HONDA’S GOLDEN SUPERSPORT SEASON APPROACHES FINAL ROUND The final weekend of an amazing World Supersport season for new champion Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) takes place on his home soil, but after a crash in the previous round at Imola, his latest battle is to be race fit to perform at his very best. Having tweaked tendons in his left shoulder, severely enough to prevent him from riding at the previous round in Italy, Charpentier is nonetheless determined to race in France, if humanly possible. Charpentier has been a phenomenon in his winning season, taking ten poles and six race wins so far, earning the championship itself with three rounds to go. The final third of his season has offered no greater collection of points so far, yet he is still some 43 points ahead of confirmed second place rider, Kevin Curtain. Behind Curtain, three Honda riders, led by double race winner Katsuaki Fujiwara (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR), are in with a chance of overall third place in the championship chase. Fujiwara has 140 points, with Fabien Foret (Team Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR) on 131 and fifth place rider Michel Fabrizio (Team Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR) on 122. The WSS debut season of Tatu Lauslehto (Klaffi Honda CBR600RR) is about to draw to a close, with the young Finn on course to be awarded his desired top ten status. With a strong points score, the rookie of the year title will also be within his grasp. Charpentier is in determined and optimistic mood on the eve of his home race, wanting to celebrate his championship win from the saddle of his CBR600RR. “It was a strange and very bad situation at Imola but, when I saw the conditions on Sunday, I was glad I had made the decision not to race,” said Charpentier, who nonetheless scored pole at Imola before his injurious fall. “Now I have a fight to be fit enough to ride at Magny-Cours. I saw my specialist in Paris on Tuesday and he has advised me not to ride – but you know what doctors are like. I prefer to leave it until Thursday to make the decision. At the moment, I’m really looking forward to riding for my friends and family and the French crowd at Magny-Cours. I can’t wait for this climax to a fantastic season – for me and my whole team.” For his part, Fujiwara looks almost certain to be fit enough to defend third place at Magny Cours. “I had a big crash at Imola and have some bruises all over my body, as well as a broken ring finger,” said ‘Kats’. “I have been improving every day since last weekend and I think that by next Friday at Magny-Cours, my only problem will be using the clutch with my broken finger. The mechanics will try to make the clutch action as light as possible so that I can race properly this weekend. Unfortunately, because I missed the race at Imola, I cannot retake second place in the championship but I am determined to finish in the top three by winning the race on Sunday.” Foret was another rider injured at Imola, after a crash in the first leg of an aggregate race. He recovered in the second heat to score points, and intends to score 25 more at home. “I have great pain again after the crash of Imola,” said Foret, “I lost grip in the rain and I’m very disappointed. But we have no time for analysis because on Sunday we must to run another race. It’s the last of the year; my home round and I want to make a good result because my target is to finish the season third in the championship. Magny is a strange circuit because of its fast and slow parts, but I will start for the victory, as always.” Fabrizio has most work to do to score third in the championship, but knows he can run well at Magny Cours, despite a disappointing end to his race last year and an off-podium finish at home in Imola this year. “Imola was another strange round because the rain changed the character of the race,” said Fabrizio of his most recent outing. “This is not a good period for me but I want to return to the podium after two races off it and I need to do this in Magny Cours. Last year I ran only my second race on a Supersport bike and I made my first beautiful race – if you don’t consider the end. My target is to finish on a high note, and I want to do this for me and for the team.” Lauslehto’s perfect points scoring run was interrupted for the first time this year at Imola, after a small technical problem dropped him out of the top 15, but he knows what is required at Magny-Cours – another new track on his rookie trail. “Same procedure as everywhere – it will be the first time for me to ride at Magny Cours. In