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Paul Bird Motorsport
rider Gregorio Lavilla got his World Superbike Championship challenge underway
with two points scoring finishes at the Losail circuit in
Qatar
today.
Riding the 2007
specification Vent Axia VK Honda Fireblade the Spanish rider posted a
13th place finish in race one, and followed it up with
14th in race two, despite suffering some lurid front end slides when
he tried to push hard.
The high winds in qualifying made finding a useable set
up difficult, and that problem continued as raceday dawned relatively still,
requiring some last minute changes to the machine.
Lavilla had been 15th in regulation qualifying
and improved to 13th in Superpole, displacing many regular
WSB riders with much greater experience on
Pirelli control tyres.
Tyre choice
and making the machine work well enough for Lavilla to compete were the main
tasks facing the team this weekend, and Lavilla has another chance to score
points next weekend at the next round, at Phillip Island,
Australia.
“If we had twenty days of winter tests we could blame
ourselves for not getting the set-up right, but most of our competition has been
running Pirellis for three or four years. We have to develop our equipment to suit the
change of tyres so we cannot expect miracles.
The regular teams know how to make the tyres last. We have to forget all we know from before and
begin from zero.”
“It’s been difficult for Greg after four years away, and
it’s hard when you don’t have a Ducati.
The Pirelli control tyres are the
main thing; it’s difficult to get our heads around them this early. From lap
seven to lap ten Greg was fastest rider on the track, then he was forced to
slow. We’re disappointed because we came here to finish well inside the top ten
and we haven’t done it but it won’t be long until we get the new 2008
bike.”
The next round takes place at Phillip Island, Australia
next weekend.
Superbike
Race One Result
1, T Bayliss (Ducati)
36m11.468s, 2, M Biaggi (Ducati) +0.396s, 3, T Corser (Yamaha) +1.878s, 4, R
Xaus (Ducati) +4.487s, 5, M Neukirchner (Suzuki) +7.505s, 6, C Checa (Honda)
+9.639s, 7, F Nieto (Suzuki) +9.725s, 8, Y Kagayama (Suzuki) +19.537s, 9, M
Fabrizio (Ducati) +23.156s, 10, J Smrz (Ducati) +24.429s, 13, G Lavilla (Vent Axia VK Honda)
+28.237s.
Superbike Race Two
Result
1, F Nieto (Suzuki)
36m12.963s, 2, R Xaus (Ducati) +0.301s, 3, M Biaggi (Ducati) +1.321s, 4, T
Bayliss (Ducati) +6.452s, 5, M Fabrizio (Ducati) +7.627s, 6, L Lanzi (Ducati)
+9.117s, 7, T Corser (Yamaha) +10.806s, 8, M Neukirchner (Suzuki) +11.661s, 9, J
Smrz (Ducati) +13.269s, 10, K Sofuoglu (Honda) +14.563s, 14, G Lavilla (Vent Axia VK Honda)
+26.311s.
2008 World
Superbike Championship Standings after Round 1
1, Troy
Bayliss (AUS) 38pts
2, Max Biaggi (ITA)
36pts
3, Fonsi Nieto
(ESP) 34pts
4, Ruben Xaus
(ESP) 33pts
5, Troy
Corser (AUS) 25pts
6, Max Neukirchner (GER)
19pts
7, Michel Fabrizio (ITA)
18pts
8, Carlos Checa
(ESP) 15pts
9, Jakub Smrz (CZE)
13pts
10, Lorenzo Lanzi (ITA)
10pts
15, Gregorio
Lavilla (ESP)
5pts
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