After the disappointment of Race 1 which saw record-breaking pole sitter Eugene taken out by another rider and teammate Lorenzo crash, Milwaukee Aprilia were prepared for a tough fightback on Sunday.
Due to their DNFs Eugene and Lorenzo lined up P10 and P11 respectively in the thick of the midfield action. At the start both riders lost out to Camier behind who took P9. A mechanical issue for him however dropped him out of the running, Lorenzo passing him at the start of Lap 2 with Eugene following.
They ran together before a retirement for Razgatlioglu ahead promoted everyone from P7. They then chased down Baz in seventh, Lorenzo passing on Lap 8 and Eugene following suit on Lap 12 to take P8.
Eugene had a lonely end of the race, chasing Rinaldi and passing him at the death on the last lap to come home P7 behind his teammate.
With a weekend result that is not representative of the strong progress and development the team have made in recent rounds, Milwaukee Aprilia continue to push hard for more podium finishes with both riders as the season enters its final three races.
Round 11 of the WorldSBK championship takes place at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in France, 28-30 September.
Eugene Laverty #50
“The race was really tough. The guys I was battling with had so much rear grip and suddenly it got difficult. It felt like I was riding on ice and I was so gentle getting off the brakes and touching the gas. Opening it up 100% was so difficult and it just didn’t feel like I was really racing the bike. We know that our bike is good now and this track is quite slippy; anywhere where the rear tyre life drops off we struggle. I can’t make the rear push quite as much as Lorenzo who’s bigger, but that is something we will address in Magny-Cours. Not having race data from yesterday definitely hurt us in the race today. Qualifying was a great feeling but I knew we still had to push hard in the races. I had some fantastic laps this weekend where I didn’t even have to work hard, so the aim is to get that feeling again next round.”