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) +18.634s10, 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) +15.215s8, 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) 48pts10, Lorenzo Lanzi (ITA) 42pts
Picture courtesy of Graeme Brown (
www.geebeeimages.co.uk).
