2008 HANNspree World Superbike Championship
Rounds 7 & 8 - Assen, Holland
SOLID POINTS AT ASSEN FOR LAVILLA
Paul Bird Motorsport rider Gregorio Lavilla moved inside
the top ten of the World Superbike Championship following
a pair of great results in rounds seven and eight held at
Assen in Holland today.
Riding the Vent Axia and Kick Energy drink-backed Honda Fireblade,
the 34 year old Spaniard posted fifteenth fastest time during
the Superpole qualifying session and in the opening race,
he battled against a poor start to come from twentieth on
the opening lap to record a ninth position.
Race two saw the ex British Superbike Champion make a repeat
of his poor start and again had to fight his way through the
field which he did to end up in seventh place at the chequered
flag.
The result moves Lavilla up from eleventh to ninth in the
standings having scored in all rounds to date and with the
FW Developments-tuned machine again fastest through the speed
traps all weekend, the forthcoming race at the high-speed
Monza track is one the team is looking forward to.
Gregorio Lavilla: "With not knowing
the track, we were still working on set up right up to Saturday
afternoon so qualifying was not as good as we hoped. The bike
was set up the same for both races except maybe the rear tyre
worked a bit better in the higher temperature of race two.
I saw that many riders were fast to start with but I was able
to keep my pace even when the bike started sliding a lot.
I learned that trick in the UK and now it's paying off. We
found a good combination on the rear that makes the bike work
well and the engine is very fast. We have to work on the power
delivery and I'm hoping to improve my results at Monza and
Miller in those races next month."
Paul Bird: "The results were great
and if we could just get Greg sorted out in qualifying and
the opening laps of the race, we really would be up there
and challenging for the podium. Whilst it's a little frustrating,
we have to remember this is all new to us what with the bike,
the tracks, the tyres and everything so to be in the top ten
of the World Championship at this stage in the season is fantastic.
Greg is riding well, the bike is awesome and we can only get
stronger."
The next round of the series takes place at Monza in Italy
on May 11th.
Superbike Race One Result
1, T Bayliss (Ducati) 36m50.907s, 2, C Checa (Honda) +2.132s,
3, M Neukirchner (Suzuki) +2.179s, 4, Y Kagayama (Suzuki)
+10.919s, 5, T Corser (Yamaha) +11.051s, 6, J Smrz (Ducati)
+11.979s, 7, R Kiyonari (Honda) +15.184s, 8, M Tamada (Kawasaki)
+18.395s, 9, G Lavilla (Vent Axia VK Honda) +18.634s, 10,
M Biaggi (Ducati) +20.699s.
Superbike Race Two Result
1, T Bayliss (Ducati) 36m46.238s, 2, N Haga (Yamaha) +0.082s,
3, C Checa (Honda) +6.336s, 4, R Xaus (Ducati) +7.575s, 5,
M Neukirchner (Suzuki) +8.011s, 6, Y Kagayama (Suzuki) 13.999s,
7, G Lavilla (Vent Axia VK Honda) +15.215s, 8, J Smrz (Ducati)
+16.376s, 9, M Tamada (Kawasaki) +17.269s, 10, T Corser (Yamaha)
+18.380s.
2008 World Superbike Championship Standings after
Round 4
1, Troy Bayliss (AUS) 178pts
2, Carlos Checa (ESP) 108pts
3, Troy Corser (AUS) 89pts
4, Fonsi Nieto (ESP) 85pts
5, Ruben Xaus (ESP) 81pts
6, Noriyuki Haga (JPN) 67pts
7, Max Neukirchner (GER) 66pts
8, Max Biaggi (ITA) 54pts
9, Gregorio Lavilla (ESP) 48pts
10, Lorenzo Lanzi (ITA) 42pts
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