the standings I’m still 4 points away from becoming ‘Rookie of the Year’. But it is still possible to make it. I’ll give my all to get the missing points from Magny Cours because I don’t want to leave the title to my competitor Fores.” World Superbike Round 12 of 12 LAST POINTS ON OFFER FOR HONDA’S FIREBLADE QUINTET Having been deprived of the opportunity to fight for the championship title all the way to the final round at Magny-Cours, Chris Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) has already made a clear declaration of his season ending ambitions – win both races in France. Should he win both races, he would have a season ending tally of seven, and given his recent Superpole prowess, he could add to the two pole positions he has scored this year so far. Pierfrancesco Chili (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) is out for his first podium of the season at Magny Cours, as he sits in an overall ninth place at present. The Italian rider, a legend in Superbike circles, has yet to break through the fifth place barrier in any race, but given the mercurial talents of Chili, he is always at his most dangerous when least expected. Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) will be fighting for a top ten finish in France, and his first podium in his rookie SBK season. Overall 11th at present, Muggeridge is only seven points from the top ten at present. Another rider in his novice SBK season, Max Neukirchner (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) has already clipped the wings of an SBK podium finish, in Australia. Intent on an upwardly mobile race weekend, he could conceivably finish ninth, despite being 13th overall at present. Ben Bostrom (Renegade Honda Koji CBR1000RR) fights against the back problems that have blighted recent races, but he wants to sign off the season on a high note in France. For Vermeulen the disappointment of a second race washout at Imola can only be healed by bathing in the restorative elixir of two doses of victory champagne. “I guess it would have been a good climax to the season if the title was still undecided, but I’m just coming here to win two more races and finish the season on a positive note,” affirmed Chris. “We had a really good test here in June but the Suzukis tested here a couple of weeks ago so they’ll be the ones to beat. That’s what motivates me really, and I think last Sunday’s first race win at Imola was one of my most satisfying. To win on an intermediate front and beat Troy and the others on their slicks was a pretty good feeling. It started to slide around after about five laps so I had to change my riding style and move it up to another level.” For Chili Magny-Cours is a good season-ending venue. He looks to the previous year for inspiration in his final race of 2005. “With two top ten positions last year I proved that I have a good grasp of the track layout at Magny Cours,” stated Chili. “I finished 5th and 6th. That was OK, but I hope to make a better race again this year and achieve top results.” Muggeridge has clear goals for the weekend, especially after the frustrations of Imola’s first race DNF and second race cancellation. “Last weekend was really frustrating because we made some good steps forward with the bike during the two days of qualifying and the first lap of race one I was feeling really good,” said Vermeulen. “I feel positive about Magny-Cours though and we had a good test here back in June. I think we’ve got some more chassis parts to try first thing on Friday that will hopefully get us in a position for some good results on Sunday.” Neukirchner waxes lyrical when asked about the prospect of racing at Magny-Cours. “Magny-Cours is a wonderful race track. It is a little bit like a beautiful woman, with lots of fascinating characteristics,” said the eloquent German rider. “There are extremely fast sections followed by slow and tricky ones. The challenge at Magny Cours is to find the ideal, elegant line. This is a big job – but it makes the whole thing even more attractive.” Bostrom will find Magny Cours a trial, but is adopting a philosophical mentality to the final race weekend of the year. “The problem for me is the same one as the last few races, healing up my injured back,” said Bostrom. “Just as it starts to get better I have to go racing and that undoes all the healing. The pain and lack of mobility is there all the time but the main problems come under braking and in quick changes of direction. My crash at Imola in practice didn’t help of course, but there is nothing I can do about it – so I’ll be going to Magny-Cours to do the best I can.”

