Five races left in WSBK 2016 and this is the most magical of all. It's on our shores in the US of A at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on the Monterey Peninsula in Monterey, California. Tom Sykes will start from pole for the seventh time this season. Nicky Hayden is the home favorite, starting sixth. World Superbike first raced here at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, back in 1995, on a track that was originally built back in 1957. Anthony Gobert and Troy Corser were the 1995 winners in both races. Today marks 21 years since that win, and we've had seven American riders win at their home track. Can Nicky Hayden make it eight?
We come to Laguna Seca fresh off a test session at Misano three weeks or so ago. Here are our current, post time weather conditions. 22 degrees Celsius (71 degrees Fahrenheit), air temperature. 47 degrees Celsius (116 degrees Fahrenheit... hot!), track temperature. Jonathan Rea breaks another record here at Laguna Seca, becoming the rider with the longest streak of leading the points standings in World Superbike, with a mark set at 42 consecutive races. Troy Bayliss held that record, previously. Nicky Hayden starts sixth today. That's a good omen, because the last MotoGP start he had here, a decade ago, he won, from sixth on the grid. Dani Pedrosa and Marco Melandri rounded out the podium that day.
Jonathan Rea comes in here as the favorite. But, it will be a dogfight between he and Chaz Davies more than likely. There's a mid season break after this race. Chaz Davies is 99 points behind Jonathan Rea. Tom Sykes is 66 points out. Kawasaki leads Ducati by 74 markers in the manufacturer's cup. Honda, are a distant third, a further 83 points in-arrears. Davide Giugliano is on the front row of the grid. He qualified there in 2015 but had a horrid race. What Giugliano wants to do, is finish this season ahead of Honda's Michael van der Mark. Tom Sykes has pole for this race and is six pole positions away from tying Troy Corser's all-time record.
Sykes has run quicker, but for shorter amounts of time. Tire wear has not been a big issue here according to Pirelli, although in Friday practice, Jonathan Rea lost a little traction on the front. Davide Giugliano hopes to have a good first race, and for that matter, a good showing in the second race on Sunday, too, which you'll hear about, a bit later on in this report, as you read it. When the wind picks up, this track becomes ever more challenging than it already is, blowing in turn one, and also at the top of the Corkscrew. Three-time MotoGP World Champion and MotoAmerica ambassador Wayne Rainey, is here, and he's a winner on this track.
Rainey won three successive races here, in 1989, '90, and '91. The 500cc bikes last raced here in 1994 and then WSBK took over in 1995. Alex Lowes was one man tipped to have a shot for pole. But, no. The YZF R1 struggled on the qualifying tire. Alex Lowes made a mistake into the final sector of the track. Neither Alex Lowes nor Niccolo Canepa got hold of the qualifying tires. They don't have to worry about race pace, because both Yamaha's are on the third row of the grid in ninth and tenth. Leon Camier is making his 150th start in WSBK. He's a great development rider and does well in the races, too. Camier first raced in WSBK in 2009 and has finished on the podium nine times.
25 laps scheduled. Nobody expects a drop in tire performance, and this comes from Jonathan Rea's Kawasaki crew chief, Per Arriba. Arriba said that it will depend on the pace of the opening few laps. Nicky Hayden debuted here in World Superbike, as a wildcard rider for American Honda, back in 2002. The Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade seems to work much better for Hayden here at his home race, than for his team mate, Michael van der Mark. Laguna Seca is one of three venues that have hosted World Superbike here in the U.S. The others being Miller Motorsport Park in Utah, and, my home track, at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota, which hosted races for WSBK between 1989 and 1991. Another watch and another opportunity for Tom Sykes to sign the camera.
Jonathan Rea, rolls off from second on the grid. Chaz Davies is not as calm in speaking with his team. Ducati boss Ernesto Marinelli has said that no, he has not talked to Davide Giugliano or Xavi Fores, about staying out of Davies' way. Team orders are not necessary at Ducati Corse. Chaz Davies is starting fourth, and Xavi Fores starts fifth, right behind him inside row two. Tom Sykes scores his 37th pole on his career, and he's had seven poles out of nine races. Nicky Hayden is sixth. Davide Giugliano is third. Jordi Torres on the BMW is seventh.
