John Laverty scored two 18th place finishes for the Splitlath Redmond team in the searing heat at the Snetterton 300 circuit today.

However it was a difficult day for French teenager Florian Marino, who had two retirements thanks to a reoccurring technical problem at Round Four of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship.

Laverty and Marino had qualified in 26th and 27th places respectively for the first of today’s races after Marino was hit by the problem during qualifying which ruled him out of completing the session.

As Race one got underway, Marino made one of his trademark quick getaways and was up to 19th by the end of the opening lap, making up another place on Lap Three. Close behind, Laverty was also on a bit of a charge and by Lap Four was just behind his team-mate in 19th spot.

But Marino’s race ended prematurely on Lap Six when the technical problem returned and he was forced to pull into the pits. This left Laverty to fly the team flag as he found a pace he was comfortable with and brought his Aprilia RSV4 across the line 18th.

The team worked flat-out between sessions in a bid to rectify the mystery problem with Marino’s bike, but unfortunately Race Two turned out to be an almost carbon copy of the first.


Marino’s quick opening laps had secured him 23rd on the grid with Laverty starting two places back in 25th. This time both got clean starts, Marino holding his place through the first lap and Laverty moving up to 24th.

By Lap Six Laverty had made up a handful of spots and passed his team-mate for 20th place, while Marino settled into 21st.

However Marino’s earlier problem soon reared its head again and the teenager had to retire on Lap 12. Laverty had no such troubles, and kept a cool head to take his second 18th place of the day.

“I’m happy enough with that, two 18th places here today aren’t bad at all,” said the Irishman. “It was very hard out there. It’s been a tough weekend with the heat but everyone was in the same boat there.

“I think we have to be happy with two 18ths here. We are still moving forward each round and to get two top 20s is about where we were looking this weekend. Now we can build on this further and hopefully climb a bit higher up the order when we get to Knockhill next month.”

Marino admitted he was disappointed. “It is disappointment and frustration today,” he said. “I do my best this weekend, and I started off very well but then I had this problem which started in qualifying.
“The team have worked very hard and tried everything to sort it out but in the end it was still there during the second race. I am upset that I could not finish either race today.”

Team co-owner Derek Redmond added:

“I have mixed feelings about this meeting to be honest. On one hand I’m pleased for John because a couple of 18th is nice to get, but at the same time it’s frustrating that Florian didn’t get a chance to show what he is capable of doing.

“He had some real flashes of brilliance out there earlier in the weekend. He was right on it and the lap times were starting to tumble before this technical problem began.

“We now have to go away and look at where we are going well and where it’s not so good and look to improve. We are heading in the right direction, and it can only be a matter of time before everything clicks together just right.”

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