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Laguna Seca – the post-race statistics

Monday, 21 July 2014 08:40 GMT

The relevant numbers of the ninth round.

WorldSBK.com takes a look at the facts and figures that emerged from the ninth round of the 2014 eni FIM Superbike World Championship at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Sixteenth career win for Marco Melandri in race one: he reached Giancarlo Falappa, Neil Hodgson and James Toseland at the twelfth all-time spot. Melandri is the second Italian able to win in Laguna Seca after PIerfrancesco Chili (2003 race one).

In race one Aprilia scored their third double this season after the two recorded in Sepang: in all of the three Melandri won in front of Sylvain Guintoli.

Marco Melandri this season already won three times, the same he scored in all last season with BMW.

Marco Melandri reached 45 career podiums, equalling Stephane Mertens at the fourteenth all-time place. Tom Sykes managed to do better, with a double podium finish and now he counts 46, taking the thirteenth all-time spot. Sylvain Guintoli, also with a double podium finish, was able to overtake Eugene Laverty: 34 podiums for the French and 33 for the Ballymena rider.

22nd career win for Tom Sykes, only one shy of 1990 world champion Raymond Roche, which stands at the eighth all-time spot.

40th career podium for Jonathan Rea: he reached 1991-1992 world champion Doug Polen at the seventeenth all-time spot.

Sylvain Guintoli is on a streak of 32 races in the points (since Imola 2013 race two): this is the third all-time string behind Max Biaggi (39, from Brno 2009 race one to Donington 2011 race one) and John Kocinski (33, from Sentul 1996 race one to Sentul 1997 race one). In these two seasons Sylvain missed the points only in Imola last year in race one for an engine failure.

In race one Loris Baz recorded his worst race result this year, ninth: previously he had finished seventh in Assen, race two. This year Loris retired only once: when he triggered the accident after the start in Sepang, race one.

In race two David Salom obtained his best career result (eighth) and Alessandro Andreozzi reached for the first time the top-10, finishing ninth.

Maiden championship points for EBR, thanks to Larry Pegram, fourteenth in race two.

QUALIFYING

Tom Sykes is the first Briton to score pole in Laguna Seca: up to now the pole spot was conquered only by Australians (Troy Corser, Troy Bayliss, Steve Martin), Americans (John Kocinski, Ben Bostrom, Colin Edwards, Mat Mladin), from Italian Frankie Chili and from French Sylvain Guintoli. Tom in his career scored pole in all the circuits of this year's championship but for Jerez and Sepang, in which his best grid spot was a second.

The first two in grid were the same of last year's races, Guintoli and Sykes, with positions swapped.

Thanks to Tom Sykes, Kawasaki now counts 133 races with at least one rider on the front row: they reached Yamaha at the third all-time spot. At the top spot Ducati with 297 races on the front row, followed by Honda at 191.