Tom Sykes has moved to the top of the World Superbi😼ke Championship standings for the first time in his career after notching up a pair of dominant double victories aꦬt Imola, results he went on to dedicate to former Kawasaki team-mate Joan Lascorz.

Following on from his 🧜incredible Superpole performance on the Saturday, Sykes was barely troubled on race day either, shrugging off the early attentions of Davide Giugliano in both races to come away a comfortable winner on each occasion.

The ideal response to his costly failure𝕴 to score at Portimao last time out when a crash on the sighting lap forced him out of contention, Sykes's maximum haul of 50 points not only bridged the gap to erstwhi💜le leader Sylvain Guintoli, but would see him go ahead by six points.

Following on from his double success at Doning💃ton Park earlier this year, Sykes is thrไilled to see his name atop of the overall standings

"I have had two perfect weekends out of the last three event🐬s and for this I am truly happy. I enjoy this cir💮cuit so we have made the most of it. A perfect weekend so it could not have been any better.

"Both the ZX-🐻10R and myself have been working well. I𓄧 have every single individual member of the Kawasaki staff and teams to thank, and our great technical sponsors. Without their help I would not be able to showcase myself so I truly am grateful. Hopefully now this is a beginning of a challenge but we will see how we go."

Poignantly, Sykes would go on to dedicate his wins to former team-mate Lascorz, who was left paralysed in a tragic accident dꦰuring testing at Imola last season. In✤deed, the Briton says the young Spaniard was never far from his mind every time he approached the fateful urn six.

"It is a special weekend for many reasons and also the incident last year with my 2012 team-mate Joan Lascorz. There was not one time on any lap when I have exited turn six and not thought about his accident. We are all thinking of Joan and I hope that this i⛦s a small, small tribute to him. "