File Photography By Gold & Goose
MONTEREY, CA, JULY 11 – World Superbike Championship leader Tom Sykes shot to the top of the timesheets in the second of three free practice sessions today at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the factory Kawasaki man dropping over half a second from his morning best to end the session at the top of the heap.
In contrast to Sykes was this morning’s leader Sylvain Guintoli, the Frenchman failing to improve his lap times and consequently dropping to fourth.
Second fastest in the second session was Ducati’s Chaz Davies with his 1:23.616 putting him just .154 of a second off Sykes. Davies also shaved over half a second off his best lap from this morning.
Aprilia’s Marco Melandri was third this morning and he backed that up by finishing third again. He ended up as the third and final rider to crack into the 23s in the second session, matching his teammate Guintoli who’d lapped at a best of 1:23.861 this morning.
Eugene Laverty jumped from eighth this morning to fifth this afternoon, the Voltcom Crescent Suzuki rider besting Ducati’s David Giugliano – the World Superbike lap record holder at Laguna – and Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea, in his first day at the racetrack in the hills east of the Monterey Peninsula. Despite the extra track time, Rea also failed to improve upon his morning best. Ditto for eighth fastest Toni Elias on the Red Devils Roma Aprilia and Rea’s teammate Leon Haslam, the pair also failing to improve their best from this morning.
Sykes’ Kawasaki teammate Loris Baz, another Laguna first timer, moved up to 10th in the second session.
Free Practice 2
1. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 1:23.462
2. Chaz Davies (Ducati) 1:23.616
3. Marco Melandri (Aprilia) 1:23.745
4. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia) 1:23.861
5. Eugene Laverty (Suzuki) 1:24.083
6. Davide Giugliano (Ducati) 1:24.112
7. Jonathan Rea (Honda) 1:24.314
8. Toni Elias (Aprilia) 1:24.402
9. Leon Haslam (Honda) 1:24.416
10. Loris Baz (Kawasaki) 1:24.692
