Eugene Laverty wins Race 2 at Phillip Island, WSBK.

2013/2/24. A formidable last part of the race allowed Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) to get the better of team mate Sylvain Guintoli and Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team) to win race 2 at Phillip Island. Thanks to this successful effort in the first Round, Laverty is now the eni FIM Superbike World Championship leader, tied up in points with Race 1 winner Guintoli. The 26 year old from Toomebridge, Northern Ireland, started his final charge on the lead on lap 20 by overtaking Melandri at Turn 4 and setting an incredible 1'31.168 (new lap record). Laverty then got past Guintoli on the straight and held onto 1st place up to the chequered flag.

Melandri was part of the battle for top-3 positions but couldn't counter attack his former team mate's move on lap 20. After bad luck in Race 1, the Ravenna-born rider ended up the first round on a positive note. Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma Aprilia), after a long catch up with the front runners, made a small mistake and ran wide during the last lap, in a desperate attempt to overtake fellow Italian Melandri for 3rd position. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), far from the ideal fitness condition, finished 5th ahead of Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia), Jules Cluzel (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) and Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike). Following riders Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) and Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike) lost a lot of ground on lap 1 after running out wide at MG Corner, following a collision between Welshman Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team) and Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team).

Davies was able to get the bike upright and to make it to the pits for a tyre change, but was later penalised with a ride-through by Race Direction for not observing the 2013 pit-stop regulation. Carlos Checa (Team Ducati Alstare) did not take part to Race 2 to undergo some medical checks at Melbourne, following the nasty-looking crash of the previous race.

2013/2/24. Aprilia gets 1-2-3 at Phillip Island World Superbike Race 1. It's the second time that the manufacturer from Noale monopolise the podium (first one was at Nurburgring last year) with works rider Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) taking his 4th win of the career in his first race onboard the RSV4, ahead of team mate Eugene Laverty.

The race started with Eugene Laverty moving off well from second position, trying to run away from his opponents. The Irishman was able to keep the gap between himself and the rest of the field until he was caught up by Guintoli, who overtook Laverty on lap 15 and led the race until the chequered flag. Later in the race Laverty had to deal with a confident Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma Aprilia), who closed the gap and had a shot at 2nd place.

Laverty waited until the last lap to make the perfect move on the Italian at 'Lukey Heights'. Right outside of top-3 is Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team) who battled hard with fellow Englishman Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) up to the finish line, to end up ahead of his rival for just 0.051 seconds, with team mate Loris Baz to follow. After a competitive first part of the race, Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike) struggled a bit to keep the pace and eventually finished 7th ahead of team mate Jonathan Rea.

Two potential contenders for the podium positions got out of the race during lap 13, as Carlos Checa (Team Ducati Alstare), accidentally hit Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team) from behind after outbraking himself, while entering Turn 4.

1 6 50 S. GUINTOLI FRA Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory 22 1'31.339 319,5 1'30.683 320,5 25 25 1

2 2 58 E. LAVERTY IRL Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory 22 1.352 1'31.440 315,8 1'30.429 317,6 20 20 2

3 3 84 M.FABRIZIO ITA Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 Factory 22 1.359 1'31.323 320,5 1'30.581 319,5 16 16 3

4 12 19 C. DAVIES GBR BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK BMW S1000 RR 22 5.702 1'31.482 317,6 1'31.870 311,2 13 13 4

5 4 66 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R 22 5.753 1'31.716 315,8 1'30.615 312,1 11 11 5

6 11 76 L. BAZ FRA Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R 22 6.769 1'31.495 317,6 1'31.576 310,3 10 10 6

7 8 91 L. HASLAM GBR Pata Honda World Superbike Honda CBR1000RR 22 6.830 1'31.623 308,6 1'30.998 305,9 9 9 7

8 9 65 J. REA GBR Pata Honda World Superbike Honda CBR1000RR 22 17.944 1'32.106 316,7 1'31.742 310,3 8 8 8

9 7 2 L. CAMIER GBR Fixi Crescent Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 22 19.152 1'31.977 308,6 1'30.991 307,7 7 7 9

10 13 27 M.NEUKIRCHNER GER MR-Racing Ducati Panigale 1199R 22 26.557 1'32.300 305,1 1'32.010 304,2 6 6 10

Race 2

1 2 58 E. LAVERTY IRL Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory 22 1'31.168 317,6 1'30.429 317,6 20 25 45 1

