Cycle News

VOL. 50 ISSUE 31 AUGUST 6, 2013 Eugene Laverty who played two hands of slick poker in the tricky surfaces of Silverstone to record praiseworthy second and third rewards. He also took his first pole on Saturday, so in jumping over a plainly unhappy Marco Melandri to third overall in the championship, he was the biggest single "winner." spun on the rim on lap two. "I rode well in that race and we had a bit of a battle so I could have finished second anyway, but it was hard to take," Lowes said. "We had lots in reserve in that race, and I felt pretty good. He passed where he could, and I passed where I could and he won. I finished second, simple as that. I respect him, I do not dislike him, but I am a little bit gutted because I thought that move was a bit harsh and I fell off my bike." There is a deep mutual respect between them - as they know how good the other is in this class - but the simple fact is that they are racing for a World Championship that both want to win intensely. At the end of the day, Sofuoglu is 29 points behind Lowes, more than Rea, Laverty and Camier; Baz, Cluzel and Laverty. You would have gotten good odds on those top three finishes pre-race, but in the treacherous conditions, ever changing too, they richly deserved their champagne. For those sitting 1-2-3 in the championship before Silverstone - Aprilia's Sylvain Guintoli, Kawasaki's Tom Sykes and BMW's Marco Melandri - Silverstone was mostly pain, though with some gain for Guintoli. The Frenchman's fourth and sixth places puts him 13 points ahead of Sykes, with the disputed Monza results still to be judged on by the FIM's powers that be. For Sykes an 11th and seventh were the result of no confidence on a set-up that was one from perfect in the dry, but just not suitable for anything that did not one whole race win and with so few races left it will take a big upset for Lowes to lose it now. All the same, Yamaha team protested the result because of "irregular riding" from Sofuoglu, but the final verdict – no change and Sofuoglu the winner – means that if the two-man battle had steel in it before, it has titanium in it now. Third in a race that was contested up front all the way by Lowes and Sofuoglu, went to the old fox that is Fabien Foret, Sofuoglu's teammate. On row three in qualifying, unhappy at his pace in general, and yet the mercurial Frenchman put in a podium shift by passing the less experienced Kevin Coghlan on a similar bike with only a few corners left to go. P107 Briefly... Assuming there are two factory Aprilias next year there will be two privateer bikes available, possibly one for Red Devils Roma and one for Althea Racing, But rumors suggest that Carlos Checa is the target of a re-signing or his old Althea team, if they run Aprilias again. The "if" surrounds discussions between Genesio Bevilaqua's Althea team and MV Agusta, if the ParkinGO MV Agusta Corse team does not want to remain racing in the World Superbike paddock. The ParkinGo team indicated that leaving is an option they have considered-to "go" on sabbatical.. Or possibly wait for an all-Evo class in 2015? The most enticing Aprilia set-up of all in the fantasy teams game at Silverstone was Marco Melandri joining Sylvain Guintoli in the factory Aprilia squad, and the now jobless Feel Racing (who will lose the BMW gig at the end of this year) and Eugene Laverty joining Chaz Davies in a Feel Racing squad running sits own privateer Aprilias. There could also be a year for Feel Racing on their own BMWs. Maybe even in the Evo Class, until such times as the Evo class becomes the norm, which appears to be as soon as 2015, according to some but not others. This would suit them well, as the BMW is easily the best Superstock bike now, so when the Evo class comes in it should be the best bet for immediate success. The shape and size of the Honda World Superbike team in 2014 is most likely to be two World Superbike and two World Supersport riders, but who they will be is continued on next page

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