At his home round in the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup MRS Yamaha rider Kev Coghlan rode his Yamaha YZF-R1M to fifth place at Donington Park, having to give best to fellow YZF-R1M rider Jeremy Guarnoni (Team Trasimeno Yamaha) only in the final few corners of an intense 15-lap race.

Coghlan, who had qualified fifth, was aiming for a realistic fourth place but a great fight with Guarnoni on the final lap saw him eventually replicate his qualifying position in the race and finish just over ten seconds from the winner.

The two leading YZF-R1M riders passed and re-passed on the final lap with Guarnoni taking fourth by a small margin of 0.171 seconds as they flashed across the line.

With the other regular MRS Yamaha rider Florian Marino out of action due to an arm injury, top IDM rider Mathieu Gines was brought in for Donington. He found no luck in the race when he crashed out at the fast turn five, on lap six, restarting but finishing 28th after losing so much time in the gravel.

Coghlan is still fourth in the overall championship after Donington and only three points behind third place at the halfway point of the eight round season. He has 50 points, thanks in part to his podium finish in the opening round at Motorland Aragon.

Guarnoni's 13 points for fourth place today put him 6th overall, with 37 points. Sylvain Barrier (G.M. Racing Yamaha Team) fell at Donington and restarted to finish 19th, but out of the points. The unavoidably absent Marino is now 12th in the rankings.

The next race takes place at Portimao, in Portugal, on Sunday June 7th.



Kev Coghlan - 5th / +10.783/ 15 laps 

"I noticed someone was there on the inside on the last lap so I tried to force it a little bit more going into the Melbourne Loop, ran a little bit wide and Jeremy managed to dive up the inside. I had another go at the final corner but I ran in a bit too hot and again he got past. I am a bit disappointed really, because I think overall I need to be first Yamaha rider home and that did not happen today. I think we were maybe a little bit closer to the podium here but we will see if we can work on something to help bridge that gap. It was not bad this weekend and we were a bit closer in qualifying and a bit closer again to the podium, so we are edging in the right direction and we will get there."

Mathieu Gines - 28th / +1’26.070/ 15 laps 

"I pushed a bit, although my feeling was not perfect on the bike, because I did not want to lose time. I thought I could wait and fight at the end of the race but I lost the rear on a fast right. I was OK sitting behind some other riders and I though 'be careful' and when I exited the corner I gave the bike some gas and it started to slide. It did not stop and then fell. I wanted to restart to learn the track and I wanted to finish my weekend in Donington, because I like the circuit."

Adrian Morillas – MRS Yamaha Team Manager 

"Jeremy Guarnoni was behind Kev for a some time and I think he saw where he could pass Kev. In the last lap Kev wanted to brake harder to defend his position, he went too wide and Jeremy passed, this is racing. There was a gap to the front riders and we will test before Portimao. We have been making progress and little steps but I hope before Portimao we can make a bigger step. Our weekend was not so bad because Kev is now only three points from the third place rider."

Results - Race 

1. L. Savadori (ITA), Nuova M2 Racing, 22'39.058
2. R. Tamburini (ITA), Team MotoxRacing, 2.893
3. R. De Rosa (ITA), Althea Racing, 5.242
4. J. Guarnoni (FRA), Team Trasimeno, 10.612
5. K. Coghlan (GBR), MRS Yamaha, 10.783
6. O. Jezek (CZE), Triple-M by Barni, 16.531
7. K. Calia (ITA), Nuova M2 Racing, 18.799
8. F. Massei (ITA), EAB Racing Team, 23.831
9. L. Salvadori (ITA), Althea Racing, 29.153
10. T. Coveña (NED), EAB Racing Team, 29.222
11. C. Bergman (SWE), MG Competition, 32.839

14. L. Marconi (ITA), Team Trasimeno, 34.348
19. S. Barrier(FRA), G.M. Racing, 54.379
28. M. Gines (FRA), MRS Yamaha, 1'26.070