Once the racing started, the track was dry and the slicks were hot. Davies inspired commentators to brush off every cliché in the book related to one rider dominating the action. In the feature image at the top of the page, Davies led Race 1 into Turn 2 and never relinquished the lead. I mean never. He lead every lap of both races. For the first few laps, Sykes and Rea got the chance to watch Davies slide the aruba.it Ducati around Turn 5 as shown here. But they had no chance of catching him.

If Davies was too fast to catch, the Kawasaki teammates put on a good show, spending most of each race close enough together that a pass might happen at any corner.

But Sykes was solid. As dominant as Davies’ performance was, Sykes was in second place every time he crossed the line. Not as impressive as leading every lap of each race, but Sykes just plain beat his teammate.

After a solid fourth place in Race 1, Davide Giugliano crashed on the first lap of Race 2. Though worried that he’d re-injured his back, it turned out he was ok and should be fit for the next round.

One of the great things about WSBK is that there are two races on a weekend. But when the second race is like a replay of the first, there’s less to appreciate. With the same podium for Race 2 as earlier in the day, at least the battles farther back in the field had different results.

Alex Lowes claimed sixth in Race 1 but had trouble with a front tire in Race 2, motivating a pit stop and switch to rain tires. If the light rain had become a hard rain he might have won the race. But the track stayed dry and Lowes retired with 19 laps to go.

Michael van der Mark turned in a respectable performance for his first visit to Laguna Seca, finishing eighth in Race 1 and seventh in Race 2.

In the end, one man had stolen the show. All hail Chaz, the new King of Laguna Seca.

Photographs: ©2015 by Scott Jones / PHOTO.GP – All Rights Reserved

Camera Info: Nikon D4 with Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 and Nikon 500mm f/4.0

[mgallery keyword=”Laguna Seca”]