British Superbikes roar into Silverstone The Bennetts British Superbike Championship heads to Silverstone on 20-21 August for round nine of one of the most exciting and fiercely contested domestic bike series in the world. Boasting one of the strongest rider line-ups in two wheeled motorsport, the double-race weekend promises breathtaking action with riders battling it out peg to peg around Silverstone’s 2.249 mile International Circuit. In addition to two Superbike races fans attending the two day event will be treated to a feast of top British motorcycle racing that includes rounds of the British Supersport, National Superstock and British 125GP Championships, two rounds of the National Superstock Cup, and action from the Virgin Mobile Cup. After eight rounds of the championship HM Plant Honda is the team making all the running, with British rider Michael Rutter leading the fight for the title. Following closely in Rutter’s tracks is team mate Ryuichi Kiyonari who is the man in form, having powered his way to more race wins than any other rider in the series. The Silverstone crowd will also be looking forward to seeing reigning Champion John Reynolds back at the Home of British Motor Racing. The Rizla Suzuki rider set the fastest time at a recent test session and will be keen to put on a strong show for the fans after missing much of the season through injury. Reynolds broke his leg in five places in a pre-season testing accident, but was back racing just 39 days later with his leg in a protective cast and wearing a specially made boot. The 39-year-old made a miraculous recovery from four breaks to his tibia and a single break to the fibula. Reynolds and his medical team later agreed that, rather than riding through the injury, John should rest and heal properly. However, after a six week break Reynolds returned to racing and will ride out at Silverstone 12th in the Championship and determined to make up for lost time. Silverstone promises to be one of the best races of the year and always provides the riders with a challenge. Reynolds in particular is looking forward to one of the biggest rounds of the season: “[Silverstone is] a technically demanding circuit that takes real skill and courage to master. Fast straights combined with a turning and twisting infield section surrounded by grandstands of cheering fans make this one of my favourite tracks in the world.” Silverstone will also be a big weekend for Virgin Mobile Samsung Yamaha rider Sean Emmett. Like Reynolds, the rider’s season has been seriously disrupted by injury. After breaking his elbow during the opening round of the season Emmett later underwent surgery and will return at Silverstone to ride with three screws in his elbow. The team currently lies fifth in the manufacturers’ championship something Emmett and his team mates Tommy Hill and Richard Wren, will be keen to improve on. Airwaves Ducati riders Gregorio Lavilla and Leon Haslam, lying third and fourth respectively, will also keep fans on the edge of their seats as they attempt to narrow the points gap between themselves and the HM Plant Honda riders. Aussies Glen Richards and Dean Thomas will lead the charge for Hawk Kawasaki, while James Haydon will continue on board the second Rizla Suzuki. Haydon recently replaced Scott Smart nephew of the legendary Barry Sheen who left Rizla Suzuki earlier in the season to jump back on a Kawasaki with Vivaldi Racing. Fans’ favourite Steve Plater will also make a welcome return to Silverstone, also aboard a Kawasaki with the Sendo Superbike Team. After a six week break the season looks set to be re-ignited, with adrenaline pumping on the grid and an electric atmosphere in the stands. With the riders gunning for glory, British Superbikes at Silverstone will provide an unforgettable weekend of family entertainment. Silverstone’s open paddock policy, along with free access to the centre of the circuit and Sunday’s pit lane walkabout, provide fans with unrivalled access to the riders, bikes and team personnel. There’s also plenty to keep the family entertained away from the track. Silverstone’s ‘E-Zone’ (Entertainment Zone) will provide something for fans of all ages, including a display from the Red Devils, Xtreme Bikes, an awesome demonstration of stunt riding, Rock Climbing wall, Bungee Run, Rodeo Bull, Bouncy Castle, Face Painter, Kids Quads, simulators and helicopter pleasure flights. There’s also a giant screen enabling spectators to keep up-to-speed with all the action, wherever it happens on the track. To book tickets for round nine of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Silverstone on 20-21 August, or for further information, visit www.silverstone-circuit.co.uk, or contact the ticket hotline on 08704 588 290. Tickets will also be available at the main gate on each day. ~http://www.silverstone-circuit.co.uk~

Read about it here: ~http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_70508.asp~

