More from Misano, courtesy of Cartersport:

BRIDEWELL GETS EIGHTH IN ITALY

After a tentative return from injury at the previous round of the Suzuki GSX-R 750 European Cup in Germany two weeks ago, British teenager Tommy Bridewell defied the heat to record a battling eighth place finish at Misano today.

After some technical problems in qualifying saw him languishing down in 14th place on the grid, the 18 year old from Etchilhampton near Devizes in Wiltshire battled through the field after breaking his leg in April and despite a couple of minor errors, eventually took a fine top eight finish at the Italian circuit.

Tommy Bridewell:

"I'm happy enough with that as with only ten laps to get stuck into, it was all I could do to climb that high and maybe a couple more laps and I could have gained a few more places. It was a good test for my leg and it stood up fine but I could have done with being a little further up the grid. I should be on it at the next round at Donington in front of my home crowd but for now, I'm off testing the Superbike as we have a couple of rounds of the Italian Championship to fit in before then."

and.......

TOP EIGHT FOR LAVILLA AT MISANO

Paul Bird Motorsport rider Gregorio Lavilla bounced back to form with a superb eighth place finish in the opening leg of today's Hannspree World Superbike Championship held in the heat of the Italian Adriatic coast at Misano.

Aboard the Vent Axia VK Honda, qualifying had not gone according to plan for the team as Lavilla missed out on Superpole and was placed 19th on the grid, making for a fifth row start but in the opening leg, the Spaniard got a good start and pushed hard into the first three corners to come out of the first lap in 13th position.

Max Biaggi and Michel Fabrizio crashed on lap eleven which elevated Greg into the top ten whereby he held off Nakatomi, Haga and Kagayama to remain in this position until the end of the race.

In the second race, stopped after a major oil spill on two laps and restarted over its full 24-lap duration, Lavilla got a bad start and also experienced problems with the front tyre, having to eventually settle for 14th and two more championship points.

His 75 points total leaves him 13th overall, with six rounds of the championship remaining to run and still the top Honda privateer in the World Championship.

Gregorio Lavilla: "We are still having some difficulties and we need to improve the bike's feeling during qualifying. In race one I had a good start which allowed me into a good position and I was lucky that some riders crashed. I was happy with 8th. In race two, I didn't get such a good start and I also had some problems with the front tyre and nearly lost the bike a few times so my main focus was to bring the bike home in one piece as I knew that I didn't have a chance to improve my position. We now need to get to the next level and keep working hard."

Paul Bird: "In race one; we had a reasonably good result after a frustrating and disappointing qualifying session once again. It was good to see Greg get stuck in on the first lap which pushed him to the middle of the pack rather than at the back which is what we've been looking for all year. Greg knows he must improve his qualifying to make it easier for him on race day so he has to stick his neck out a bit. We now look forward to the race in Brno which is hopefully a track better suited to the Hondas."

The next round is at Brno in the Czech Republic on July 20th.

Superbike Race One Result
1, M Neukirchner (Suzuki) 39m27.918s, 2, T Corser (Yamaha) +0.542s, 3, T Bayliss (Ducati) +2.249s, 4, R Xaus (Ducati) +3.028s, 5, C Checa (Honda) +5.408s, 6, L Lanzi (Ducati) +5.518s, 7, J Smrz (Ducati) +6.202s, 8, G Lavilla (Vent Axia VK Honda) +18.279s, 9, S Nakatomi (Yamaha) +19.072s, 10, N Haga (Yamaha) +19.132s.

Superbike Race Two Result
1, R Xaus (Ducati) 39m19.710s, 2, M Biaggi (Ducati) +1.035s, 3, T Bayliss (Ducati) +4.158s, 4, N Haga (Yamaha) +5.466s, 5, T Corser (Yamaha) +6.759s, 6, L Lanzi (Ducati) +13.468s, 7, M Neukirchner (Suzuki) +15.221s, 8, C Checa (Honda) +16.687s, 9, J Smrz (Ducati) +17.030s, 10, F Nieto (Suzuki) +17.681s. 14, G Lavilla (Vent Axia VK Honda) +32.339s.

2008 World Superbike Championship Standings after Round 8
1, Troy Bayliss (AUS) 259pts
2, Max Neukirchner (GER) 210pts
3, Carlos Checa (ESP) 207pts
4, Noriyuki Haga (JPN) 191pts
5, Troy Corser (AUS) 185pts
6, Fonsi Nieto (ESP) 151pts
7, Ruben Xaus (ESP) 148pts
8, Max Biaggi (ITA) 117pts
9, Michel Fabrizio (ITA) 111pts
10, Ryuichi Kiyonari (JPN) 94pts
13, Gregorio Lavilla (ESP) 75pts