WSB Laguna: By the numbers

It’s the Laguna round of the diesels this weekend and here’s the rundown of the facts and figures that matter going in. Turn yourself into an expert in no time at all with these pub-ammo stats:

30 – Laguna Seca is set to become the 9^th track in history with at least 30 races run. The record belongs to Phillip Island, with 53 WorldSBK races run so far.

17 – A European rider won here for the first time after 16 races: it was Frankie Chili, in the first 2003 race. Since then the winds have changed, the only non-European rider to win around Laguna Seca is Australian Chris Vermeulen, with a double in 2004.

15 – Laguna Seca has no less than 15 different winners in 28 races so far. 5 of them are part of the current field: Sykes, Davies, Laverty, Melandri and Rea.

12 – Ducati have won here 12 times: whilst all their rivals combined have won 16 time. Kawasaki is the “best of the rest” with 6.

11 – Up until now Laguna Seca has 11 different pole sitters over 14 race weekends. Only Troy Corser (3 poles: 1995, 1998, 1999) and Tom Sykes (2014 and 2016) recorded more than one pole here.

11 – Troy Corser is the rider with most podiums at Laguna Seca, 11, followed by Tom Sykes at 7.

9 – Australian riders are the most successful at this track with 9 wins, followed by the local riders at 7. Great Britain is on the rise as they have won the last five races.

9 –Ducati has the record of poles at Laguna Seca. Their tally is 9: Last year Kawasaki became the only other manufacturer with more than one, thanks to Tom Sykes. The other three manufacturers on pole here are Honda, Suzuki and Aprilia.

7 – Ducati was the sole polesitter in the first seven race weekends held at Laguna Seca (1995-2001). Colin Edwards broke the string in 2002 recording pole for Honda.

7 – So far all the 28 wins in Laguna Seca came from the top-7 grid spots, only 5 from outside the top-3. The last rider to win here without starting from the front row was Marco Melandri, from P5 in the first 2014 Race.

5 – Five riders share the honour of the highest number of wins (3) at Laguna Seca: John Kocinski, Anthony Gobert, Troy Corser, Ben Bostrom and Tom Sykes. This year both Tom Sykes and Chaz Davies (2 wins) can become the first rider with four wins here.

5 – The last five races here were won only by British riders: which is the longest streak by a country in the track’s history. The last non-British winner at Laguna Seca was Marco Melandri in 2014, Race 1.

4 – The future World Champion has won here four times: John Kocinski in 1997 (double); Colin Edwards in 2002 (Race 2); Tom Sykes in 2013 (Race 1); Jonathan Rea in 2016 (Race 1).

1 – Only one rider was able to record a pole time below 1minute and 22 seconds here: Tom Sykes in 2014. His lap time was 1’21.811. That was one of the most dominant poles in the history of the track, as the second on the grid, Sylvain Guintoli, was 0.528 seconds behind. Only John Kocinski had a greater margin, back in 1996 (0.569 seconds over Troy Corser).