Guintoli and Laverty get off blistering start after round 1 at Phillip Island

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After months of waiting for the new Superbike season to start, today’s first round at the iconicPhillip Island circuit, didn’t disappoint and Aprilia inaugurated the opening round with both factory riders sharing the top spots on the podium and both looking like they can be worthy replacements for former two-time World Superbike champion Max Biaggi who won both his championships with the Noale manufacturer.

Sylvain Guintoli won race 1 with Eugene Laverty coming second, and in race 2 the two riders reversed their positions in what turned out to be Aprilia’s pièce de résistance, as not only did Guintoli and Laverty each dominate their respective races, but Michele Fabrizio on the Red Devils Roma Aprilia gave the Italian manufacturer a third place podium in race 1, and in race 2 there were a total of four Aprilia’s in the top six.

Guintoli and Laverty are tied not only in the standings with 45 points each as Aprilia leads Manufacturer championship with 50 points, but they are also tied for the number of career victories in WSBK’s with four each.

We got off on the right foot all the work from the past few days has paid off,” said Laverty. 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”.

“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”, said Guintoli.

The next round will be held in Aragon, Spain from April 12-14.

WSBK : Eugene Laverty takes victory in race 2 at P.I.

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Phillip Island has officially become an Aprilia stronghold. After a 1-2-3 podium in race 1 with a victory by Sylvain Guintoli, race 2 saw team mate Eugene Laverty take the win - his second with the Italian manufacturer. Completing the podium was a beat up and bruised Marco Melandri, who gritted his teeth to take third after being taken out by Carlos Checa.

With Checa is the hospital, Laverty moved into the pole position and when the lights turned green, it was Tom Sykes that got the holeshot, but he would soon lose it on the fifth lap to a hard charging Guintoli who would lead almost the entire race, but during the 20th lap and posting the fastest lap in the race, Eugene Laverty would pass first Melandri and then at the end of the straight outbrake his team mate and race to the victory.

Melandri would never lead the race, but he did get to second and then manage to hold off Michele Fabrizio who was ready to attack in the final corners, but the Red Devils Aprilia rider would then make a small mistake and lose touch with BMW rider. Fabrizio finished fourth and ahead of Tom Sykes who would take another fifth place, with tire issues.

Davide Giugliano was sixth and this time was at least be able to finish the race after he DNF’d in race 1 and he was ahead of Jules Cluzel. After all his pre-season crashes and technical difficulties during the weekend, the French rider was no doubt relieved about the position as he finished ahead of his team mate Leon Camier who was only 9th, lamenting tire problems.

Jonathan Rea couldn’t celebrate his 100th Superbike race as he was only 8th. Leon Haslam finished 10th and his race was ruined by Chaz Davies who tangles with Loris Baz. The Kawasaki rider was stretchered off with a foot injury, while Davies was able to rejoin, but he suffered a flat and had to return to his garage to change his tire, and then was given a ride through, as more than three mechanics worked on his BMW and the new pitting rules now forbid it.

WSBK Phillip Island Race 2 results:

01- Eugene Laverty – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – 22 lap in 33’45.938
02- Sylvain Guintoli – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 0.418
03- Marco Melandri – BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team – BMW S1000RR HP4 – + 1.382
04- Michel Fabrizio – Red Devils Roma – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 2.282
05- Tom Sykes – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 11.545
06- Davide Giugliano – Althea Racing – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 12.508
07- Jules Cluzel – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 17.330
08- Jonathan Rea – Pata Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 17.339
09- Leon Camier – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 19.886
10- Leon Haslam – Pata Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 19.996

WSBK : Sylvain Guintoli wins race 1 in all Aprilia domination in Australia

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The first race of round 1 at Phillip Island was fast, furious, and it also had its big moment of drama, as Sylvain Guintoli took a stupendous first victory with Aprilia - his fourth in World Superbikes - with a total domination of RSV4s as Eugene Laverty and Michel Fabrizio(Red Devils Roma) completed the podium.

Carlos Checa was in pole position with Laverty and Fabrizio on the front row, but Checa’s Panigale wheelied slightly, giving Laverty the holeshot and he was followed Sykes, Melandri, Checa, Haslam, Rea, Baz, as both Fabrizio and Guintoli would have a bad start - with the Italian dropping to 11th.

After falling back to fourth, Checa started his attack on Melandri, but the BMW rider answered back immediately, while Laverty in the lead was trying to put space between himself and Sykes, as a battle broke out between, an unexpected Leon Haslam who decided to put his tires through the wringer and Melandri, allowed Laverty and Sykes to break away from the rest of the field, but the Kawasaki rider couldn’t keep the Aprilia rider’s devastating pace.

Davide Giugliano left the race on the third lap when his Aprilia decided to die, as the race continued with a wicked rythmn as Laverty was already one second ahead of tighly knitted pack that consisted ofSykes, Haslam, Checa, Melandri, while further back saw a third group with Guintoli, Chaz Davies and Loris Baz as Fabrizio began cutting through the field.

On the fifth lap Haslam overtook Sykes for second, and the manouver was repeated by Checa on the fading Kawasaki rider which further gave Laverty and advantage as Checa decided it was time to eliminate Haslam from his path and chase after the Aprilia, while Haslam suddenly found his hands full with a resurgent Guintoli.

Checa started to chase down Laverty as Guintoli grabbed third from Haslam as both Melandri and Davies picked off a seemingly suffering Sykes ended up battling with own team mate and Fabrizio. On lap 10 Guintoli ripped off the sponsors stickers off of Checa’s Panigale on the straight and began to chase down his Aprilia team mate, as Melandri started to catch the Alstare rider and overtook him, but with some difficulty as Checa was hard on the brakes, but on lap 13 drama hit.

Checa overshot his braking point at the Honda Hairpin clipping the back of Melandri’s BMW. Both riders went down heavily with the Spaniard getting the worse of it, laying eerily still, as Melandri rushed over to assist him. The Italian would later complain that the Checa was not handled well by trackside personnel. The Spaniard was transported to the medical centre and seems to not have suffered any injuries, but Dr. Corbascio resported that Checa will not be taking part in race 2 as he was knocked unconscious and didn’t remember the incident.

On lap 14 Guintoli cut Laverty’s advantage and began climbing all over his tail, but then simply powered past him and would retain the lead till the chequered flag.

With four laps to go Laverty found he had to defend himself from Fabrizio, who had already taken care of Haslam, Baz and Sykes. With two laps to go Fabrizio would get past Laverty, but the Irishman didn’t give up and responded on the final lap and the two were almost side-by-side across the finish line, but Laverty would clai, second by mere 0.007secs.

Chaz Davies finished fourth in his debut with BMW after starting 12th , while Sykes took 5th after falling to 8th with tire issues, and he was followed by his team mate Baz, Pata Honda’s Haslam and Rea. Camier ended up only 9th, while a bruised Neukirchner closed out the top ten.

2013 World Superbike Phillip Island Race 1 results:

01- Sylvain Guintoli – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – 22 laps in 33’47.109
02- Eugene Laverty – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 1.352
03- Michel Fabrizio – Red Devils Roma – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 1.359
04- Chaz Davies – BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team – BMW S1000RR HP4 – + 5.702
05- Tom Sykes – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 5.753
06- Loris Baz – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 6.769
07- Leon Haslam – Pata Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 6.830
08- Jonathan Rea – Pata Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 17.944
09- Leon Camier – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 19.152
10- Max Neukirchner – MR Racing – Ducati 1199 Panigale R – + 26.557
11- Jules Cluzel – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 30.305