Updated Post: Vermeulen Wins Second World Superbike Race At Laguna Seca

Updated Post: Vermeulen Wins Second World Superbike Race At Laguna Seca

© 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Results
1. Chris Vermuelen, Honda, 28 laps
2. James Toseland, Ducati, -0.465 second
3. Regis Laconi, Ducati, -13.520 seconds
4. Noriyuki Haga, Ducati, -13.742
5. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati, -21.770
6. Steve Martin, Ducati, -27.964
7. Garry McCoy, Ducati, -43.631
8. Marco Borciani, Ducati, -48.268
9. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki, -49.327
10. Ivan Clemente, Kawasaki, -54.021
11. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati, -69.618
12. Piergiorgio Bontempi, Suzuki, -84.444
13. Warwick Nowland, Suzuki, -1 lap
14. Horst Saiger, Yamaha, -1 lap
15. Leon Haslam, Ducati, -7 laps, DNF, crash
16. Troy Corser, Petronas, -11 laps, DNF, mechanical
17. Chris Walker, Petronas, -21 laps, DNF, mechanical
18. Alessio Veline, Yamaha, -22 laps, DNF, crash
19. Miguel Praia, Ducati, -26 laps, DNF
20. Jiri Mrkyvka, Ducati, -28 laps, DNF, crash
21. Gianluca Nannelli, Ducati, -28 laps, DNF, crash


Provisional Superbike World Championship Point Standings:

1. Toseland, 201 points
2. Laconi, 198 points
3. Vermeulen, 187 points
4. Haga, 162 points
5. Chili, 160 points
6. McCoy, 146 points
7. Haslam, 120 points
8. Martin, 119 points
9. Corser, 101 points
10. Borciani, 94 points


More, from a press release issued by FGSport Group:

VERMEULEN AND HONDA DOUBLE UP AT TENTH LAGUNA SBK RACE

TEN BY TEN: The tenth anniversary of the joint AMA and SBK World Championship event at Laguna Seca delivered some outstanding racing in the high temperatures of a sizzling Californian afternoon. Among many landmarks passed today was a new record number of SBK race starts for Pierfrancesco Chili, who has now ridden in 230 races, beating Aaron Slight’s record in the process. The races themselves were both won by Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR rider Chris Vermeulen, who has now taken the last three SBK race wins in a row.

RACE ONE: Noriyuki Haga (Renegade Ducati 999RS) was forced to start from pitlane, ruling himself out of any chance of a podium finish but there were five others who looked like they could take a top three score. Chris Vermeulen (Ten Kate Honda) was the eventual victor, taking the win from Pierfrancesco Chili (PSG-1 Ducati 998RS) by 4.127 seconds. James Toseland (Ducati Fila 999 F04) had a great run at the front but had to settle for fourth place after a huge fight with his team-mate Regis Laconi. Steve Martin (DFX Ducati) broke his recent run of bad luck to finish a popular third.

RACE TWO: Chris Vermeulen, shadowed throughout by the chasing James Toseland, took his second win of the day, squeezing his Honda ahead at the flag by a mere 0.465 seconds. The fight for third place was no less frantic, as Regis Laconi and Noriyuki Haga went through an epic battle right to the flag, with Laconi edging out the Japanese rider, who had started the race from the fourth row.

POINTS TO PROVE: The dynamics of the World Championship battle changed once more, as the leading Ducati duo swapped places in the table, with Toseland now leading by 201 points to Laconi’s 198. Vermeulen, thanks to a whopping 50 points earned today, is third on 187, only 14 points off the lead. Haga is fourth on 162, with Chili shadowing on 160.

OFF PISTE: The battle for the off podium places was as frantic as the ones for silverware, with Chili fifth in race two. Steve Martin could not repeat his race one success and finished a distant sixth, still ahead of Garry McCoy (Xerox Ducati 999RS) who took a brace of seventh places.
Top Kawasaki rider was Mauro Sanchini, who took his Bertocchi ZX-10 to 11th and ninth.

PETRONAS STRUGGLE: The Foggy Petronas FP-1 team, of Troy Corser and Chris Walker had only one point scoring finished after a tough weekend in Laguna. Corser’s tenth in race one was a poor reward for a rider on the second row after Superpole. Walker had two DNFs, and Corser had to limp back to the pits, after his machine malfunctioned in the second 28-lap race.

Brands Hatch is the venue for round eight of the World Superbike Championship, on August 1, where Supersport and Superstock classes will be in attendance once more.

More, from a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing:

Treble trouble for FPR at Laguna Seca

The mid-season blues continued for Foggy PETRONAS Racing today with three retirements in two trouble-strewn races in the seventh round of the Superbike World Championship at the American circuit of Laguna Seca.

Troy Corser’s 10th place in the opener was the only finish for the team after both he and team-mate Chris Walker were forced to pull into the pits with technical problems in the second race.

Troy said: “This has been a very frustrating and disappointing weekend, especially considering I was reasonably happy with my set-up and race tyres. In the second race the bike was okay for a few laps but then I started to lose the rear going into the right-handers. But I was right on the back of Clementi and the track was busy so I did not get a chance to look down until Sanchini came passed. There was too much oil on the bike and I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish and I didn’t want to crash like I did in Germany.”

Walker’s day of woe started when, after an engine problem on the formation lap of the first race, he narrowly escaped crashing with two laps remaining when a gearbox problem caused an oil leakage. His day went from bad to worse when a clutch failure brought an end to his second race after eight laps.

Chris, riding with three fractured ribs after a trouble-strewn previous outing at Silverstone, said: “I don’t deserve the luck I am having at the moment, especially at a time in the championship when you need as many points as you can get. It’s a shame that, having struggled in qualifying, I wasn’t able to finish either race after being up near the top ten. I didn’t get my normal start in the second race as the clutch didn’t release properly. I was pushing the lever out with my finger for a while but it got gradually worse.”

Both races were won by Australian Chris Vermeulen, at his first visit to the technically demanding Californian circuit.

Race two results, Superbike World Championship, round 7, Laguna Seca, USA: 1 Vermeulen; 2 Toseland +0.465; 3 Laconi +13.520; 4 Haga +13.742; 5 Chili +21.770; 6 Martin +27.964; 7 McCoy +43.631; 8 Borciani +48.268; 9 Sanchini +49.327; 10 Clementi +54.021; 11 Pedercini +1:09.618; 12 Bontempi +1:24.444; 13 Nowland one lap; 14 Saiger one lap


More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati Nortel Networks – Scuderia Caracchi

Grip problems for Garry McCoy, only seventh at Laguna races

Dramatic grip problems after a third of race distance ruined today races of Garry McCoy on the demanding Laguna Seca circuit. The Australian rider, after a good start in both the races, has lost the pace for grip problems and has been able just to finish the races, looking to earn the most of World Championship points.

“I was quite happy this morning after the warm up session.” – confessed a disappointed Garry McCoy at the end of the day. “Then during the races we had unattended grip problems, either during race-1 as during race-2, problems that we hadn’t during all the week end and that we’ve not been able to solve quickly. In both the legs I had a very good start, I was running with the leaders for 8-10 laps, but late the bike started to slide all around the track and I wasn’t able to manage the throttle as I’m used to. So I’ve been not able to contest the attack of Haga in race-1 and of Haslam in race-2, I could just try to finish the race without bigger problems.”

Bad day for Miguel Praia too: forced to miss race-1 because a broken new engine, installed this morning, during morning’s warm up session, during race-2 joined the pit after a few laps because an oil waste from a lubrication pipe of the second engine.

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