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The battle for the title in the 2014 eni FIM Superbike World Championship came down to the very last round, which took place for the first time ever under the floodlights of the Losail International Circuit in Qatar. The two championship contenders Sykes and Guintoli entered the final racing weekend of the year separated by only 12 points, meaning the defending champion still had a chance to retain the crown no matter his opponent’s results by doing the double.

After being on the back foot in free practice, the defending champion managed to secure a front row start by ending up third in Saturday night’s Tissot-Superpole behind pole man Davide Giugliano and teammate Loris Baz. On the other hand Guintoli ended up fifth and looked visibly unhappy of his qualifying performance.

Came the final race day of the year Sylvain Guintoli and the Aprilia RSV4 stepped up their game, with the Frenchman clearly on a different level as he edged out in race 1 Loris Baz, who refused to give way to his teammate despite the team orders.

Only three points away from the lead, the 32 year old stormed his way around the Qatari track, winning race 2 and doing his first double in the series. In what was his last encounter as factory Aprilia rider, Guintoli grabbed his first WorldSBK Title. Niccolò Canepa and David Salom were the best classified EVO riders in the two races, with the Spaniard mathematically the title winner after the first encounter.

The final World Supersport race of 2014 saw the already crowned champion Michael van der Mark coming out on top ahead of Ratthapark Wilairot and Jules Cluzel.

Remember to click on the links in this article to watch highlights and interviews of this round.