WILD WIN FOR CREVIER SHUBENACADIE, NS Maple Ridge, BC’s Steve Crevier became the fifth different winner in the Parts Canada Superbike Championship this season as he scored a dramatic victory at Atlantic Motorsport Park Sunday. Riding the Diablo Performance Honda CBR1000RR, Crevier took the lead from the Team Suzuki / Blackfoot Suzuki GSX-R1000 of Kevin Lacombe on lap 9 of the 22-lap race and held off the Granby, QC rider by 0.182 secs. at the finish. Francis Martin of Rock Forest, QC placed third on the Snobgirls / Laval Moto Suzuki GSX-R1000 and extended his lead in the Parts Canada Superbike point standings with just one round remaining. The win was the 40-year-old Crevier’s 23rd career national Superbike triumph and his sixth at AMP. He is the all-time leader in both categories. “I’m very proud of my accomplishments and as I get older I get more emotional about my wins,” said Crevier, who also has more Canadian Superbike national titles than any other rider with six. Sunday’s race was the second half of a doubleheader at AMP. Lacombe won Saturday’s Parts Canada Superbike round and grabbed the lead off the start in Sunday’s feature. He held off Crevier, Martin and the Picotte Performance Yamaha YZF-R1 of Pascal Picotte before Crevier was able to get by in turn 7 on the 11-turn, 2.56km (1.6-mile) track. “Kevin didn’t seem to have the grip off the corners he had yesterday,” Crevier said. “I just closed my eyes and pinned my Honda [to make the pass]. My bike seemed pretty stable through there.” Martin held third the whole way and increased his series lead to 22 points over Calgary rider Clint McBain, 277-255. McBain, riding the Team Suzuki / Blackfoot Suzuki GSX-R1000 passed Picotte four laps from the end to finish fourth. Picotte settled for fifth in the race and slipped to third in the standings, although the defending Parts Canada Superbike champion is just one point behind McBain with 254. Jordan Szoke of Brantford, ON finished sixth riding the Fast Company Honda CBR1000RR and is now fourth in points with 250 heading to the season finale at Shannonville Motorsport Park Sept. 4. A race win is worth 50 points. In other action at AMP, Crevier clinched the Hindle Exhaust Pro 600 Sport Bike feature with his second win of the weekend and his fifth of the season riding his Honda CBR600RR. McBain finished second aboard a Suzuki GSX-R600 and Chris Peris, also from Calgary completed the podium riding the Topline Yamaha YZF-R6. Mark Douglas of Warkworth, ON extended his lead in the International Motorcycle SUPERSHOW Amateur 600 Sport Bike standings with his second victory in a row Sunday. Stephen Chabot of Oshawa, ON placed second and Woodstock, ON rider James Collins took third. All three rode Yamahas. Darren James of North Vancouver scored his first Canadian Thunder win of the season aboard his Buell and Toronto rider Norm Tang won the Suzuki SV650 National Cup feature. Action from this weekend will be televised later this summer in a one-hour show on TSN. For more series information, visit www.cdnsuperbike.com Results of Sunday’s seventh round of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship at Atlantic Motorsport Park in Shubenacadie, NS, showing finishing position, rider name, hometown, type of motorcycle and laps completed: 1.Steve Crevier, Maple Ridge, BC, Honda CBR1000RR, 22; 2. Kevin Lacombe, Granby, QC, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 22; 3. Francis Martin, Rock Forest, QC, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 22; 4. Clint McBain, Calgary, AB, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 22; 5. Pascal Picotte, Granby, QC, Yamaha YZF-R1, 22; 6. Jordan Szoke, Brantford, ON, Honda CBR1000RR, 22; 7. Frank Trombino, Kleinburg, ON, Yamaha YZF-R1, 22; 8. Andrew Nelson, Kars, ON, Honda CBR600RR, 22; 9. Brian Nielsen, Edmonton, AB, Yamaha YZF-R1, 22; 10. Jean Paul Tache, North Bay, ON, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 22; 11. Jeff Williams, Harrowsmith, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, 22; 12. Hugo Brisson, Prevost, QC, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, 22; 13. Jeremy Burgess, Hammonds Plains, NS, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 21; 14. Sean Heydorn, Aurora, ON, Honda CBR600RR, 21; 15. Fred Silver, Greenwood, NS, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, 21; 16. Tom Kipp, Chardon, OH, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 21; 17. Todd Scott, Bedford, NS, Honda CBR600RR, 21; 18. Rick Langille, Nauwigewauk, NB, Honda CBR600RR, 21; 19. Trevor MacDonald, St-Zotique, QC, Suzuki GSX-R600, 21; 20. Blaine Pellerine, Halifax, NS, Yamaha YZF-R6, 21; 21. Erick Beausejour, Val Senneville, QC, Honda CBR600RR, 20 Did Not Finish: Dave Young, Woodstock, ON, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 13 Did Not Start: Stuart Nodell, Ajax, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6RR; Matthew McBride, Mississauga, ON, Kawasaki ZX-10R; Zenon Nelson, Bowmanville, ON, Suzuki GSX-R600; Nicolas Audet, St-Henri, QC, Yamaha YZF-R6; Terry Steves, Bathurst, NB, Honda CBR600RR; Terry MacPhee, Upper Rawdon, NS, Honda CBR600RR Margin of Victory: 0.182 secs. Fastest Lap: Not Available Parts Canada Superbike Championship point standings after 7 of 8 rounds, showing position, rider name and point total: 1.Francis Martin, 277; 2. Clint McBain, 255; 3. Pascal Picotte, 254; 4. Jordan Szoke, 250; 5. Kevin Lacombe, 231; 6. Steve Crevier, 223; 7. Tom Kipp, 145; 8. Frank Trombino, 139; 9. Brian Nielsen, 133; 10. Matthew McBride, 122; 11. Andrew Nelson, 104; 12. Jean-Paul Tache, 94; 13. Erick Beausejour, 65; 14. Sean Heydorn, 53; 15. David Young, 48; 16. Rudy Raposo, 46; 17. Hugo Brisson, 32; 18. Stuart Nodell, 29; 19. Mitch Rathje, 25; 20. Larry Orde, 20; 21. Chris Peris, 19; 22. Jeff Williams, 17; 22. Zenon Nelson, 17; 24. Tim Easton, 16; 24. Trevor MacDonald, 16; 24. Todd Scott, 16; 24. Fred Silver, 16; 28. Peter Holzinger, 15; 29. Elie Daccache, 14; 30. Jeremy Burgess, 13; 30. Guy Tomlinson, 13; 32. Alan Schmidt, 12; 33. Fergus Warwick, 6; 33. Steve Scott, 6; 35. Blaine Pellerine, 5; 35. Rick Langille, 5; 37. Mike Zottmann, 4; 37. Dominic Lavoie, 4; 39. Marco Alessandrini, 2; 39. Shane Kuhn, 2

European 600cc Superstock Race Results: 1. Claudio Corti, Yamaha, 12 laps, 18:52.018 2. Niccolo Canepa, Kawasaki, -0.529 second 3. Maxime Berger, Honda, -2.580 seconds 4. Xavier Simeon, Suuzki, -14.133 seconds 5. Andrea Antonello, Kawasaki, -14.183 seconds 6. Nicky Wimbauer, Suzuki, -14.416 seconds 7. Patrick McDougall, Suzuki, -14.525 seconds 8. Jorge Villar Machado, Honda, -21.201 seconds 9. Daniel Rivas Fernandez, Honda, -22.490 seconds 10. Ondrej Jezek, Kawasaki, -23.147 seconds

