2019 Laguna Seca World Superbike Results
A week ago during the Donington World Superbike, Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jonathan Rea doubled and took the points lead after eight of 13 rounds.
The ZX-10RR Ninja pilot’s biggest competitor, Aruba.it Racing Ducati’s Alvaro Bautista, crashed out of race one and finished third in race two.
Rea was hungry for additional points as the 2019 World Superbike Championship headed to the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca this past weekend. And though he didn’t complete a double win as he did in Donington and Misano, he did achieve the race-one victory and second in race two.
And Bautista was nowhere to be found. The Spaniard crashed out of both races aboard his Ducati Panigale V4 R, leaving with zero points garnered at the American round.
Ahead of the two-month summer break, Rea now has 433 points as he chases his fifth-straight title – 81 ahead of Bautista with four rounds remaining. The next closest rider is Pata Yamaha’s Alex Lowes, who is 213 points behind Rea.
During GEICO US round of 2019 WorldSBK, Rea first claimed the pole, followed by the race-one win ahead of Aruba.it Racing Ducati’s Chaz Davies and Turkish Puccetti Kawasaki’s Toprak Razgatlioglu.
Rea followed this performance by winning the Superpole Race, setting a new race lap record of 1:22.700 at the track known for its Corkscrew. Sunday Rea was fierce but lost the 25-lap race to Davies by 3.333 seconds. Davies became just the fourth victor so far this season alongside Bautista (nine wins), Rea (six wins), and Pata Yamaha’s Michael van der Mark (one win). Finishing third once again on Sunday was Razgatlioglu.
Rea now has a total of 156 podiums, including 80 race wins, and 20 pole positions. The 2019 WorldSBK series continues September 6-8 in Portimao, Portugal. The break doesn’t mean complete downtime for Rea, who will compete at the Suzuka 8 Hours alongside Leon Haslam and Razgatlioglu. There will also be an official WorldSBK test in late August at Portimao.
“I would never have believed you if you told me I would come here and set a new lap record, win two races and take the overall, so it has been a great weekend,” Jonathan Rea said following 2019 Laguna Seca World Superbike.
“We made a very small change to the bike between the Superpole race and Race Two. My feeling was completely different, which we did not expect. There was a lot of front movement, whereas all weekend before that we had been strong with the front. I had a few small warnings, just enough for me to roll it back a bit, think about finishing and we got it done. I am just super-satisfied with this weekend and I did the best I could in race two. I am looking forward to the summer break now.”
2019 Laguna Seca World Superbike Results, Race 1
| Pos. | Rider | Manufacturer | Nationality | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan Rea | Kawasaki | GBR | 35’06.671 |
| 2 | Chaz Davies | Ducati | GBR | 00’05.693 |
| 3 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | Kawasaki | TUR | 00’12.721 |
| 4 | Tom Sykes | BMW | GBR | 00’14.957 |
| 5 | Alex Lowes | Yamaha | GBR | 00’20.621 |
| 6 | Jordi Torres | Kawasaki | ESP | 00’23.087 |
| 7 | Michael van der Mark | Yamaha | NLD | 00’26.491 |
| 8 | Loris Baz | Yamaha | FRA | 00’30.605 |
| 9 | Marco Melandri | Yamaha | ITA | 00’32.566 |
| 10 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | Ducati | ITA | 00’44.432 |
| 11 | Eugene Laverty | Ducati | GBR | 00’46.792 |
| 12 | Leandro Mercado | Kawasaki | ARG | 00’47.091 |
| 13 | Alessandro Delbianco | Honda | ITA | 00’51.830 |
| 14 | Sandro Cortese | Yamaha | DEU | 00’53.681 |
| 15 | Markus Reiterberger | BMW | DEU | 01’00.235 |
2019 Laguna Seca World Superbike Results, Race 2
| Pos. | Rider | Manufacturer | Nationality | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chaz Davies | Ducati | GBR | 35’05.513 |
| 2 | Jonathan Rea | Kawasaki | GBR | 00’03.333 |
| 3 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | Kawasaki | TUR | 00’11.658 |
| 4 | Alex Lowes | Yamaha | GBR | 00’16.259 |
| 5 | Tom Sykes | BMW | GBR | 00’18.323 |
| 6 | Leon Haslam | Kawasaki | GBR | 00’18.449 |
| 7 | Loris Baz | Yamaha | FRA | 00’23.637 |
| 8 | Jordi Torres | Kawasaki | ESP | 00’24.572 |
| 9 | Marco Melandri | Yamaha | ITA | 00’25.919 |
| 10 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | Ducati | ITA | 00’30.742 |
| 11 | Leandro Mercado | Kawasaki | ARG | 00’32.177 |
| 12 | Eugene Laverty | Ducati | GBR | 00’38.508 |
| 13 | Markus Reiterberger | BMW | DEU | 00’41.862 |
| 14 | Sandro Cortese | Yamaha | DEU | 00’41.989 |
| 15 | Ryuichi Kiyonari | Honda | JPN | 00’55.483 |
2019 World Superbike Point Standings (after nine of 13 rounds)
| Pos. | Rider | Manufacturer | Nationality | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan Rea | Kawasaki | GBR | 404 |
| 2 | Alvaro Bautista | Ducati | ESP | 334 |
| 3 | Michael van der Mark | Yamaha | NLD | 205 |
| 4 | Alex Lowes | Yamaha | GBR | 203 |
| 5 | Leon Haslam | Kawasaki | GBR | 183 |
| 6 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | Kawasaki | TUR | 167 |
| 7 | Chaz Davies | Ducati | GBR | 166 |
| 8 | Tom Sykes | BMW | GBR | 163 |
| 9 | Marco Melandri | Yamaha | ITA | 132 |
| 10 | Sandro Cortese | Yamaha | DEU | 97 |
| 11 | Jordi Torres | Kawasaki | ESP | 93 |
| 12 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | Ducati | ITA | 86 |
| 13 | Loris Baz | Yamaha | FRA | 68 |
| 14 | Markus Reiterberger | BMW | DEU | 60 |
| 15 | Leandro Mercado | Kawasaki | ARG | 44 |
| 16 | Eugene Laverty | Ducati | GBR | 41 |
| 17 | Leon Camier | Honda | GBR | 26 |
| 18 | Ryuichi Kiyonari | Honda | JPN | 15 |
| 19 | Lorenzo Z Zanetti | Ducati | ITA | 14 |
| 20 | Alessandro Delbianco | Honda | ITA | 13 |
| 21 | Thomas Bridewell | Ducati | GBR | 12 |
| 22 | Michele Pirro | Ducati | ITA | 8 |
| 23 | Yuki Takahashi | Honda | JPN | 8 |
| 24 | Samuele Cavalieri | Ducati | ITA | 6 |
