Airwaves Ducati :: 2005 British Superbike Champions

A Triumphant Return

After a number of intense but encouraging winter tests, the Airwaves Ducati team was officially launched on the 22^nd March 2005 with host Suzi Perry introducing riders Leon Haslam and James Haydon astride their Ducati 999F04's.

For the first round of the 2005 championship season the highly respected and experienced WSB and GP star Gregorio Lavilla was drafted in to replace an injured James Haydon, whose injury sustained during testing at Albacete failed to heal in sufficient time. For a team going for its third outright British Superbike Championship, the performances from both of its riders at the season opener were a promising sign of things to come with Haslam setting a blistering time to secure pole position and Lavilla achieving two podium finishes.

What followed was an impressive run of results for both riders. Having secured four podiums from fours starts, the performances of the 30-year-old Spaniard lead to Gregorio Lavilla being announced as a permanent member of the Airwaves Ducati squad after James Haydon made the difficult decision to stand down for the rest of the season.

Leon earned his first podium of the season at Mallory Park in April and followed this with a victory at the next meeting at Oulton Park. Two weeks later a further milestone was reached at Mondello Park when the Anglo-Spanish combination provided the Airwaves Ducati team with its first one-two finish and Gregorio's first of many victories.

Lavilla stormed into the lead of the championship with a sensational double race victory at the penultimate round at Donnington Park and went into the final round of the championship with a 13 point lead over his nearest rival. The Airwaves Ducati team finished their first year back in competition with a dominant display at Brands Hatch. A pair of one-two finishes for the Airwaves Ducati team saw their rider Gregorio Lavilla crowned British Superbike Champion and Leon Haslam take fourth in the championship in front of a crowd of thousands.

Throughout the season both riders provided some spectacular racing, engaging in spectacular battles and demonstrated immense skill and sheer speed at every race track they visited. In total the highly successful pairing of Haslam and Lavilla secured 33 podiums, 10 race wins, 6 one-twos and 8 lap records.

2005 was an outstanding season for the Airwaves Ducati team. Team Manager Colin Wright commented "It's the Airwaves Ducati Team who have won this championship." With Team Principal Darrell Healey adding "Winning the British Championship for the third time has been a tremendous achievement by all concerned. To return after a year away from competitive racing and to take on the might of HRC Honda with FO4 Ducati's has been a truly awesome feat. Big thanks must go to Ducati Corse and our other technical sponsors Dunlop Tyres and Q8Oils and obviously the teams title sponsor in 2005 Wrigley's Airwaves. This is GSE Racing's greatest achievement to date."