Niccolo Canepa is ninth on the grid. 2000 500cc/MotoGP World Champion Kenny Roberts Jr., is here. He won eight times in his 500cc career. Lorenzo Savadori is eighth. Alex Lowes completes the top ten. Kenny Roberts Sr. was someone who changed Grand Prix motorcycle racing, when he came from flat track racing here in the U.S. and totally changed the riding style on a Grand Prix bike, before World Superbike even existed. He was the forefather of legends from the U.S. like Freddie Spencer, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Kevin Schwantz, Nicky Hayden, and even MotoGP star, Marc Marquez.
Two-time WSBK champion and four-time 250cc Grand Prix world champion, Max Biaggi, is here to check out the races. The Alfa Romeo safety car pulls away. We have seven or so weeks before the next WSBK race. Details at the end of the race report. Leon Camier starts 12th. Alex De Angelis is 13th. We have 23 riders starting. Fabio Menghi has aggravated his injured shoulder and won't race today. We're ready for race one in California! The bikes are on their warmup lap before the start. No surprises insofar as tire selection. We're going to get right down to business of racing here, very shortly.
Weather conditions, as we get started, 22 degrees Celsius (71 degrees Fahrenheit), air temperature. 47 degrees Celsius (116 degrees Fahrenheit), track temperature. The wind will be a challenge for these riders, as a breeze has built through the day. Jonathan Rea leads the championship by 66 points over Tom Sykes and 99 points over Chaz Davies. We are under starters orders. Ready, to bring the action, at Laguna Seca. The Monterey Peninsula will rock to the thunder of 22 1000cc Superbike monsters. Watch out for one of the most daunting first corners in all of motorcycle racing. WSBK at Laguna Seca, is go!
Rea and Sykes side by side and Rea will lead into turn one. What will the Ducati's do as the bikes round the Andretti hairpin? Tom Sykes retakes the lead from Jonathan Rea. Michael van der Mark is also pushing forward. Jonathan Rea is now third and we see Alex Lowes on the Yamaha moving into contention. We plunge down the Corkscrew for the first time. All bikes and riders are running of the 23 that started. Caboose on the field right now is the Toth Yamaha in the hands of Peter Sebestyen. Davide Giugliano runs wide into turn one, but doesn't make a mistake exiting the Andretti hairpin. Alex Lowes is making headway, moving up four places. Will the Yamaha run where Lowes wants it to be?
Jordi Torres has lost five spots on the Althea BMW S1000RR. Chaz Davies runs wide through turn nine. Michael van der Mark passes Niccolo Canepa for ninth. Jonathan Rea sets early fast lap at 1:23.640. Our top ten running order so far is Sykes, Davies, Rea, Giugliano, Hayden, Lowes, Savadori, Fores, van der Mark, and De Angelis. Sykes, Davies, and Rea all run in the 1:23.8 lap time range. Davies is fastest at 1:23.833, followed by a 1:23.835 for Rea, and Sykes at 1:23.844. Jordi Torres is still running in the points, passing Niccolo Canepa for 11th. Torres, Canepa, Anthony West, Raffaele De Rosa, and Josh Brookes, complete the top 15.
The Naples, Italy native, he is currently leading the FIM Super Stock 1000 Cup series, which you have read about, having some thrilling races in Europe, here on 2 Wheelin' from time to time. Chaz Davies resets fast lap at 1:23.443. Tom Sykes is surely holding up Davies, and for good reason. He wants to keep the race lead. Oh! But this is a tight squeeze! Here comes Davies! Rea follows Davies and now, Sykes falls to third. Michael van der Mark is coming towards the lead group. Davies is ahead, but Sykes needs to get back around his two rivals, because with his riding style, it's easier for him to lead, than follow.
But, disaster, for Chaz Davies! Davies, is down and out! This is Davies' third crash in a row! He fell off at Donington. He fell off at Misano. Now, he falls at Laguna Seca! It is now a two man race between the green Kawasaki's of Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes. Davies tucked the front of the motorcycle through turn six. A very easy mistake to make. Jonathan Rea runs wide into the Corkscrew. Both Kawasaki's have dropped their pace just a tad, and this could be a podium opportunity for Nicky Hayden on the Honda. Poor old Chaz Davies has finished eight races this year, off of the podium.
Working lap seven. Was there dust on the road where Davies wrecked? Alex Lowes is in hot pursuit of Nicky Hayden. It's Honda vs. Yamaha. Sadly, it's game over for Josh Brookes in his first WSBK race in the United States, and it is also his first visit to the U.S. Scratch that. Brookes went off at turn seven (the entrance to the Corkscrew), but has rejoined the race. The wind has picked up, blowing more dust onto the track. We look at the top fifteen order at the moment.
