LAVERTY ON FRONT ROW FOR TITLE DECIDER
18 September 2004 - Honda Racing

Eugene Laverty was denied the last pole position of the 2004 British 125GP Championship in the final seconds of the afternoon qualifying session at Donington Park.

The Red Bull Rookies Honda rider faced a tense battle with his title rival Christian Elkin for the leading place on the grid.

In the final seconds, both Kris Weston and Elkin forced Laverty to be relegated into third position. This is the Ulster teenager’s eighth front row start of the season. The 18-year-old must aim for the race win at the final round of the series to guarantee that he can secure the title.

Laverty’s advantage at the top of the championship standings is just four points over Elkin. So even second place to his adversary would mean that the Red Bull Rookies Honda rider would be forced to settle for the runner-up spot in the British 125GP Championship overall.

Team-mate Steven Neate has secured fifth place on the grid to start tomorrow’s race from the front of the second row. The 17-year-old from Barton-le-Clay was 11th at the end of the morning session, but quickly set about powering his Honda RS125 towards the front of the pack this afternoon.

Neate is looking for his second podium of the season at the 2.5-mile Leicestershire circuit this weekend to finish the 2004 season on a high and support his Red Bull Rookies Honda team-mate’s ambition of sealing the championship.

Eugene Laverty: “The pressure’s obviously on this weekend, but I’m quite enjoying it so far. The conditions have added to the difficulty of finding a good set-up for the Red Bull Rookies Honda, but we’ve had our experience from racing at the GP to fall back on. There are so many variables that all I’m doing is concentrating on myself and let the result take care of itself. I’m quietly confident and I just hope that everything goes according to plan in tomorrow’s race.”

Steven Neate: “I’m fully prepared for the last round of the season and am determined to finish off my year with Red Bull Rookies Honda on a positive note. While I’ll obviously be focussing on my own performance tomorrow, I hope that I’ll be able to help Eugene’s bid for the championship. I was able to do that at the last round, but we’ll just have to see how it goes.”

Qualifying times: 1. C. Elkin (Honda) 1:41.902; 2. K. Weston (Honda) 1:41.903; 3. E. Laverty (Red Bull Rookies Honda) 1:42.199; 4. B. Clark (Honda) 1:42.591; 5. S. Neate (Red Bull Rookies Honda) 1:43.070; 6. A. Beech (Honda) 1:43.228; 7. T. Bridewell (Honda) 1:43.508; 8. G. Black (Honda) 1:43.682; 9. M. Wilcox (Honda) 1:43.730; 10. J. Pearson (Honda) 1:43.794

www.honda-racing.co.uk

More News
  For September 2004
  From Honda Racing
  For Racing General
  Biker247.com Home Page