Leandro Mercado finished in the points at Laguna Seca, not once but twice, following a heavy crash in Free Practice 2. On Friday afternoon the Barni Racing Team rider suffered a sizeable accident at Turn 3, flying through the air in a highside before landing heavily, resulting in several bruises and a broken toe.

Despite this, he clinched two ninth places finishes in Sunday’s pair of races.

“Within two minutes of FP2, I was highsiding at Turn 3,” Mercado recalls. “That left me with a fractured tow and a bruised ankle. However, we were fortunate and I was able to finish in the top ten in both races once again. After the crash we had lost a lot of track time, but I was gritting my teeth and fought through it.”

The latest World Superbike race results for the reigning Superstock 1000 title holder confirm that he has scored points in every race bar one this year. The exception was Misano Race 2, when he was forced to coast back into the pit lane following a crash.