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At the start of race 1 Bayliss was the fastest off the line and was first into the first corner in front of Neukirchner and Biaggi, who had a rocket start from ninth in grid. The rider who didn't have such a good start was Fabrizio, who was down in fourteenth at the end of the first lap. Biaggi's good luck however was short-lived as he was passed by Checa and Corser in the space of a couple of turns, then on the second lap he was touched by Haga, went wide and came back on track only seventeenth; in the meanwhile Neukirchner passed Bayliss for the lead. Checa was the man on the move and didn't stay long in third as on the very next lap he passed Bayliss and moved onto Neukirchner's tail, one more lap and he was in the lead and started pulling away. Behind him Bayliss caught Neukirchner. On the fifth lap however two major falls affected the race: first was Bayliss, who lost the back end of his bike on the final turn and highsided, landing in the middle of the racing line, with bikes screaming past around him. There were scary moments before the Australian managed to gain a safe place on the outside of the track. Bayliss had just managed to get to safety when another rider was on the ground: Haga, who lost the front and slid off. When the Japanese rider came to his feet he was clearly suffering with his right arm, the one with the collarbone he broke in practice. Bayliss' accident scattered Checa's rivals and Carlos gained momentum to pull away. At the end of the following lap he was over two seconds clear of the rest and from that moment on he could never be caught up to the end when he gained his first ever Superbike win. Behind him Neukirchner seemed to be a safe second until the final stages, when first Corser and then Fabrizio overtook him and left him fourth.

In race 2 Max Neukirchner seemed to be fueled up to win as he moved from the third place he occupied on the first turn behind Bayliss and Corser to the lead on lap three and started pulling away. Checa however was having none of it and after a cautious approach at the first stages started to fight back and on the fifth lap passed both Corser and Bayliss, setting after Neukirchner, who already had more than a second over him. On the very next lap another drama: Bayliss slowed down because a gearbox lever went loose, leaving him with no gears. The disappointed Australian reached the pits, where the problem was fixed, but when he regained the track he was two laps down. Checa in the meantime closed on Neukirchner, while behind them there was Biaggi, leading the two Yamahas of Corser and Haga, the latter always suffering and nonetheless giving it all as usual. On the ninth lap Checa passed Neukirchner and soon pulled away to his second win, while behind Neukirchner there was much fighting, because Biaggi had problems in keeping Corser at bay and behind them Michel Fabrizio was charging and catching up. Troy managed to pass the Italian on the fifteenth lap, while Fabrizio sets his sights on Haga and passed him on the next lap, but on the seventeenth lap the situation changed completely as Biaggi went wide and Fabrizio snatched fourth position, which became third after a couple of turns when Corser slid off the track all alone and was out of the race. The remaining laps were a piece of cake for Checa: Neukirchner had a good margin over Fabrizio and the trio finished in this order.

2004 (Laguna Seca) : In race 1 Chris Vermeulen was on a class of his own and he left only some laps in the lead to Toseland, then he pulled away and won with a great margin. In race two Toseland was able to stay with the Australian for the entire race, but wasn't able to challenge him for the win.

2003 (Laguna Seca) : Ruben Xaus was the only rival of Neil Hodgson for the world title and at Laguna Seca the Spaniard tried to reduce his disadvantage in the standings. In race 1 he tried to pull away, but he fell on the ninth lap and left Mat Mladin, Laconi and Chili to fight for the win. Mladin after a handful of laps wasn't able to sustain the pace and dropped off, then Laconi fell and Chili had only to keep an eye on Hodgson to conquer the win. In race 2 Xaus finished what he started in race 1, taking a lonely win, while behind him the battle for second was between Toseland and Hodgson. James eventually fell at the Corkscrew and Hodgson, in order to avoid him, had to take a trip across the sand trap, losing three positions, that he would eventually recover before the end to finish second behind his team-mate.