Yamaha World Superbike Team riders Eugene Laverty and Marco Melandri were on top form at Silverstone today claiming an impressive double podium a head in the warm British sunshine. Laverty and Melandri completed two solid races in second and third places respectively at the historic track where the Yamaha R1 has proved it’s strength yet again.
In race one, Eugene Laverty shot off his second place on the grid to immediately take the lead, a position he proceeded to hold until the last turn of the sixth lap when he surrendered to the championship leader, Checa. The 25 year old World Superbike rookie pushed hard, holding off advances from Hopkins and Camier behind to complete the first race of this home round in second place, in front of an enthusiastic crowd. Fellow Teammate Marco Melandri was on equally impressive form, moving up to fifth place off the grid. A strong battle with Hopkins and Camier mid race saw the Italian interchange positions with his adversaries on several occasions. Melandri was tailing Camier and preparing to make his move when the Brit was forced to prematurely retire due to engine failure with just three laps to go. The Italian then proceeded to complete the race in third place, joining his Yamaha World Superbike teammate on the podium.
Laverty and Melandri proved to be just as determined and consistent in race two, which was almost a replica of the first race of the day. Laverty performed flawlessly, holding the lead until the sixth lap before finally powering his YZF-R1 to the chequered flag in second place while his teammate followed close behind to claim the third spot on the second podium of the day. From a perfect second row start off the grid, Melandri shot up to fourth place. The Italian, bottled necked in traffic was caused to fall back to fifth and then sixth place before regaining fourth by lap 10. While holding off advances from Biaggi, Melandri proceeded to battle his way up to third place.
Following today’s incredible performance and four podiums, Yamaha is now holding second place in the Manufacturers standings. Melandri leaves Silverstone with 272 points and sitting in third place in the standings, having succeeded in closing the gap to Biaggi in second place, to just 9 points and 71 points short of Checa in the lead. Laverty is sitting in a solid fourth place on 208 points, 64 behind his teammate and 50 ahead of Haslam in fifth. With four rounds left to go and eight races, there are still a total of 200 points up for graps.
Eugene Laverty
Yamaha World Superbike Team – 2nd, 2nd
“Yes I’m happy with the 40 points today. Not a victory but two second places are quite good. In race one Carlos went by me and pushed on but I had some limits with the bike so I couldn’t really catch up. In the end, second place was more than enough. In race two I really wanted to push for a victory, especially to cheer up my brother John in hospital, but I’m sure he’s happy with my results. I had a better second race, I changed the tyre and there was an improvement. In the later part of the race I tried to move my body position on the bike and began to close in on Carlos, but when I did, he reacted. He had the edge on us today so he would have been extremely difficult to beat”.
Marco Melandri
Yamaha World Superbike Team – 3rd, 3rd
“In race one, I had a very unstable bike, I didn’t have a good feeling from the beginning of the race and struggled with a lack of rear grip. I lost a lot of time with Hopkins and Haga in front of me and it wasn’t easy to get by. We changed the tyre before race two to get better grip on the left side, but I hit a stone with my knee on the straight and it caused me to lose a lot of time on that lap. I started to improve then and saw I could catch Camier . I was struggling to keep Max at bay but I pushed to stay ahead. I’m happy with my double podium today. Now I’m looking forward to some holidays and I hope to come back stronger than ever.”
Andrea Dosoli – Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
“Two great races today! Four podiums in an event is an amazing result. Eugene did a fantastic job, at his home round in front of his many fans. He managed both races perfectly, with two great starts off the grid, sitting in the lead before Checa overtook him, then following him to the flag. Great job! Marco got a good start from his second row on the grid but got held up with Hopkins and lost precious seconds trying to get away from his adversaries, especially in the second race. Well done to both sides of the garage, they worked really hard yet again. We highlighted once again the strength of the R1, which has taken Yamaha into the second place in the manufacturer’s standings and consolidated the lead in the 2011 Team standings.”
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2011 World Superbike United Kingdom
Silverstone 31/07/2011
race I
1 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 38’06.477
2 Eugene Laverty Yamaha GBR 0’03.304
3 Marco Melandri Yamaha ITA 0’04.782
4 Leon Haslam BMW GBR 0’07.116
5 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 0’11.057
6 Sylvain Guintoli Ducati FRA 0’21.899
7 Joan Lascorz Kawasaki ESP 0’22.308
8 Maxime Berger Ducati FRA 0’22.734
9 Troy Corser BMW AUS 0’25.491
10 Ayrton Badovini BMW ITA 0’25.725
11 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 0’25.844
12 James Toseland BMW GBR 0’45.578
13 Roberto Rolfo Kawasaki ITA 0’51.650
14 Jon Kirkham Suzuki GBR 0’57.310
15 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 1’36.457
race II
1 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 38’03.361
2 Eugene Laverty Yamaha GBR 0’02.274
3 Marco Melandri Yamaha ITA 0’03.675
4 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 0’03.960
5 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 0’04.405
6 Sylvain Guintoli Ducati FRA 0’10.958
7 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 0’11.387
8 Leon Haslam BMW GBR 0’11.496
9 Michel Fabrizio Suzuki ITA 0’12.247
10 Ayrton Badovini BMW ITA 0’19.705
11 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0’19.753
12 Maxime Berger Ducati FRA 0’21.582
13 James Toseland BMW GBR 0’27.235
14 Mark Aitchison Kawasaki AUS 0’30.702
15 Jon Kirkham Suzuki GBR 0’42.579
Best Lap
Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 2’05.525
World Superbike World Standing
Rider Standings After Race 9 of 13
1. Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 343
2. Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 281
3. Marco Melandri Yamaha ITA 272
4. Eugene Laverty Yamaha GBR 208
5. Leon Haslam BMW GBR 158
6. Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 146
7. Michel Fabrizio Suzuki ITA 141
8. Ayrton Badovini BMW ITA 118
9. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati FRA 109
10. Noriyuki Haga Aprilia JPN 99
11. Joan Lascorz Kawasaki ESP 97
12. Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 94
13. Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 93
14. Tom Sykes Kawasaki GBR 84
15. Troy Corser BMW AUS 62
16. Ruben Xaus Honda ESP 44
Circuit Length:
5900
Temp:
20
Crowd:
64,000
Weather:
Sunshine
Lap Record:
2’05.259
(Cal Crutchlow, 1/1/2010)
Fastest Lap Ever:
2’04.041
(John Hopkins, 7/31/2011)
Last Years Winner:
Cal Crutchlow
Manufacturer Standings
31/07/2011
1 Ducati 355
2 Yamaha 320
3 Aprilia 320
4 BMW 194
5 Suzuki 158
6 Kawasaki 137
7 Honda 111
