MOTORCYCLING: Eugene's destiny in his own hands
EUGENE Laverty has piled the pressure on World Supersport rival Kenan Sofuoglu following an inspired victory in Germany.
Laverty claimed an instrumental win on a day that also saw Ulster's
Jonathan Rea wrap up his fourth World Superbike success of the season
for the TenKate Honda squad at the Nurburgring.
Rea produced a virtuoso performance in the first race to win from
CarlosChecaandCal Crutchlowand smashed his 2009 lap record by almost a second to crown a perfect victory.
Hehad to settle for second place in race two behind Noriyuki Haga of
Japan but it was an ace display by Rea, whose third position in the championship looks secure with two rounds remaining.
Toomebridge man Laverty's triumph in the World Supersport race was his seventh victory of the season and he is now just eight points adrift of Turkish opponent Sofuoglu, who crossed the line in third yesterday behind Gino Rea.
It was Laverty's seventh win of the season and his destiny is now in his
own hands.
"We needed that and it was not easy. We went in the wrong direction with
our set-up and the bike was a little loose in the race," he said.
"I knew I had to break Kenan though so I had to push the whole race and Gino came with me.
"The nice thing now is the title race is in my hands which it wasn't before – if I win both the last races then I will be champion," added Laverty.
"That's a big ask as Kenan is strong particularly at Imola but with
Parkalgar Honda I have the bike, package and team to do it."
Honda star Rea paid tribute to his TenKate Honda team who provided
him with the perfect package after overcoming initial problems in practice on Friday.
"We were really behind the eightball on Friday but did a lot of work that night and came back with a bike we could challenge with.
"We managed to turn that into a win in the first race today bymaking
a break at the front and controlling the race, so all credit has to go to the crew for turning things around," Rea said.
"Nori (Haga) was really fast in the second race so I'm really happy with
a one-two and really think that was probably the maximum points I could get today.
"But I'm really happy – I'm enjoying riding the bike and it's fun to turn up to a race track and just ride the CBR.
"If you'd offered me a one-two on Friday I would have snapped your hand off."
Italy's Max Biaggi holds a 58-point advantage over Leon Haslam in the championship table after he finished fourth and fifth on the factory
Aprilia.
The penultimate round of the championship is at Imola in Italy on
September 26.
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Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 14 February 2012
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