Laguna Seca: A double podium and good placings for Nolan Group riders!
Just Superbikes this time round for Laguna Seca, allowing everyone to focus on these 2 races fully. As ever the weekend was full of charm and excitement.
The Nolan group riders performed well, as we are becoming more accustomed to every week! Two podiums for Chaz Davies, and a good placing for Melandri in race 1. Good work also by Mercado on a private Kawasaki of a first-year team in the WorldSBK top class.
The placements are even better if you consider the rest of the competition, a very tough track with many racers struggling!
The next appointment? Our home race, Misano!
Chaz Davies Race1 SECOND
“It was a good race. From where I sat, I did all I could. I gave up the lead while pushing, but honestly I don’t think the final result would have changed. I was trying to keep Rea honest but we just didn’t quite have the pace in the last ten laps. I was losing a tenth here and there, so I tried not to make mistakes and see what he had. He made a couple of errors at the Corkscrew, but not big enough for me to erase the gap. Overall I’m very happy, we got pole position and fastest lap but just missed the big trophy. We got good data and learned a bit today, so hopefully we’ll come back a little bit stronger tomorrow.”
Marco Melandri Race1 FIFTH
Today we faced a difficult race despite the fact that the weekend had been going really well so far. In Superpole I didn’t find much grip and I couldn’t make a good lap. Starting from fourth row wasn’t easy, early on I couldn’t ride smoothly but after a while I started to feel better. Unfortunately, we were too far by then to challenge for the podium. I tried to catch Laverty but I made a mistake during the last lap and probably it wouldn’t have been possible to pass him anyway. Tomorrow is a new day, we’ll try improve during warm-up and we’ll see how we fare in Race 2. Starting from first row will help, but it’ll be more important to improve the pace.”
Chaz Davies Race2 SECOND
“All in all, we can be happy with this round. The goal is always to win, but it’s good to be back at the front and I feel we got the best out of myself and the package this weekend. We’re back at the sharp end after a couple of tough rounds. We’re not too far away from our main rivals, we just need to fine tune some details. Today I got a good start but, to be honest, I was twitching a bit with the front in the early laps and I wasn’t even pushing that hard. Then things levelled down, I got into my rhythm and climbed back to second. We’ve made strides in the areas in which we’ve been struggling recently, so we just have to go to Misano and see if we can polish up those final details.”
Leandro Mercado Race2 ELEVENTH
“Eleventh position today in the second race, giving 100% to improve and move forward. We know we can do more and we will continue to try. Thank you very much for your support! See you in Misano in 2 weeks.”