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
Championship Points
1) Gregorio Lavilla – Airwaves Ducati 100 points
2) Leon Camier – Bike Animal Honda 67 points
3) Jonathan Rea – HM Plant Honda 49 points
4) Ryuichi Kiyonari – HM Plant Honda 49 points
5) Shane Byrne – Stobart Vent Axia 45 points
6) Leon Haslam – Airwaves Ducati 43 points
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