AIRWAVES DUCATI ONE-TWO AT OULTON PARK
Airwaves Ducati achieved their first one-two of the season,
and their 11th since joining the GSE Racing team today. In
a thrilling first race, both Airwaves Ducati riders held the
lead for a time before Gregorio Lavilla took 1st place from
his team mate. Leon repeated his 2nd position finish in race
two, with Greg finishing a hard fought 4th place.
Although the grey skies threatened it remained dry for the
first of the day’s two 17 lap races. Both Greg and Leon
had good starts and were in 2nd and 3rd respectively at the
end of lap 1. Greg then took the lead from Kiyonari at the
end of lap 5, and the top three riders moved away from the
rest of the field. In a well worked manoeuvre Leon overtook
Kiyonari to move into 2nd, before taking the lead from his
team mate 2 laps later. Greg then re-took the lead on the
penultimate lap to take the chequered flag, with Leon close
behind in 2nd.
Despite a small rain shower race two was also declared dry.
Leon got another good start and was 2nd by the end of lap
1 however Greg had a difficult start and finished the first
lap in 14th. At the front of the field Leon had taken the
lead on lap 4 and held off the challenge from Kiyonari until
lap 10. Whilst recording some of the fastest laps seen at
this circuit all weekend, Greg had moved into 4th by lap 15.
Despite closing a significant gap to Shane Byrne, Greg was
unable to pass him and he finished the race in 4th position.
Leon chased Kiyonari to the chequered flag eventually finishing
in a comfortable 2nd place.
Having achieved his 5th race win of the season today, Greg
now leads the championship by 29 points. After the second
race he commented; “I was very pleased with the first
race and the race win, but I am disappointed with the second
race as a poor start lost me so many places. As I tried to
pull away at the start my rear wheel was spinning, I think
the track was still a little damp. This meant I was immediately
disadvantaged and had to work hard to make my way up the field.
My pace was very good and had there been another 2 laps I
think I could have been on the podium.”
With his season back on track and a close 4th place in the
championship, Leon Haslam was pleased with his performance
today saying, “I am really happy, I have achieved two
solid results and I am back on track. I am slightly disappointed
not to have won race one but it was great for Airwaves Ducati
to have achieved our first one-two of the season. In race
two I was challenging Kiyo and maybe I should have pushed
for the lead in the latter stages of the race but I was happy
enough to take the second place and the championship points.”
“Another tough weekend for the Airwaves Team”
said Colin Wright “Today was very satisfying for us,
the weather played a part in making decisions difficult but
our aim was to get Leon and Greg on the front row, put the
error at Silverstone behind us and gain as many points as
possible. Three out of three ain’t bad!
Results
Race One
1) Gregorio Lavilla – Airwaves Ducati
2) Leon Haslam – Airwaves Ducati
3) Ryuichi Kiyonari – HM Plant Honda
4) Jonathan Rea – HM Plant Honda
Race Two
1) Ryuichi Kiyonari – HM Plant Honda
2) Leon Haslam – Airwaves Ducati
3) Shane Byrne – Stobart Vent Axia
4) Gregorio Lavilla – Airwaves Ducati
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