1. Jonathan Rea
2. Tom Sykes
3. Davide Giugliano
4. Nicky Hayden
5. Alex Lowes
6. Lorenzo Savadori
7. Michael van der Mark
8. Xavi Fores
9. Alex De Angelis
10. Jordi Torres
11. Niccolo Canepa
12. Anthony West
13. Raffaele De Rosa
14. Leon Camier
15. Roman Ramos
Lorenzo Savadori is running well in his first race at Laguna Seca. Michael van der Mark needs to improve and so does Nicky Hayden. Honda is struggling. Gianluca Vizziello is out. Davide Giugliano is trying to catch up to the Kawasaki team mates, but finding the going difficult at the moment. Chaz Davies has not been a happy boy this weekend, and that's something that could have contributed to his wreck. Working lap ten. We are a few laps from halfway in race one. If something does happen to the top three, Nicky Hayden would be on the podium here in the U.S. round of the world championship.
Jonathan Rea can eke out a gap on Tom Sykes right now. Davide Giugliano loses time in sector three, but gains time in sector one. Alex Lowes is catching Nicky Hayden again. The top three are covered by a second and a half. We watch Nicky Hayden running in fourth place right now. We are approaching halfway in this race. Lorenzo Savadori is running really well, and we might see a factory Aprilia team here in WSBK next year. Jordi Torres had a great scrap here last year, with his then Aprilia team mate, Leon Haslam. Torres is the leading BMW rider. Will the Aprilia hold off the BMW? Torres could try to pass Alex De Angelis. Niccolo Canepa is running well too, replacing Sylvain Guintoli.
Oh no! Davide Giugliano, is down and out. Ducati will want to erase 2016 WSBK race one at Laguna Seca from their memory bank. We have lost Giugliano from this race, meaning Nicky Hayden could score a podium. Giugliano went down in turn five, the same place on the course, where Davies wrecked earlier. Turn five claims another victim. One Althea BMW is still running. Poor old Raffaele De Rosa, who has been dominant in STK1000 racing in Europe this year, is also down and out. Game over. Another yellow flag is show through the Corkscrew. Nicky Hayden wants a podium place, but Alex Lowes is giving him a tough run for his money.
Let's not forget Lorenzo Savadori and Michael van der Mark. Both of them also are in with a shout here in race one. Savadori seems to be using up a lot of his Pirelli rear tire. Just 2/10ths of a second separate the Kawasaki boys. Tom Sykes chases Jonathan Rea. Sykes has fastest lap. 1:24.489, compared to Rea with a 1:24.838. Ten laps remain now in race one. Lowes and Savadori are right on top of each other, fighting for fourth place. Alex Lowes wants to finish on the podium, and he hasn't done so since Thailand 2015. Lorenzo Savadori wants to finish on the podium. But, Michael van der Mark is pushing him hard.
Tom Sykes has now gone past Jonathan Rea. Lap 17 of 25. Has Jonathan Rea made another mistake in the Corkscrew? Indeed he did. Sykes has run wide straight down the gravel trap in the Corkscrew. That's the Marquez/Rossi line he was taking. Saeed Al Sulaiti has crashed out of this race as well. Four riders have now retired from WSBK race one at Laguna Seca. Al Sulaiti slid through the Corkscrew, but neither bike nor rider hit the air fences. Rea and Sykes are really scrapping now! Back and forth between the Kawasaki team mates, with just six laps left in race one at Laguna Seca! Rea is riding defensive and Sykes could get a run up the hill back to the Corkscrew.
Michael van der Mark is now fifth, getting around Lorenzo Savadori. Honda is ahead of Aprilia. There is a three way battle for third as Alex Lowes is the meat in a Honda sandwich. Hayden, Lowes, van der Mark. Both Kawasaki's could catch the two back markers they are trying to lap. Gianluca Vizziello has rejoined the race from pit lane, albeit eight laps behind. The other two are Pawel Szkopek and Peter Sebestyen. Nicky Hayden goes by Alex Lowes and Lowes is off the road a bit, exceeding track limits. That was a heck of a move through Rainey curve!
Michael van der Mark tries to take advantage into the Andretti hairpin, but he can't quite do it. van der Mark could pass one rider, but not both, as Lorenzo Savadori is fastest man on the course at the moment turning a lap of 1:25.160. Lorenzo Savadori wiggles the motorcycle in the downhill run from after the Corkscrew. Xavi Fores and Jordi Torres are not far behind either. Anyone could get third place, as Jonathan Rea leads by 1.1 seconds over Tom Sykes. Lapped traffic is in the way. Alex Lowes lowers the quick time to 1:25.018. Alex Lowes could be slightly faster than Nicky Hayden in the scrum for third.
