Thanks to the efforts of Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR), and most recently to rookie Yoann Tiberio (Megabike Honda CBR600RR), Honda has a four-from-four winning record in the 2006 Supersport championship series – a run of success Honda’s quartet of supported riders will be aiming to continue at the Silverstone Round on May 28th. Charpentier’s opening three wins were textbook lessons on how to carry out a championship defense, but a slightly over-eager start (and a subsequent ride-through time penalty) at the most recent round in Monza deprived Charpentier of a chance to add a fourth win to his three victories and four pole positions of the 2006 season so far. Tiberio, a rookie in World Supersport this season, had a hard fought win at Monza, battling incessantly with Yamaha rider Kevin Curtain and fellow Honda rider Robbin Harms (Stiggy Motorsports Honda CBR600RR) until Curtain was forced to retire and Tiberio’s determined front running saw him stretch away from Harms as the final laps approached. Tiberio’s win has pushed him to fourth place in the championship, despite missing the opening round at Qatar. The Frenchman knows the 3.619km Silverstone circuit very well, having finished second in the European Championship 600 Superstock race there in 2005, when riding for the junior wing of the Megabike Honda team. Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) is aiming to overcome two DNFs this season, and he sits ninth in the championship table at present. The talented Turkish rider was a Silverstone podium finisher in the 2005 Superstock 1000 FIM Cup race, and thus should start the race at Silverstone at no great disadvantage, despite this being his rookie WSS season. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Team Megabike Honda CBR600RR) has suffered great misfortune this year, up to and including a debilitating wrist injury, but the talented Japanese rider has lost none of his proven race winning pace. Silverstone offers him the opportunity to score his second podium of the year, a realistic ambition after qualifying on the front row at every race he has been fit to compete in this year. Charpentier, the Silverstone race winner in 2005, approaches Silverstone in the same confident manner as every other race, especially after extending his championship lead over Curtain at Monza. “Silverstone should be good for us, and I will be working in the same way as normal to get the best result,” said the Frenchman. “The track is only so-so in the short version, for sure it not the historic Silverstone. It is slow and there are lots of slow corners, and a really slow chicane. It’s not so enjoyable as the previous version, which had much faster corners. But it is the same for all the riders.” Sofuoglu, along with most of the 2006 Silverstone visitors, will have one eye on the skies in the run up to the weekend, given some of the pessimistic weather forecasts. “I feel OK for this weekend, but I’m not so sure about the weather,” said Sofuoglu. “The forecast does not look good, but in any case I feel strong. I think our bike will be particularly good here, and for me it should be easier than last year, when I had to work hard to force a big 1000cc roadbike through the really slow chicane. My priorities are the same as always, find a good set-up and ride for a good result.” Tiberio, on a high from his Monza race win, has his feet firmly on the ground, but plainly likes the short Silverstone layout, finishing second in the European Superstock 600 Championship race there last season. “I will try to finish in the first five positions, my real target for all the races this season,” said Tiberio. “The victory of Monza was a big emotion for me but I know that repeat the exploit is very difficult, because I need to have more experience with the Supersport bike. And the other riders are so fast! I have a fantastic team and a bike that permits me to make good results.” Fujiwara enters Silverstone determined to shake off the misfortunes of his early season experiences. “I’ve not been so lucky during this first period of the season,” said Katsuaki, proving a master of understatement. “In Monza I knew that I could win but a crash stopped me. I want to make a good race at Silverstone, with the target being to really start my season there. The bike is very good and the victory of Yoann in Monza was the best demonstration of that. I hope that my black period is finished.” World Superbike Round 5 of 12 TOSELAND HEADS STRONG HONDA SUPERBIKE ENTRY AT SILVERSTONE James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) is the current leading Honda rider in the 2006 World Championsip, now a 12 round-affair after the cancellation of what would have been the season-ending South African round. Being chased closely