Despite missing out on Superpole qualification, Paul Bird Motorsport Vent Axia VK Honda rider Gregorio Lavilla added to his World Superbike Championship points tally at the Nurburgring in Germany yesterday.
The first race of the day was delayed because of a sudden rain shower just as the grid was starting to form up. After a delay of around twenty minutes, Lavilla made good progress into the second corner but he was struck by another rider and he fell, unable to restart, meaning his 100% finishing record was ended.
In the second race, the Spanish rider finished the race in 14th place after battling through the field following on from being boxed in at the notorious first tight hairpin corner leaving him down in 21st place early on.
At the halfway point of the season, Lavilla is 12th and still the top privateer Honda rider in the standings with 65 points.
Disappointed with his misfortune in the race, Lavilla stated: "I was knocked off by another rider in the first race and some riders obviously think that the race is finished after two corners. In race two, I got stuck inside in the first corner and I could not pass any riders there, I could only pass them as the race went on. We are getting some positives because the bike was good in warm-up and I felt I was riding better than I have been in the recent past. I just think things are going to take longer than we thought to get to where we all want to be."
Team owner Paul Bird, who didn't travel to Germany, commented: "We still have a lot of work to get to where we need to be. I'm disappointed with the weekend and we will have to see an improvement very soon."
The next race is at Misano on June 29th.
Superbike Race One Result:1, N Haga (Yamaha) 39m19.427s
2, T Bayliss (Ducati) +2.025s
3, M Neukirchner (Suzuki) +2.792s
4, T Corser (Yamaha) +5.458s
5, C Checa (Honda) +10.225s
6, R Xaus (Ducati) +10.462s
7, M Fabrizio (Ducati) +17.018s
8, F Nieto (Suzuki) +20.520s
9, M Tamada (Kawasaki) +21.162s
10, K Muggeridge (Honda) +22.650s
Superbike Race Two Result:1, N Haga (Yamaha) 27m26.594s
2, T Corser (Yamaha) +0.150s
3, M Neukirchner (Suzuki) +5.316s
4, T Bayliss (Ducati) +7.651s
5, C Checa (Honda) +7.951s
6, M Fabrizio (Ducati) +9.027s
7, M Biaggi (Ducati) +9.420s
8, R Xaus (Ducati) +9.916s
9, F Nieto (Suzuki) +12.862s
10, R Laconi (Kawasaki) +13.559s
14, G Lavilla (Vent Axia VK Honda) +22.815s2008 World Superbike Championship Standings after Round 7:1, Troy Bayliss (AUS) 227pts
2, Carlos Checa (ESP) 188pts
3, Max Neukirchner (GER) 176pts
4, Noriyuki Haga (JPN) 172pts
5, Troy Corser (AUS) 154pts
6, Fonsi Nieto (ESP) 141pts
7, Ruben Xaus (ESP) 110pts
8, Michel Fabrizio (ITA) 106pts
9, Max Biaggi (ITA) 97pts
10, Ryuichi Kiyonari (JPN) 89pts
11, Yukio Kagayama (JPN) 73pts
12, Gregorio Lavilla (ESP) 65ptsPicture attached, Gregorio Lavilla courtesy of www.geebeeimages.co.uk.
