No team orders at Airwaves Ducati - yet

When Gregorio Lavilla and Leon Haslam were scrapping in the first race at Oulton last Monday on their Airwaves Ducatis, one question on a lot of people’s minds was, ‘aren’t there any team orders?’

At this stage of the season probably not, but to be sure we asked their team boss Colin Wright for his views on the subject.

In the past, like at Cadwell two years ago when Haslam took Lavilla onto the grass and lost Airwaves Ducati an almost certain one-two, in a bid for the lead, Wright’s response in the heat of battle to the same question, was: “none of your f**king business.”

It’s not that he’s mellowed with age in the past two years but this time, without the pressure of being at the track in a racing situation, he offered MCN a more considered view.

“It’s a debatable point about on-track team orders where you’ve got guys interfering with the result,” he said.

“My thoughts are that GSE Racing (Airwaves Ducati) are paying for two top riders and by doing that we expect them to be competing each other for the title.

 “My answer is, we may instigate team orders, if and when they are necessary. But who decides that?

“The team does and it’s not open for debate. It’s not open for discussion in the media, or for an armchair enthusiast to air his view. 

“It’s down to me as the team manager to make the decision, and that decision is based on one thing, what is best for the team. Racing is business, not sport. And in business you have to dictate the terms. “

After Monday’s first race MCN asked Wright what was going through his mind as he glowered at the TV screen, only too well aware Lavilla had just traded paint with Haslam’s bike at the Hairpin, in what for race fans was one of the most exciting passes of the season so far.

At the time, Wright refused to say. But again, away from the track, he said:  “To be honest, I’ve got to say I wasn’t anywhere near as concerned as I was two years ago at Cadwell.

“The difference now is that I know damn well that Greg and Leon have the utmost respect for each other.

“If you don’t believe that, just go back to Silverstone this year when Leon said he didn’t try to pass Greg because, ‘it would have risked taking one or both of them out of the race.’ That showed, one: that Leon has a lot of respect for Greg and two: that he’s matured as a rider.

“The other thing is that you couldn’t fail to have seen the hug when Greg went straight to Leon at the end of the race to apologise for his passing move. That wasn’t for TV, that was genuine respect.

“At the end of the day when it comes down to team orders the situation is this: the team make the decision and it’s sweet FA to do with anyone else.

“And if I do something that upsets the public in pursuit of getting the job done, then I ain’t going to lose any sleep over it!”