duck to riders with more grip from full wet-weather tires. The Welshman even said afterwards that “I was so slow that I wouldn’t have been surprised if someone had hit me!”

When the track started to dry, the race came to Davies, and rather than being a sitting duck he became a shark and picked off his rivals. It was an inspired race by Davies who rarely seemed to have push but instead kept calm and allowed the race to come to him.

The WorldSBK season goes on its annual summer break, with the championship suddenly poised on a much finer edge than was imaginable just a week ago.

Jonathan Rea’s dominance of the current campaign has been almost unparalleled. However, his run of 17 consecutive podium finishes to open the season is now over, and suddenly he faces a threat from within for his title defence.

This is because an engine issue left Rea on the sidelines in Race 2 at Laguna Seca, and suddenly his championship lead had been cut to 46 points. It is still a comfortable margin for Rea but suddenly doubt can creep into the “Team 65” side of the Kawasaki garage.

Tom Sykes’ win on Sunday marked a return to the winner’s circle for the former champion, and while he is still an outside bet for the title, he is at least back in realistic range of Rea.

This paints an interesting picture for the WorldSBK riders to consider while they rest over the next two months.

Donington Park has become the personal playground of 2013 World Superbike champion Tom Sykes.

The Yorkshire rider has now claimed an incredible eight wins in a row at his home circuit, and after Sunday’s races Sykes explained how much it meant and also what it means going forward.

In this debrief, Tom Syke’s crew chief, Marcel Duinker, offers his insight into whether Sykes has an advantage at Donington Park due to his riding style.

Also of note this weekend was the addition of new riders to the WorldSBK grid, as for the majority of last year PJ Jacobsen was the sole American riding in the WorldSBK paddock, but last weekend the numbers swelled to three, with Cameron Beaubier joining the Superbike Circus.

The MotoAmerica champion aquitted himself well and we will assess what it means for MotoAmerica, having him race against some of the world’s finest.

Six rounds into the World Superbike season and America has a winner in the class once again. Nicky Hayden’s Sepang success was the highlight of this passed weekend in Malaysia, but there was plenty more to the weekend than just hearing the Star Spangled Banner played.

Jonathan Rea added some more points to his Superbike Championship lead, with Chaz Davies failing to cope with the torrential rain in Race 2, which in-turn soaked up some of his championship momentum.

Tom Sykes too struggled with the changing conditions in Malaysia, showing both great and lackluster results for his weekend in Malaysia. Now 70 points behind his teammate, it will take a miracle for Sykes to wear the #1 plate again. That could make him a very dangerous man, come race day.

Q: It’s still not clear yet if you’ll be allowed to ride the Ducati in Valencia after the last race. How disappointed will you be, personally, with Yamaha if they don’t let you ride the bike till next year, after everything you’ve done for them?

Rossi: Mmmm….I trust 100% in Yamaha and I think Yamaha allow me to try the Ducati for our history, for our love, for our result, for what I do in all these years for Yamaha. And I think in the end they say “yes”…like is normal, like everybody, like all the factories, like all the other riders do. So, I am very confident to try the bike in Valencia.

Q: Valentino, why can’t they say yes now? It doesn’t seem like it’s…

Rossi: Maybe we have to think more. <laughter> But you know, it’s not a question of time, if we know one month before it’s no problem. We have time, we have time to wait. <laughter>