TOSELAND (DUCATI XEROX TEAM) TAKES ASSEN FORM TO EUROSPEEDWAY – LANZI STEPS IN FOR INJURED LACONI Lausitz (Germany), Thursday 8 September: Just seven days on from a splendid Assen World Superbike race weekend, the championship roars back into action in the former East Germany, the venue for the tenth round being the spectacular Eurospeedway tri-oval close to Dresden. Reigning champion James Toseland showed a great turn of form on the Dutch track with some extraordinarily aggressive racing and two podium finishes that move him up one place in the championship standings to fifth. His team-mate for this weekend will be the 23 year-old Italian Lorenzo Lanzi, who steps off his Scuderia Caracchi Ducati 999RS and onto the Ducati Xerox Team 999 F05 after Régis Laconi was declared unfit to race following medical checks in France this week. “I was really happy with the whole Assen weekend, unfortunately I didn’t win the races but I was consistently fast and it was nice to ride the bike aggressively how I like to ride it and battle with the other guys” declared James. “Two podiums and I moved up one place in the championship. After a disappointing season like this one, if I can finish in the top 3 it will have been a great second-half of the season effort and that’s my main aim. “I’ve raced here before at the Lausitzring but it’s nearly always rained!” he continued. “The July testing, both in the dry and the wet, went quite well and we also have a good wet setting if it does rain. I’m looking forward to the race here, now I just have to do what I did at Assen!”. Lorenzo Lanzi sees his temporary promotion to the factory Ducati Xerox Team as an opportunity to bring home another positive result in his debut World Superbike season. After a difficult start, his performances on the satellite team 999RS have taken an upturn in the last eight races, in which he has never placed outside the top 10. His best result this year is fifth in race 1 at Misano Adriatico. “I am happy to return to the factory Ducati team after a year” declared Lorenzo, “and for that I have to thank sponsor GA who have allowed me to race in the colours of the Ducati Xerox Team and obviously Ducati Corse for selecting me to replace the unfortunate Régis Laconi. They are expecting me to do well and this is something that gives me great pleasure. “In my opinion the Lausitzring is not really suitable for bikes” continued Lanzi, “but I’m happy with the fact that I went well on the circuit in the July tests, when I set third-quickest time, and I hope to improve now I am on a factory bike. There shouldn’t be that many differences between the 999RS and the F05 because even the RS has enabled me to do some good races. My results have improved over the last few rounds even though I still have to learn how to do Superpole because at Assen I missed a great opportunity to start further up the grid. However I need to learn, it’s my first year in World Superbike and this race will also help me to do that”. THE CIRCUIT: World Superbike will mainly race on the tight and twisty infield section of the Eurospeedway, but the circuit also uses two of the tri-oval’s straights in its overall length of 4.265 km. Built over an open-cast coal mine, the circuit can hold up to 130,000 spectators in the massive grandstands. This year’s race will mark the third time the World Superbike Championship has been to the Eurospeedway. The previous rounds were held in 2001 and 2002 and the four races saw just two winners – Troy Bayliss (three times for Ducati) and Colin Edwards (one for Honda). The pole positions both times went to Ducati, Neil Hodgson in 2001 and Bayliss the following year, while Ducati is the only manufacturer to have recorded a fastest lap on the German track. CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after 9 of 12 rounds): Riders – 1. Corser (Suzuki) 370; 2. Vermeulen (Honda) 284; 3. Laconi (Ducati Xerox) 214; 4. Haga (Yamaha) 203; 5. Toseland 197 (Ducati Xerox); 6. Kagayama (Suzuki) 187; etc. Manufacturers – 1. Suzuki 379 ; 2. Honda 300 ; 3. Ducati 293; 4. Yamaha 244; 5. Kawasaki 145; 6. Petronas 25. STATISTICS: Lap record: Xaus (Ducati) 1m39.679s (2002). Qualifying record: Corser (Aprilia) 1m40.212s (2001). Superpole: Bayliss (Ducati) 1m39.395s (2002). Race distance: 2 x 24 laps/102.360 km/h.