GINO REA CRASHES OUT OF SIXTH PLACE AT LAUSITZ

European Superstock 600 Championship 2007
Rd 9, Lausitz, Germany
Race, Saturday 8th September - 11 laps

Epsom motorcycle racer Gino Rea suffered the most cruel luck in the
ninth round of the 2007 European Superstock 600 Championship held at
the Eurospeedway in Lausitz, Germany today. After working his way
through to sixth position from a 24th-placed start, the treacherous,
rain-lashed conditions got the better of the 17-year-old ace, who rides
for the Beowulf Racing team, slipped off his GSX600-R Suzuki with just
three laps remaining.

The need to run-in a new engine meant that Rea had to take things easy
in yesterday’s practice and qualifying session. Expecting to make
further progress in the second qualifying session this morning, the
appalling weather conditions meant that none of the riders were able to
improve their times and Rea’s sixth-row position stood for the race.

It didn’t matter. Gino made his usual lightning start and had blasted
his way through into tenth place at the end of the first lap, after
narrowly avoiding being collected by Italian Michele Magnoni (Yamaha)
who span out almost directly in front of him through the opening
corners. Although the leaders made a getaway, Gino was in the middle of
a pack of five riders all contesting fifth position. In a very mature
performance, Rea rode gingerly through the spray and allowed those
around him to make mistakes. Looking set to finish in sixth, or maybe
even fifth, place with just over three laps remaining, Rea traversed
the final corner of the 2.7-mile circuit slightly off line, dabbed the
brake and the next thing he knew he had joined the tally of over 70
crashes at the German track today.

Although Gino was taken to the circuit’s medical centre following the
incident, he was unharmed and quickly released. The race was won by
Belgian Vincent Lonbois (Suzuki). A gap of over 45 seconds between the
first and third-placed finishers clearly displayed how difficult the
conditions had been.

A devastated Rea could hardly bring himself to comment afterwards: “I’m
not happy with the result but I’m happy with the way I rode,” he said.
“I just hope everyone can look past the crash and see all the places I
made up from a sixth-row start.”

Team Manager Andy Stone had nothing but condolences for his young
rider: “It was a complete lottery out there if you went down or not,”
he said. “Gino rode brilliantly today and his punishment does not befit
the crime.”

Although Rea’s first non-finish of the season means he slips a further
place in the Championship to twelfth place, he can take solace from the
fact that he was out-performing several of the series leaders for much
of the race. No doubt he’ll be aiming to repeat that level of
performance when the championship reaches it’s penultimate round at the
Italian circuit of Vallelunga in three weeks time.

To learn more about Gino Rea and Beowulf Racing visit www.ginorea.com
and www.beowulf-racing.com

EUROPEAN SUPERSTOCK 600 CHAMPIONSHIP 2007
RD 9 RACE RESULT, LAUSITZ

1. Vincent Lonbois, Ita (Suzuki) – 23’35.097
2. Gregg Black, GBr (Yamaha) +00’05.506
3. Ondrej Jezek, Cze (Kawasaki) +00’45.007
DNF. Gino Rea, GBr (Suzuki) +3 laps

EUROPEAN SUPERSTOCK 600 CHAMPIONSHIP 2007
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER 9 OF 11 ROUNDS

1. Maxime Berger, Fra (Yamaha) – 162pts
2. Michele Magnoni (Yamaha) – 130pts
3. Andrea Antonelli, Ita (Honda) – 121pts
12. Gino Rea, GBr (Suzuki) -38pts