Updated Post: Charpentier Wins Valencia World Supersport

Updated Post: Charpentier Wins Valencia World Supersport

© 2005, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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World Supersport Race Results: 1. Sebastien CHARPENTIER (Honda CBR600RR) 2. Katsuaki FUJIWARA (Honda CBR600RR), -0.844 seconds 3. Kevin CURTAIN (Yamaha YZF-R6), -21.382 seconds 4. Michel FABRIZIO (Honda CBR600RR), -25.602 seconds 5. Fabien FORET (Honda CBR600RR), -31.478 seconds 6. Broc PARKES (Yamaha YZF-R6), -32.837 seconds 7. Berry VENEMAN (Suzuki GSX-R600), -32.904 seconds 8. Gianluca NANELLI (Ducati 749R), -38.076 seconds 9. Stephane CHAMBON (Honda CBR600RR), -38.297 seconds 10, Johan STIGEFELT (Honda CBR600RR), -38.750 seconds 11. Javi FORES (Suzuki GSX-R600), -44.507 seconds 12. Werner DAEMEN Honda (CBR600RR), -45.628 seconds 13. Sebastian LE GRELLE (Honda CBR600RR), -52.390 seconds 14. Arturo TIZON (Yamaha YZF-R6), -52.463 seconds 15. Tatu LAUSLEHTO (Honda CBR600RR), -53.109 seconds 16. Christophe COGAN (Suzuki GSX-R600), -61.901 seconds 17. Jarno JANSEN (Suzuki GSX-R600), -74.140 seconds 18. Sami PENNA (Honda CBR600RR), -81.634 seconds 19. Thomas MIKSOVSKY (Honda CBR600RR), -84.882 seconds 20. Pawel SZKOPEK (Honda CBR600RR), -7 Laps, DNF More, from a press release issued by Ten Kate Honda: WINSTON RIDERS DOMINATE VALENCIA SUPERSPORT Sébastien Charpentier and Katsuaki Fujiwara scored an emphatic one-two victory for their Winston Ten Kate Honda team today in round three of the World Supersport championship at Valencia in Spain. Charpentier won the 23-lap race at the four-kilometre Ricardo Tormo Circuit by less than a second from his team-mate. Starting from pole position, Charpentier settled into an early lead and set the fastest lap of the race on lap three, missing the outright Supersport lap record by just a tenth of a second. Fujiwara, meanwhile, had to battle through from sixth place at the end of lap one. He attempted a daring pass on Charpentier on the final lap, almost touching his fellow-CBR600RR rider. The Japanese ace finished 21 seconds ahead of third-placed rider Kevin Curtain. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “Sometimes I think that the aim of these two riders is to over-rev my heart rate and they certainly did that on the final lap! But it was a really good race by both the guys and I’m very proud of them. We have quite a few guests here today and Howard Parks, vice-president of brand marketing for Winston, has told me how pleased he is to be associated with such a fine group of professionals. It’s great for Winston, for the team as a whole and for the riders that we have such fantastic support. It’s our tenth successive World Supersport victory and we’ll be working very hard to continue our run in Monza in a couple of weeks’ time.” Sébastien Charpentier “That was a very good race for me and a good weekend with my third pole position, fastest lap and my second win of the season. But it was certainly not easy. Conditions were very difficult out there and after I got into an early lead I just tried to put in many consistently good laps. Before half race distance I was reading plus zero on my pit board and I knew that Kats was there. For sure he pushed me very, very hard until the end especially on that final lap. I’m so pleased for the team, who have worked so hard to keep me at the front all weekend, and for all the team’s guests who are here today. I think we put on a good show for them.” Katsuaki Fujiwara “Conditions changed very much from warm-up this morning when it was cooler. All weekend, the temperature has risen in the afternoon and this has made the track very slippery. I was pushing as hard as I could and trying to keep a very tight line as I tried to catch Sébastien. But as soon as I got off line the grip was gone so it was very difficult. I got quite close to him on the last lap perhaps a little too close but he was riding so well there was very little I could do to get past him.” More, from a press releass issued by Honda Racing Information: CHARPENTIER AND FUJIWARA FIGHT HARD FOR THE VALENCIA WIN Long term Valencia race leader Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) took his second win of the year, but only after a hard last lap with his team-mate Katsuaki Fujiwara, who eventually scored second place. On the 23rd of 23 laps Fujiwara’s attempt to pass Charpentier up the inside of turn two was rebuffed firmly by Charpentier, with the riders seemingly leaning on each other at the approach to the next left. Fujiwara’s machine shuddered as he tried to pass inside Charpentier and he lost enough ground for the Frenchman to take the win by 0.844 seconds. Charpentier had taken his third straight pole position of the season on Saturday, with his team-mate Fujiwara once more just behind. Team Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR rider Fabien Foret was third in qualifying but could not replicate this race conditions, going fifth after a lonely 23-laps in the 24°C air temperatures – significantly hotter than those in morning warm-up. Kevin Curtain (Yamaha) took third spot from long-term podium hopeful Michel Fabrizio (Team Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR) who had to settle for fourth, some five seconds ahead of his team-mate Foret. Tatu Lauslehto (Klaffi Honda CBR600RR) was up as high as 13th at one time, before a last lap, last corner dust-up with another rider dropped him to 15th. Nonetheless, the 21-year-old Finn earned a single point for his efforts. Charpentier, who extended his championship lead to 12 points over Fujiwara – 70 to 58 – acknowledged that his last lap toughness was all-important. “A good weekend with my third pole position, my second race win and the fastest lap of the race, but it was certainly not easy. After I got into an early lead I just tried to put in consistently fast laps. Before half race distance I was pushing plus zero on my pit board and I knew that Kats was there. For