Laguna WSBK: Rea on form in first practice

Runaway World Superbikes championship leader Jonathan Rea continued his current great form at Laguna Seca as he proved himself fastest in the first practice session in California.

Rea headed a Kawasaki one-two at the top of the timesheets in the opening session as team-mate Tom Sykes got to within 0.145s of the Ulsterman but could not better his 1’24.239.

Sykes’ initial efforts bode well for the Yorkshireman as he has enjoyed Laguna Seca since World Superbikes returned to the venue in 2013 and his 1’24.384 gives him plenty of optimism ahead of the weekend.

The Ducatis of Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano enjoyed third and fifth places in the opening session but it was the fourth place of Niccolo Canepa which will have raised most eyebrows during the ‘feeler’ first practice session.

Althea Racing rider Canepa posted a highly impressive 1’24.576 and he was joined in the top six by BMW rider Ayrton Badovini.

Sylvain Guintoli began the weekend credibly with seventh place on the timesheets, just ahead of Leon Haslam and a resurgent Randy De Puniet.

Indeed, De Puniet’s performance lends plenty of weight to his recent argument that once the GSX-R1000 has ironed out its issues he will be the faster rider on the Crescent Suzuki team, as team-mate Alex Lowes finished just behind him in tenth by 0.010s.

Elsewhere, Aprilia rider Jordi Torres finished 11th - but he will have been learning the Monterey track having never raced there - and Leon Camier steered the MV Agusta around the 2.238mile circuit to take 13th ahead of Michael Van Der Mark, another rider who has never ridden at Laguna Seca.

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