Hayden has found some space between himself and the battle between Lowes and van der Mark. On the last lap, Nicky Hayden has to hold off his Honda team mate if he wants a rostrum finish here at Laguna Seca. Last lap of race one. Pawel Szkopek moves out of the way of the leaders. Jonathan Rea will score his first ever win in WSBK in the United States. Michael van der Mark is catching Nicky Hayden. He's 4/10ths of a second behind. Keep in mind that Hayden is on target for a podium, in the U.S. Vizziello and Sebestyen both move out of the way of the leaders. Another Kawasaki 1-2 and Jonathan Rea wins a WSBK race in the United States for the first time!
World Superbike Race 1: #1 Jonathan Rea GBR. Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX10R
...And, Michael van der Mark, runs wide into the last corner, allowing Nicky Hayden, his factory Honda team mate, to finish on the podium in the United States! The crowd will go nuts! Rea is 71 points ahead of Tom Sykes and now 124 ahead of Chaz Davies.
Race two, is coming up.
Can Jonathan Rea, do the double? That's the question. We have another 25 lap race ahead of us here at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Weather conditions look like this. 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit), air temperature. 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit), track temperature. Ambiet temperatures are a bit cooler than in yesterday's race. Jonathan Rea now leads Tom Sykes in the points, by 71 markers. It is his championship to lose. Davide Giugliano has not had the best weekend here at Laguna Seca. Alex Lowes had a big crash in morning warmup for the Sunday race. He fell at the right hand corner, turn four. WSBK doctors checked Alex Lowes for a possible collarbone injury. Thankfully, the X ray was negative.
Pit lane is now open. The bikes and riders come out on track. Chaz Davies has crashed in four of the last five races. Not a good way to go so far this season for the Ducati rider. Chaz Davies just wants to take things race by race, and by now, Davies is mathematically out of the championship hunt. The Kawasaki ZX10R is easier to ride than the Ducati Panigale. Davies knows he has to push hard for the reward. But, he's going all in, to use a gambling term, and he's almost out of aces. He's crashed four times in five races. He's lost so, so many points! 124 points is the deficit between Davies and Jonathan Rea.
Rea has led the championship for 42 straight races, going back to the 2015 Thailand round, race two. Jonathan Rea is second on the grid. You want an amazing official WSBK stat? Check this out. Jonathan Rea has had 82 career podium finishes. 42 of them were with Honda between 2009 and 2014. 40 already, riding for Kawasaki, for just a year and a half's worth of racing. So, he's almost equal on the number of podiums he's earned with Kawasaki as the total amount he earned as a Honda rider! Yikes! Davide Giugliano, who we've talked about quite frequently already, rolls off third on the grid.
Chaz Davies set fast lap in the Saturday race. He's fourth on the grid here today. Tom Sykes is on pole. Lots of manufacturer changes might happen for WSBK teams next year. BMW is a customer operation right now, while it is possible for the Milwaukee team to race Aprilia. Ioda Aprilia is a private team, but they could come in as a factory squad next year along with their current MotoGP effort. Some riders actually say that the Aprilia is the best motorcycle on the grid. Eugene Laverty, or Michael van der Mark, might have a possibility to ride for Aprilia next year. Laverty has ridden for Aprilia, Yamaha, and Suzuki. So, he could race for Yamaha, Ducati, or Aprilia. We'll see lots of confirmation for next year. Will Michael van der Mark stay with Honda? Honda has a new motorcycle for next year.
Honda has always been strong when debuting a new motorcycle in the World Superbike Championship. Colin Edwards, when he had a tremendous career in WSBK, made the old VTR1000 a very successful motorcycle. Edwards won a championship aboard the VTR. The Honda Fireblade has also been a successful racing bike over the last decade. Michael van der Mark could take the opportunity to ride the new bike, and for a second season, he would be team mates, to Nicky Hayden. Speaking of Nicky Hayden, he starts fifth on the grid. Lorenzo Savadori is eighth. Next is Niccolo Canepa. Michael van der Mark starts eleventh, as we are merely ten minutes away from the start of race two at Laguna Seca, the 18th race of the 2016 WSBK championship.
