Second win at Laguna for Rea
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) scored a famous double win at Laguna Seca after winning race two from his nearest championship rival by 5.099 seconds. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) had a tough day and finished eighth, not finding a race set-up to compete at the level he expected.
Jun 24th 2018 | World Superbike Championship Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) scored a famous double win at Laguna Seca after winning race two from his nearest championship rival by 5.099 seconds. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) had a tough day and finished eighth, not finding a race set-up to compete at the level he expected. In cooler conditions than those experienced during race one on Saturday, today’s 25-lap WorldSBK race saw Sykes start from the second row and Rea from the third row, under the reverse grid rules for race two at each event. Rea had got up to fifth on lap one and then into the lead by lap eight at the intense 3.610km long hillside circuit. He found a set up on his Ninja ZX-10RR that allowed him to ride with his desired natural flowing style and he ran out the clear winner. It was his eighth victory of the season, giving him a 50% winning record for the season so far. Jonathan reached the landmark of 125 career WorldSBK podiums today. It was a difficult second race day for Sykes, who went sixth after one lap but was down to ninth after two laps. He ended his day in eighth place, for eight championship points. In winning for a fourth time in his career at Laguna Seca, Rea extended his championship lead to 75 points over runner-up in race two, Chaz Davies. Sykes is still fourth overall, 19 points from third place, with 16 of the scheduled 26 races completed. In the Manufacturers’ Standings Kawasaki enjoys a lead of 45 points. Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) was 11th in race two and is 16th overall. Roman Ramos (Team GoEleven Kawasaki) was 12th but sits one place and two points ahead of Mercado in the championship. Yonny Hernandez (Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki) rode to 15th today and took the last point on offer at what was an intense and well-attended eighth round of the season. After injuring his left foot in a race one crash, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) did not make the start of race two. Jonathan Rea, stated: “An incredible weekend. I expected to be strong here but I had no idea how strong. Two weekends in a row now, Brno and here, we have been the reference. Weekends like that do not happen all the time so we have to really absorb it and enjoy the moment. A double win at Laguna in the sunshine - it does not get much better. There are so many people out around the track. A massive thanks to all my crew, especially Pere because even though we won yesterday with a margin, last night he changed the bike completely and gave me some more confidence in the front. It worked a dream. It was one of those races where I could absorb what was happening, the crowd, the weather, where I was; it really was an incredible race.” Tom Sykes, stated: “We just did not get the set-up. We changed a couple of things but the only positive is that we confirmed that the front tyre yesterday was an issue. Today we had a relatively good front set-up but unfortunately it looks like a small change to the rear did not help. I just struggled really when it came to the races, which I am disappointed about. There is nothing much more I can say. The only strange thing is that during practice we had good speed and felt we were capable of a much stronger result today.” Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, on the Adriatic Coast of Italy, will host the next round of the FIM Superbike World Championship, between the 6th and the 8th of July. Source and photos: Kawasaki Racing Team
