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Tissot-Superpole – Tom Sykes (Race 1: 2nd)

37^th career pole for Tom Sykes, the seventh this year, making 2016 already his third-best season for poles after 2012 (9) and 2013 (8). Tom is the only rider in the history of the Championship with at least three seasons with seven or more poles.

This is the second pole position for Sykes at Laguna Seca, after 2014: now he is one of only two riders with two or more poles at this track, the other being Troy Corser (3).

54^th front row start for Sykes, who has reached Troy Bayliss at second on the all-time list. Now in front of him there is only Carl Fogarty at 60 and Troy Corser at 99.

60^th pole for Kawasaki, second in the all-time rankings behind Ducati (169), which recorded their 60^th pole 20 years ago at Monza (Frankie Chili).

77^th career podium in Race 1 for Sykes, who occupies the 7^th all-time spot. Ahead of him are Rea at 82 and in fifth, Aaron Slight at 87.

This was Sykes’ 6^th podium at Laguna Seca, the same as Ben Bostrom and Neil Hodgson. Only Troy Corser has climbed on the podium here more (11).

Tom has qualified in the top-10 since the 2011 Miller race: a streak of 70. In this timespan he has recorded 35 pole positions and 50 front row starts.

2nd – Jonathan Rea (Race 1: Winner)

39^th career front row start for Jonathan Rea: the second grid spot seems to be his lucky one, as from there he has won 12 of his 37 races (7 from pole, 7 from third, the others from the fourth grid spot or lower).

18^th straight podium in Race 1 for Rea: in his career he has climbed on the podium 82 times: 42 with Honda from 2009 to 2014, and 40 with Kawasaki in the last two seasons.

First front row start and first win for Rea at Laguna Seca: now he has won on fourteen different tracks in his WorldSBK career, the same as his team-mate Sykes.

After his win in Race 1, Rea is looking to record his second consecutive double after Misano: the only time he nailed two consecutive doubles in his career was last year in Assen and Imola.

3rd – Davide Giugliano (Race 1: DNF)

25^th front row start for Giugliano, his second at Laguna Seca after his second place on the grid last year. Unfortunately, in Race 1 he crashed out of a race here for the third consecutive year and put an end to a string of 9 races in the points.

4th – Chaz Davies (Race 1: DNF)

For the fourth time in the last five races Chaz Davies recorded a crash or an off-track excursion: in this timespan he has managed only one podium, when he finished third in the second Donington Race.

Davies was second in the Championship standings after the Sepang round, 42 points behind Rea; now he sits in third, 124 points behind Jonathan.

Other notes

• In Race 1 Kawasaki recorded their eighth 1-2 of the season, making 2016 their best season in this statistic, up from 7 recorded last year, and 6 two years ago. Only Ducati have managed to score more 1-2s in a single championship: 10 in 1995 and 2003, and 9 in 1992.
• Only Kawasaki have been able to record 1-2s in the last two seasons: their tally is 15. The last manufacturer before Kawasaki to score a 1-2 was Aprilia in both races at Magny-Cours, 2014.
• Fourth consecutive 1-2 for Kawasaki: only one shy of their best string of 5 recorded last year (both races at Imola and Donington and Race 1 on the Algarve). The all-time string of 1-2s belongs to Ducati: 6 straight in 1991 (both races at Hockenheim, Magny Cours and Mugello).
• Kawasaki have been on the podium in the last 21 races. They have recorded only one longer streak in their history: 23 from Losail 2014/1 to Jerez 2015/1.
• Third career podium for Nicky Hayden after his third at Assen/1 and his win in Sepang/2.
• After the first Laguna Seca Race, Great Britain has increased their podium finishes to 520. They lead the standings from Italy (349) and Australia (329).
• Best result for Alex Lowes at Laguna Seca, 5^th, up from 6^th in Race 1 last year. This is also his best result since he was also fifth in the first Sepang Race.