Tenth on the grid is Alex Lowes and he ran very well in the Saturday race. Lowes will be sore due to his shoulder giving him issues after his warmup wreck. Niccolo Canepa of course, subs for Sylvain Guintoli after he crashed in Super Pole at Imola in Italy. Leon Camier is 12th on the MV Agusta. There are three teams running one bike, who could race two bikes, next year. The factory MV Agusta team is one. Barni Ducati is another. The third, is the privateer Kawasaki team for Go11. Go11 is consistently in the midfield and scoring points. Alex De Angelis is 13th and knows Laguna Seca well from racing here in MotoGP. He scored two points on Saturday. Anthony West is next. West has run no fewer than eight production road racing motorcycle championships this year.
West is subbing for Frenchman Sylvain Barrier of course. Barrier had a horrid accident at Motorland Aragon earlier this year, and he also fell off here at Laguna Seca one time, and hit the pit wall. Barrier should be back in action when the summer break is over. Sixteenth is Roman Ramos. After the summer break, the last four races come thick and fast. Germany at the Lausitzring, France at Magny Cours, Spain, at Jerez, and the finale in Qatar at the Losail circuit. Ramos is a consistent rider for sure. Joshua Brookes is 15th, on his first trip to the United States.
Karel Abraham is 17th. He's had a tough weekend and is struggling in slower corners. In 18th place, is the man who has run so well for BMW in Stock 1000 races this year, Raffaele De Rosa. Lining up 19th is Dominic Schmitter. He starts ahead of Saeed Al Sulaiti, Pawel Szkopek, Peter Sebestyen, and Gianluca Vizziello, the Italian, is caboose on the field. Five minutes to the race start as the Alfa Romeo 4C safety car pulls away. The tire degradation will start about lap seven, dropping the lap times down. Two drops in tire performance will be seen, more than likely. Davide Giugliano third, Jonathan Rea, second. Tom Sykes, on pole.
Will it be another double for Jonathan Rea? Take a deep breath, everyone. Settle in, for an exciting World Superbike Sunday race, from Laguna Seca. The bikes are on their warmup lap. Weather conditions just before we start. 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit), air temperature. 46 degrees Celsius (114 degrees Fahrenheit), track temperature. Same weather conditions we had yesterday on the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales. Will the Ducati riders approach the race differently than they did on Saturday? What will Davide Giugliano do? 5,000 horsepower about to be unleashed, from 23 World Superbikes, at 220 horsepower apiece. Here we go. Race two, from Laguna Seca. Go! Tom Sykes gets a great start and Jonathan Rea now has Davide Giugliano right there. He is trapped at the moment.
Nicky Hayden on the Honda comes around the outside and someone is almost forced to sit up on their bike. Not sure who. Ah. That was Alex Lowes on the lead factory Yamaha. Alex Lowes may have jumped the start as Davide Giugliano is onto Tom Sykes early and wants to make a move. Chaz Davies runs fourth right now and wants to be aggressive early on. Nicky Hayden and Lorenzo Savadori, follow. Oh dear! Michael van der Mark goes off course at the entrance to the Corkscrew! He can't keep the motorcycle upright, and, ker-rash! He's into the air fence. He should be OK and it looks like there isn't too much damage to the Honda Fireblade right now. The gravel trap at the Corkscrew is very deep and the bike will fall down if you go off the road there.
Alex Lowes is following Jordi Torres. BMW vs. Yamaha. But, did Lowes jump the start? Lowes now has his interim team mate, Niccolo Canepa, running right behind him. Michael van der Mark is back up and running. No damage to his factory Honda. Raffaele De Rosa is improving position from where he started, on the BMW S1000RR. But, Leon Camier, on the MV Agusta, is losing places hand over fist. What is wrong with the MV? Mechanical troubles mean it's game over for Camier. These DNF's are beginning to happen too much for Leon Camier. Out of race. We see the Kawasaki's and Ducati's running together in the top four at the start of this race.
Hayden and Savadori are now contending with Xavi Fores who is seventh. Behind those three, another battle is brewing. Alex De Angelis runs 11th behind the two Yamaha's of Lowes and Canepa. De Angelis, Josh Brookes, Raffaele De Rosa, Anthony West, and in 15th, Roman Ramos. Chaz Davies runs fourth just behind Jonathan Rea, with Davide Giugliano and Tom Sykes ahead. Giugliano sets the first fastest lap in race two at 1:23.522. Giugliano takes a late lunge past Tom Sykes and up the inside he goes. Giugliano is leading, but Sykes probably won't let him stay out front for very long. Josh Brookes crashes, and it looks like he's out. But, no. He rejoins the race.
