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The Magic of Misano Strikes for WorldSBK

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Five riders from four manufacturers stood on the Misano podium to show the strength and depth of WorldSBK.

“This is the real Superbike racing” was how Marco Melandri assessed the Sunday’s racing at Misano, and it was hard to argue with the Italian.

Under blue skies and a burning sun, the action on track was just as hot with Jonathan Rea, Michael van der Mark, and Melandri all fighting it out for the win.

With Chaz Davies keeping a watching brief following his Saturday podium, and Eugene Laverty having stood on the Race 1 rostrum, it was clear this was the best race weekend of the 2018 season.

Five riders spraying Prosecco on the podium, and four manufacturers able to see their riders on the box, it was a fantastic weekend to bring a close to racing before the summer break.

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Leon Camier Guides Us Around a Lap at Misano

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Leon Camier has plenty of experience at Misano. The Red Bull Honda WorldSBK star has ridden at the Italian circuit in Grand Prix and also on a Superbike.

He’s spent time learning the nuances of the Rimini venue, and over that time he’s found out one thing: patience is key.

“Misano is a tricky circuit, but it’s got some interesting quirks,” Leon Camier told us. “The opening sector of the lap is very challenging because if you make a mistake in Turn 1, it affects you for the whole sector.”

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A&R Pro

The Wild, Wild West of WorldSBK

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The American Frontier was about finding a way to survive. To do this, people from all over the world had to work together and find a way to coexist on the open plains and in the mountains. They did this because they knew the rewards could be massive.

Unimaginable wealth was underneath the rivers and mountains of the West Coast, and everyone believed they would find it.

Every racer in the world also believes that their trophies and points are at their fingertips once they have the tools at their disposal. Finding a way to work with a group of people from all over the world, and making them believe in you, is crucial.

The American Dream was founded on the ideal that anything was possible, and Racer’s Dream is based on the belief that you’re the best in the world and any issues you’re having are just a temporary delay of the inevitable.

At Laguna Seca, we had proof once again that the Racer’s Dream is real.

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WorldSBK Laguna Seca Debrief – A Recap from the USA

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The US Round of the 2018 WorldSBK season highlighted, once again, the importance of hard work in motorcycle racing.

Last year, it was hard to imagine Milwaukee Aprilia standing on the podium on merit; on Sunday Eugene Laverty made his long-awaited return to the rostrum.

We have seen in recent rounds Yamaha win three races with the R1, but last weekend’s races arguably did more to prove the potential of the bike.

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WSBK

WorldSBK Track Guide: A Lap Around Laguna Seca

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The US Round of the World Superbike Championship sees the paddock decamp to the West Coast, and for the Superbike riders this is certainly a favorite round of the campaign.

The challenging Laguna Seca circuit is unique and rightfully regarded as one of the most action-packed and thrilling on the calendar. The laps might be short, but there’s no rest for the wicked in the Northern California hills.

In WorldSBK, gear ratios are fixed for the season, and with the deduction in revs for 2018, this will be even more crucial. We see a lot of variety at Laguna Seca with regards to gear patterns, and this will be even more exaggerated this season.

In the past, some riders were forced to use six gears whereas others were using only five around the 2.2-mile track, but ahead of the action you could expect to see all riders using six gears this weekend.

Laguna Seca snakes its way through the Monterey hills, around a lake, and offers as much of an engineering challenge as a riding challenge.

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A&R Pro

The Trouble with Teammates

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“I was going to make it…or I wasn’t,” was how King Kenny Roberts summed up one of his Grand Prix victories in the late seventies.

The three-time 500GP world champion knew the importance of momentum and psychology on a race track better than anyone, and knew that at times, riders need to take a win it or bin it mentality.

That mentality was at the front everyone’s minds as they watched last weekend’s Czech WorldSBK round, where the importance of coming out on top of an internal team battle bubbled under the surface.

On Saturday, Jonathan Rea claimed his 60th career victory, but on Sunday the tensions of four years at Kawasaki overflowed.

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