Tom Sykes breathed new life into his World Superbike Championship challenge with a nail-biting victory in race two at Laguna Seca. The Yorkshireman held off the Ducatis of Davide Giugliano and Chaz Davies for a hard-fought win and with Jonathan Rea forced to retire through mechanical problems, Sykes has closed to within 46 points of his teammate in the title chase.
Giugliano looked a threat from the start with the Italian storming past polesitter Sykes for the lead on lap three but a heavy crash for Team Toth’s Pavel Szkopek brought out the red flags, stopping Davide in his tracks. At the restart, Giugliano moved straight into the lead but an astonishing sequence saw both Kawasakis power past into the Corkscrew on lap four.
After a short battle with his teammate, Rea emerged ahead but the championship leader’s 100% podium record for the season would grind to a halt along with his ZX-10R on lap six. The Ulsterman had already tumbled to tenth after running wide at turn six but the extent of his problems soon became apparent when the motorcycle coasted to a stop.
Sykes regained the lead from the two Aruba Ducatis but the Kawasaki was unable to distance the Panigale machines, leaving the 2013 champion to withstand relentless late pressure. In the end, the Ducati duo were too busy squabbling with each other to launch an attack on the leader with Davies diving through into second on three consecutive laps, only to be repassed immediately by Giugliano. Sykes held his nerve just ahead to claim his fifth win of the year.
Xavi Fores edged out home favourite Nicky Hayden for fourth while Jordi Torres finished sixth on the leading Althea BMW. Michael van der Mark, who crashed at the Corkscrew before the red flag and had to take the restart from the back of the grid, finished a superb seventh while Niccolo Canepa took eighth after his PATA Yamaha teammate Alex Lowes fell at the final bend.
WorldSBK 2016: GEICO US Round – Race Two Result
Pos
Rider
Constructor
Team
Time/Gap
Pts
1
66. Tom Sykes
Kawasaki
Kawasaki Racing Team
29:35.285
25
2
34. Davide Giugliano
Ducati
Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
+0.209
20
3
7. Chaz Davies
Ducati
Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
+0.786
16
4
12. Xavi Fores
Ducati
Barni Racing Team
+11.379
13
5
69. Nicky Hayden
Honda
Honda World Superbike Team
+12.219
11
6
81. Jordi Torres
BMW
Althea BMW Racing Team
+12.465
10
7
60. Michael van der Mark
Honda
Honda World Superbike Team
+13.705
9
8
59. Niccolo Canepa
Yamaha
Pata Yamaha Official WSBK Team
+20.449
8
9
13. Anthony West
Kawasaki
Pedercini Racing
+29.153
7
10
40. Roman Ramos
Kawasaki
Team GoEleven
+33.013
6
11
35. Raffaele de Rosa
BMW
Althea BMW Racing Team
+39.910
5
12
17. Karel Abraham
BMW
Milwaukee BMW
+40.059
4
13
9. Dominic Schmitter
Kawasaki
Grillini Racing Team
+49.211
3
14
22. Alex Lowes
Yamaha
Pata Yamaha Official WSBK Team
+51.347
2
15
11. Saeed Al Sulaiti
Kawasaki
Pedercini Racing
+54.783
1
16
56. Peter Sebestyen
Yamaha
Team Toth
+1:03.249
16
4. Gianluca Vizziello
Kawasaki
Grillini Racing Team
+1:25.191
NC
1. Jonathan Rea
Kawasaki
Kawasaki Racing Team
+16 Laps
NC
32. Lorenzo Savadori
Aprilia
IodaRacing Team
+19 Laps
NS
15. Alex de Angelis
Aprilia
IodaRacing Team
Non Starter
NS
2. Leon Camier
MV Agusta
MV Agusta Reparto Corse
Non Starter
NS
25. Josh Brookes
BMW
Milwaukee BMW
Non Starter
NS
119. Pawel Szkopek
Yamaha
Team Toth
Non Starter
NS
61. Fabio Menghi
Ducati
VFT Racing
Non Starter