Time will tell, but it may be the Milwaukee team could switch from the BMW S1000RR to the Aprilia RSV next year. The top four are glued together. Alex De Angelis moves up to tenth, past Alex Lowes. Davide Giugliano has extended his lead by a half a second over Tom Sykes. Davide Giugliano needs to stay consistent if he wants to lead this race. Oh deary me. It's game over for Alex De Angelis. Commentator's curse, I'm afraid, after saying how well he was doing so far in race two. De Angelis stops at turn two, the Andretti hairpin, and it's without doubt, a retirement. If this battle at the front continues, the next four riders in line, could gain time. Nicky Hayden, followed by Lorenzo Savadori, Xavi Fores, and Jordi Torres.
Alex Lowes did not jump the start in this race. Jonathan Rea, because of the difference in riding style he has as compared to Tom Sykes, carries more speed into the corner. Sykes runs slowly through the mid corner and then mashes the gas on corner exit. The bikes sweep down through the Rainey curve. Oh no. Another crash. Pawel Szkopek has laid down his bike in turn six. That's the Corkscrew. There's a red flag due to this crash. This race, will be stopped. Race control has red flagged the race, due to safety conditions. In replay, we catch the end of Szkopek's crash. Through the dust cloud, we cannot see exactly what happened. We will recycle timing and scoring back to lap four, which was the last completed lap before Szkopek's wreck.
Pawel Szkopek scored a point at Magny Cours last year, and also did so way back in 2004. Szkopek is the oldest rider in the field at age 40. He races for Team Toth who runs a Yamaha YZF-R1 this year. Last year, they campaigned a BMW S1000RR. When we restart this race, the new distance, will be 21 laps. If it was less than three laps, we'd clean the slate and go right back to a brand new race, in which the first race we were initially running, would be null and void. If we were past 2/3rds race distance and a red flag appeared, the race would end and be declared official, with full points. There is no safety car restart. But sadly, the blokes who are out of this race such as Alex De Angelis, Leon Camier, and Josh Brookes, they are done for the day and won't be able to restart.
Szkopek is out, and Michael van der Mark will be caboose on the field. Everyone is getting ready for when the restart will happen. Alex De Angelis has to be disappointed to be out, as he was running well before his mechanical issues. Pawel Szkopek is on the stretcher being loaded into the ambulance. But, he gives the peace sign, to tell everyone he is OK. Pit lane opens for the quick start procedure in four minutes. Somone startingmid pack may make a move. Ducati and Honda are the most well known winning manufacturers here at Laguna Seca. Ducati has 12 wins and 35 podium finishes. Honda, has five, including a double for Chris Vermuellen in 2004 and a decade later, Jonathan Rea.
Pawel Szkopek is conscious and is being evaluated at the medical center. It is standard procedure. Usually, the rider is unhurt. Dominic Schmitter is a rider who stepped up from World Supersport to World Superbike for this season. Schmitter is a big Jorge Lorenzo fan. Toni Elias from MotoAmerica, has a chat with Kawasaki boss Per Arriba. Elias was on the podium in the MotoAmerica race won by Cameron Beaubier. Restarting this race means that it might be a bit of a war of attrition, or at least one of wanting to gain points.
We restart this race. 21 laps to run. Here we go, for the second start at Laguna Seca! Away we go! Giugliano and Sykes are side by side as Niccolo Canepa and Nicky Hayden both make good starts. Davide Giugliano loses the lead and Tom Sykes sweeps around him. Chaz Davies is down behind Nicky Hayden and Lorenzo Savadori. But, look! Hayden is side by side and wants a piece of Jonathan Rea! Hayden passes the world champ! Xavi Fores also makes a great start. Chaz Davies is stuck behind all this traffic. Cresting the hill it is BMW vs. Yamaha again, as Jordi Torres and Alex Lowes scrap for position.
Xavi Fores runs wide and Lorenzo Savadori has Chaz Davies all over him, like a rash. Michael van der Mark has already made up nine spots, from 19th on the grid, to tenth in the running order. No one jumped the start. Torres and Lowes continue their tussle and Jonathan Rea and Nicky Hayden, mean business! They were side by side, just for a brief moment! Phew! Jonathan Rea has made it past Hayden, working lap two of this restarted motorcycle race. Tom Sykes sets fastest lap so far with a very good pace. 1:23.552 for Sykes. Uh oh. Someone has fallen in the background, out of turn four. Who is it?
