FIRST WIN FOR HASLAM AT MONDELLO
Leon Haslam took his first win of the 2007 season in race
one at Mondello Park today. He followed it up with a 4th place
in race two. Gregorio Lavilla also put in a fantastic performance
coming from 12th on the grid to take 3rd place in both races.
With conditions dry for the first time this weekend, both
races looked set to produce significantly faster lap times
than the last two days. Leon had a good start in race one
and was in the lead by the end of the first lap. He fought
off challenges throughout the race from the Honda’s
to take the chequered flag. Greg had moved his way through
the field to 5th before overtaking Rea and Kiyonari on lap
13 to finish 3rd.
At the start of race two Leon moved into 2nd place before
dropping to 3rd on lap 5. By lap 8 Greg had moved into 4th
behind his team mate and the two Airwaves Ducati’s battled
it out for the final podium spot for the remainder of the
race. In the closing stages Greg overtook Leon to take a hard
fought 3rd place finish.
Leon was clearly delighted with his performance, “I
am over the moon, it has been a really good day and I am so
pleased to have got my first race win. I felt really good
and the bike was feeling great, so I knew I would be able
to put in a strong performance. It was a bit of a gamble for
everyone as it was dry today, but I was confident that we
had a good set up and I knew that if I got a good start I
could challenge for the top spot. The Airwaves Ducati team
and Dunlop have worked really hard and we have come out with
a great result. It was a little disappointing not to have
achieved a podium finish in race two but I have earned some
valuable championship points and I am confident for Knockhill
in a couple of weeks time.”
After two podium finishes Greg commented, “It has been
a good day, we were not expecting to do that well here so
I am pleased that I was able to achieve two 3rd places. It
has been a tough weekend; I did not do that well in qualifying
so I knew today would be hard work. I quite enjoy working
my way through the field and having people in front of me
to chase; although I am sure the boss would have preferred
it if I had not started from were I did on the grid! I am
now only one point behind Kiyo in the championship so I am
going to try and build on that in the next couple of rounds
and hopefully get a few race wins too!”
Race One Results
1) Leon Haslam – Airwaves Ducati
2) Shane Byrne – Stobart Vent Axia
3) Gregorio Lavilla – Airwaves Ducati
4) Jonathan Rea – HM Plant Honda
5) Ryuichi Kiyonari – HM Plant Honda
Race Two Results
1) Jonathan Rea – HM Plant Honda
2) Shane Byrne – Stobart Vent Axia
3) Gregorio Lavilla – Airwaves Ducati
4) Leon Haslam – Airwaves Ducati
5) Ryuichi Kiyonari – HM Plant Honda
Championship Points
1) Ryuichi Kiyonari – 212
2) Gregorio Lavilla – 211
3) Jonathan Rea – 187
4) Leon Haslam – 169
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