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~

CMRA Championship Series Round 10 Texas World Speedway College Station, TX Oct. 1-2, 2005 Ty Howard clenched the CMRA overall number one plate for 2005 plus five class championships at the 10th and final round of the Central Motorcycle Roadracing Association’s championship series held at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas. Howard topped three expert divisions during Sunday’s sprint-race action, taking home nearly $5000 in purse and contingency money for the weekend, however, Houston’s Ronnie Lunsford claimed the biggest paycheck of the weekend by winning the AF1 Racing Heavyweight Twins Expert title and the whopping $8000 prize that went along with it. Going into the weekend, Lunsford and Aprilia RSV1000-mounted Jon Francis were separated by only two points in the Heavyweight Twins Expert-class points race and whoever finished on top in the finale would claim the title and AF1-sponsored purse. Francis grabbed the holeshot and led the race until the final turn of the last lap, where he lost it in a water puddle just before the final straight. The resulting crash brought out the red flag and gave the Ducati 999-mounted Lunsford the win and the title. The Typhoon Racing-sponsored Howard claimed wins in the C Superstock Expert race, which features a $500 purse, the RaceworX C Superbike Expert race, which features a $150 purse, and the Pace American Trailers Formula 1 Expert race, which features a $1000 purse. Among the other money winners was Jeffrey Harder Jr., who took wins in the Sum of all Parts A Superstock Expert race, which features a $150 purse and the Motorcycles Unlimited A Superbike Expert race, which features a $150 purse. Dane Westby was another multi-class winner, taking wins in the D Superstock Expert race, the South Central Race Center D Superbike Expert race, which features a $150 purse, and the Formula CMRA Heavyweight race, while Bill Syfan won the 125 GP race, which features a $250 purse and Eric Falt won the Lightweight Twins Expert race, which features a $500 purse. Michael Sanchez won the Racing Performance Services B Superstock Expert race, which features a $150 purse and Tyler McDonald won the Super Motard race, which pays a $250 purse. The final race of the day, and the season, for that matter, was the Komodo Racing B Superbike Expert/ B Superbike Novice race, which was won by Bryan West. Westy claimed the lion’s share of the $250 purse for his efforts. In the Novice divisions, William Guthrie posted three wins, while Brandon Spradling, Cory Burleson and Myles Turner each had two. Northwest Honda Racing claimed their sixth overall endurance title since 1993 with a conservative finish in Saturday’s Shogun Motorsports CMRA Endurance Series finale, while Desert-Rats.net outraced KNMotorcycles.com to the finish line to win their first race of the year. KNMotorcycles.com had built substantial leads on several occasions during the five hour event, but red flags wiped out their advantage each time. The last of three red flags, with an hour-and-a-half left in the race, left seven teams on equal terms for the final sprint to the finish. KNMotorcycles.com and Desert-Rats.net swapped leads several times, en route to the finish, before KNMotorcycles.com’s Will Gruy went down on the final lap. The win secured second overall in the standings for Desert-Rats.net, in addition to the A Superstock title, while KNMotorcycles.com finished third overall for the year and won the C Superstock championship. Third overall in the race went to Team O’Donnell, who topped 2005’s “hard-luck” team, Village Idiots, for the C Superbike title. The Village Idiots won two endurance rounds in 2005, but DNFs doomed them to sixth overall for the year. 2Wheels.com won the Formula 1 class with a fifth overall finish, while Fireball Racing claimed the Formula 2 win and title with a 10th overall finish. In Saturday’s mini sprint races, Tyler McDonald won the Formula 4 race, while Conner Blevins topped the Formula 6 division. In the Formula 5 class, Derek Wagnon took the win and Blevins returned to win the Formula 7 class. Over 550 sprint entries and 48 endurance teams graced the grids for the final weekend of racing on the high-banked speedway.