Milwaukee Aprilia score double #WSBK points finish in Race 1 at Assen

Milwaukee Aprilia demonstrated on Saturday the progress they have made after strong showings in Superpole and Race 1 at Assen. After the team’s best Superpole session of the year saw them start in 3rd and 6th place respectively, Lorenzo and Eugene made quick getaways from the grid at a sunny TT Circuit Assen.

Battling with the Ducati of Xavi Fores and Yamaha of Alex Lowes for much of the race, both riders showed their mettle as they lapped consistently and forced some impressive passes on their competitors. Although they had to manage separate technical issues towards the end of the race, Lorenzo and Eugene brought their RSV4 RFs home in 5th and 8th positions to rack up yet another double points finish for Milwaukee Aprilia.

In what has so far proved to be a highly competitive WorldSBK season the team are looking to further demonstrate their progress in 2017. With a first and second row start for the riders on Sunday, the team are hopeful of another strong showing at the high-end of the points.

The action continues at #DutchWorldSBK with Race 2 at 13:00 (local time) at TT Circuit Assen

Keep up with Milwaukee Aprilia on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as they contest the 2017 WorldSBK Championship.

Mick Shanley, Team Manager

We had a positive day today at Milwaukee Aprilia, and we’ve clearly made steps forward since the previous round and test at Aragon which have allowed us to be more competitive here.

Qualifying 3rd and 6th [Lorenzo and Eugene respectively] was a big improvement. We struggled a little to fully deliver on those positions in the race, but both riders finished well within the points which was encouraging.

There’s a few issues with tyre wear we need to manage tonight so that we can be stronger in Race 2, but with another first and second row start tomorrow there are lots of positives for the team to take from today.
Lorenzo Savadori #32
Grid: P3 Race: P5, 11 points

It was a good race for us today, and good for me because I haven’t raced since Thailand last month. I was happy with the qualifying we did, and the front row was a good place to be.

I pushed hard at the beginning of the race and made a good gap to the guys behind me, but then I started to have problems with rear grip and lost some positions. I still made some quick laps though and 5th was a good finish.

I need to look at the data with my crew chief and engineers tonight to see where we can improve. There is another warm up session tomorrow though so we still have time to test and find some speed, because for sure we can be quicker.
Eugene Laverty #50
Grid: P6 Race: P8, 8 points

So far it’s been a really positive weekend, much better than the previous three rounds. Practice went well and qualifying on the second row was a big boost for us after we’d worked so hard.

In the race I was able to have some good battles with the guys around me, and the bike was performing pretty well for me. It was a shame that the front tyre went off towards the end though, and we had a mechanical issue which held us back.

The feeling on the bike is much better now, but we need to get on top of the front tyre issues we had because things like that can hurt us in the race. We still have a top five finish in our sights and that’s really where we should be right now.