World Superbike Phillip Island Race Two – Laverty tops Guintoli

After kicking himself for “a bit too conservative with the tires” (even though he’d built up a 1.5-second lead) in Race One and losing out to his Aprilia Factory Racing teammate Sylvain Guintoli, Eugene Laverty set out to make amends in Race Two by waiting until the right moment while embroiled in a dice with Guintoli and BMW Motorrad Goldbet’s Marco Melandri to make his move into Doohan Curve on the penultimate lap and pull away to a well deserved victory. Laverty also set the superbike race lap record while taking that win with a 1:31.168 circuit on that penultimate lap. Guintoli was secure in second, although Melandri was nearly in danger of losing his podium finish by a late-race charge by Michel Fabrizio. Fabrizio’s lunge heading into the Hayshed curve was unsuccessful however, leaving Melandri to rebound from his Race One crash that also involved Team SBK Alstare Ducati’s Carlos Checa (who luckily only suffered a concussion in the crash, and was kept overnight in the hospital for observation).

"We got off on the right foot,” said Laverty. “All the work from the past few days has paid off. My Aprilia was fast and it performed as I wanted it to from the first to the last lap. In Race One, I may have been a bit too conservative with the tires, still taking a nice second place, but in Race Two I pushed a bit more decisively. At the end, when it was Sylvain, Melandri and me, I tried and was able to get away, shaving a few more tenths off my pace. The track record two laps from the finish was nice confirmation that we turned up to the races in the best possible conditions. 45 points after the first race are some nice spoils. I've never started a season this well and now we'll be thinking about Aragon and how to stay on this path".

World Superbike Phillip Island Race Two results:
1. Eugene Laverty (IRL) Aprilia
2. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Aprilia
3. Marco Melandri (ITA) BMW
4. Michel Fabrizio (ITA) Aprilia
5. Tom Sykes (GBR) Kawasaki
6. Davide Giugliano (ITA) Aprilia
7. Jules Cluzel (FRA) Suzuki
8. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Honda
9. Leon Camier (GBR) Suzuki
10. Leon Haslam (GBR) Honda
11. Max Neukirchner (GER) Ducati
12. Glen Allerton (AUS) BMW
13. Jamie Stauffer (AUS) Honda
14. Federico Sandi (ITA) Kawasaki
15. Alexander Lundh (SWE) Kawasaki
16. Vittorio Iannuzzo (ITA) BMW
17. Chaz Davies (GBR) BMW
DNF Ivan Clementi (ITA) BMW
DNF Loris Baz (FRA) Kawasaki

World Superbike Championship (after Phillip Island, Rd 1):
1. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Aprilia 45 points
1. Eugene Laverty (IRL) Aprilia 45
3. Michel Fabrizio (ITA) Aprilia 29
4. Tom Sykes (GBR) Kawasaki 22
5. Marco Melandri (ITA) BMW 16
6. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Honda 16
7. Leon Haslam (GBR) Honda 15
8. Jules Cluzel (FRA) Suzuki 14
9. Leon Camier (GBR) Suzuki 14
10. Chaz Davies (GBR) BMW 13
11. Max Neukirchner (GER) Ducati 11
12. Davide Giugliano (ITA) Aprilia 10
13. Loris Baz (FRA) Kawasaki 10
14. Glenn Allerton (AUS) BMW 6
15. Ivan Clementi (ITA) BMW 4
16. Jamie Stauffer (AUS) Honda 4
17. Alexander Lundh (SWE) Kawasaki 4
18. Federico Sandi (ITA) Kawasaki 2