The Airwaves Ducati team had a mixed weekend at Knockhill today. Starting on the front row of the grid, Leon Haslam finished 3rd in both races whilst Gregorio Lavilla finished 11th in race one and failed to finish race two.
In race one, after making a good start from 3rd on the grid Leon took the lead on lap 3. As Leon started to pull away, Gregorio in 5th went wide at the hairpin and came to a stop having experienced a problem with his Airwaves Ducati. This put him down to 24th position. Back at the front of the pack Kiyonari pursued Haslam and managed to slip-stream him and take the lead as the pair started lap 27. Leon attempted to re-take the lead but went wide and dropped down to 3rd where he finished the race. Gregorio meanwhile managed to fight his way through the field back up to 11th position to gain 5 valuable championship points.
The second race was another mixed affair for the Airwaves Ducati team. Both riders made up a place on the start putting Leon in 2nd and Gregorio in 3rd, but in the latter part of the race neither were able to hold off the Honda of Rea. On lap 27 whilst lying in 4th position, Gregorio slipped off and failed to finish. Byrne crossed the line in 1st, Rea 2nd and Haslam 3.454 seconds behind in 3rd.
After the second race Gregorio said, “It’s not been a good weekend for us. In the first race I had a problem with the bike and nearly had to stop but I carried on to score as many championship points as I could. Then in the second race the bike was working really well and I think I just made a mistake and went onto a white line. But that is racing and there are still many rounds left to go to score more points and try and secure the championship. I think we’ve given the fans the excitement they were after.”
Now trailing his team mate by just 11 points in the championship, Leon had hoped for more today, “To be honest we struggled a bit this weekend. I think I probably pushed too hard too soon and wasn’t able to keep with the guys at the front towards the end. I’m frustrated because I know the Airwaves Ducati package had the pace to win but 2 podium finishes are great for the championship and I’m pleased to have closed the gap on Greg.”
Colin Wright commented “GSE Racing has not experienced the best of luck at Knockhill in the past and this year is no exception! Leon was dominant through practice and we expected that elusive win to come this weekend. Greg has had a terrible time of it and we all feel for him. We will stay positive this week on the run up to Oulton Park, and work hard for more podiums.
Related Linkswww.airwaves-ducati.co.uk
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