Jonathan Rea wins the first SBK race at Laguna Seca

The World Superbike Championship has run the first race of the ninth round of the 2016 season at Laguna Seca Circuit, where we have seen maximum action, although with the usual protagonists of this championship’s races.

The start was very good for Tom Sykes, who from superpole went all out to hold the lead, followed by Davies-Rea-Giugliano. On lap 21 we saw Ducati rider Davies pushing hard and diving up the inside to pass the 66, causing Rea to also close up on the leading duo, but a little later we watched Chaz hit the ground while leading.

With this crash, Rea was leading, Sykes 2nd and Giugliano 3rd. But with 13 laps to go, we watched the Italian Ducati rider also go down, a real shame since he was having a good race, following in the wake of the Kawasaki riders.

With 9 laps to go we saw Sykes overtake Rea, and the all-out war between the two Kawa riders began, while the third place was also very exciting with Hayden-Lowes-Savadori-VDMark. The battle within these two groups has been very interesting, but Sykes made a mistake, which Jonathan took advantage of to get back into the lead.

The final laps were very exciting, but Rea managed to open up a few metres on Sykes, so attention turned to the group that had fought throughout the race for third place, with Hayden ultimately managing to hold the position; the young American’s experience gave him that extra edge, plus the fact that he was at home.

Finally, victory goes to Rea, who is the leader, followed by Sykes and Hayden. The top 10: VD Mark 4th, Lowes 5th, Savadori 6th, Fores 7th, Torres 8th, de Angelis 9th and Canepa 10th.

On to the second race.

Photo | WorldSBK