TWO THRUXTON PODIUMS FOR AIRWAVES DUCATI
11 April 2005 - GSE Racing

After two tough 22-lap races at the 2.356 mile Thruxton Circuit the Airwaves Ducati pairing of Gregorio Lavilla and Leon Haslam took different rewards away from the second round of British Superbike series.

As the drama unfolded it was nonetheless evident that each rider gave their all in the quest for glory. With team regular James Haydon ruled out of the Thruxton event due to the lasting effects of a left hand injury, Gregorio Lavilla was once more drafted in as an outstanding deputy on one of the Airwaves Ducati 999F04s.

Lavilla went on to repeat his performances of the first round at Brands Hatch, taking a third and a second place finish, maintaining his second place in the championship. Haslam could not quite challenge for podiums and ended his weekend with a fourth and a seventh place finish, moving to seventh overall.

In the opening race a slow start for eventual third place rider Lavilla saw him 12th at the end of lap one, but his pace was such that he secured a new lap record on lap four, with a 1’15.699, at a massive average speed of over 112 mph. Closing in on the podium positions after only eight laps, he duly took over third place on lap nine, finishing the race 2.5 seconds from second place. For Haslam, a possible podium was only denied him by his fellow Airwaves Ducati rider, as the Derbyshire rider took fourth, and 13 valuable championship points.

With each team rider making forceful starts in race two, Haslam ended lap one fourth, with Lavilla fifth. The positions were reversed on lap three, and the Spanish star shot past Sean Emmett to take third on lap four. Closing in on Rutter he set the definitive new lap record, a 1’15.577, on the sixth time around. An attempted pass at Seagraves on lap eight was rebuffed as Lavilla waited his time to make the overtake stick. He made his move on lap nine, at the entrance to the final chicane at Club.

The safety car came out on lap 11, after a machine fire followed a crash at Church, and the field closed up again, negating the advantage of the leading trio. Racing for real was resumed on lap 13, with Lavilla in second, Haslam fifth, in a fight with five other riders. Lavilla dogged Kiyonari right to the line, not quite able to overhaul the championship leader, while Leon was forced into an error on the final corner, losing two places.

Team Manager Colin Wright acknowledged the efforts of the team and especially the riders at such a challenging venue. “Another good weekend for the Airwaves Ducati team, and we hope to get even better results soon,” said Wright. “It’s been hard work here at Thruxton and, as I’ve said to several people this weekend, even as far back as the late eighties we use to come here and it was fast, bumpy and scary even then. The riders get on with it but they don’t necessarily enjoy it, so they have both done well.”

Gregorio has ridden Superbikes at Thruxton before, but not the Ducati he tamed with such adroitness once more this weekend. “We were struggling a bit during qualifying and we were not sure of our set-up for some time, but today the bike was very nice to ride. My start in race one was not really good but the result was better! When Michael Rutter was ahead of me I thought I might be able to get to him if he had a problem with the bike but it was not possible. In race two, I wanted to show people again that even if we only qualified seventh, when it comes to the time to race, then I can race. It was fun today, with the bike sideways and sliding, and obviously to be fighting for the win as well made it even more fun.”

Haslam, in his first Superbike ride at Thruxton, toiled hard for his two good points scoring finishes. “In race two I had a bit of a problem with rear grip and I think I burned it up a bit in the early laps. To be fair I was happy just to finish race two. I had some moments, so I was happy enough with the points. Glen Richards came underneath me, and I was going to drive back round the outside of him, but I lost some grip again and ran off over the chicane. That dropped me two extra places, but it could have been a fifth.”

Round three of the prestigious British Championship, to be held at Mallory Park in Leicestershire, takes place on 24 April.

FINAL RESULTS (FOLLOWING ROUND TWO AT THRUXTON)

RACE ONE

POS NAME ENTRY TIME GAP
1 Ryuichi KIYONARI Honda 28:05.231
2 Michael RUTTER Honda 28:14.903 + 9.672
3 Gregorio LAVILLA Airwaves Ducati 28:17.342 + 12.111
4 Leon HASLAM Airwaves Ducati 28:21.022 + 15.791
5 Sean EMMETT Yamaha 28:21.048 + 15.817
6 Karl HARRIS Honda 28:22.859 + 17.628
7 Scott SMART Suzuki 28:23.571 + 18.340
8 Dean THOMAS Kawasaki 28:23.846 + 18.615
9 Glen RICHARDS Kawasaki 28:30.542 + 25.311
10 Tommy HILL Yamaha 28:37.886
+ 32.655

RACE TWO

POS NAME ENTRY TIME GAP
1 Ryuichi KIYONARI Honda 28:45.734
2 Gregorio LAVILLA Airwaves Ducati 28:46.178 + 0.444
3 Michael RUTTER Honda 28:47.032 + 1.298
4 Sean EMMETT Yamaha 28:52.789 + 7.055
5 Glen RICHARDS Kawasaki 28:54.630 + 8.896
6 Dean THOMAS Kawasaki 28:54.800 + 9.066
7 Leon HASLAM Airwaves Ducati 28:54.922 + 9.188
8 Karl HARRIS Honda 28:56.126 + 10.392
9 Jeremy McWILLIAMS Honda 29:07.402 + 21.668
10 Steve PLATER Kawasaki 29:07.567 + 21.833

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (AFTER TWO ROUNDS)

Name Total
Ryuichi KIYONARI (Honda) 100
Gregorio LAVILLA (Airwaves Ducati) 72
Michael RUTTER (Honda) 69
Sean EMMETT (Yamaha) 46
Glen RICHARDS (Kawasaki) 43
Karl HARRIS (Honda) 38
Leon HASLAM (Airwaves Ducati) 35
Dean THOMAS (Kawasaki) 31
Scott SMART (Suzuki) 17
John REYNOLDS (Suzuki) 16
Tommy HILL (Yamaha) 16
Jeremy McWILLIAMS (Honda) 16
Gary MASON (Honda) 13
Ben WILSON (Kawasaki) 9
Steve PLATER (Kawasaki) 9
Jonathan REA (Honda) 7
James BUCKINGHAM (Suzuki) 5
Kieran CLARKE (Honda) 5
Danny BEAUMONT (Honda) 4
Michael LAVERTY (Honda) 3
Tristan PALMER (Kawasaki) 2
John McGUINNESS (Yamaha) 2
Steve BROGAN (Honda) 2

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