Airwaves Ducati Return With Impressive Start At Silverstone - August 19th 2005
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Airwaves Ducati riders Leon Haslam and Gregorio
Lavilla warmed up for the ninth round of the Bennetts British Superbike
Championship by finishing in 1st and 3rd places respectively following two
free practice sessions at Silverstone today. The pairing continued where
they'd left off following recent testing at the Northamptonshire circuit and
will be aiming for front row qualifying positions tomorrow. The second
session proved to be the quicker of the two, following heavy rain disrupting
morning practice, and the riders went about their business impressively.
Leon recorded a 1.27.664s and Gregorio registered a 1.28.057s with both
riders hopeful of finding more from the bike for tomorrow's qualifying
session.
Airwaves Ducati Team Manager, Colin Wright, said: "We're naturally pleased
with the way things have gone today but we need to ensure our level doesn't
drop and we continue to progress tomorrow. We're hopeful for qualifying and
I'd certainly take today's results on Sunday! We worked a little on our wet
settings this morning and then proved that both riders are looking good with
our afternoon times".
Gregorio was happy with the start to the weekend: "The rain affected things
greatly today. The conditions this morning were tricky and this afternoon
the track was still a little damp and caused a few problems. On the whole,
the bike feels good and we've improved a little on testing but I think I can
get more from the bike and will be looking to go faster tomorrow. I need to
particularly work on the last chicane and then hopefully I will gain my best
qualifying position of the year".
Leon was pleased to top the time sheets again: "It was tricky to really push
today but I'm pleased with this afternoon in particular. There are a couple
of things I want to try tomorrow and I'm hopeful that I can shave a bit more
time off today. If I can manage that I'm hopeful of a front row start
following tomorrow's qualifying session".
The ninth round of the Championship continues with two 50-minute qualifying
sessions tomorrow followed by two 22-lappers on Sunday.
Practice times:
- 1: Leon Haslam (Ducati) 1:27.664
- 2: Glen Richards (Kawasaki) +0.309
- 3: Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) +0.393
- 4: Karl Harris (Honda) +0.534
- 5: Ryuchi Kiyonari (Honda) +0.705
- 6: Steve Plater (Honda) +0.895
- 7: Gary Mason (Honda) 0.917
- 8: Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +0.918
- 9: Dean Thomas (Kawasaki) +1.084
- 10: Michael Rutter (Honda) +1.207
- 11: John Reynolds (Suzuki) +1.207
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