Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/847300
VOL. 54 ISSUE 27 JULY 11, 2017 P69 Tom Sykes (KRT) added a 41st watch to his collection of pre-race goodies when he secured yet another Superpole win, his third of the year. His lap time of 1:22.476 was not near his own pole record, but with track temperatures of 120 degrees, it was hardly surprising. Sykes is now only two poles behind all-time record holder Troy Corser's 43. With five rounds left in the season Sykes may well be on his way to a new record even before the season times out. Pirelli brought a choice of two soft rear tires, in the SC0 designation, to the Laguna round for the WorldSBK riders to choose from. They were both new, as benefits their year des- ignation of 'W.' The W0575 featured the same compound as the standard SC0 but had a supposedly stron- ger construction. The W0576 was another option to use in the same range as the existing SC0. The tire construction was said to be simply stiffer than the previous ones. Jake Gagne, a regular AMA rider and even a full AMA outdoor motocross qualifier recently, joined the WorldS- BK class at Laguna for the first time, inside the Red Bull Honda WorldSBK team. He was riding the number 45 bike after the sad loss of Nicky Hayden in a cycling accident in Italy. Ducati chose the WorldSBK week- end to unveil the Final Edition of the Panigale 1199, before it heads down the route of V4 engines for its top sports bikes. The new bike was a non-WorldSBK special, as it runs at 1299cc. Already there is discus- sion that one or another version of the new V4 will be even more than 1000cc, and more like 1200cc. The 1000cc version will be ready for WorldSBK competition in 2019, not 2018, in both Superbike and Superstock categories, according to Ducati CEO, Claudio Domenicali. Chaz Davies was the victim of a cracked vertebra at Misano when the lateral part of one of his back- bones was broken clean off after he fell and the following Jonathan Rea collided with him, but it didn't stop him from being the outright fastest on day one—over 0.6 seconds bet- ter then the next-best rider after the opening FP1 session, then only just 0.011 seconds ahead of Rea after FP2. Going on to win, his recovery was far beyond what he or anybody else expected. As is now usual for the WorldSBK class in America, it flew solo in re- gards to the normal support classes from the greater WorldSBK pad- dock. So there were no Supersport, Stock 1000 or 300 classes, but a full card of MotoAmerica categories alongside it. WorldSBK riders, including Stefan Bradl, Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark, were heading off to Suzuka for 8-Hour race testing im- mediately after Laguna. The official FIM 8-Hour entry list also showed WorldSSP regulars Sheridan Mo- rais and Anthony West. Earlier in the week, Jonathan Rea carried out the first pitch of the season for the Oakland A's MLB baseball team, in an attempt to raise awareness of the race weekend in the San Francisco Bay area. Some areas of the Laguna Seca asphalt have been extended since the championship was last in town, beyond the white line that marks the track limit. In one particular area, where Jonathan Rea ran off the track last year, and the world champ reckoned that with the extra tarmac last year he would probably not have run off in a terminal fashion. They were added to prevent erosion on the sections of track that approach the Corkscrew. Chaz Davies' remarkable first race win was also remarkable for his bike running a whole new color scheme for this weekend, based on the Ducati Panigale Final Edition, that was unveiled at the Pebble Beach Resort on Friday evening. It sported patriotic red, green and white Italian flag colors, and bright red wheels. A well-attended tribute to Nicky Hayden took place at 6:15 Saturday evening, in the shape of a track-walk along the entire 2.5 miles of the La- guna asphalt, with a small financial contribution from each attendee. Starting at turn five, fans got a rare chance to walk the entire track and pass under a massive "69" banner erected on the straight approaching the final corner. Briefly...