World Superbike Race Two Results: 1. Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, 25 laps 2. Troy Corser, Suzuki, -2.686 seconds 3. Chris Vermeulen, Honda, -8.062 seconds 4. Chris Walker, Kawasaki, -12.053 seconds 5. Regis Laconi, Ducati, -13.044 seconds 6. Andrew Pitt, Yamaha, -13.184 seconds 7. James Toseland, Ducati, -14.215 seconds 8. Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, -21.026 seconds 9. Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, -21.175 seconds 10. Ben Bostrom, Honda, -21.257 seconds 11. Max Neukirchner, Honda, -29.315 seconds 12. Pere Riba, Kawasaki, -30.591 seconds 13. Pierfrancesco Chili, Honda, -34.619 seconds 14. Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, -39.732 seconds 15. Dennis Hobbs, Yamaha, -39.879 seconds 16. Lorenzo Alfonsi, Yamaha, -49.646 seconds 17. Gianluca Vizziello, Yamaha, -49.663 seconds 18. Garry McCoy, Foggy Petronas, -74.032 seconds 19. Steve Martin, Foggy Petronas, -7 laps, DNF, crash 20. Norick Abe, Yamaha, -7 laps, DNF, crash 21. Ivan Clementi, Ducati, -9 laps, DNF 22. Fonsi Nieto, Ducati, -14 laps, DNF 23. Alessio Velini, Ducati, -14 laps, DNF 24. Giovanni Bussei, Kawasaki, -15 laps, DNF 25. Jose Luis Cardoso, Yamaha, -15 laps, DNF 26. Marco Borciani, Ducati, -17 laps, DNF 27. Michel Nickmans, Yamaha, -18 laps, DNF 28. Miguel Praia, Yamaha, -21 laps, DNF 29. Karl Muggeridge, Honda, -24 laps, DNF, crash More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: VERMEULEN GOES ONE BETTER IN SECOND BRANDS HATCH THRILLER In the second of this afternoon’s two eighth round World Superbike championship races at Brands Hatch, GB, Chris Vermeulen added a third place to his fourth from race one. The race was won by Japan’s Noriyuki Haga after a thrilling battle with series leader, Troy Corser, who finished second. In front of a typically large Brands Hatch crowd who watched five different manufacturers fill the first five positions, Vermeulen’s Winston Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Karl Muggeridge, crashed out of third place on the second of 25 laps around the 4.2km Kent circuit, breaking a small bone in his right hand. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “That’s bad luck again for Karl who was doing well from second place on the grid and feeling good on the bike. I think that a podium was possible for him today and it would certainly have been deserved. Chris’s race seemed to be a copy of race one because it was lost in the first five or six laps. As soon as he got past the slower riders, he was lapping at the same speed as Haga and Corser. But it’s good to have another podium and I think we have improved the CBR1000RR some more this weekend. We’re looking forward to our home race at Assen in three weeks, where we’ll be looking for some more success.” Chris Vermeulen – third “I just got another bad start again and it’s so hard to pass the guys I was with because they’re all so fast round here. I was a little faster than them but by the time I eventually got past, the first two guys were just gone and, although I could match their lap times, I just couldn’t catch them. I slowed up a little towards the end because there was no point crashing out. We changed the rear spring for race two and the bike definitely felt a little better and it’s good to be on the podium again. At least I’ve been able to open the gap a little on Laconi in the championship and we’ll head for the team’s home round in Assen looking for something even better.” Karl Muggeridge – DNF “I’m pretty upset with myself to be honest. Haga had just passed me on the inside at turn three and I was trying to square off the corner and get him back at the next one. I just gave it too much and the bike let go and spat me off. I think I tried to hold onto it a little too long because I’ve cracked a little bone in my hand. It’s nothing too serious and should heal pretty well in a couple of weeks. It’s such a shame because the changes we made to the bike after race one were spot on and it felt really sweet. I reckon I could have been on for a good result but I’ll just have to try for that again at Assen.” World Superbike, Brands Hatch race two results (25 laps, 104.925km): 1 Noriyuki Haga JPN (Yamaha) 36m39.815s, 2 Troy Corser AUS (Suzuki) +2.686s, 3 Chris Vermeulen AUS (Winston Ten Kate Honda) +8.062, 4 Chris Walker GBR (Kawasaki) +12.053, 5 Regis Laconi FRA (Ducati) +13.044, 6 Andrew Pitt AUS (Yamaha) +13.184, 7 James Toseland GBR (Ducati) +14.215, 8 Lorenzo Lanzi ITA (Ducati) +21.026, 9 Yukio Kagayama JPN (Suzuki) +21.175, 10, Ben Bostrom USA (Honda) +21.257. Championship points after eight of 12 rounds: Corser 344, Vermeulen 234, Laconi 214, Kagayama 172, Haga 167, Toseland 161, Walker 130, Pierfrancesco Chili ITA (Honda) 111, Pitt 95, Norick Abe JPN (Yamaha) 88, Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 85. More, from a press release issued by FGSport Group: CORSER AND HAGA TRADE WINS IN BRANDS HATCH CLASSICS – CORSER THE FIRST AND HAGA THE SECOND Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) once more shared the spoils of a World Superbike weekend, after two astonishingly close and competitive contests between the Aussie and Japanese aces. Haga made the difference between race one and race two by changing machine settings and being even more aggressive in the early laps, setting a race time even faster than the first 25-lapper. Corser now leads the championship chase by 110 points. RACE ONE Corser hammered out to the front of the pack from pole and looked like he may perform one his occasional disappearing acts. But Haga had other plans, sticking with him to eventually join in a classic spectacle of riposte and parry around the undulating 4.2km circuit. Just behind, Regis