Next weekend the eni FIM Superbike World Championship will take the stage for the thirteenth time in Laguna Seca, California.
Pirelli, sole supplier of the Championship since 2004, will provide Superbike riders, the only class to participate in this round, two rear solutions both in soft compound and two front, in SC1 and SC2 compounds.
At the rear among the solutions identified by the Italian tyre company there are the standard SC0 and the development SC0 T0611, for the front riders can choose the well-known development SC1 S1699 or the standard SC2.
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) heads to Laguna Seca leading the standings with a tally of 375 points in the championship, 133 more than his closest rival, his team-mate Tom Sykes. This will surely allow him to face the weekend in a more relaxed way than his rivals since he can manage such a large advantage.
The Northern Irishman so far has made a nearly perfect season winning eleven of the sixteen races and getting five second places in the remaining races. Behind him, in addition to the previously mentioned Sykes who won three races this year, there is the Aprilia standard bearer Leon Haslam and the Ducati rider Chaz Davies, both with just one win obtained in the current season.
As for the constructors' championship, Kawasaki, thanks to 14 victories and 24 podiums obtained by its riders, is firmly in the lead with 390 points followed at a distance by Ducati at 268.
Laguna Seca VS tyres: steep changes of direction and many load transfers respectively engage the front and rear tyres
The Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the full name of the US circuit, has almost sixty years of activity having been built in 1957.
The track is 3610 metres long and 15 metres wide with 7 left-hand curves and four right, and is located on a hillside 250 metres above sea level. In 1988 the construction of the section between turn 2 and turn 5 saw the circuit reach the minimum length required by the FIM rules.
The longest straight measures 453 metres and the track runs counter-clockwise with the rider in pole position starting on the right side.
More recently, between 2005 and 2006, some sections have not been modified to change the design of the track, but to expand the escape routes, replace the curbs, enlarge the main straight and move some protection barriers to make it safer.
Laguna Seca is undoubtedly a circuit where overtaking is very difficult because the points where a pass can be made are relatively few.
Its configuration is full of ups and downs as well as fast parts alternating with slower ones, making it a particularly fascinating circuit. Its position on a hill not far from the sea gives rise to large variations in asphalt temperature between morning and afternoon sessions, which is why in the past usually Pirelli brought for the rear both SC0 and SC1 solutions. Thanks to the work done by Pirelli to improve the range of use of the SC0 compound, this year the riders will have only soft solutions, able to perform well even if the temperatures are not so high.
