Honda Previews The World Supersport Event At Magny-Cours

Honda Previews The World Supersport Event At Magny-Cours

© 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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From a press release issued by Honda Racing Information:

World Supersport Championship 2004 – Round 11
Magny Cours Race Preview
1 – 3 October 2004

HONDA RIDERS GO FOR FINAL CLEAN SWEEP AT MAGNY COURS

Having taken the world championship crown in the penultimate race of the year at Imola Karl Muggeridge (Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) approaches the last round of the year with the pressure very much off. His natural competitive spirit has already won him six races in his title season, but the final round at Magny Cours will be treated like any other by the 30-year-old Australian, with Muggeridge going for a win and nothing less.

Muggeridge will have not only riders from rival manufacturers to deal with, but competitors covered by the Honda wing will be out for their first win of 2004. Foremost among them will be his Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Broc Parkes. The 22-year-old Aussie rider has had a couple of close calls with the top step of the podium and he now has one more race left this year in which to take his first full status World Supersport success. Both Ten Kate riders will be pushed all the way by another top-level Honda Supersport exponent, Sebastien Charpentier, from the Klaffi Honda team. A real force at virtually every race this year, on home tarmac Charpentier may well take his first race win since World Supersport became a full status FIM championship in the 1999 season.

On two previous occasions this year, at Oschersleben and Imola, the aforementioned Honda riders have monopolised all three podium positions. In the Manufacturers’ championship, only a handful of points are required for Honda to lift this important accolade.

A rich seam of talent pervades throughout the supported Honda riders’ camp. Max Neukirchner, Charpentier’s team-mate in the prestigious Klaffi operation, has had an excellent induction into global motorcycle racing since his debut at Valencia in February. Former European Superstock champion Michel Fabrizio is a new inductee to the Team Italia Megabike Honda squad, replacing the injured Alessio Corradi alongside the teenage talent of Denis Sacchetti. The younger members of the Honda Supersport family have impressed thus far, and Magny Cours will be their final shot at 2004 glory.

The Magny Cours race weekend in 2003 was taken by the impressive form of Karl Muggeridge, winner of the three final races that season. He feels that he can make it win number seven in 2004, if his pre-race preparations proceed as peerlessly as normal. Muggeridge has also secured a whopping eight of the nine possible pole positions this year, underlining his amazing pace on the CBR600RR. “I’m going to keep it the same format as every other race and finish in the same way as I’ve been recently. Magny Cours is mot much of a rider’s track but it’s the same for everybody. I just hope we get some clear weather because when it’s wet the surface is diabolical. Like ice! We didn’t have too big a celebration after winning the championship, partly because I knew we would be racing a few days later, and partly because I had the flu anyway!”

Parkes had an outstanding debut in the Ten Kate Honda team at Magny Cours last year, leading until he slipped off. Parkes is ready to take a step to the next level on his CBR600RR. “Last year was my first time out for Ten Kate. It was looking really good until I fell off. I’ve felt fast on the bike in the last few races and Imola was a good race for me. Magny Cours is a good track and more importantly, it just suits our bikes. Right now I’d say it was more important to take second place in the championship, but I also really want to win a race. I’ve show that I’ve been there and been there, but not quite won a race yet.”

Charpentier is the only supported Honda rider on home tarmac this weekend, a fact that is not lost on him. “Magny Cours is the home circuit for me, and that makes some aspects of the race different from normal. I will be trying very hard to take my first win, for me and my Klaffi team, as this is the last chance for us.”

Neukirchner has impressed many in his rookie four-stroke year. “I’m feeling very good in equal 9th position, alongside Fujiwara on 55 points. For my first year in Supersport, in a world championship, I’m quite pleased with that. At the beginning of the year I wanted to be in the top ten and at the moment I am. At Magny Cours I will be trying to finish as high up as possible in the championship.”

Young Italian rider Sacchetti, another ex-European Championship competitor, states that a good points score on raceday is the aim once more. “I’m happy because last Sunday I took some important points for the championship. I made my best race of the year. My target for Magny Cours is to improve on my personal best. I ran there last year with a Yamaha and so I know what kind of track Magny Cours is.”

In his second World Supersport race for Team Italia Megabike, Fabrizio stated, “I learned to ride with this bike at Imola and now I know what I must to do to go fast in Supersport. I must learn many things again but in Magny Cours the situation will be better. I know that the team will help me. My target? To arrive in a better position than Imola, where I was seventh.”

The 23-lap race will be the tenth and last on the 2004 calendar.

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