Laconi (Ducati Xerox) closed up an early gap to finish third. A personal battle for fourth went to Aussie rider Chris Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda) on the last lap, as he overcame the best efforts of Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki). RACE TWO Haga realised he had to overcome the leading threat of Troy Corser in race one and then push hard to change Corser’s winning game plan and he duly managed it – but only after Corser made a mistake by diving too fast into the drop down Pilgrims, running off track. Corser nonetheless showed great skill to recover his composure and retain second place. Vermeulen, who earned the podium he missed out on in race one, made it three different bikes on the podium once more, this time adding a Honda, and substituting a Ducati. Walker took a home town fourth, but James Toseland (Ducati Xerox) dropped from a possible podium place behind Haga and Corser to seventh, his only race finish of the day after an electrical problem in race one. OFF PODIUM BATTLES STILL CLOSELY CONTESTED The warring factions of World Superbike were not just limited to the podium places or top five, as Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) finished sixth in race one before crashing out in race two, suffering a slight fracture of his right hand. Andrew Pitt, Abe’s team-mate) was in the hunt all day at Brands, finishing with a seventh and sixth place. Laconi was fifth in race two. The continuing good form of Italian privateer Lorenzo Lanzi (SC Caracchi Ducati) was eighth in each race, ahead of the injured Alstare Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama on each occasion. A return to personal form, and better power outputs from his Renegade Honda engine, put Ben Bostrom 12th and then 10th on his CBR1000RR. For some other star Honda competitors it was a harsher day in front of SBK’s biggest crowd. HONDA DUO DOWN THE ORDER Pierfrancesco Chili (Klaffi Honda) retired from a non points scoring position in race one and recovered only to 13th in race two. Max Neukirchner (Klaffi Honda) was tenth in race one, 12th in the second, but compared to his earlier season form he was disappointed with the results. Norick Abe fought hard from his lowly grid position for 11th in race one, but a clash and crash with Steve Martin (Petronas) saw both down and out of race two. PETRONAS MAKES THE POINT THROUGH MARTIN The unique Malaysian Petronas FP-1 machines of Steve Martin and Garry McCoy mustered a single point at Brands, for Martin in race one. McCoy retired with a broken water hose clip in race one and then took 18th, as Martin crashed after a collision with Abe. CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS Corser’s win and second place, compared to his closest challenger Vermeulen’s fourth and third, puts him on a total of 344 to Vermeulen’s 234. Regis Laconi is third with 214 and Kagayama fourth on 172. Haga’s high score puts him sixth, with 167. WORLD SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) won his sixth race of the season, ahead of young charger Michel Fabrizio (Team Italia Megabike Honda) and Yamaha rider Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany). Former Brands race winner Stephane Chambon (Gil Motorsports Honda) scored an impressive fourth ahead of Fabien Foret (Team Italia Megabike Honda) and Katsuaki Fujiwara (Winston Ten Kate Honda). Alessio Corradi (Ducati Selmat) was the top Ducati finisher (seventh) ahead of local wild card Craig Jones (Northpoint Ekerold Honda). Charpentier now leads Fujiwara by a whopping 190 points to Fuji’s 116, with Curtain third on 109. Fourth place Foret is separated by only three points from his team mate Fabrizio, with Foret on 85 and Fabrizio on 83. SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP A runaway five second win by Turkish rider Kenan Sofuoglu (Yamaha Motor Germany) saw him top the championship with a score of 111 points, 18 ahead of second placed rider, Craig Coxhell (EMS Suzuki), who was fifth in the race. Four riders battled for second place at one stage, but in an eventual man-to-man battle, Luca Scassa (Ormeni Racing Yamaha R1) scored second place, ahead of Alessandro Polita (Celani Suzuki Italia). Craig Coxhell was beaten into fifth place by Alstare Suzuki rider, Riccardo Chiarello, after dropping pace mid race. SUPERSTOCK 600 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP Claudio Corti (Trasimeno Yamaha) took the win in the smaller Superstock class, with Niccolo Canepa (Bertocchi Kawasaki) in second place, only 0.5 seconds down after Corti’s earlier domination. Yoann Tiberio (Team Megabike Junior Honda) retired from the race leaving Maxine Berger third. The points score now stands at Corti 136, Tiberio 110 and Canepa 85. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: WSB : Haga wins second heat Round: 8 – Brands Hatch Circuit: Brands Hatch Date: 7 August 2005 Crowd: 103000 Temp: 22ºC Weather: Dry Noriyuki Haga was the star of the show at Brands Hatch today, taking his second win of the season in a thrilling second race that saw . The two 25-lap races proved to be two-men shows, with Haga and championship leader Troy Corser (Suzuki) constantly swapping places as they dominated both affairs. Corser took the honours by less than two-tenths of a second in the opener, but Haga gained his revenge in the second after holding off a late challenge that saw Corser run across the gravel on the final lap. Haga delighted the crowd with his spectacular riding style. The Japanese, now looking totally comfortable on his R1, showed amazing confidence in his front suspension as he braked deep into the corners in a spectacular race one duel, which was decided when Corser gained superior drive as they came out of out final corner for the penultimate time. Race