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DOUBLE TOP FOR AIRWAVES DUCATI |
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Tuesday, 17 April 2007 |
DOUBLE TOP FOR AIRWAVES DUCATI
 Gregorio Lavilla continued his winning form today with another double
win in round 2 of the British Superbike Championship. Leon Haslam
achieved two 6th places in an exciting days racing at Thruxton.
At the start of race one Greg dropped 3 places but a series of good
moves saw him work his way back up to 2nd by the end of lap 4. Team
mate Leon got a good start and was in 4th. On the following lap Greg
recorded the fastest lap of the race, 1:15.114, to chase down Jonathan
Rea and move into 1st position. The Spaniard then stretched out his
lead, going into the final lap 3.6 seconds ahead of 2nd placed Camier.
Leon fought hard to maintain his position, eventually completing the
highly competitive race in 6th.
As the air temperature hit 26 degrees race two looked set to be another
thrilling 22 laps. At the end of the first lap Greg was in 3rd and he,
Shane Byrne and Jonathan Rea moved away from the rest of the field.
Kiyonari soon got back on terms with the podium challengers and the top
4 stretched out a lead. Greg moved into 1st place on lap 7 and tried to
extend his lead when the safety car was introduced on lap 11. As the
race re-started Leon moved up into 6th position which he held until the
finish. Greg looked comfortable ahead of the pack until the final lap
when 2nd placed Kiyonari closed him down. In a chase to the chequered
flag Greg crossed the line 0.113 seconds ahead of Kiyonari in 2nd and
Byrne in 3rd.
Leon Haslam was positive about the season ahead saying, “Today has been
pretty tough, we have had a few problems this weekend so I am a bit
disappointed. Airwaves Ducati is a fantastic team, so I am confident
that at Silverstone we will be up there competing for the podium
places. This time last year I had broken my ankle and I was on similar
points to what I am on now and I still pulled it around to compete for
the title; it is a long season ahead so I will focus on the future and
getting a good result at Silverstone.”
With maximum points in the championship double race winner Gregorio
Lavilla was delighted with his day saying, “I am really pleased with my
results today, it is great to be performing so well and winning the
races. The second race today was the hardest of the year so far for me.
I knew the riders behind me were fast and would push me after the
safety car left the track, but I held my lead and pushed as hard as I
could for the final few laps. The last lap was very close and I knew
Kiyo was closing me down, which forced me to ride a slower more
defensive line but I held on and was really pleased to take my second
win of the day.”
Colin Wright said afterwards “The competition in this years BSB
championship is the toughest it’s been and I’m proud that Leon has
overcome some problems to gain valuable championship points. Greg has
again proved himself to be a class act, he worked methodically
throughout practice to perfect his race set up and it certainly paid
off!”
Race One
1) Gregorio Lavilla – Airwaves Ducati
2) Leon Camier – Bike Animal Honda
3) Ryuichi Kiyonari – HM Plant Honda
4) Shane Byrne – Stobart Vent Axia
5) Tom Sykes – Stobart Vent Axia
6) Leon Haslam – Airwaves Ducati
Race Two
1) Gregorio Lavilla – Airwaves Ducati
2) Ryuichi Kiyonari – HM Plant Honda
3) Shane Byrne – Stobart Vent Axia
4) Jonathan Rea – HM Plant Honda
5) Leon Camier – Bike Animal Honda
6) Leon Haslam – Airwaves Ducati
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