Shinichi Nakatomi confirms his good beginning of the season with a 10th and a 12th positions that give him good points for the championship. Norick Abe and Sébastien Gimbert had a difficult weekend, with the 12th place for the Frenchman in race 1 and a courageous 16th place for Abe in race 2. “I am happy with my progression, said Shinichi Nakatomi. Monza is a unique track which is not easy to discover. I would like to thank my team for providing me with a very reliable Yamaha R1. Learning this championship for me has been so far very positive.” Norick Abe, who crashed heavily on his head during practice, received the green light on Saturday morning from doctor Claudio Costa (Clinica Mobile). Unfortunately, the first race was not a lucky one as an other rider hit him and he had to retire. He did his best in race 2, finishing 16th. Sébastien Gimbert scored the points for 12th position in race 1, but could not finish the second heat when he retired in the pits. Race 1: 1- Bayliss (Ducati) ; 2-Barros (Honda) ; 3-Corser (Suzuki) ; 4-Haga (Yamaha) ; 5-Pitt (Yamaha)”¦ 10-Nakatomi (Team Yamaha Motor France Ipone)”¦12-Gimbert (Team Yamaha Motor France Ipone) Race 2: 1- Bayliss (Ducati) ; 2- Corser (Suzuki) , 3- Haga (Yamaha) ; 4- Barros (Honda) ; 5-Toseland (Honda)”¦12- Nakatomi (Team Yamaha Motor France Ipone)”¦16-Abe (Team Yamaha Motor France Ipone) World Championship standings: 1- Bayliss (175 points) ; 2-Corser (139) ; 3-Toseland (97) ; 4-Barros (95), 5-Haga (93)”¦ 9-Abe (40)”¦17-Nakatomi (18)”¦ 22-Gimbert (7) More, from a press release issued by Beowulf Racing: 2006 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, Rd 2 Monza, Italy Race, Sun 7th May The pressure of racing at international level finally got to Beowulf Racing’s Nick Henderson (Suzuki) at Monza today. The former Australian Superbike Privateer Championship runner-up is desperate to make an impression on the world stage, but the pressure he is putting himself under is hindering his performance. Riding in the second round of the 2006 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, Henderson finished 23rd from a sixth row start following a series of run-offs and overshoots at the high-speed Italian track. Italian Allessandro Polita (Suzuki) followed up his victory at the previous round in Spain to win the race. It had all looked very promising. During practice and qualifying Henderson had been enjoying riding the flowing curves of the historic circuit, the fastest on the Superstock 1000 calendar. After early forecasts of rain, the track was blessed with glorious sunshine. Following the morning warm-up, Henderson reported himself to be happy with the overnight adjustments made to his Beowulf Suzuki and looking forwards to the race. Getting through the first chicane unscathed on an opening lap at Monza always requires a degree of luck. As the bikes barged through for the first time there was the usual dose of fairing and elbow bashing for which the track is famed. Henderson held his own and by the end of the first lap had climbed two places to 19th. It was now that his problems began. Trying too hard, Henderson ran off the track and dropped to 28th place on the second lap With his rhythm now lost, Henderson suffered a series of overshoots and additional run-offs on the following laps. Despite this Nick had pulled himself up to 23rd place by the time he reached the chequered flag. Normally an amiable character, the Australian simply wanted to be left to himself afterwards. Team Manager Andy Stone was more forthcoming: “There’s no questioning Nick’s level of ability” he said afterwards. “Beowulf has been racing at international level for the past four years, but to Nick everything here is new. He’s happy with the team and the machine we’ve prepared for him so it’s just a case of helping him to find his feet in this new environment.” Probably the only solace both could take from the 11-lap race was that the Beowulf Suzuki had recorded the 4th highest speed through the traps, clocked at 181mph. It’s a figure which would have placed the machine within the top 18 in the blue-riband World Superbike races held later in the day. The FIM Superstock 1000 Cup heads to Silverstone in the UK for its next round in three weeks time. With the championship now on home soil for the Shepton Mallet-based team, Beowulf Racing will be looking forwards to a better result. To learn more about Nick Henderson and Beowulf Racing, visit ~www.beowulf-racing .com~ FIM SUPERSTOCK 1000 CUP, RD 2 MONZA Race result 11 laps 1 Allessandro Polita (Ita) Suzuki 20:31.118 2. Riccardo Chiarello (Ita) Kawasaki +00:00.357 3. Ayrton Badovini (Ita) MV Augusta +00:09.079 23. Nick Henderson (Aus) Suzuki +00:51.964 Championship standings after 2 of 10 rounds: 1 Allessandro Polita (Ita) Suzuki – 50pts 2. Ayrton Badovini (Ita) MV Augusta 32pts 3= Riccardo Chiarello (Ita) Kawasaki 22pts 3= Luca Scassa (Ita) MV Augusta 22pts