two was equally dramatic, with Haga narrowly avoiding a crash as the pair accidentally touched as they crossed the line in the early laps. From then on, the race was one of tension as Corser stalked the Yamaha rider throughout – his move on the final lap resigning him to second place. Team-mate Andrew Pitt had two strong races at Brands. The Australian qualified alongside Haga on the second row of the grid and made to good starts to run with the group battling for third place, taking a seventh place in race one and improving to sixth in the second outing. Yamaha Motor France riders Norick Abe and Sèbastien Gimbert had a difficult day in Brands. Abe made two lightning starts but struggled due to a lack of track knowledge, finishing 11th in the opener and retiring after crashing with Steve Martin (Petronas) in the second. Gimbert bagged two points for 14th in race two. The results see both Yamaha Italia riders move up the championship table. Haga’s 45 point haul takes him to fifth, just five points behind countryman Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki), who occupies fourth, while Pitt moves up to ninth. Championship leader Troy Corser (Suzuki) left the United Kingdom with an improved advantage. He leads second placed Chris Vermeulen (Honda) by 110 points. Abe slides back to tenth in the standings. The championship now makes a four week break before the Dutch round takes place at Assen, where Haga is scheduled to make his 150th world superbike appearance, and his 100th for Yamaha. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) “I had two fantastic races with Troy. In the second I led almost from the first lap to finish. Early on I tried to make a distance on him early but it was impossible. Later I tried some more crazy hard braking but still I could not make the gap. Unfortunately for Troy he made a mistake and when I see that I have a very big smile in my helmet! I would like to thank my team and also Ohlins and Pirelli, because today the bike was very good. Now I go back to Japan for more holidays and when I come back I hope we have some more Nitro for Assen!” Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) “I enjoy the circuit and we just hardly touched it at all weekend as it felt good from the first session. After two bad races in Misano and Brno it’s been good to be running consistently at the front this weekend. Now I need to improve my consistency a little bit. I can do the same lap times as Noriyuki but he is able to do them throughout the race, while my times are not as consistent. I’m also still learning more about the Pirelli tyres but I’m glad to have got a good weekend here and look forward to Assen – a track which holds good memories for me.” Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) “This track is very difficult and this year I have so many new circuits and I not so good at the new ones. Our race lap times were much better than our practice times so we worked well, but it was still not enough to get to the front. In race two I had bad luck with Martin. He ran wide, so I went inside, but he came back in and we fell.” Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) “In race two we had more grip and rear traction so we made better times. I am happier about race two, scored some points, but we took a long time to make a good setting.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator – Yamaha Motor Italia) “Our bike is going up in performance and we are really happy with the development. Already this week we will be testing something different, some parts that were ready for this race but unfortunately arrived too late. It was good to see Andrew back with a smile on his face and he rode aggressively and did not make any mistakes this weekend. After the first race Noriyuki said that he wanted to win the second race, and that he would have to change the set-up if he was to beat Corser. So we changed the final drive ratio and front springs. These were not small changes but Nori is always seeing things to change and normally they prove correct decisions.” Martial Garcia (Team Manager – Yamaha Motor France) “Sebastien was one second faster than compared to last year, but so was everyone else, so the gap is still the same. Anyway, we found good setting but in the second race. In the first race we still had some problems. One of the problems is that Sebastien still has some pain in the leg so it was difficult to get good information. Our weekend was not too bad, except for the bad luck suffered by Norick with his crash.” Race classification WSB Round: 8 – Brands Hatch Circuit: Brands Hatch Circuit Length: 4197 Lap Record: 1′ 26.755 (Shane Byrne, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1′ 26.248 (Shane Byrne, 2003) Race: 25 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 T. Corser Suzuki AUS 36′ 45.074 2 N. Haga Yamaha JPN +0.186 3 R. Laconi Ducati FRA +1.976 4 C. Vermeulen Honda AUS +4.590 5 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR +5.746 6 K. Muggeridge Honda AUS +8.428 7 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS +8.598 8 L. Lanzi Ducati ITA +15.628 9 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN +15.671 10 M. Neukirchner Honda GER +28.250 11 N. Abe Yamaha JPN +32.470 12 B. Bostrom Honda USA +32.500 13 D. Hobbs Yamaha GBR +32.683 14 P. Riba Kawasaki ESP +32.885 15 S. Martin Petronas AUS +35.171 16 S. Gimbert Yamaha FRA +35.272 Race 2: 25 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 N. Haga Yamaha JPN 36′ 39.815 2 T. Corser Suzuki AUS +2.686 3 C. Vermeulen Honda AUS +8.062 4 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR +12.053 5 R. Laconi Ducati FRA +13.044 6 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS +13.184 7 J. Toseland Ducati GBR +14.215 8 L. Lanzi Ducati ITA +21.026 9 