Superbike: Chaz Davies takes the lead in the third free practice session

Once the third free practice session has also ended, the Laguna Seca round already delivers its first verdicts on Friday: on the Madza Raceway circuit Chaz Davies sets the first time in the combined three rounds, ahead of the Aprilia duo made up of Sylvain Guintoli and Marco Melandri.

Fourth time went to the reigning champion Tom Sykes, followed by an excellent Alex Lowes, who thus made up for the disappointing performance offered in the second round, and by the latter's teammate, Eugene Laverty, sixth.

The Pata Honda duo made up of Jonathan Rea, seventh, and Leon Haslam, eighth, complete the top ten, and therefore directly access the second heat of the Superpole, preceding the other Panigale of Davide Giugliano and Toni Elias, which finishes in the best way a really good day for him.

Incredibly, Loris Baz will have to fight for access to the SP2, clearly behind his teammate: the Frenchman seemed very subdued today on the tortuous Monterey track: for him only a 12th place behind Niccolò Canepa, first of the EVOs, author of the eleventh chrono.

Below is the combined time classification after the three free practice sessions:

1. Chaz Davies GBR Ducati SBK 1199 Panigale R 1m 23.293s
2. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing RSV4 1m 23.314s
3. Marco Melandri ITA Aprilia Racing RSV4 1m 23.397s
4. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 23.462s
5. Alex Lowes GBR Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 1m 23.573s
6. Eugene Laverty IRL Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 1m 23.629s
7. Jonathan Rea GBR PATA Honda CBR1000RR 1m 23.638s
8. Leon Haslam GBR PATA Honda CBR1000RR 1m 23.922s
9. Davide Giugliano ITA Ducati SBK 1199 Panigale R 1m 23.934s
10. Toni Elias ESP Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 1m 24.402s
11. Niccolo Canepa ITA Althea Ducati 1199 Panigale R 1m 24.514s (E)
12. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 24.518s
13. David Salom ESP Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 24.799s (E)
14. Sylvain Barrier FRA BMW Italia S1000RR 1m 24.827s (E)
15. Christian Iddon GBR Bimota Alstare BB3 1m 24.916s (E)
16. Ayrton Badovini ITA Bimota Alstare BB3 1m 25.133s (E)
17. Alessandro Andreozzi ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 25.497s (E)
18. Leon Camier GBR MV Agusta RC F4RR 1m 25.599s
19. Bryan Staring AUS IRON BRAIN Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 26.970s (E)
20. Sheridan Morais RSA IRON BRAIN Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 26.073s (E)

Will not progress to Superpole

21. Jeremy Guarnoni FRA MRS Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 26.080s (E)
22. Geoff May USA Team Hero EBR 1190RX 1m 26.087s
23. Larry Pegram USA Foremost Insurance EBR 1190RX 1m 26.302s
24. Gabor Rizmayer HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR 1m 26.506s
25. Aaron Yates USA Team Hero EBR 1190RX 1m 26.999s
26. Chris Ullrich USA GEICO Honda CBR1000RR 1m 27.169s
27. Peter Sebestyen HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR 1m 27.226s (E)

Laguna Seca official WSBK lap records
Best lap: Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing RSV4 1m 22.683s (2013)
Race lap record: Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Aprilia RSV4 1m 23.707s (2013)