Eugene Laverty has joined a hallowed circle of World Superbike greats with his remarkable double victory at Monza, just four rounds into his first season of Superbike racing.
The Irishman enjoyed arguably the finest day of his career by defying pre-race predictions to take the fight to Max Biaggi in race one and out-perform the defending champion, the Irishman not putting a wheel wrong as he swept to a relatively comfortable maiden victory.
His win in race two came in very different circumstances, Laverty being delayed early on and being left down in ninth position at the end of the opening lap. However, aided by Biaggi’s costly penalty, Laverty worked his way back into contention to trail Yamaha team-mate Marco Melandri into the final lap.
Race 1 Results
1. Eugene Laverty IRL Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 31mins 09.584secs
2. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +1.575s
3. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR +3.078s
4. Marco Melandri ITA Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 +3.255s
5. Michel Fabrizio ITA Suzuki Alstare GSX-R1000 +11.812s
6. Jonathan Rea GBR Castrol Honda CBR1000RR +12.371s
7. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +13.280s
8. Leon Camier GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +17.419s
9. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R +17.569s
10. Jakub Smrz CZE Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +18.420s
11. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia S1000RR +20.031s
12. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +20.405s
13. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki RTS ZX-10R +26.693s
14. Maxime Berger FRA Supersonic Ducati 1098R +38.429s
15. Ruben Xaus ESP Castrol Honda CBR1000RR +40.164s
16. Noriyuki Haga JPN PATA Aprilia RSV-4 +49.081s
17. Mark Aitchison AUS Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +57.930s
18. Fabrizio Lai ITA Echo CRS Honda CBR1000RR +1min 03.039s
RT. Joan Lascorz ESP Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 9 laps completed
RT. Roberto Rolfo ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 6 laps completed
DNS. James Toseland GBR BMW Italia S1000RR
DNS. Chris Vermeulen AUS Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R
Race 2 Results
1. Eugene Laverty IRL Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 31mins 19.948secs
2. Marco Melandri ITA Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 +0.327s
3. Michel Fabrizio ITA Suzuki Alstare GSX-R1000 +2.466s
4. Noriyuki Haga JPN PATA Aprilia RSV-4 +2.583s
5. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +4.202s
6. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia S1000RR +10.865s
7. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +11.038s
8. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +18.724s
9. Joan Lascorz ESP Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +20.093
10. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R +20.376s
11. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki RTS ZX-10R +21.111s
12. Ruben Xaus ESP Castrol Honda CBR1000RR +28.608s
13. Roberto Rolfo ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +33.459s
14. Mark Aitchison AUS Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +42.810s
15. Fabrizio Lai ITA Echo CRS Honda CBR1000RR +55.759s
RT. Maxime Berger FRA Supersonic Ducati 1098R 13 laps completed
RT. Leon Camier GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 7 laps completed
RT. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR 0 laps completed
RT. Jonathan Rea GBR Castrol Honda CBR1000RR 0 laps completed
RT. Jakub Smrz CZE Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R 0 laps completed
DNS. James Toseland GBR BMW Italia S1000RR
DNS. Chris Vermeulen AUS Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R
Championship Standings after Round 4
1.Carlos Checa – Althea Ducati – 145
2.Marco Melandri – Yamaha WSBK – 118
3. Max Biaggi – Alitalia Aprilia – 117
4. Jonathan Rea – Castrol Honda – 89
5. Eugene Laverty – Yamaha WSBK – 85
6. Leon Haslam – BMW Motorrad – 84
7. Michel Fabrizio – Alstare Suzuki – 74
8. Leon Camier – Alitalia Aprilia – 58
9. Jakub Smrz – Effenbert-Liberty Ducati – 55
10. Noriyuki Haga – Pata Aprilia – 47
11. Troy Corser – BMW Motorrad – 46
12. Ayrton Badovini – Italia BMW – 35
13. Tom Sykes – Kawasaki SBK – 34
14. Joan Lascorz – Kawasaki Racing – 33
15. Ruben Xaus – Castrol Honda – 31
16. Sylvain Guintoli – Effenbert-Liberty Ducati – 29
17. Roberto Rolfo – Pedercini Kawasaki – 15
18. Mark Aitchison – Pedercini Kawasaki – 9
19. Maxime Berger – Supersonic Ducati – 5
20. Barry Veneman – Italia BMW – 3
21. Joshua Waters – Yoshimura Suzuki – 3
22. James Toseland – Italia BMW – 2
23. Fabrizio Lai – Echo Sport Honda – 1
24. Bryan Staring – Pedercini Kawasaki – 1
Manufacturer Standings after Round 4
1. Ducati – 152
2. Yamaha – 147
3. Aprilia – 139
4. BMW – 101
5. Honda – 93
6. Suzuki – 74
7. Kawasaki – 53
The next race is at Miller Motorsports Park in USA on 30th May.
