Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Foret wins as Supersport race ends in the gravel

The World Supersport race in Assen was stopped after 11 of 16 laps after a massive pile up saw seven riders hit the dirt in the final turn. But Frenchman Fabien Foret was in the right place at the time of the accident, way out in front!

Foret took the win after he worked his way through the pack from a poor start. “I was too relaxed early in the race and when I saw other riders getting away I knew I had to get a move on,” said Foret after the race. Once he got himself into gear, Foret soon caught and passed Championship rival Katsuaki Fujiwara. Then he quickly closed the gap between himself and race leader Paolo Casoli. Foret didn’t cut Casoli any slack when he caught him, forcing his way past the Italian to take the race lead.

Iain MacPherson, riding the second Ten Kate Honda, was also on his way up the leader board. He also managed to find a way past Casoli to grab second place. Casoli snuck past MacPherson on the next lap, lap 12. But the result was taken back to the end of the 11th lap after the crash, handing second back to MacPherson. The finish line photo revealed that the result had gone MacPherson’s way by an incredibly narrow margin, only three thousandths of a second!

The big crash happened when Christian Kellner’s Yamaha went into meltdown. The crankshaft sheared and white-hot engine parts flew through the engine cases and took out the forward-mounted oil cooler. The leaking oil was quickly spread all over his tire and then onto the track. The subsequent mess brought down six other riders.

With bikes flying everywhere it was a miracle that no one was more seriously hurt. Kellner had a lucky escape, video footage of the incident showed a flying bike narrowly missing his head as he lay in the gravel. The latest update is that a Paramedic caught in the melee has suffered a compound fracture of the left leg. Werner Daemen broke his collarbone again and Kellner escaped with a dislocated shoulder blade and cuts and bruises. No other riders were seriously hurt.

Reigning champion Andrew Pitt tangled with Corradi in a separate incident, but neither rider was seriously hurt, although Pitt reported that he jarred his neck in the crash.

The result means that Foret leads Fujiwara, who eventually finished fifth, by 17 Championship points with Stephane Chambon 31 points adrift in third. The Championship will be decided at the last round in Imola between Foret and Fujiwara.


Assen World Supersport Race Results:

1. Fabien Foret, Honda CBR600, 11 laps, 23:37.444
2. Iain MacPherson, Honda CBR600, -0.406 second
3. Paolo Casoli, Yamaha YZF-R6, -0.409 second
4. Kevin Curtain, Yamaha YZF-R6, -1.767 seconds
5. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Suzuki GSX-R600, -3.977 seconds
6. Karl Muggeridge, Honda CBR600, -9.697 seconds
7. James Whitham, Yamaha YZF-R6, -10.237 seconds
8. Jörg Teuchert, Yamaha YZF-R6, -10.653 seconds
9. Stéphane Chambon, Suzuki GSX-R600, -10.720 seconds
10. Christian Kellner, Yamaha YZF-R6, -11.217 seconds
11. Christophe Cogan, Honda CBR600, -13.107 seconds
12. Robert Ulm, Yamaha YZF-R6, -15.787 seconds
13. Piergiorgio Bontempi, Ducati 748R, -17.532 seconds
14. Alessio Corradi, Yamaha YZF-R6, -22.346 seconds
15. Werner Daemen, Honda CBR600, -22.553 seconds
16. James Ellison, Kawasaki ZX-6R, -22.743 seconds
17. Matthieu Lagrive, Yamaha YZF-R6, -31.739 seconds
18. Robert Frost, Yamaha YZF-R6, -32.784 seconds
19. Giovanni Bussei, Ducati 748R, -33.053 seconds
20. Barry Veneman, Yamaha YZF-R6, -33.137 seconds
21. Stefano Cruciani, Yamaha YZF-R6, -33.627 seconds
22. Christer Lindholm, Yamaha YZF-R6, -34.499 seconds
23. Antonio Carlacci, Yamaha YZF-R6, -34.645 seconds
24. Laurent Brian, Honda CBR600, -37.005 seconds
25. Harry Van Beek, Yamaha YZF-R6, -40.351 seconds
26. John McGuinness, Honda CBR600, -44.917 seconds
27. Claudio Cipriani, Yamaha YZF-R6, -55.362 seconds
28. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki ZX-6R, -5 laps, DNF
29. Sebastien Charpentier, Honda CBR600, -9 laps, DNF
30. Chris Vermeulen, Honda CBR600, -11 laps, DNF


From Ten Kate Honda:

Two for Ten Kate Honda at home

The Ten Kate Honda world Supersport team celebrated a visit to their home track in fine style this afternoon by taking not only first, but also second place in the race.

It was a thrilling race that ended in spectacular style with a multiple pile up in the final chicane. Foret didn’t get the best of starts and was back in fifth in the early stages. But he powered his way to the front and was still up there when the race was stopped after 11 of the 16 laps.

“I was a little too relaxed in the early stages,” admitted Foret. “When I saw the leaders getting away I knew I had to get my head down and get into the front. The Pirelli tyres were excellent and my bike set up was perfect, a big thanks goes to WP Suspension and all the team for that!”

In his usual fully committed style Foret charged into the lead and a 17 point championship lead with just one round remaining.

His team mate Iain MacPherson finished second, a result that delighted the fiery Scot. “Obviously I’m really happy to finish second,” said Iain. “I think the Ten Kate Honda team showed the value of preparation here today, we’ve tested many times here and it showed today.”

Praise for both of his riders and the team’s many supporters came from Team Manager Ronald ten Kate, “I want to give my special thanks to all our team, riders and sponsors, they’ve all helped us to get this result. Today we saw the best of Foret, he showed that he has what it takes to be a champion. Now the championship will be decided at Imola and that’ll be one hell of a race!”



More, from Van Zon Honda TKR:

Promising weekend for Van Zon Honda TKR ends in disappointment

After watching Chris Vermeulen qualify in pole position, the Van Zon Honda TKR team could be forgiven for expecting more than they got from Sunday’s World Supersport race at Assen ­ which was absolutely nothing!

Chris was obviously looking forward to a great race, starting once again from the front of the grid. But before he’d managed to complete even one lap a technical problem forced him to retire and start a long and dejected walk back to the pit garage. It wasn’t the ending to Chris’s brilliant weekend that either the team or Chris had been looking forward to.

“I can’t really describe how upset I am at the moment,” said Vermeulen. “But that’s racing and I’ll just have to come back at Imola and do my best once more.”

Then, after 12 laps of another action packed Supersport race, the team had to sit in horror and witness a massive pile up at the final chicane, and one that featured their own rider Werner Daemen.

The incident started when Christian Kellner’s Yamaha went into melt down mode, blowing its motor in an absolutely spectacular fashion. Unfortunately oil poured onto his rear wheel, and all over the track. Kellner crashed hard and soon another six riders had joined him in what looked like a very ugly incident.

Fortunately no one was seriously hurt, but unfortunately one of the crashers was Werner. He fell heavily on his already injured right shoulder.

“I thought I had re-broken it,” said Werner after the race. “But it seems I’ve just pulled muscles and ligaments again. I’ll be fit for Imola though.”