Before the World Superbike championship goes into the normal Summer break, riders and teams are in Laguna Seca for the American round. At the iconic track, Jonathan Rea bounced back from a DNF at Brno, and won Race 1 in style, with Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Ducati) following him in second, and Alex Lowes showing that the Yamaha is in great form making into the podium again.
The seventh win of the season for Rea puts the Kawasaki rider a step closer to clinch the Superbike title.
At the start of the race it was Davies who got the better start and moved up to the lead, and Rea was the only one who could stick with the Ducati rider, while a further back Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was in third and having to fight with Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) – who crashed moments later in the first laps -, and Alex Lowes and his Yamaha were showing good pace and were making a comeback to a podium position.
At the front, Davies and Rea fought in a spectacular way, switching positions many times, before Rea eventually turned on the “cruise control” and ran away with the lead, with Chaz Davies unable to keep up.
From then on, Rea kept pushing the rhythm and crossed the line with seconds to spare over Chaz Davies, while the fight for the last podium position saw Alex Lowes securing that precious third spot.
With this win, Jonathan Rea gets an even bigger margin in the fight for the title, what will be his fourth title in a row, and the Kawasaki rider now holds a 70-point margin over Chaz Davies in the championship standings.
Stay tuned to iMotorbike to get the report on World Superbike Race 2 at Laguna Seca.