WSBK United States (2): Rea signals the start of the holidays … and his rivals !
Arrived "only" second in the first American round yesterday, Jonathan Rea wanted to take his revenge this Sunday. Starting from the third row between Sykes and Davies, the double "Number One" flew over the race and went on vacation with a free spirit: his counter shows 341 points… out of 400 !
Winner of the first race at Laguna Seca on Saturday, Chaz Davies is relegated to ninth place on the starting grid this Sunday. The n ° 7 Ducati starts behind the two official Kawasaki of Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes (respectively second and third yesterday).
Fourth in the race, Marco Melandri is offered pole position and will place the second official Ducati (special "Final Edition" green-white-red livery!) Ahead of the private Ducati of Xavi Fores and the MV Agusta "Reparto Corse" of Leon Camier.
Spaniard Jordi Torres (BMW Althea n ° 81), Dutchman Michael van den Mark (Yamaha Pata n ° 60) and Argentinian Leandro Mercado (Aprilia Iodaracing n ° 36) form the second row…
Departure : When the lights go out, Marco Melandri starts well from his pole ahead of Xavi Fores and … Tom Sykes who comes out second from the first hairpin! The Ninja n ° 66 leaps on the Ducati n ° 33 two turns further and takes control of the race. Not bad for the poleman forced to start from seventh place !
Behind Sykes, Melandri and Fores, Leandro Mercado is doubled by Jonathan Rea then Jordi Torres. Leon Camier is in seventh place ahead of the winner of the first round Chaz Davies, Eugene Laverty, Lorenzo Savadori, etc. Davies passes in front of Camier but stumbles on Mercado at the end of the 1st lap.
Sykes is half a second ahead of Rea at the start of the second round! Fores and Torres try to cling to the two official Kawasaki. Melandri got off the line and "fell" to ninth place. Davies, on the contrary, continues his ascent: the n ° 7 Ducati passes in front of Torres at the start of the 3rd lap.
In front, the double "Number One" of the discipline easily takes control of the race between the second and third corners. Once past Sykes, Rea continues to attack as much as possible in order to get as far away from his championship rivals as possible..
Melandri recovered and was in sixth place on lap 4: the n ° 33 Ducati found himself in the rear wheel of the BMW n ° 81 of Jordi Torres. Mercado, Laverty, Camier and Savadori complete the Top 10 and fight for seventh place.
De Rosa loses the lead in the penultimate corner and has to retire. Local rider and legendary Nicky Hayden’s replacement, Jake Gagne, battles for the first points: sixteenth on the track, the No. 45 Honda is only three seconds behind Alex Lowes then eleventh. Not bad at all for a rookie !
The very experienced Chaz Davies virtually climbed on the podium in the 6th lap: he was then 2.5 seconds behind the Kawasaki n ° 66 of the vice-world champion, and almost 4 seconds on his priority target, the Kawasaki n ° 1 of the championship leader.
The 7th lap was marked by two new retirements: Jordi "Spanish Elvis" Torres found himself with all four irons in the air, braking too hard at the end of the line – not at all straight! – stands. Leon Camier is forced to stop his race, betrayed by his MV Agusta that he puts on the edge of the track.
Alone in the lead, "Johnny" has a series of very good times, better than those posted by his two pursuers – on the track as in the championship -: Tom Sykes and Chaz Davies. Xavi Fores turns one more tone below and allows Marco Melandri, as fast as his teammate No.7, to return to fourth place…
Tom completed a 10th lap at the same pace as Jonathan. Chaz, on the other hand, lets slip a handful of tenths of a second. His hopes of a double evaporate under the Californian sun, which however hits a suspicion less harsh than yesterday during the first round.
Marco steals Xavi "his" fourth place in the 12th lap. The Italian is 4.6 seconds behind his Welsh teammate. He manages to equal the lap times of the two official Kawasaki, but his less impressive start prevents him from fighting for the victory..
Following the retirement of Torres and Camier, Lowes and Van den Mark entered the Top 10, but Bradl does not leave the aspiration of the two factory Yamaha! Ramos, De Angelis, Gagne and Krummenacher complete the "Top Fifteen". These last two still roll together…
With nine laps to go, Tom Sykes makes a small mistake and concedes a good – bad for him! – half a second to his teammate. The gap with Chaz Davies falls under two seconds, which seems to re-motivate the No.7 Ducati: will the Dragon of Wales enjoy a second wind and go for second place ?
Behind, Melandri, Fores and Laverty are almost guaranteed to complete the Top 6. Seventh place is always played between two Aprilia: private n ° 36 from Mercado and official n ° 32 from Savadori. The ninth place opposes the two teammates Lowes and Van der Mark.
After completing around twenty laps under 1 ’24, Jonathan Rea gives his Kawasaki a bit of a break: after all, there are only four laps left to go and his lead of four seconds ensures. Chaz Davies on the contrary continues to whip his Panigale and is a second from Sykes…
Tom’s panelist then encourages his pilot to resist. The n ° 66 runs and manages to stop the ascent of Chaz who forces and commits some tiny errors … In the background, a magnificent fight delighted the American public: their Jake Gagne was attacked by the Swiss Randy Krummenacher and not don’t let it go !
Jonathan Rea completed an impeccable race and won his second WSBK success at Laguna Seca. Tom Sykes and Chaz Davies accompany him on the podium but let slip new points in the championship: the ruthless "JR" totals 341 points (out of 400 put into play in eight events), that is to say 59 more than his teammate and 115 of more than n ° 7 Ducati.
Fourth all weekend (Superpole, first and second round!) Marco Melandri consolidates his fourth place against a too irregular Alex Lowes. Xavi Fores takes advantage of this American meeting to steal from Michael van der Mark the sixth place in the provisional.
Dominated at the end of the race by "Krummenator", Jake Gagne nonetheless scored a second point in World Superbike on the occasion of his second outing on the handlebars of Nicky Hayden’s Honda. The n ° 69 was present in all minds, Davies then Rea dedicated their victory to him..
Result of the 2nd WSBK 2017 race at Laguna Seca
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