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN +21.175 10 B. Bostrom Honda USA +21.257 11 M. Neukirchner Honda GER +29.315 12 P. Riba Kawasaki ESP +30.591 13 P. Chili Honda ITA +34.619 14 S. Gimbert Yamaha FRA +39.732 15 D. Hobbs Yamaha GBR +39.879 Fastest Race Lap: Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 N. Haga Yamaha JPN 1′ 27.272 Championship standings WSB Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points 1 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 344 2 Chris Vermeulen Honda AUS 234 3 Regis Laconi Ducati FRA 214 4 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 172 5 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 167 6 James Toseland Ducati GBR 161 7 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 130 8 Pierfrancesco Chili Honda ITA 111 9 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 95 10 Norifumi Abe Yamaha JPN 88 11 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 85 12 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 66 13 Max Neukirchner Honda GER 63 14 Giovanni Bussei Kawasaki ITA 46 15 Ben Bostrom Honda USA 33 17 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 28 Manufacturers standings WSB Pos. Manufacturer Points 1 Suzuki 353 2 Ducati 257 3 Honda 250 4 Yamaha 208 5 Kawasaki 143 6 Petronas 18 More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: World Superbike Round 8 of 12 VERMEULEN ON PODIUM AFTER BATTLES OF BRANDS Chris Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) once more found himself in the eye of a storm of World Superbike competitiveness, this time under sunny English skies. He was to finish his race weekend with a fourth and third place, the highest placed of the Fireblade riders on display. He maintained his second place in the championship, now trailing race one winner and runaway championship leader Troy Corser (Suzuki) by 110 points. In the first race, Vermeulen was 4.5 seconds from the win, his front running teammate Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) strongly in the podium places until he dropped back to an eventual sixth. Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR runner Max Neukirchner finished in the top ten, with Ben Bostrom (Renegade Honda CBR1000RR Koji) was 12th. Struggling hard in the first race, Pierfrancesco Chili (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) pulled out from a non-points scoring position, to make set-up changes for race two. In the second 25-lap race, the increased pace of leading riders Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) and Corser drew them eight seconds from Vermeulen in third. Bostrom was next best Honda rider in tenth, ahead of 11th placed Neukirchner and a disgruntled Chili, 13th. Karl Muggeridge, who had just been passed by the aggressive Haga on lap two, applied too much throttle, and was spat over the top of his machine, cracking a bone in his hand in the ensuing crash. Less than perfect starts, from a second row position did not help Vermeulen in his race day efforts. “I just got another bad start in race two and it’s so difficult to pass the other guys because they are fast around here,” said Vermeulen, after his eighth podium finish of the year. “I was a little bit quicker than them but by the time I eventually got past the first two guys were gone. Although I could match their lap times, I couldn’t catch them. I eased up a little towards the end because there is no point crashing out. We changed the rear spring for race two and this definitely felt a little better.” Muggeridge’s fractured hand is not expected to give any problems for the next round in Assen, but spoiled what was a promising race for Ten Kate’s other Aussie, who was firmly in the leading three until his crash on lap two. “I’m pretty upset with myself to be honest,” stated the Swiss resident Aussie. “Haga had just passed me on the inside at turn three and I was trying to square of the corner and get back to the next one. I just gave it too much and it spat me off. I think I tried to hold onto it a little to long because I’ve cracked a small bone in my hand.” Ben Bostrom, happy to be not just in the points but sometimes in the leading positions per se, sees his season moving in a new and more positive direction. “The engine was the big change,” said Bostrom. “And the rider’s computer is working better. We need two of the motors we had here for the next one and we’ll keep going. We need to keep our momentum.” Neukirchner had tough weekend in general, qualifying only 17th and missing Superpole. “The second race was especially hard because the lap times were very fast in this race,” stated the young German flier. “Our lap times were not bad, and very constant but I am not in the top ten in this race. But with the problems we had in practice all of Friday and Saturday, we did not have great grid positions.” Chili, looking for better at one of his favourite circuits of the year, knew his set-up was way off, as he too also missed out on Superpole qualification, and started from the fifth row. “In the second race we modified the bike completely because things just did not work out in race one,” said Chili. “Any time I gave the throttle a turn in race one the bike was jumping across the track. We made a big change but it didn’t give me a solution to go fast. I was riding very badly and I am not happy about any of it. Now we go home and we relax in readiness for Assen.” The next round at Assen takes place on September 4th. Results SUPERSPORT: RACE : (Laps 23 = 96,531 Km) Pos /Rider /Nat. /Team / Time /Gap 1 / S. CHARPENTIER / FRA / Winston Ten Kate Honda / 34’33.153 / 2 / M.FABRIZIO / ITA / Italia Megabike / 34’34.138 / 0.985 3 / K. CURTAIN / AUS / Yamaha Motor Germany / 34’34.326 / 1.173 4 / S. CHAMBON / FRA / Gil Motor Sport / 34’40.470 / 7.317 5 / F. FORET / FRA / Team Megabike / 34’40.930 / 7.777 6 / K. FUJIWARA / JPN / Winston Ten Kate Honda / 34’50.161 / 17.008 7 / A. CORRADI / ITA / Ducati Selmat / 34’51.569 / 18.416 8 / C. JONES / GBR / Northpoint Ekerold Honda / 34’54.284 / 21.131 9 / M.LAGRIVE / BEL / Moto 1 – Suzuki / 35’01.371 / 28.218 10 / C.CRUTCHLOW / GBR / Northpoint Ekerold Honda / 35’01.941 / 28.788 11 / J. FORES / ESP / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 35’03.006 / 29.853 12 / T. TUNSTALL / GBR / Hardinge Bridgeport / 35’03.218 / 30.065 13 / R.HARMS / DEN / Stiggy Motorsports / 35’03.535 / 30.382 14 / T. LAUSLEHTO / FIN / Klaffi Honda / 35’03.852 / 30.699 15 / J. STIGEFELT / SWE / Stiggy Motorsports / 35’06.328 / 33.175 Fastest Lap 3° Sébastien Charpentier 1’29.380 169,045 Km/h Lap Record: Stéphane Chambon 1’29.149 169,480 Km/h 2003 Riders Championship Standings: 1 CHARPENTIER 190, 2 FUJIWARA 116, 3 CURTAIN 109, 4 FORET 85, 5 FABRIZIO 82, 6 CHAMBON 68, 7 PARKES 60, 8 NANNELLI 56, 9 FORES 52, 10 LAUSLEHTO 42, 11 VENEMAN 33, 12 STIGEFELT 28, 13 CORRADI 25, 14 HARMS 21, 15 JONES 18. SUPERBIKE Race 1: (Laps 25 = 104,925 Km) Pos /Rider /Nat. /Team / Time /Gap 1 / T. CORSER / AUS / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 36’45.074 / 2 / N.HAGA / JPN / Yamaha Motor Italia WSB / 36’45.260 / 0.186 3 / R. LACONI / FRA / Ducati Xerox / 36’47.050 / 1.976 4 / C. VERMEULEN / AUS / Winston Ten Kate Honda / 36’49.664 / 4.590 5 / C.WALKER / GBR / PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse / 36’50.820 / 5.746 6 / K. MUGGERIDGE / AUS / Winston Ten Kate Honda / 36’53.502 / 8.428 7 / A. PITT / AUS / Yamaha Motor Italia WSB / 36’53.672 / 8.598 8 / L. LANZI / ITA / Ducati SC Caracchi / 37’00.702 / 15.628 9 / Y. KAGAYAMA / JPN / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 37’00.745 / 15.671 10 / M.NEUKIRCHNER / GER / Klaffi Honda / 37’13.324 / 28.250 11 / N. ABE / JPN / Yamaha Motor France-Ipone / 37’17.544 / 32.470 12 / B. BOSTROM / USA / Renegade Koji / 37’17.574 / 32.500 13 / D.HOBBS / GBR / Team Nvidia / 37’17.757 / 32.683 14 / P. RIBA / ESP / PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse / 37’17.959 / 32.885 15 / S. MARTIN / AUS / Foggy Petronas Racing / 37’20.245 / 35.171 Fastest Lap 2° Noriyuki Haga 1’27.489 172,698 Km/h Race 2 : (Laps 25 = 104,925 Km) Pos /Rider /Nat. /Team / Time / 1 / N.HAGA / JPN / Yamaha Motor Italia WSB / 36’39.815 / 2 / T. CORSER / AUS / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 36’42.501 / 2.686 3 / C. VERMEULEN / AUS / Winston Ten Kate Honda / 36’47.877 / 8.062 4 / C.WALKER / GBR / PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse / 36’51.868 / 12.053 5 / R. LACONI / FRA / Ducati Xerox / 36’52.859 / 13.044 6 / A. PITT / AUS / Yamaha Motor Italia WSB / 36’52.999 / 13.184 7 / J. TOSELAND / GBR / Ducati Xerox / 36’54.030 / 14.215 8 / L. LANZI / ITA / Ducati SC Caracchi / 37’00.841 / 21.026 9 / Y. KAGAYAMA / JPN / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 37’00.990 / 21.175 10 / B. BOSTROM / USA / Renegade Koji / 37’01.072 / 21.257 11 / M.NEUKIRCHNER / GER / Klaffi Honda / 37’09.130 / 29.315 12 / P. RIBA / ESP / PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse / 37’10.406 / 30.591 13 / P. CHILI / ITA / Klaffi Honda / 37’14.434 / 34.619 14 / S. GIMBERT / FRA / Yamaha Motor France-Ipone / 37’19.547 / 39.732 15 / D.HOBBS / GBR / Team Nvidia / 37’19.694 / 39.879 Fastest Lap 3° Noriyuki Haga 1’27.272 173,128 Km/h Lap Record: Byrne Shane 1’26.755 174,160Km/h 2003 Riders Championship Standings: 1 CORSER 344, 2 VERMEULEN 234, 3 LACONI 214, 4 KAGAYAMA 172, 5 HAGA 167, 6 TOSELAND 161, 7 WALKER 130, 8 CHILI 111, 9 PITT 95, 10 ABE 88, 11 MUGGERIDGE 85, 12 LANZI 66, 13 NEUKIRCHNER 63, 14 BUSSEI 46, 15 BOSTROM 33. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: RACE 1 PODIUM FOR LACONI BRINGS LITTLE JOY FOR DUCATI XEROX TEAM AT BRANDS HATCH – DNF AND SEVENTH FOR TOSELAND Brands Hatch (UK), Sunday 7 August 2005: The Ducati Xerox Team came away from the eighth round of the World Superbike championship at Brands Hatch in front of a 108,000 crowd with just one podium for Régis Laconi as the two wins went to points leader Troy Corser (Suzuki) and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha). Laconi finished fifth in the second race, while team-mate James Toseland scored a DNF after stopping with an electrical problem on lap 10 and a seventh place in race 2 after running third until just before half-distance, saying goodbye to any chance of repeating his 2004 title win. “I’m a bit devastated really” declared Toseland. “We qualified well, had the problem with the bike in first race and then on the warm-up lap the bike had a few vibrations so we changed it on the grid just to be sure. For the first three laps I thought I was pretty comfortable but then I couldn’t get the grip down and Troy and Nori just edged away. I was hoping for a mistake because I wasn’t stronger than them in any place. I chose the 200 mm tyre, which no one else had gone for, and in hindsight I should’ve chosen the 190 like the other guys but I felt pretty good with it even though we didn’t get the chance to do a full race distance. When the rear tyre starts to go down you’ve got no traction at the rear entering the corners, that makes the front push even more and you’ve got to brake earlier. If you do that you get overtaken and that’s what happened in race 2. A DNF and a seventh, same results as last year, Brands is frustrating. All these people wanted was to see was a Brit on the podium and they didn’t get that today.” “I needed more grip to try and follow these guys from the beginning to the finish of race 1 but they were too fast and so I settled for third” declared Laconi. “We changed a few things on the bike for the second race but it didn’t make much