Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra head to this weekend’s third world Superbike Championship round at Valencia hoping to continue its 100% win performance and increase its series lead. World Championship leader Troy Corser holds a six-point advantage over team mate Yukio Kagayama after both riders dominated the opening rounds at Qatar and Australia aboard their all-new 2005 GSX-R1000 Suzukis. The event at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Spain is the first race of the season in Europe. For many teams, the early start in Qatar in February, followed by the longest trip away to Phillip Island in Australia has been a bit of a trial, but not for Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra. The two rounds and four races have seen Alstare Suzuki take a clean sweep of four wins and series leader Corser has fond memories of the Valencia circuit, having done the double there in 2001 to add to his win in 2000. The 4.005 kilometre rack is one that is used extensively for testing, so even Kagayama has some knowledge of the circuit, which is regarded as one of the more technical circuits in the calendar. Troy Corser: “I guess we all know the Valencia circuit pretty well because we all test there a lot. It is quite a technical track and it helps to have a good bike set-up and be smooth. The first two rounds this year have been amazing for all of us in the team and the atmosphere is tremendous. The expectation within is very high and now our competitors know they are in for a tough time. It’s a really good feeling knowing that everybody is worrying about us and trying to catch us. “I certainly prefer to be leading and the others chasing than the other way round. At the moment, my strongest rival is my team mate Yukio. After all, we have the best bike and he is a hard rider, so he has to be my main challenger. However, now that we are back in Europe, I expect the others to start challenging us again. “Ducati will be desperate to put one over us and Yamaha and Honda are going to get stronger and stronger. It is a long, long season, so my aim is to stay consistent; get on the podium as many times as possible; and take each race as it comes. If I can do that, I should be in a good position at the end.” Yukio Kagayama: “Since the last round in Australia, I have moved to Belgium with my family and now I am ready for Europe. I also have my motorhome with me, so I have somewhere to go at every race. Valencia is a hard circuit – and really not one of my favourites – but I went pretty well there in the tests so I am hoping that I can carry on improving my knowledge of the bike and the tyres when we start practice. “The Alstare Suzuki is a very good bike and I am enjoying riding it. My style is a little ‘shaky’ and for me it does not matter if the bike is moving around – I like it! Troy-san is a smoother rider than me, but our bike set-ups are not so different. In fact, I think I could ride Troy’s bike without too much of a problem. I have had one victory this year, so my aim in Valencia is to take another one – with Troy in second place of course!” Valencia will host the opening round of the Suzuki GSX-R European Cup – a brand new one-marque five-round series for GSX-R750s. Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra will host the series, which has been organised to celebrate 20 years of the race-bred GSX-R Superbike and to give Suzuki riders from across Europe an opportunity to taste champagne at one of the highest levels of World competition. In 2004, Spain’s Javier Fores proved to be rider to watch at the GSX-R World Cup Final at Road Atlanta, USA. After wowing the crowds with some sensational riding, he has now been snapped up by Alstare Suzuki to ride the GSX-R600 World Supersport bike. Twenty five riders from Europe and South Africa plus four wild-card Spaniards will contest the event on identically-prepped machinery. There will be an hour’s free practice on Friday from 5.10pm, 50 minutes more practice on Saturday at 6.20pm and a 12-lap 48km race on Sunday at 2.20pm local time. 2004 results: Race 1:1 Toseland (Ducati), 2 Chili (Ducati), 3 Walker (Petronas). Corser (Petronas), DNF. Kagayama DNS. Race 2: 1 Haga (Ducati), 2 Toseland, 3 Martin (Ducati), 11 Corser (Petronas). Kagayama DNS.