A huge congratulations to our Sponsor team, all their hard
work paid off in their first race!
We would like to give an enormous thank you to the team. The
clients we sent to the race had a fantastic time, Paul Denning the team manager
and all the mechanics really made our guests feel welcome.
Eugene Laverty stormed to victory on his Voltcom
Crescent Suzuki debut in race one at Phillip Island in Australia on Sunday
afternoon, securing the first World Championship win for the Japanese
manufacturer since 2010. 
Fighting back from a difficult start,
a determined Laverty made his way through from seventh to hunt down the leading
pack of Giugliano, Melandri and Guintoli by lap seven. Biding his time, the
Irishman advanced on the leaders, making his break for the lead on lap 17 and
not looking back. The Yoshimura-powered GSX-R firmly controlled the pace for
the remaining five laps bringing the first victory for Crescent Suzuki on the
world stage. Race two continued to find Laverty challenging for the lead, a
brief battle in the opening laps resulted in the Suzuki GSX-R again dominating
the mid-race before a mechanical issue – causing a visible engine failure -
bought about an early end to the weekend’s activities.
Alex Lowes, battling the injury sustained in
Saturday’s free practice, looked to be finding a strong rhythm in his debut
race in the eni FIM Superbike World Championship, before a crash at turn one
saw his efforts halted prematurely. Regrouping for race two, the Englishman’s
team worked tirelessly to rebuild the Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000.
Despite running on at turn four in the opening lap, Lowes’ determination saw
him charging through the field and into the top 10, from 21st, in just five
laps. Scoring his fastest lap of the race on his second revolution, Lowes held
the fastest time for a further 10. The ankle injury ultimately compromising his
race, and causing a further mistake at turn four, Lowes finished his debut weekend
with three points and a top 13 finish to show for his brave efforts.
Sunshine, blue skies and a pleasant
22°C greeted the growing crowd as the track temperature fluctuated by more than
10 degrees between the two races, peaking at 48°C for the afternoon’s event. As
the championship prepares to travel back to Europe, Aprilia’s Sylvain Guintoli
heads the standings with 41 points, Laverty’s win positions him in fifth and
Lowes begins his rookie campaign in 15th.Voltcom Crescent Suzuki will now use the month-long break to re-evaluate the data from this weekend’s racing before preparing for the first European leg of the World Championship with a private test at Jerez on 31st March ahead of the second round of competition at Aragon in Spain on Sunday 13th April.
Below is response from the fantastic racers and the Team manager
on the action packed day!
Eugene Laverty:
“A day of highs and lows! The first race was incredible! To be
so far back on the first lap and come through to win, it was the perfect race
for us and a nice way to pay back the whole team for the belief they’ve shown
in me. Paul Denning worked hard to get me on board and he delivered everything
I needed. He brought in my Crew Chief Phil Marron, Davide Gentile to work on
the electronics, and Stan, who I’ve worked with before. All the rest of the
boys have welcomed me, so it was nice to be able to reward them with the win
right away, and it’s a win that means more to me than any so far in my WSBK
career. The second race was a disappointment for everyone. We didn’t deserve
that, that’s for sure but that’s racing and unfortunately that’s how it goes
sometimes.”
Alex Lowes:
“I’m frustrated with today. I tried really hard and don’t have a
lot to show for it really. The first race crash, and in the second race the run
on, on the first lap and then the crash later was all because I was struggling
to change gear with my foot. I had a numbing injection, lost a bit of feeling
and I couldn’t change gear so it was hard work! I was riding through the pain,
so to just get three points has upset me a bit because we had such good pace
all through the test. I’ve never been here before and we were still looking
like we could run at the front and challenge for a podium so I’m really
disappointed, but I’m going to come back fitter and stronger and we should be
ok for Aragon.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“It’s very strange to have won our first ever World Superbike
race - and in such a dominant fashion - and still be leaving Phillip Island
feeling very disappointed! As a team we are very sorry to have let Eugene down
in race two when another podium - and quite possibly another win - was on the
cards. We will do everything in our power to ensure it’s the last time!
“The additional disappointment is for Alex who was so unlucky to
dislocate his ankle in the Saturday morning crash, many other riders crashed
heavily and got away with it. The injury made it impossible to enter the
corners properly, and inevitably the difficulty in down-shifting gears caused
the mistakes in the races. The frustrating thing is that he was still so fast
and could have joined the fight at the front.
“I have to once again thank the team and all our partners for
getting us and the Suzuki GSX-R back in to the winner’s circle and on top of
that, thank Eugene for believing in this project and for riding with such
aggression, precision and outright desire to win.”
Phillip Island – eni FIM Superbike World Championship – Race
One:
1. EUGENE LAVERTY (VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI) 33’39.440: 2. Marco Melandri (Aprilia) +2.959:
3. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia) +3.034: 4. Davide Giugliano (Ducati) +6.972: 5.
Loris Baz (Kawasaki) +11.132: DNF. ALEX LOWES (VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI):
Phillip Island – eni FIM Superbike World Championship – Race
Two:
1. Guintoli (Aprilia) 21’34.034: 2. Baz (Kawasaki) +0.283: 3.
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) +1.103: 4. Giugliano (Ducati) +2.052: 5. Jonathan Rea
(Honda) +4.951: 13. ALEX LOWES (VOLTCOM CRESCENT
SUZUKI) +19.694: DNF. EUGENE LAVERTY (VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI):
World Championship Classification:
1.
Guintoli 41: 2. Baz 31: 3. Melandri 28: 4. Giugliano 26: 5. EUGENE
LAVERTY (VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI) 25: 15. ALEX LOWES (VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI)
3:
Good luck to Crescent Suzuki with the next race in Aragon, Spain on 13th
April!
Objektum Modernization are cheering you on!
Thanks for reading
The Objektum Team
Objektum Modernization are cheering you on!
Thanks for reading
The Objektum Team
