On the restart, Giugliano got into the lead again, but this time wasn't able to drop Sykes, who came past after three laps. Sykes is a master at late-braking and awesome corner exits, and that skill set allows you to hold off faster competitors at Laguna. Giugliano spent the last half of the race fending off teammate Chaz Davies while still trying to hunt down Sykes. In the end, Giugliano came in second, yet came up 0.209 seconds short of the win.
The race pretty much illustrated Giugliano's career in a nutshell. Undoubtedly fast, loyal and brave, Giugliano never managed to put the Ducati on top of the podium.
Fast is beyond a doubt. The 27-year-old Roman won the Superstock 1000 championship in 2011 and moved up to Superbike the next season. In 113 starts since, Giugliano earned five pole positions, eight fastest laps and 14 podium finishes. Nine times he finished second.
It is all the more impressive when you realize that when Giugliano started riding the Ducati, it was during the Bologna factory's darkest days in World Superbike. Giugliano was there during the company's longest winless drought in the series that it once owned. First he raced the 1098R during a period when it was hopelessly outgunned by the horsepower of the Aprilias and Kawasakis. Then he helped develop the Panigale through its teething phase, pushing the bike past its limits over and over in an attempt to put it on the box.
Let no one doubt Giugliano's bravery. He has missed several races due to back injuries. Potentially crippling back injuries. The kind of injury that makes racers shudder, the one thing that they keep locked in the deepest recesses of their minds, because if that thought escapes that little mental prison it is locked in, the racer's speed is gone. Racers commit suicide because of paralysis from racing injuries. Giugliano came back from back injuries - multiple times.
That desperate battle at Laguna took place one year after he crashed there and suffered a potentially career-ending back injury. Racers do things that leave mere mortals just slack-jawed. In many ways, they go places non-racers simply cannot even imagine.
But bravery and determination only go so far. Factories want results. Giugliano didn't deliver them. When he crashed at a sodden Lausitzring, his Panigale kept running for a bit while on its side. Then, Terminator 2-style, the tail light, required by the rain, blinks out. At that moment, Giugliano's World Superbike career was over.
He's got a new gig in British Superbike. Giugliano will be putting everything he has into it, putting his life on the line for a win. But it never has to happen.