2 6 50 S. GUINTOLI FRA Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory 22 0.418 1'31.506 315,8 1'30.683 320,5 25 20 45 2

3 5 33 M. MELANDRI ITA BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK BMW S1000 RR 22 1.382 1'31.549 316,7 1'30.615 318,6 16 16 5

4 3 84 M.FABRIZIO ITA Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 Factory 22 2.282 1'31.517 317,6 1'30.581 319,5 16 13 29 3

5 4 66 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R 22 11.545 1'31.856 314,9 1'30.615 312,1 11 11 22 4

6 10 34 D. GIUGLIANO ITA Althea Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 22 12.508 1'31.830 314,9 1'31.283 309,5 10 10 12

7 17 16 J. CLUZEL FRA Fixi Crescent Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 22 17.330 1'31.799 314,0 1'32.402 309,5 5 9 14 8

8 9 65 J. REA GBR Pata Honda World Superbike Honda CBR1000RR 22 17.339 1'32.220 319,5 1'31.742 310,3 8 8 16 6

9 7 2 L. CAMIER GBR Fixi Crescent Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 22 19.886 1'31.820 310,3 1'30.991 307,7 7 7 14 9

10 8 91 L. HASLAM GBR Pata Honda World Superbike Honda CBR1000RR 22 19.996 1'31.758 306,8 1'30.998 305,9 9 6 15 7

2013 World Superbike Championship Points:

1. Eugene Laverty, 45

2. Sylvain Guintoli, 45

3. Michel Fabrizio, 29

4. Tom Sykes, 22

5. Marco Melandri, 16

6. Jonathan Rea, 16

7. Leon Haslam, 15

8. Jules Cluzel, 14

9. Leon Camier, 14

10. Chaz Davies, 13

2013/2/23. Spaniard Carlos Checa has started the 'Panigale' era of Ducati in World Superbike by winning the Tissot-Superpole at Phillip Island. The Ducati Team Alstare managed to take the best out of the new Borgo Panigale superbike by setting an incredible 1'30.234, that means a brand-new Best Lap for the series and the 10th pole position of his career. Checa saved a Superpole tyre for the final minutes of a hard-fought Superpole 3, with all 9 riders desperate to find a way into the front rows for tomorrow's World Superbike races. The choice made by the former champion and the team led by Francis Batta proved to be successful, as Checa got the nod from an extremely competitive Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) by just 0.195 seconds.

After being the fastest rider in qualifying, Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma Aprilia) gave his fans another pleasant surprise by ending up in third place. This good performance tells a lot about the good shape of the Rome-born rider, who has always been more of a Sunday racer than a qualifier. The second row of the grid will be headed tomorrow by 2012 Mr. Superpole Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), whose lap-time was exactly matched by fifth place Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team). Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) and Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) will aim to be part of the battle for the rostrum position moving off from the 6th and 7th grid slot, as well as following Pata Honda World Superbike duo of Leon Haslam and Jonathan Rea.

Phillip Island - FIM Superbike World Championship - Superpole 3

1. Carlos Checa (Team Ducati Alstare) Ducati Panigale 1199 1'30.234

2. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'30.429

3. Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'30.581

4. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'30.615

5. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK) BMW S1000 RR 1'30.615

6. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'30.683

7. Leon Camier (Fixi Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'30.991

8. Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike) Honda CBR1000RR 1'30.998

9. Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike) Honda CBR1000RR 1'31.742

10. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'31.283

2013/2/22. A close battled Qualifying 1 put an end to the first World Superbike day of 2013. The session was held under the clear skies of Phillip Island, with perfect temperatures and average winds blowing inland. Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma Aprilia), after being the fastest rider of Free Practice 1, topped once again the timesheets after setting a 1'31.317 lap-time, just ahead (0.075 secs) of works Aprilia rider Eugene Laverty.

The session was characterized by very competitive and balanced performances on track, considering the top-13 riders within a second and the five brands in the first seven positions. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK) showed good form by finishing third, followed by Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki), team mate Chaz Davies, Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike) and 2012 runner-up Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team).

Carlos Checa (Ducati Panigale Team Alstare) was on track this afternoon despite the spectacular crash he had in Free Practice 1 at Turn 5. The Spaniard ended the session in 12th position - after completing only 7 laps - ahead of Max Neukirchner (MR-Racing Ducati Panigale).