Lorenzo Savadori has crashed out. Game over. Thankfully Savadori is OK. It's a tricky part of the speedway, and the same spot where Alex Lowes crashed in the morning warmup. Saeed Al Sulaiti is fifteenth, and in the points at the moment. But Karel Abraham is in hot pursuit. The lower half of the top 15 features Anthony West, Raffaele De Rosa, Roman Ramos, Dominic Schmitter, and Al Sulaiti. Whoa! Check this out! Jonathan Rea, has taken both Tom Sykes and Davide Giugliano in one corner! Tom Sykes holds onto second, and onto his Kawasaki ZX10R!
Rea has to really enjoy being a motorcycle racer. The best rider in World Superbike, on the best motorcycle. But, Rea, runs wide! Rea is down to tenth after going off the road. He'll rejoin in tenth behind Michael van der Mark. Sykes leads over Davide Giugliano, Nicky Hayden, and Chaz Davies, who is currently fourth. Rea had some lean angle going into the corner and doesn't want to tip it into the gravel. So, he sits up, and skates the Kawasaki through the gravel, staying on the motorcycle, and keeping it on the blacktop. However, Rea has lost a place to Anthony West. Oh dear! Jonathan Rea has stopped on lap six.
Will this be his first retirement of 2016? The podium will be gone, and the points record, up in smoke, if he can't rejoin the race. Maybe he had the transmission in the wrong gear. Oh dear. It is official. For just the second time riding a Kawasaki motorcycle, Jonathan Rea, has to park it and pack it up. Game over. Jonathan Rea has not crashed a Kawasaki though. His last wreck was in 2014 when he high sided out of the race in France at Magny Cours, coming through the Nurburgring chicane. For the third time this season we won't have a double winner. The flyaway races tend to produce these kinds of finishes. Sykes leads with Giugliano second, and in third, Chaz Davies.
Meanwhile, Nicky Hayden is feeling the heat from Xavi Fores. Just 14 laps left to run. Alex Lowes is moving in on Fores. Can Chaz Davies bridge the gap to the front? He's the only man right now, in the 1:23 bracket with his lap times. Rea's only other mechanical retirement was when his engine went sour last year in the season finale in Qatar. Now, he has gearbox woes. Hayden and Fores side by side. Fores takes the turn too deep. Lowes, Jordi Torres, and Niccolo Canepa are all trying to make a move on Xavi Fores. Michael van der Mark in ninth is also in this fight.
Nicky Hayden appears he is soon to make a move on Fores. Niccolo Canepa has done very well standing in for the injured Sylvain Guintoli. Six bikes scrap for fourth through ninth places. Anthony West rounds out the top ten. Saeed Al Sulaiti is now in the points. He is 15th. Between West and Al Sulaiti, it is Raffaele De Rosa, Roman Ramos, Dominic Schmitter, and Karel Abraham. Torres and Lowes almost touch into turn ten. The only difference in the performance area, is the Yamaha does not have the top end speed the BMW does. Michael van der Mark goes around Niccolo Canepa.
Jordi Torres is very strong, but he can't brake as deep into the corner as Alex Lowes can. Tom Sykes is 6/10ths clear of Davide Giugliano who is a second ahead of Chaz Davies. The tires are starting to drop, meaning the lap times will drop about a second from 1:23 to 1:24. Torres makes the move on Lowes. But Lowes now has to be on the charge to try and pass the BMW. A lot of pressure is on Davide Giugliano to win his first race. He is one of few riders to start over 100 races in WSBK without winning. This is the 108th start for Giugliano. Nine laps now remain in the race as Sykes feels the pressure from Giugliano.
After this race is done, just four remain in the WSBK 2016 season. Chaz Davies is third, but in a very real sense, he has been eliminated from contention for the world championship. Giugliano is managing his tires and still running in the 1:23 lap time bracket. With Rea out, and if Sykes can win, the points gap between the KRT riders will be only 46 markers. 200 possible points are still left on the table in the last races of the year. If Giugliano passes Sykes, it's a loss of five points, and the gap would still be 51 points. Nicky Hayden is fifth between Xavi Fores and Jordi Torres. van der Mark, Lowes, and Canepa are also in this fight.
