Celebrations All Round as Laverty Claims Maiden Win
Red Bull Honda rider Eugene Laverty enjoyed a champagne celebration this afternoon (17 April) as he claimed his maiden British Supersport win aboard his Dunlop-shod Honda CBR600RR at Thruxton, Hampshire.

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Red Bull Honda rider Eugene Laverty enjoyed a champagne celebration this afternoon (17 April) as he claimed his maiden British Supersport win aboard his Dunlop-shod Honda CBR600RR at Thruxton, Hampshire. The 19-year-old rider executed an inch-perfect start to the 20-lap British Supersport race and in the opening stages, the Ulsterman kept the door firmly closed on the ensuing pack of Stuart Easton, Cal Crutchlow and Tom Sykes. By lap seven Laverty had extended his race advantage to nearly two seconds as he set the early pace at the UK’s fastest track. Throughout the race the Toomebridge rider demonstrated his impressive racing ability, which was clearly evident when he held on superbly as the bike broke out of line through the Complex section of the track, but the talented-teenager was unfazed and continued to power ahead of his rivals. By lap fifteen Easton mounted a serious challenge on Laverty and pressurised him for the lead. Easton momentarily passed him at Church but Laverty immediately reclaimed the front spot. However, two laps later the Red Bull rider took a wide line into the entry of Campbell and as a result was demoted to third. The tenacious rider immediately mounted a counter-attack on Leon Camier, while passing some backmarkers, and moved up to second place moments later. By the following lap Laverty was back on top and on his way to claiming his first-ever British Supersport win. As a result of his resounding victory, Laverty now lies in second place in the overall Championship four points shy of series leader Cal Crutchlow. Eugene Laverty: “I started off well and got the holeshot on the first corner and kept opening up the gap. At one point I got +1.9s on my pit board but then I lost some time through the Complex. I dropped back to third but luckily the backmarkers came into play. Once I was ahead of the field again I concentrated on defending my line for the last couple of laps and went on to get my first Supersport win! It’s an amazing feeling.” Havier Beltran: “This result is what the Red Bull Honda programme has set out to achieve. All the hard work and effort from the rider, team and everyone involved has paid off. Eugene is now in amongst the best guys in the Championship and we look forward to the next couple of races.” Supersport Result 1, Eugene Laverty (Red Bull Honda) 26m12.306s, 2, Stuart Easton (Ducati) +0.113s, 3, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) +0.225s, 4, Leon Camier (Honda) +0.480s, 5, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) +7.550s, 6, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) +10.764s, 7, Steve Plater (Yamaha) +11.291s, 8, Jamie Robinson (Honda) +11.514s, 9, Steven Neate (Honda) +12.082s, 10, Sam Owens (Honda) +29.436s. Fastest Lap: Leon Camier (Honda) 1m17.756s (109.08mph) British Supersport Championship Standings (after round 3) 1, Cal Crutchlow 61pts 2, Eugene Laverty 57pts 3, Stuart Easton 51pts 4, Pere Riba 38pts 5, Tom Sykes 28pts 6, Jamie Robinson 27pts 7, Leon Camier 24pts 8, Dennis Hobbs 13pts 9, Jay Vincent 12pts 10, Rob Frost 11pts =, Martin Jessopp 11pts =, Simon Andrews 11pts The next round of the British Supersport Championship takes place at Oulton Park in two weeks’ time (30 April/1 May).
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