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.
Gregorio Lavilla:
“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.”
Paul Bird: “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
Picture courtesy of Graeme Brown (
www.geebeeimages.co.uk)
