Monterey, California – Chaz Davies made history at Laguna Seca by taking the first double win for the Panigale R and with it, wins number 11 and 12 for the Italian manufacturer at this circuit.
It was an almost perfect weekend for Davies as he took Superpole, both race wins and the fastest lap in Race1.
RACE 1
After several days of sunshine, race day at Laguna Seca started with a thunderstorm and a wet warm-up, but by Race 1 the sun was shining again and the circuit had started to dry.
Davies pulled a perfect start, taking the hole shot and opening up a 1.6s lead at the end of lap five. Kawasaki works duo Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea chased him all the way, pushing each other to the limit in a race-long duel, but were unable to reel in the Ducati as Davies romped home to win by 1.798s.
Ironically, Rea’s third-place finish was his worst result of the season so far.
Davies’ Ducati Team-mate Davide Giugiano finished a lonely fourth after regrouping from a poor start, after battling to pass works Aprilia hotshot Jordi Torres. Suzuki rider Alex Lowes inherited sixth after Torres’ team-mate Leon Haslam crashed on lap 21, while reigning champion Sylvain Guintoli came home seventh ahead of his Pata Honda team-mate and reigning World Supersport champion Michael van der Mark.
Leandro Mercado impressed in ninth aboard a privateer Ducati, after a huge crash earlier in the weekend, Leon Camier rode the lead MV Agusta to a solid 10th ahead of Randy de Puniet on the second Suzuki and Roman Ramos (Kawasaki) completing the top 12.
Haslam salvaged three points by nursing the Aprilia to the finish ahead of the youngest rider in the field, Christophe Ponsson on the Team Pedercini Kawasaki, and Gianluca Vizziello, also on a privateer ZX-10R, scored his first World Superbike point with 15th.
RACE 2
Unlike their earlier encounter, Davies was unable to pull an early lead as Sykes and Rea stuck with him in the early stages, with Haslam running strongly in fourth, but pulled away as the race went on to win by 1.4s.
Aprilia Racing team-mates Torres and Haslam finished fourth and fifth respectively little more than a second apart after a race-long dice, comfortably ahead of BMW’s Ayrton Badovini, who had a lonely ride to sixth after failing to finish in Race 1.the first encounter.
Van der Mark got the better of Ducati privateer Niccolò Canepa in a hectic battle for seventh with Mercado once again ninth ahead of Camier, as the remaining points went to De Puniet, Ramos, Canepa’s team mate Matteo Baiocco, Vizziello and Christophe Ponsson.
Giugliano crashed heavily in Turn 6 as the rain began to fall at the start of lap two, but escaped with nothing more than severe bruising, while defending title-holder Guintoli was right behind Lowes when the Suzuki rider suddenly slowed to enter the pits for an early tyre change; the resulting collision took them both out.
Despite losing a handful of points to Sykes, Rea still held a solid 125 point lead over his team-mate after the ninth round of the series, while Davies consolidated his third place in the standings with four rounds remaining.