Savadori and Laverty take home points after tough Race 2 at Magny-Cours

Race 2 at Magny-Cours yielded a double points finish for Milwaukee Aprilia

After finishing fourth in Race 1, his season-best result, Lorenzo started on pole position for Race 2. After a torrid time on Saturday Eugene aimed to make amends from P6.

A slow start saw Lorenzo drop to P6 on the first lap. A pass on Razgatlioglu who forced his way past at the start initially worked to regain P5, but opened the door for Sykes to push through and demote Lorenzo to sixth. His race then ebbed between closing the gap to Sykes ahead, before dropping back and managing the barrier to Fores and then Lowes behind. After a lonely final stage of the race Lorenzo held on to P6 across the finish line, earning 10 points and capping off a strong weekend for him after disappointing races in Misano and Portimao.

Eugene’s unfortunate run of pace this weekend continued on Sunday, losing out at the start to Rea, Sykes and Fores to end the first lap in P9. He held position until Lap 6 when Lowes passed, and dropped further back to P12 on Lap 11 after a mistake let Camier and Baz through. He eventually forced his way past Razgatlioglu in the closing stages, taking P11 with 7 hard-fought points.

After mixed fortunes this weekend, highlights including Lorenzo’s third place in qualifying and fourth place finish in Race 1, the team and the championship leave Europe for the last time in 2018 for South America. Round 12 takes place at the brand new and un-ridden Circuito San Juan Villicum in Argentina. Presenting a new challenge a clean slate for the entire grid, Milwaukee Aprilia will aim to build on the progress shown in recent rounds to reach the sharp end of the grid and finish the season in style.

Round 12 of the WorldSBK championship takes place at the Circuito San Juan Villicum in Argentina, 12-14 October.

Shaun Muir – Team Principal

“I think Lorenzo rode with the maturity that we need to see from him this weekend, so we should be happy with fourth and sixth for him at Magny-Cours. He’s been making steps forward and that shows, and he can go to Argentina now with confidence.

Eugene conversely really struggled this weekend, he didn’t find that ideal setup and he had issues with grip here in the front tyre. It wasn’t his best weekend, but he’s been building and improving on the bike and I have no doubt he will bounce back.

We will hopefully see another strong improvement for Argentina. We’ll start there afresh with both riders, and hopefully we can get them in the top six where they should be and finish the round on a high.”

Lorenzo Savadori #32 – Aprilia RSV4-RF – Race 2 grid: Pole position :  Race 2 result: P6 – 10 points :  Total weekend points: 23

“It wasn’t an easy race for me today. I lost too much time at the beginning when Razgatlioglu passed me and then I had to fight again. I closed the gap to Sykes and had a consistent pace, but it was difficult to close the front riders.

Compared to yesterday we made a few changes, some worked some not so much, but I didn’t have the pace and rhythm to attack Sykes and Melandri at the end unfortunatley, so P6 was the best we could do today.

For Argentina I hope we can continue with the good work we have done recently. None of us know what the track will be like, or the lines and the surface, so it will be interesting to learn.”

Eugene Laverty #50 – Aprilia RSV4-RF – Race 2 grid: P6 – Row 4 :  Race 2 result: P11 – 7 points :  Total weekend points: 12

“Race 2 was so tough, yesterday was bad and this was no better. I had no rear grip for most of the race, the first three laps felt good and I thought we were on to something, but again it just disappeared completely.

I just want to put this round behind me and forget the struggle, honestly we didn’t learn a great deal and whenever we tried to make positive changes it just didn’t work.

I’m looking forward to Argentina; it’s a clean slate for everyone and a good chance to make some steps on equal ground. Qatar after that is a good track for me too so I’m just aiming to finish the season on a high note.”

Source: Savadori and Laverty take home points after tough Race 2 at Magny-Cours