Parkalgar Honda rider Eugene Laverty took the lead in the World Supersport championship overall standings with a convincing win at the Misano World Circuit in Italy.
Laverty, who began the race from second on the grid cruised to victory by close to four seconds from Joan Lascorz and Kenan Sofuoglu and returns to the top of the championship for the first time since he won the opening GP of the season at Phillip Island.
The Northern Ireland star took the lead as early as lap three of the race after pole-sitter Michele Pirro crashed out and was never in danger of being headed, as his closest rival in the standings Sefuoglu produced an error strewn display back in third place.
And Laverty was delighted with the performance of his bike and happy to be back in the lead with five races left in the championship season.
“Early on in the race I bided my time as I didn’t want to make any silly mistakes," he said. "Then I got into the lead and kept pushing. When Kenan made a mistake I went for it.
"My Parkalgar Honda was spot on; we made a break-through on front end feel in warm-up and then we improved it again for the race – we got the bike doing exactly what I wanted it to do so it’s a big thank you to the whole team.
"It is a relief and weight off my shoulders to be back in the lead of the Championship. I got to within one point and it reminded me of last year when I got close but it always went away from me so it’s nice to get into the lead where we belong and to have five wins out of eight races.”
World Superbikes Championship – Misano Adriatico Grand Prix result
1) E Laverty (NIR) Parkalgar Honda 36min 46.369sec
2) J Lascorz (SPA) Kawasaki 36:50.245
3) K Sofuoglu (TUR) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 36:52.926
FIM World Supersport Championship – overall standings (after Misano)
1) E Laverty (NIR) 161 points
2) K Sofuoglu (TUR) 158
3) J Lascorz (SPA) 148
4) C Davies (GBR) 97
5) D Salom (SPA) 64
Keep up with Eugene at his official site or follow him on Twitter.
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