It was another double points finish for Milwaukee Aprilia riders Eugene Laverty and stand-in teammate Julián Simón in a tough Race 2 at Aragon on Sunday
After both scored well on Saturday, they lined up in Race 2 aiming to build on their results. Eugene, starting 5th via the reversed grid rules, made a good getaway and ran as high as second as he diced with Alex Lowes and Michael Van Der Mark.
He again used the Aprilia RSV4 RF horsepower to full effect, but as he struggled with his braking he was unable to maintain his pace consistently. After a tense battle with Jordi Torres and Xavi Fores, Eugene eventually settled into his final position of 9th.
The team now have an important day of testing at Aragon on Monday, where they will make full use of the weekend’s data to improve the RSV4 RF ahead of Round 4 at Assen. With teammate Lorenzo Savadori sidelined by injury, Eugene will be the only Milwaukee Aprilia in action and will take advantage of his experience this weekend to progress.
Round 4 of the 2017 WorldSBK season takes place at TT Circuit Assen in Assen, Netherlands from 28-30 April.
Eugene Laverty #50
Grid: 5th / Race: 9th, 7 points
“It was a tough weekend overall, and I did what I could today to bring it home with some decent points. At the start I was up to 2nd and was up for a good fight, but the other guys just rode around me. The wind was really bad out there too and it affected all of us. I was getting pushed wide by it a few times and they were difficult conditions to ride in. At the moment we don’t have a bike we can fight with, there’s something that we are missing. We need to find lap time as soon as we can, and I’m struggling to get it stopped and turned. There’s an underlying issue, but with a test day tomorrow I think we can get to the bottom of it and hopefully get the bike where we need it.”
Source: Milwaukee Aprilia