Laguna Seca (US), Friday 27 September 2013 – The second qualifying session lived up to expectations as the WSBK riders did their best to finish inside the top 15, to guarantee themselves a spot for tomorrow morning’s Tissot-Superpole. Despite the temperature dropping considerably throughout the 1-hour session, lap-times significantly improved as the leading two riders were even able to break into the 1’23s barrier.
Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) eventually took top spot after displacing fellow Italian Niccolò Canepa (Team Ducati Alstare) in the closing stages, thanks to a new Best Lap of 1’23.775. Championship leader Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) edged his closest rival in the Championship chase Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) to claim third, while Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) strung together a handful of fast laps to elevate himself to fifth ahead of impressive wildcard Danny Eslick (Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki).
Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia) salvaged seventh position after a mid-session crash, getting the better of works Aprilia rider Eugene Laverty, Pata Honda’s Leon Haslam and Ayrton Badovini (Team Ducati Alstare), who also crashed at Turn 6.
Notable non-improvers were Toni Elias (Red Devils Aprilia) and Roger Hayden (Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki), both suffering technical failures but still making Tissot-Superpole in twelfth and fourteenth place respectively.
Times: 1. Melandri (BMW) 1’23.775 average 155.130 kph; 2. Canepa (Ducati) 1’23.938; 3. Sykes (Kawasaki) 1’24.153; 4. Guintoli (Aprilia) 1’24.303; 5. Davies (BMW) 1’24.334; 6. Eslick (Suzuki) 1’24.345; 7. Giugliano (Aprilia) 1’24.373; 8. Laverty (Aprilia) 1’24.394; 9. Haslam (Honda) 1’24.592; 10. Badovini (Ducati) 1’24.616; 11. Cluzel (Suzuki) 1’24.617; 12. Elias (Aprilia) 1’24.699; 13. Aitchison (Kawasaki) 1’24.839; 14. Hayden (Suzuki) 1’24.845; 15. Fabrizio (Honda) 1’25.010; 16. Salom (Kawasaki) 1’25.449; 17. Young (Suzuki) 1’25.661; 18. Sandi (Kawasaki) 1’25.668; 19. Iannuzzo (BMW) 1’25.975; 20. Allerton (BMW) 1’26.735.