Superbike World Championship preview – round 12: Magny Cours Round: 12, Magny Cours – France 9 October 2005 Circuit: Magny Cours Country: France Track length: 4411 m Opened: 1961 Fastest Lap Ever: 1:40.754 (Neil Hodgson, 2003) WSB lap record: 1:41.219 (Neil Hodgson, 2003) Last year WSB winner: James Toseland, Noriyuki Haga Circuit Nevers Magny Cours in France is the venue for this weekend’s finale to the 2005 Superbike World Championship. The technically interesting circuit is host to many other high profile events, most notably the annual Bol d’Or 24-hour race, the classic endurance event previously held at Paul Ricard, and the French Formula One Grand Prix car race. It’s also a favourite circuit of Yamaha Motor Italia rider Noriyuki Haga, who won the last race of the 2004 season to take third in the championship. That’s the same position Haga occupies this year, his first on the Yamaha YZF-R1, and another win would be much welcomed as he looks to cement his third place in the championship and extend his current run of eight successive podium finishes. “I like Magny Cours very much,” says Haga. “Last year I was able to push hard and make a first and second in the two races. It is an interesting circuit with some long straights, fast corners and very slow hairpins. There are a lot of places where you can make the pass on the brakes and this is where me and the R1 have been strong. I want to keep my third in the championship but also I always race to win – so this is first priority. If I make the good results then the championship will be ok.” Team-mate Andrew Pitt goes to Magny Cours after a crash saw him fail to score at Imola and slip back to ninth in the rankings. The Australian has been tantalisingly close to a podium finish several times this season, recording a best of fourth place in the opening race of the year in Qatar. The hard-working former supersport champion is keen to end the year on a high and prove both his and the R1’s credentials in their first full year in the championship. Yamaha Motor France have been looking forward to the opportunity to race at home and on their nominated test track. Norick Abe has enjoyed several tests at the circuit during the year, while few riders know the circuit better than team-mate Sebastien Gimbert. The Frenchman has completed thousands of kilometres at Magny Cours as part of the Yamaha GMT94 endurance team and he has caused a stir 12 months ago when he bagged a pair of fourth places as a wild-card for Yamaha Motor France. The championship itself was decided in favour of Troy Corser (Suzuki) with the cancellation of the second race in Imola meaning he cannot be caught by second placed Chris Vermeulen (Honda). Haga is currently third with a 27 point advantage over outgoing world champion James Toseland (Ducati). Supersport World Championship The main places have also been decided in the supersport class, with Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) crowned champion and Yamaha Motor Germany’s Kevin Curtain confirmed as runner-up. That doesn’t mean Yamaha’s German squad won’t want to end the season on a high. After taking a one-two finish at Eurospeedway Lausitz, they found themselves in a similar position at Imola last weekend – only for the race to be stopped due to heavy rain. In the wet restart discretion proved the better part of valour and Curtain brought his R6 home to seal his championship position while Parkes struggled with grip in the wet. With a new YZF-R6 being introduced next season, the Australians are keen to send the old machine into retirement on a high in France. FIM Superstock 1000 Cup Sunday’s race action will begin with the battle for the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, with teamsters Didier van Keymeulen and Kenan Sofuoglu hoping to emulate their Yamaha Motor Germany team-mate Stefan Nebel, who last weekend won the German IDM Superbike title, by lifting a title of their own. Belgium’s Van Keymeulen has just a one-point advantage over his Turkish team-mate going into the finale, ensuring a winner takes all showdown between the R1 riders. The only man capable of denying the Yamaha men the title is former Australian superbike champion Craig Coxhell (Suzuki), who is 13 points behind Van Keymeulen and will be ready to pounce should the Yamaha riders slip up. A Yamaha rider also leads the way in the Superstock 600 class, with Claudio Corti heading the field on his YZF-R6. The Italian leads Yoann Tibero (Honda) by 24 points, with a 14th place assuring Corti the crown in Magny Cours.

