WSBK Race 2: Laverty wins after an intense race-long battle
2013/9/30
Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) has won the second race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in spectacular fashion. After passing Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Team) at Turn 5 with 3 laps to go, the Irishman made the exact same move on Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) on the following lap, breaking the spell that was holding the Brit at the front for most of the race. Sykes, on the other hand, tried everything he could to defend his position under braking, but once he lost the lead he was passed by both Giugliano and Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet), crossing the line in fourth place. The works BMW rider successfully stayed ahead of the Championship leader for third, while Giugliano did the best he could to snatch his first WSBK race win, eventually settling for second.
Sylvain Guintoli did not manage to catch the leading pack to be in contention for the win, but the end result today helped him stay in touch with Sykes in the standings, as he ended up fifth ahead of fellow Frenchman Jules Cluzel (FIXI Crescent Suzuki), Toni Elias (Red Devils Aprilia) wildcard Roger Hayden (Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki) and David Salom (Kawasaki Racing Team).
After today's results, Sykes is still the Championship leader with a 23 point advantage over Laverty who has jumped to second position in the overall standings. Guintoli is now third, a point behind his team mate while Melandri is now 42 points short from the lead.
Laguna Seca, 27-28-29 September 2013 Laps 26 = 93,860 Km
Time Of Race 36'44.555 - Avg. 153,272 km/h
Pos
R1 R2 Tot Pos
Qualifying
Grid No. Rider Nat Team Bike LL Gap Fastest Lap Speed Speed
Ranking
Race Time
1 3 58 E. LAVERTY IRL Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory 26 1'23.944 254,6 1'22.728 253,4 16 25 338 2
2 6 34 D. GIUGLIANO ITA Althea Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 26 0.112 1'23.707 253,4 1'23.353 248,7 10 20 169 9
3 7 33 M. MELANDRI ITA BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK BMW S1000 RR 26 2.051 1'23.819 251,6 1'23.363 251,0 13 16 319 4
4 2 66 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R 26 2.304 1'23.964 255,2 1'22.698 255,8 25 13 361 1
5 1 50 S. GUINTOLI FRA Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory 26 2.959 1'24.169 254,6 1'22.683 252,8 11 11 337 3
6 8 16 J. CLUZEL FRA Fixi Crescent Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 26 10.187 1'24.207 249,8 1'24.079 249,2 9 10 160 10
7 15 24 T. ELIAS ESP Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 Factory 26 17.789 1'24.556 246,4 1'24.456 243,0 8 9 38 17
8 10 54 R. HAYDEN USA Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R1000 26 20.602 1'24.245 250,4 1'24.133 249,8 8 8 24
9 16 44 D. SALOM ESP Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R 26 22.055 1'24.420 246,9 1'25.449 243,6 5 7 12 22
10 13 84 M.FABRIZIO ITA Pata Honda World Superbike Honda CBR1000RR 26 23.472 1'24.849 246,9 1'24.212 244,7 3 6 177 7
RIDER | MANUFACTURER | POINTS |
TOM SYKES | KAWASAKI | 361 |
EUGENE LAVERTY | APRILIA | 338 |
SYLVAIN GUINTOLI | APRILIA | 337 |
MARCO MELANDRI | BMW | 319 |
CHAZ DAVIES | BMW | 259 |
LORIS BAZ | KAWASAKI | 180 |
MICHEL FABRIZIO | APRILIA | 177 |
JONATHAN REA | HONDA | 176 |
DAVID GUGLIANO | APRILIA | 169 |
JULES CLUZEL | SUZUKI | 160 |
2013/9/30
Marco Melandri lost some ground after trying to pass his team mate Davies at Turn 5 and then, on the final lap, lost third place courtesy of a superb pass by Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) at the "Corkscrew".
Laverty's team mate Sylvain Guintoli ended up fifth, a frustrating result for the Frenchman who was comfortably in the lead in each of the two interrupted races. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia) claimed sixth place, ahead of Jules Cluzel (FIXI Crescent Suzuki), Toni Elias (Red Devils Aprilia), Ayrton Badovini (Team Ducati Alstare) and Mark Aitchison (Team Pedercini Kawasaki).
Thanks to his seventh win of the season, Sykes extends his lead to 22 points over Guintoli and 35 on Laverty, while Melandri is now 45 points short from the top rival.