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Milwaukee Aprilia work through issues in 2017

Thursday, 7 December 2017 09:04 GMT

Laverty and Savadori battle through tough season

Ending the season in the top 10 and 11 positions in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship standings, Eugene Laverty and Lorenzo Savadori had a challenging season in 2017, but we able to salvage some strong results in the series as the British-based squad took on the Aprilia machines for 2017.

Irishman Eugene Laverty made a welcomed return to the WorldSBK paddock for 2017, following a two year stint in MotoGP™. With some positive pre-season tests, he was looking forward to the challenge ahead, but had some work to do in order to feel comfortable on board the RSV4. Ending his first weekend with a top ten finishes down under in Phillip Island, he had a strong weekend as the series made its European debut around MotorLand Aragon. Breaking into the top five for the first time of the season, Laverty had a strong weekend in Misano, but his best result of a top four didn’t come until the series took to Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in September, as himself and his team began to make steps forward with some issues they had with the Aprilia. With only six DNF’s of the season – the most notable one around Imola – Laverty was able to have a consistent season and overcome some issues.

Heading into his second full-time WorldSBK season, Savadori made a move into the Championship class with IodaRacing in 2016, and continued on the Aprilia in 2017 – this time with Team Milwaukee Aprilia. The Italian hoped to make ground on the progress of last season when he took a top-nine finish in race two Down Under around Phillip Island. Slowly beginning to understand his pace onboard the machine, he took a top five finish around TT Circuit Assen but a string of tough races followed. Impressing in the second half of the season, the consistency began to develop and he became a regular top eight finisher. With his season ending on a high, the 24-year-old was able to ensure a position in the top-five under the floodlights in Qatar’s Race One before being unable to finish in race two.

Relive all of Milwaukee Aprilia’s racing action in 2017 all with the WorldSBK VideoPass.