WINSTON’S CHAMPION CHARPENTIER HEADS HOME Winston Ten Kate Honda rider Sébastien Charpentier heads for his home race in this weekend’s World Supersport championship finale at Magny-Cours in France. Although the 32-year-old Frenchman secured the 2005 World Supersport championship a month ago at Assen, he has not scored a single point since, after crashing out at Lausitz in Germany and missing last weekend’s Imola race through injury. His Japanese team-mate, Katsuaki Fujiwara, also missed last Sunday’s race following a crash on his first free practice lap on Friday morning. The winner of two races this season is keen to maintain third place in the 2005 World Supersport championship standings and to finish his first season on Honda’s CBR600RR on a high note. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “Imola was definitely one of the most unusual and difficult race weekends for us, with Kats crashing on Friday and Sébastien on Saturday, and both riders missing the race on Sunday. Hopefully they will have both recovered sufficiently for us to pick up the job where we left it on Friday in Imola with Sébastien setting the pole position time after completing just seven qualifying laps. The fact that nobody was able to improve on his time the following day makes us wonder what his performance might have been like in the race. It’s been a difficult couple of races actually, since Sébastien won the title in Assen and we enjoyed that incredible high. The whole team and everyone else involved are looking forward to the perfect end to this almost perfect season at Magny-Cours.” Sébastien Charpentier championship position 1st, 210 points (World Supersport Champion 2005): “It was a strange and very bad situation at Imola but, when I saw the conditions on Sunday, I was glad I had made the decision not to race. The Supersport event was very difficult for all the riders and I was happy that I had won the title back in Assen! Now I have a fight to be fit enough to ride at Magny-Cours. I saw my specialist in Paris on Tuesday and he has advised me not to ride but you know what doctors are like. I prefer to leave it until Thursday to make the decision. At the moment, I’m really looking forward to riding for my friends and family and the French crowd at Magny-Cours and can’t wait for this climax to a fantastic season for me and my whole team.” Katsuaki Fujiwara championship position 3rd, 140 points: “I had a big crash at Imola and have some bruises all over my body, as well as a broken finger. But I have been improving every day since last weekend and I think that by next Friday at Magny-Cours, my only problem will be using the clutch with my broken finger. We will try with the mechanics to make the clutch action as light as possible so that I can race properly this weekend. Unfortunately, because I missed the race at Imola, I cannot retake second place in the championship but I am determined to finish in the top three by winning the race on Sunday.” World Supersport Championship points after 11 of 12 rounds: 1 Sébastien Charpentier FRA (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 210, 2 Kevin Curtain AUS (Yamaha) 167, 3 Katsuaki Fujiwara JPN (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 140, 4 Fabien Foret FRA (Honda) 131, 5 Michel Fabrizio ITA (Honda) 122, 6 Broc Parkes AUS (Yamaha) 100, 7 Stephane Chambon FRA (Honda) 86, 8 Gianluca Nannelli ITA (Ducati) 56, 9 Javier Fores ESP (Suzuki) 60, 10 Tauto Lauslehto FIN (Honda) 56. Magny-Cours World Supersport event schedule: Friday 7 October 09.35-10.20 free practice, 13.15-14.00 qualifying; Saturday 8 October 10.00-10.45 free practice, 13.45-14.30 qualifying; Sunday 9 October 09.50-10.10 warm-up, 13.20 race (23 laps 101.453 km).

WINSTON RIDERS SEEK VICTORIES AT FRENCH FINALE Winston Ten Kate Honda’s Australian pairing of Chris Vermeulen and Karl Muggeridge make the trek from Imola to Magny-Cours this week to prepare for the final round of the 2005 World Superbike championship. With the title decided in favour of Troy Corser at last Sunday’s 11th round when race two was cancelled, Vermeulen is assured of second place in the series but is keen to add to his tally of five wins this season. Muggeridge will be keen to complete his debut World Superbike season with at least one podium finish a result that the 31-year-old Australian has threatened and deserved often this season but which has thus far eluded him. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “We had been hoping to come to Magny-Cours with this year’s championship still alive with the possibility of Chris conjuring some more wins. Unfortunately, as we all know, that possibility was washed away with all that rain in Imola last Sunday. So, we come to the final round hoping for a dry event and, as ever, looking for race victories. We had some new bits to try at Imola but, when the first practice there was wet, we opted to keep them packed away and to work with what we know. So we’ll unpack them again here and see how they go. The season started pretty badly and ended in disappointment last Sunday but there have been some good positives along the way. We’re aiming to finish on a high level and to take that forward into 2006.” Chris Vermeulen championship position 2nd, 354 points: “Nothing’s changed since last Sunday I’m still not crying about the championship because I think we all knew that it was eventually going to go Troy’s way. I guess it would have been a good climax to the season if it was still undecided, but I’m just coming here to win two more races and finish the season on a positive note. We had a really good test here in June but the Suzukis tested here a couple of weeks ago so they’ll be the ones to beat. That’s what motivates me really, and I think last Sunday’s first race win at Imola was one of my most satisfying. To win on an intermediate front and beat Troy and the others on their slicks was a pretty good feeling. It started to slide around after about five laps so I had to change my riding style and move it up to another level.” Karl Muggeridge championship position 11th, 111 points: “Well, zero points at Imola has left me with two races left to do something this season. Last weekend was really frustrating because we made some good steps forward with the bike during the two days of qualifying and the first lap of race one I was feeling really good. I’d made up some places from the start and was confident of passing some more riders but then the clutch just let go. We all know what happened in race two, but it was the right thing to do. I feel positive about Magny-Cours though and we had a good test here back in June. I think we’ve got some more chassis parts to try first thing on Friday that will hopefully get us in a position for some good results on Sunday.” Championship points after 11 of 12 rounds: 1 Troy Corser AUS (Suzuki) 409, 2 Chris Vermeulen AUS (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 354, 3 Noriyuki Haga JPN (Yamaha) 255,4 James Toseland GBR (Ducati) 228, 5 Regis Laconi FRA (Ducati) 221, 6 Yukio Kagayama JPN (Suzuki) 212, 7 Chris Walker GBR (Kawasaki) 140, 8 Andrew Pitt AUS (Yamaha) 137, 9 Pierfrancesco Chili ITA (Honda) 125, 10 Lorenzo Lanzi ITA (Ducati) 118, 11 Karl Muggeridge AUS (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 111. Magny-Cours World Superbike event schedule: Friday 7 October 10.30-11.30 free practice, 14.15-15.15 qualifying; Saturday 8 October 11.00-12.00 qualifying, 14.45-15.45 free practice, 16.00 Superpole; Sunday 9 October 09.20-09.40 warm-up, 12.00 race one (23 laps 101.453 km), 15.30 race two (23 laps 101.453 km).

Superbike World Championship – Finale Round at Magny Cours Here we go again! The finale round of World’s Superbike Championship takes place at the upcoming weekend (07-09. October) at Magny Cours / France. On Monday after Imola race the Klaffi Honda Team directly hit the road direction Magny Cours. There was no time for a short stop at home, because Magny Cours is about 1000 km away from Imola. Wednesday the race trucks with the complete equipment have to arrive in France to prepare everything in time for the finale round. Max Neukirchner: “žMagny Cours is a wonderful race track. It is a little bit like a fascinating lady with all the attributes you’re dreaming of. There are extremely fast sections followed by slow and difficult ones. The challenge at Magny Cours is to find the ideal, elegant line. This is a big job but it makes the whole thing even more attractive. ” Frankie Chili: “žWith two Top Ten positions last year I proved that I have a good grasp of the track at Magny Cours. I finished 5th and 6th. This was okay. I hope to make a good race again this year and to achieve top results.” Tatu Lauslehto / Supersport: “žSame procedure as everywhere it will bet he first time for me to ride at Magny Cours. In the standings I’m still 4 points away to become “šRookie of the Year’. But it is still possible to make it. I’ll give my all to get the missing points at Magny Cours because I don’t want to leave the title to my competitor Fores.” Team Manager Klaus Klaffenböck: “žAt the finale round I expect from our riders to open the throttle once again. Frankie should keep his top ten position in the championship standings for Max it maybe possible to finish also in the top tens. And Tatu should succeed as “šRookie of the Year’. This would be a perfect finale of the Championship and a thankyou dedicated to all our fans!”

Read about it in a local news report: ~http://www.theeagle.com/stories/100405/local_20051004016.php~