sure he pushed me very hard towards the end – especially on that final lap.” Fujiwara, nine points clear of third placed championship contender Curtain, gave his all, and recognised the race-long speed of his team-mate. “Conditions changed very much from this morning, when it was cooler. All weekend the temperature has risen in the afternoon, and this has made the track very slippery. I was pushing as hard as I could and trying to keep a very tight line as I caught up to Sebastien. As soon as I got off the racing line the grip was gone and that made it very difficult to pass. I got quite close to him on that final lap – maybe a bit too close – but he was riding so well there was very little I could do to catch him.” Fabrizio’s prowess on the Supersport Honda has been impressive in his first full season, and he has been rewarded so far with fifth in the championship table, on 29 points. “In the end I had to think about the championship. I put in a lot of effort trying to keep Curtain behind me and it worked for a long time. By my suspension was not set-up perfectly and when he went past he could go faster. We have a racing test at Monza next week so we will see what progress we can make with the suspension there.” Foret, a former race winner at Valencia, did not find himself in a position to challenge this time around, thanks to an imperfect race set-up. He nonetheless holds fourth overall in the series, with 38 points. “At the beginning I tried very hard to stay with Charpentier but even after a couple of laps I realised that my suspension set-up was too far off and he was gone. So I could only go at a certain pace and I had to settle for what I had.” Having worked his way from 18th on lap one to 13th on the penultimate circuit, Lauslehto was passed by another rider, attempted to redress the balance at the last corner but ran wide, losing two places. “A Yamaha rider passed me and I was determined to get him back, so I tried at the very last corner. We touched and I was forced to run wide and two riders squeezed through. But I scored a point after a tough qualifying – at a new track for me again.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Kevin Curtain grabbed his second successive podium finish in the 2005 Supersport World Championship to maintain his third place in the championship after a tough race in Valencia today. Starting from the front row, the Australian fought with Honda quartet Sebastien Charpentier, Katsuaki Fujiwara, Michel Fabrizio and Fabien Foret in the opening laps, until team-mates Charpentier and Fujiwara broke away from the group. Curtain was able to consolidate third place, despite suffering grip problems, and could possibly have climbed the top of the podium after Charpentier and Fujiwara clashed on the penultimate lap, although both riders were able to stay onboard and retain their positions. Curtain’s third place gives his Yamaha Motor Germany squad a full set of trophies to take back to their Neuss base following Kenan Sofuoglu and Didier van Keymeulen’s first and second in the earlier superstock race. Team-mate Broc Parkes also had a tough afternoon after being hit from behind by a falling rider at the first corner. The incident cost the Australian several places but he fought back to finish sixth on a track notorious for its lack of overtaking opportunities after ending the first lap down in 11th place. With a quarter of the season gone, Charpentier leads the championship on 70 points with Fujiwara a further 12 behind in second. Curtain maintains third, on 49 points, with Parkes tying with Fabrizio for fifth place. Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) “That was a really tough race. As always around here, tyre choice was something of a gamble, simply because the temperature and grip levels are always changing. I was happy to bring it home and finish on the podium because my back tyre was totally gone at the end, although I think it was the same for all the guys. But we’re leaving here third in the championship, hopefully we can now find that little bit extra to close the gap on Charpentier and Fujiwara.” Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) “I got hit real hard on the first corner and there was such a big bang that was sure the back tyre was flat. I took it easy for a few laps until I was sure everything was ok but once I got going the bike was actually really good and I was able to work my way up. By the end I caught Foret but this is a tough place to overtake and I just didn’t have enough time to make a pass.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Lack of grip prevented Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Javier Fores chasing the top-six finish he was looking for at Valencia today. He made a good start to the 23-lap race and was in seventh at the end of lap one, moved into sixth on lap five, but then grip problems began and he was forced to ease the pace or risk crashing, eventually crossing the line in 11th position. Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) led from start to finish but was chased and hustled by his team mate Katsuaki Fujiwara for the major part of the race. A lap or so from the end they tangled and Fujiwara’s brake lever was bent upwards, causing him big problems on the last lap and the Japanese rider finished eight-tenths-of-a-second behind with Aussie Kevin Curtain (Yamaha) a distant third. Javi Fores -11th: “I am very disappointed today because I expected to do so much better, especially as this is my home race and I have many fans here. My start was quite good and when I moved into sixth place I was happy. But soon afterwards I began experiencing big grip problems – front and rear – and I had to stop pushing so hard. “I couldn’t use the right race lines and soon I was being overtaken by many riders. I kept going as hard and as fast as I could but I didn’t want to crash, so I just had to ride to the end and get as many points as I could.”

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