LAVERTY WINS IN PHILLIP ISLAND 2013

RACE 1 IS A ONE-TWO-THREE WITH GUINTOLI, LAVERTY AND FABRIZIO

LAVERTY TRIUMPHS IN RACE 2 WITH GUINTOLI SECOND AND FOUR APRILIAS FINISHING IN THE TOP SIX.

THE TWO APRILIA STANDARD BEARERS NOW LEAD THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN A TIE.

TOP POINTS FOR APRILIA IN THE MANUFACTURER CHAMPIONSHIP.

Phillip Island – Australia, 24 February 2013 – The first and long awaited round of the 2013 World SBK season was dominated by Aprilia, winning both races and placing a seal of superiority worthy of the reigning World Champion Team on the weekend.

Eugene Laverty and Sylvain Guintoli swapped the top two steps of the podium and are now tied at 45 points to lead the world championship. Aprilia is at top points in the world Manufacturer championship with 50 points. The 4 cylinder bikes from Noale made a true show of superiority at Phillip Island: a one-two-three finish in Race 1 and a one-two for the official riders in Race 2, with four RSV4s finishing in the top six.

The victory in Race 1, which came at the end of an exciting comeback, was a reward for Sylvain Guintoli in his début race on the Italian bike. Team mate Eugene Laverty crossed  the line right behind the Frenchman after leading for most of the race and being kept busy in the last few laps fending off attacks from Roman rider Michel Fabrizio, also astride an Aprilia RSV4 for Team Red Devils Roma.

In Race 2 Guintoli and Laverty got away during the first laps, tailed by Marco Melandri and the two private Aprilia RSV4s ridden by Fabrizio and Davide Giugliano (Team Althea Racing) to take the top two steps of the podium in reverse position. This is Eugene Laverty’s second win with Aprilia and it is a result that comes, above all, from the intense work done over the past few days which was aimed at optimising tyre performance down to the last taps. The track record set by the Northern Irishman 2 laps from the end is a demonstration of just how effective that work was.

Michel Fabrizio’s fourth place (Team Red Devils Roma) and Davide Giugliano’s sixth (Team Althea Racing) confirmed the Aprilia RSV4’s superiority on this fantastic Australian circuit.

“We got off on the right foot – were Eugene Laverty’s first words – 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 1 I may have been a bit too conservative with the tyres, still taking a nice second place, but in Race 2 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”.

Sylvain Guintoli couldn’t have asked for a better début: “It’s great to start off with a win! Quite honestly, after the tests I know I could do well and from the start my intention was to give it my all. My goal has always been to win, but sometimes you have to adapt to conditions. However, today the setting was good, I didn’t have any serious concerns about tyre duration and everything went according to plan. In the first race I didn’t get off to a good start and I lost a few positions, but lap by lap I found the right pace to move forward. Eugene had gotten away well and when I overtook him I managed to keep the distance and take this important win. In Race 2 Eugene had a bit more than me in the last laps. He employed a strategy similar to the one I used in the first race, but this is a fantastic result for the team even if we are just at the beginning of the championship”.

Phillip Island – Race results (1)

1. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing RSV4 33m 47.109s

2. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV4 +1.352s

3. Michel Fabrizio ITA Red Devils Roma RSV4 +1.359s

4. Chaz Davies GBR BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 +5.702s

5. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +5.753s

6. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +6.769s

7. Leon Haslam GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR +6.830s

8. Jonathan Rea GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR +17.944s

9. Leon Camier GBR Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +19.152s

10. Max Neukirchner GER MR Ducati 1199 R +26.557s

11. Jules Cluzel FRA Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +30.305s

12. Ivan Clementi ITA HTM Racing BMW S1000RR +30.411s

13. Alexander Lundh SWE Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +45.185s

14. Glenn Allerton AUS Next Gen BMW S1000RR +48.632s

15. Jamie Stauffer AUS Honda Racing CBR1000RR +53.453s

16. Federico Sandi ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 22.730s

17. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA Grillini Dentalmatic BMW S1000RR +4 laps

Not Classified

18. Carlos Checa ESP Alstare Ducati 1199 R 12 laps completed

19. Marco Melandri ITA BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 12 laps completed

20. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Racing RSV4 2 laps completed

Did Not Start

Ayrton Badovini ITA Alstare Ducati 1199 R

Fastest lap

Michel Fabrizio ITA Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 1m 31.323s

Phillip Island – Race results (2)

1. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV4 33m 45.938s

2. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing RSV4 +0.418s

3. Marco Melandri ITA BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 +1.382s

4. Michel Fabrizio ITA Red Devils Roma RSV4 +2.282s

5. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +11.545s

6. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Racing RSV4 +12.508s

7. Jules Cluzel FRA Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +17.330s

8. Jonathan Rea GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR +17.339s

9. Leon Camier GBR Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +19.886s

10. Leon Haslam GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR +19.996s

11. Max Neukirchner GER MR Ducati 1199 R +27.629s

12. Glenn Allerton AUS Next Gen BMW S1000RR +42.809s

13. Jamie Stauffer AUS Honda Racing CBR1000RR +42.893s

14. Federico Sandi ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +44.899s

15. Alexander Lundh SWE Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +57.824

16. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA Grillini Dentalmatic BMW S1000RR +1m 22.574s

17. Chaz Davies GBR BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 +2 laps

Not Classified

18. Ivan Clementi ITA HTM Racing BMW S1000RR 11 laps completed

19. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 0 laps completed

Did Not Start

Carlos Checa ESP Alstare Ducati 1199 R

Ayrton Badovini ITA Alstare Ducati 1199 R

Fastest lap

Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV4 1m 31.168s