LAVILLA AND WALKER IN THE POINTS AT BRANDS
Vent Axia VK Honda riders Greg Lavilla and Chris Walker were
in points scoring form when round ten of the HANNspree World
Superbike Championship took place at Brands Hatch this weekend.
Spaniard Lavilla recorded thirteenth and fourteenth positions
in the two races with new signing Chris Walker claiming fifteenth
place in both 25-lap races on his return to World Superbike
action.
In a weekend blighted by rain showers, Lavilla very nearly
upset the form book when he set fastest time in the early
stages of Saturday's Superpole which he held for most of the
session but as the track dried a number of riders ended up
going faster and he ended up in thirteenth.
Sadly Walker missed the Superpole session after only managing
23rd place as he fought to get to terms with the 1000cc Honda
Fireblade after spending most of the year racing in World
Supersport.
In the two races both riders battled hard in the lower leaderboard
positions to eventually score points which Lavilla added to
his tally to end up in fourteenth in the Championship with
Walker glad to open his account after a tough weekend.
Gregorio Lavilla:
"We made some good improvements to the bike in the second
race and we put in some good lap times. We were consistent
once again and within the points but I wasn't able to improve
much on my qualifying position during the race so we have
to keep working hard on set-up and move up to the next level
which I hope we can achieve at Donington. Brands is a track
which I have beaten Kiyo on before in the BSB so I it was
really great to see him win the double here and I want to
congratulate him."
Chris Walker:
"Every time I went out on the bike I learnt more and
more and it's great to be back on a Superbike. The bike felt
brilliant and I was happy with the race set-up in the end.
My fitness level is good but I need to get into the gym to
work on my arm strength as I had to lose weight to ride the
Supersport. I was desperate to get into the points this weekend
so overall I'm pretty happy with my performance. The boys
have done me proud and I'm chuffed to be part of the team.
They've all made me feel really welcome and I can't wait to
get to Donington."
Paul Bird:
"Overall the team and I were expecting better results
at our home round and I'm feeling disappointed. However it
was good to see Greg doing better in qualifying and it was
unfortunate for us that we didn't get a better grid position
after putting in some good laps during the wet practice and
also during the Superpole wet session. Chris had a good weekend
and did what we expected him to do. We threw him in the deep
end and he did a professional job. I'm pleased with his performance
and we're really happy to have him in the team. All we can
do now is look forward to Donington, another strong track
for us, and hope that we get some better results which I know
we are capable of."
The next round of the Championship takes place on 6th/7th
September at Donington Park in Derbyshire.
Superbike Race One Result
1, R Kiyonari (Honda) 36m18.607s, 2, T Bayliss (Ducati) +0.137s,
3, M Biaggi (Ducati) +0.180s, 4, Y Kagayama (Suzuki) +5.733s,
5, F Nieto (Suzuki) +6.499s, 6, C Checa (Honda) +6.984s, 7,
M Neukirchner (Suzuki) +8.300s, 8, T Corser (Yamaha) +10.732s,
9, J Smrz (Ducati) +16.547s, 10, R Rolfo (Honda) +16.569s.
14, G Lavilla (Vent Axia VK Honda) +26.856s, 15, C Walker
(Vent Axia VK Honda) +32.877s.
Superbike Race Two Result
1, R Kiyonari (Honda) 36m14.904s, 2, N Haga (Yamaha) +1.848s,
3, T Corser (Yamaha) +8.883s, 4, M Neukirchner (Suzuki) +11.180s,
5, F Nieto (Suzuki) +12.928s, 6, M Fabrizio (Ducati) +13.696s,
7, T Sykes (Suzuki) +13.872s, 8, C Checa (Honda) +14.009s,
9, J Smrz (Ducati) +19.065s, 10, L Lanzi (Ducati) +19.864s.
13, G Lavilla (Vent Axia VK Honda) +20.722s. 15, C Walker
(Vent Axia VK Honda) +32.090s.
Championship Standings after Round 10
1, T Bayliss (AUS) 334pts
2, M Neukirchner (GER) 252pts
3, T Corser (AUS) 242pts
4, C Checa (ESP) 233pts
5, N Haga (JPN) 230pts
6, F Nieto (ESP) 183pts
7, M Biaggi (ITA) 166pts
8, R Kiyonari (JPN) 165pts
9, M Fabrizio (ITA) 161pts
10, R Xaus (ESP) 148pts
14, G Lavilla (ESP) 83pts
28, C Walker (GBR) 2pts
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