RAIN STOPS PLAY AT MONDELLO
21 May 2006 - Airwaves Ducati

Round 5 of the British Superbike Championship was cancelled due to appalling weather conditions at Mondello Park today.

Rain fell all day and after a number of delays the riders went out for a 15 minute warm up in very wet conditions at 11.30am. During the warm up a number of riders succumbed to the wet track and crashed, including Airwaves Ducati rider Leon Haslam who fell on lap 4, however he was unhurt. Gregorio Lavilla appeared unaffected by the conditions and set the quickest lap time of the session, 2:01.403, 0.9 seconds faster than any other rider.

The rain continued to fall heavily and at 1.00pm the event organisers delayed proceedings for an hour to review the situation then at 2.00pm they decided to cancel the event.

After the announcement the Airwaves Ducati riders were both disappointed, Leon Haslam was the first to comment saying, “Obviously it’s hugely disappointing the race was cancelled today, I like rain and so far this season we have had two wet races which have gone well for me and the team so who knows how it would have worked out if we had have raced. Mondello is good for racing and I would have gone out if we could have done but it was a good call as the track was flooded and the conditions were just horrible. We have changed the bike a lot and we have found a setting I really like, so roll on Mallory Park.”

Gregorio Lavilla was also disappointed but agreed that the right call had been made. “Warm up was unbelievable but considering the rain, and the fact this is one of my worse tracks, I was riding fast. We have done some really good work on the bike and I felt good as I was going faster and faster with each lap in the warm up, but I respect the decision as it was treacherous out there. Everything is working really well at the moment and this weekend gave us the opportunity to test it out so I am very confident for Mallory Park in 2 weeks time.”

Team manager Colin Wright said, “It was a shame the event had to be cancelled the superbike races were shaping up to be the best this season, wet or dry, so I feel sorry for all concerned. The race directors had a tough decision to make and whilst we are disappointed not have raced we whole heartedly support their decision.

Round 6 of the British Superbike Championship is on 4th June at Mallory Park in Leicestershire.

www.airwaves-ducati.co.uk

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