in the points table by Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) at present, Toseland is out to repeat not only his opening race win of the 2006 season, at Qatar, but his win in race two at Silverstone in 2005. Barros sits only two points from Toseland in the current championship table, with Toseland third overall, behind runaway leader Troy Bayliss and the only other rider to have won more than a single 2006 race, Troy Corser. Barros has never raced on the shorter 3.619km Silverstone race before, and thus the entire weekend will be another rapid learning process for the seven times MotoGP race winner. Karl Muggeridge (Winston Honda Ten Kate CBR1000RR) has tasted Silverstone champagne during his successful WSS career, and will be pushing to take his first SBK podium finish. Having largely recovered from a recent spinal injury, he proved his return was not premature at Monza, scoring sixth and seventh places. These results put him into the top 15 overall – all despite no scores or no starts in half of the 2006 races thus far. Once more the DFX Treme Honda squad will race without team-leader Pierfrancesco Chili (DFX Treme Honda CBR1000RR), despite Chili attempting to race in a recent Italian championship race at Mugello. His replacement is once more Gianluca Nannelli (DFX Treme Honda CBR1000RR) who lines up alongside SBK rookie Michel Fabrizio (DFX Treme Honda CBR1000RR). Fabrizio has had both high and low points this year, but his fifth place in the opening race at Qatar is certainly within his grasp again if the ultra-competitive qualifying results and Superpole contest go his way. Toseland, about to enjoy the first of two British rounds in the SBK championship series, is in determined mood before the start of the Silverstone round. “I believe that the team will come up with the goods and I will come up with the goods,” said Toseland. “It’s nice to race in Britain and we are fortunate that two of the biggest and most popular races of all are in the UK – Silverstone and Brands. I’m sure there will be a great turnout at Silverstone and we need great results to get the championship back.” Barros, showing just how extensive his pre-Superbike career has been, acknowledges that he has raced at Silverstone before, but at a very different version than that which will greet him in first practice on Friday 26th May. “The last time I raced at Silverstone was in 1987,” stated the talented Brazilian. “I know the old course, and it seems the latest one in World Superbike is combination of the old and the new, with some modifications to the old track. It seems the whole track will be pretty much completely new for me, so I don’t really know what to expect. It seems Silverstone will be surprise, and I hope a nice one.” Muggeridge is ready for the challenge of the shorter and more physical Silverstone circuit, and he recovers full fighting fitness with every passing day. “I feel pretty good now,” said Muggeridge. “My back injury is much better and there is nothing I can’t do with it. Getting some more hours on the bike will help a lot, because it’s hard to simulate that during training. When I first got injured the doctors’ opinions ranged from three months to six months recovery time, so we’re ahead of that already. I’m maybe not 100% yet, because I want to be even fitter than I was before. I want to move the bar a bit. The short Silverstone will maybe be one of the hardest tracks for us this year. It’s just the way things are at the moment, for our particular bikes.” Fabrizio underwent a test session in Brno after the Monza race earlier in May, and made good set-up progress on his CBR1000RR. “After the test in Brno my motorcycle feels OK,” said Fabrizio. “The suspension and the electronic package have improved, even if the racetrack at Silverstone will be very difficult. It’s a shame about the circuit; to cut the fastest parts is not good, because our motorcycle suffers most in the slow curves. But we will be trying as hard as ever to qualify for Superpole and finish in the top positions.” Nannelli, a WSS race winner as recently as 2005, is a high-power understudy to Chili, but still feels he has to learn more about the bike before the results can reflect his obvious talent. “I have high hopes for the next race in Silverstone because my team has been fantastic,” said Nannelli. “I will run for Domenico Brigaglia, my technical supervisor, and Frankie Chili. This race may be difficult because the Silverstone circuit might not suit the Honda CBR1000RR as well as some others. But the bike itself is very good and I’m sure we can make a good race.” Round six of the 2006 series, marking the end of the first half of the competitive year, takes place at Misano, Italy, between 23 and 25 June, with all classes once more represented.