Milwaukee Aprilia had a challenging Race 1 at Chang on Saturday, with riders Eugene Laverty and Lorenzo Savadori both scoring despite separate issues on track.
Eugene was the first rider on track in SP2, initially going fastest as the rest of the field turned up the wick and lap times began to drop. Setting his best lap of 1’33.119 on his final run, he lined up P8 on a tight-knit grid, 0.3s from pole.
At the race start both riders held their position as the pack rushed into Turn 1, exploiting the Aprilia’s power on the straight to fend off the opposition. Eugene ran consistently for the first three laps, before a problem with the fuel overflow on his bike caused him to slow as he tried to prevent further issues for himself. He looked set to finish P10 before a strong last-lap pass on Torres at Turn 3 put him P9, earning the team 7 points.
Morning warm up on Sunday takes place at 11:30 local time (GMT +7), ahead of the final Race 2 at 16:00.
Eugene Laverty #50
“We did a pretty strong lap on the qualifying tyre in Superpole 2. I was surprised how close the field was in that session, we were P8 which wasn’t great but only 0.3s off pole, so the lap time was decent. In the race I made a good start but there was no room before Turn 1 to make up positions, and I got held up. There was a problem with the fuel overflow that made things harder, and I lost quite a bit of time managing that in the middle of the race. I was able to chase the pack down and take P9 for some more points, but it was a disappointing result no doubt. I start P6 on the grid for Race 2 which should help us get a better result, and that’s why I was pushing so hard at the end, to make up that position. The bike is still lacking some agility which hurts me in the tight sections, and we need to work on that. The engine is fantastic and working really well here though, we’re one of the quickest in the speed trap and that’s a really good tool to have.”