Battle of Laguna Seca
The legendary US circuit is special and this year the ninth round of the WSBK championship saw the Kawasaki pair slug it out in race one while the Ducati duo fought for the top spot in race two, giving rise to epic fights among the top riders
Race One
WITH THE CROWDS CHEERING the riders, the WSBK grid was set for the ninth round of the season at the iconic circuit. As the lights went out, it was Kawasaki Racing Team’s Tom Sykes who took an early lead and was running away from the rest of the pack. Ducati’s Chaz Davies was the man in second spot, followed by defending champion and current points leader Jonathan Rea. For the first four laps, the order remained unchanged. On lap five, however, Davies got into the lead but on Turn Six, the Ducati rider crashed and was out of the race. Meanwhile, Rea had already gone from third to second and once Davies was out, the Irishman was now leading the race with Sykes right behind him.
As the race continued, the battle between Sykes and Rea heated up but behind them was Ducati’s second rider, Davide Giugliano, who was now running third ahead of local favourite Nicky Hayden. On lap 12 Giugliano crashed and was forced to retire. This gave the third place to Nicky Hayden. Meanwhile, the battle at the front continued as Rea and Sykes kept swapping the lead between laps. On lap 17 Rea ran wide at the corkscrew and Sykes seized this opportunity. He took the lead and it seemed as if he would run away with it. After being at the helm of the race for three laps, Rea reclaimed the lead and defended it well right till the chequered flag. Unfortunately, Sykes couldn’t overtake Rea again and had to settle for second. In third was Nicky Hayden, who was back on the podium after winning the race in Malaysia.
Race Two
THE SECOND RACE SAW A lot of drama with Ducati’s Davide Giugliano taking an early lead, then slugging it out with his team-mate, Chaz Davies, and Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes. As the lights went out Davide slipped into the lead with Sykes, Hayden and Rea chasing the Italian. On lap two Rea overtook Hayden, aiming straight for Sykes and then Davide. While Rea was chasing the two down, Sykes had usurped the lead from Giugliano. On lap four, Rea also overtook Davide and was running second with Davide now in third, ahead of Nicky Hayden and teammate Chaz Davies.
Disaster struck on lap five as the championship leader ran wide at corkscrew, which saw him slide down to 10th. Nevertheless, it did not stop there; Rea had to retire from the race due to a technical glitch. With Rea out of the contention Davide was back in second with Davies, who overtook Hayden, right behind him. At the end of lap six, the order was Sykes, Davide and Davies. The story continued as the three of them fought each other throughout the race. In fact, the battle was so close that there was less than a second separating the trio. After 21 amazing and drama-filled laps, Sykes was victorious and was joined by Davide, second, and Davies, third, on the podium.