MONTEREY, CA, JULY 11 – In typical World Superbike fashion, the battle to make the cut for Superpole 2 and top the time sheets was fierce. And the man on top was Ducati’s Chaz Davies, beating FP1 leader Sylvain Guintoli on the Aprilia by just 0.12 of a second.
Guintoli’s teammate Marco Melandri wasn’t far behind, trailing Davies by 0.104 of a second. In fourth was Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes, unable to beat his session-leading FP2 time of 1:23.462.
In fifth was Rookie Alex Lowes who continued to improve on his first day at Laguna Seca, finishing ahead of his injured Voltcom Crescent Suzuki teammate Eugene Laverty.
Trailing the Suzukis was a pair of Pata Hondas – Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam. It was also Reas’ first day on track, as he missed last year’s round with a broken leg.
Davide Giugliano ended the day in ninth, trailing his teammate Davies by 0.641 of a second.
And the last one to make it into tomorrow’s Superpole 2 was Red Devils Roma’s Elias, edging out Kawasaki’s Loris Baz by 0.112 of a second. Elias crashed out early in the session at the top of the corkscrew, red-flagging the session briefly. As for Baz – who also missed last year’s return to Laguna Seca – the young Frenchman is still coming to terms with the new track.
2014 Laguna Seca
World Superbike FP3
Combined Results
1. Chaz Davies (Ducati) 1:23.293
2. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia) 1:23.314
3. Marco Melandri (Aprilia) 1:23.397
4. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 1:23.462
5. Alex Lowes (Suzuki) 1:23.573
6. Eugene Laverty (Suzuki) 1:23.629
7. Jonathan Rea (Honda) 1:23.638
8. Leon Haslam (Honda) 1:23.922
9. Davide Giugliano (Ducati) 1:23.934
10. Toni Elias (Aprilia) 1:24.402
