Milwaukee Aprilia Rider Eugene and teammate Lorenzo Savadori took another double points finish in Race One at Lausitz, taking P10 and P7 respectively for the team – and a total haul of 15 points.
Before the race Eugene took a respectable P8 in Superpole 2, finishing the session three tenths off the pace of his teammate.
The team’s race result didn’t quite deliver on the promise of Superpole, with both riders hampered by separate technical issues.
Eugene was caught up in a clash at Turn One at the race start, and was pushed wide into the run-off area. Dropped to the back of the field, he pushed an excellent recovery attack which moved him to P9 by lap five.
From there he passed Reiterberger and shadowed teammate Lorenzo. He fended off Fores and Torres for much of the race, but was then affected by a backshift issue on his RSV4 RF which put him on the backfoot until he could finish P10 with 6 points.
With another chance to prove their mettle on Sunday, the team will ensure both riders and bikes are on song for Race Two. The action continues for Milwaukee Aprilia on Sunday with Race 2 at 13:00 (12:00 GMT).
Eugene Laverty #50
“Superpole wasn’t so bad, eighth wasn’t where we wanted to start but the bike ran well and I felt confident on it which was good. The race was really tough for us. I got tangled up in a Turn One incident which dropped me nearly to last place. After that it was a battle for me, I forced some passes and made my way back through the field. Around Lap seven I had a problem with the backshift which worked intermittently, and the second half of the race I was struggling to keep up with the pace. It was a frustrating end and we were showing a lot of potential. We’ll get the problem fixed for tomorrow, it’s just a shame when the problems hit you in the race. The bike felt good and I was on the leaders’ pace mostly. The top three guys today are still a step ahead, but fourth is there for taking and that has to be our aim for tomorrow.”