Canepa now runs right behind Alex Lowes. Anthony West retains tenth on the Pedercini Kawasaki ZX10R followed by Ramos, De Rosa, Abraham, Schmitter, and Al Sulaiti. If he can keep going, Saeed Al Sulaiti will be the first ever rider from Qatar to score a WSBK championship point. The gap is merely a second between Sykes and Giugliano. Chaz Davies in third is bridging the gap, and he's coming. He's a half second faster than the leaders. Giugliano is faster than Sykes. 1:24.446 to 1:24.652. Sykes can afford to brake deeper into the corner on the Kawasaki. Giugliano applies the blowtorch to Tom Sykes.
Sykes has to think about the championship. Sykes has to gain points with Jonathan Rea out, to go for a chance to win his second World Superbike crown. Five laps to go. Giugliano is closing up. Chaz Davies also has great pace, running laps at 1:24 flat. Xavi Fores is still fourth, but is dropping behind the top three. Down through the Corkscrew they come, and the gap between the Ducati riders is closing. It is a matter of when and where, more than if. Davies tries a block pass on the inside of Giugliano, but it won't work. Davies is surely out to prove a point. Sykes is under pressure.
Sykes and Davies both run wide, and here comes Giugliano. Giugliano takes advantage of Davies' blunder. Sykes also ran wide. That's easy to do entering the Corkscrew. Three laps to go now. Giugliano is alongside Tom Sykes under the bridge, and can't quite get it done. Into the Corkscrew, we see Davies waiting in the wings. But, he'll have to make a move if he wants to go for the win. Coming into Rainey, has Giugliano pulled the pin? Will he go for the lead on Sykes? Not yet. Wait. Speaking of pulling the pin, here comes Davies, with far better corner speed, than Giugliano! Davies bravely goes inside his Ducati team mate.
Davies runs wide on the front straight. Here comes Giugliano back. Side by side stuff for the Ducati team mates! Sykes is loving this, because he'll get away. Davies slides the rear tire! The red mist is down with Chaz Davies. He slides past Giugliano and now targets the green Kawasaki of Tom Sykes. Giugliano holds him off! Don't crash, boys. Ernesto Marinelli will be livid if that happens. Rule number one in all of racing on two and four wheels, don't take your team mate out! With two laps left, Davies will have to put in the best lap of his life, if he's going to have any chance of catching the green motorcycle. Last lap. If something terrible does happen, it will be quite the surprise. Xavi Fores would pick up the win.
But, it appears these three are the blokes duking it out. No dice for Giugliano in turn three. Only eight corners remain. Ooh! It's so close. Italy wants their 100th win as a nation and especially after the passing of Ducati racing legend, Fabrizio Pirovano. Tremendous traction for Giugliano up the back straight named for car racing legend, Bobby Rahal. No dive by Giugliano into the Corkscrew. Giguliano has to punch up the power through the Rainey curve for the last time. It's now or never for the Ducati rider. Two corners to go. Giugliano wants to have a go into the last corner, but might be too far behind.
Tom Sykes, wins race two at Laguna Seca, trimming his deficit to Jonathan Rea, who retired from this race, to a mere 46 points.
World Superbike Race 2: #66 Tom Sykes GBR. Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX10R
Alex Lowes, crashes right out of the last corner, on the final lap just headed for home! Both factory Yamaha's are in that little dust up. Niccolo Canepa rejoins, but it's game over, right to the bitter end, for Alex Lowes. When the red mist comes down, things get crazy. But, that's racing, as they say. Alex Lowes is 14th and Saeed Al Sulaiti will be the first Qatari rider to score points in WSBK. Lowes went inside Canepa, and ditched the bike. Canepa clips his team mate, just barely, and thankfully, both Yamaha riders were not down and out in a heap!
What a race, at a great venue! That was smokin'! 17 riders out of the 21 starters, finished. Tom Sykes wins his fifth race of 2016 and the 31st of his career. 46 points separate Rea and Sykes, over the final eight races. Nicky Hayden finishes fifth in race two. Sykes becomes only the fifth rider in WSBK who wins three times at Laguna Seca, including the great John Kocinski who did the double at Laguna Seca back in 1997. Giugliano was so close to winning! But, it was a brilliant race for him. A better one, for Tom Sykes. This has to be a sweet victory. His third, at Laguna Seca.
Davies loses more points to Rea. Rea and Sykes are going to slug it out for the 2016 championship. Pawel Szkopek who crashed, will be fine, save for a fractured toe. Folks, we've been on quite the break for WSBK racing action, and it will continue for another six weeks before the championship resumes, in Germany, at the Eurospeedway Lausitz in Klettwitz, Brandenburg, Germany. Eurospeedway is a venue WSBK has not run at since 2007. The race will take place in seven weeks.
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