CHARPENTIER AT HOME IN FRENCH TEST Current World Supersport championship leader, Sébastien Charpentier, says he and his team have improved even further his Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR after a two-day test at his ‘home’ circuit of Magny-Cours in France. Alongside his Japanese team-mate, Katsuaki Fujiwara, the French rider spent yesterday and today testing new ignition and fuel-injection mapping components, as well as several new Supersport tyres from Pirelli. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “I’m very satisfied with the results of this test where both riders and team have worked very hard. We’ve been testing a new ignition system and fuel-injection mapping and have found more control for the riders and a little improvement in acceleration. We came here with a good basic set-up so we’ve been trying different extremes and getting the riders used to other settings to see if there is anywhere we can improve. Quite early, Sébastien was improving the lap times from last year’s Supersport race and went half a second faster than the pole position time. On day two, we’ve been confirming yesterday’s findings, doing longer stints on the new Pirellis and concentrating on a good setting for the race here in October. I’m very happy with our progress and now we go home to prepare for Misano.” Sébastien Charpentier best time, 1:43.2 “It’s fantastic for me to be testing in France and the good weather here has allowed us to get through a lot of work. I am very happy with the way the season has started and I feel very comfortable with the team and the CBR. But there are always areas to improve and we have worked hard with Pirelli here at Magny-Cours to test the new tyres they have brought. There were several new fronts to try because this has been an area of problem for me, especially at the first round in Qatar. The test has gone well and I think a 43.2s lap here is a good time. I am confident that the season can continue well for me when we get to Misano in two weeks.” Katsuaki Fujiwara best time, 1:43.9 “This has been very valuable for me as the tests in Spain at the beginning of the season were affected by bad weather. I am with a new team this season and on the Honda CBR for the first time so these two days have been good experience for me. During race meetings there is not so much time to test different settings on the bike so we have used the test to try perhaps more than fifty combinations which has helped me to understand the CBR a lot better. My mechanics must be very tired from making all the changes but it has been a worthwhile exercise because we go to Misano with a really good feeling.” Magny-Cours, France (4.41km) 2004 pole position time: Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Honda) 1:43.825 2004 fastest race lap: Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Honda) 1:44.457