improvement and so I just tried to do my best. I didn’t make a good start again and it was difficult to pass, everyone was just fighting like it was the last lap! I tried to pass James for third but put the wrong gear in and there was no engine braking and I went wide. After I tried one more time to gain some places but there was not much I could do. All weekend we used a different 190 tyre to everyone, the hardest one, and it was a surprise that we were unable to push harder. We had to try something to improve in race 2 but it just wasn’t enough.” RACE 1: 1. Corser (Suzuki); 2. Haga (Yamaha); 3. Laconi (Ducati Xerox); 4. Vermeulen (Honda); 5. Walker (Kawasaki); 6. Muggeridge (Honda); 7. Pitt (Yamaha); 8. Lanzi (Ducati SC); etc. RACE 2: 1. Haga; 2. Corser; 3. Vermeulen; 4. Walker; 5. Laconi; 6. Pitt; 7. Toseland (Ducati Xerox); 8. Lanzi; etc. POINTS : Riders – 1. Corser 344 ; 2. Vermeulen 234 ; 3. Laconi 214 ; 4. Kagayama 172 ; 5. Haga 167 ; 6. Toseland 161; etc. Manufacturers – 1. Suzuki 353 ; 2. Ducati 257 ; 3. Honda 250; 4. Yamaha 208; 5. Kawasaki 143; 6. Petronas 18. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: CORSER TAKES BRANDS VICTORY Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Troy Corser was involved in two fiercely-contested battles with Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) in today’s pair of 25-lap races at Brands Hatch, winning the first and finishing a close second in the final race. Corser and Haga were wheel to wheel from the start to the finish of the races and served up a feast of closely-fought action in front of more than 100,000 spectators. Team mate Yukio Kagayama defied doctor’s advice and the pain barrier to finish with a superb pair of hard-fought ninth places. The Japanese rider was competing with badly bruised ribs, but somehow managed to bring his GSX-R1000 Suzuki home in both races. In race one, Corser and Haga swapped the lead several times, but Corser was in front on the last lap and held on to take his eighth win of the season. Regis Laconi (Ducati) took third ahead of Chris Vermeulen (Honda), Chris Walker (Kawasaki) and Karl Muggeridge (Honda). The second race was almost a repeat of the first, but this time the results were reversed: Corser took the lead on the last lap but was forced to take to the grass when he outbraked himself going into Westfield. Somehow he managed to stay onboard, but by the time he had recovered, Haga had a clear run to the chequered flag. Third spot went to Vermeulen with Walker fourth, Laconi fifth and Pitt (Yamaha) sixth. Troy Corser: Race 1: 1st – Race 2: 2nd: “Although we had a good points lead before today, I’m a racer and if I can win, I want to win. The only time I feel I cannot win is if something is wrong with the bike and then I’ll take whatever points I can get. But my Alstare Suzuki was working superbly here at Brands today and so I went out to win both races. Nori Haga was very strong, but it was great fun to race against him and, although we were very close at times, there was nothing dangerous. “In the first race there was no way I was going to settle for second and that’s why I charged so hard. It’s what I wanted to do in the second and I nearly managed it. I followed Nori for most of the race and made my move on the last lap. I got past him but then was in to Westfield a bit too hot and had to ease off the brakes and take to the grass. I kept it upright, gassed it again and rejoined the track, but then Nori was gone. I suppose I must have worried Francis Batta, our Team Manager, when I went off the track, but I still managed to take second without any problem. It’s my aim to win as many races as possible this year and finish on the podium in all the ones I don’t.” Yukio Kagayama: Race 1: 9th – Race 2: 9th: I am very happy and relieved that today is over because that was more then hard work. I had more checks in the Clinica Mobile this morning and I was happy that they told me I had not broken any ribs. My ribs were still very sore and I had much pain today, but at least I was able to get on the bike, ride and get some points. Today I removed the strapping and instead I had two soft sponges, to act as cushions, under my leathers. Both races felt very, very long, but at least I finished them. Now I am going for a long sleep and a lot of rest.” Results: Race 1: 1 Corser (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 2 Haga (J-Yamaha), 3 Laconi (F-Ducati), 4 Vermeulen (Aus-Honda), 5 Walker (GB-Kawasaki), 6 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda), 7 Pitt (Aus-Yamaha), 8 Lanzi (I-Ducati), 9 Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 10 Neukirchner (D-Honda). Race 2: 1 Haga, 2 Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 3 Vermeulen, 4 Walker, 5 Laconi, 6 Pitt, 7 Toseland (GB-Ducati), 8 Lanzi, 9 Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 10 Bostrom (USA-Honda). Championship Points: 1 Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 344, 2 Vermeulen 234, 3 Laconi 214, 4 Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 172, 5 Haga 167, 6 Toseland 161, 7 Walker 130, 8 Chili 111, 9 Pitt 95, 10 Abe 88. More, from a press release issued by Scuderia SC Caracchi: DAY OF FRUSTRATION FOR SCUDERIA SC CARACCHI AT BRANDS HATCH, DESPITE THE SPLENDID LANZI’s PERFORMANCE The smiling faces of men of Scuderia SC Caracchi for the splendid performance by Lorenzo Lanzi at Brands Hatch becomen quickly frozen by the black misfortune that hit Gianluca Nannelli and Fonsi Nieto, both forced to stop for very banal technical troubles. Lorenzo Lanzi has been very skilful, with a couple of overtaking at Sterling corner in both the legs on Kagayama that allowed him to get a pair of eight final places, not far fron the factory bikes. “I started quite well at both starts, fighting with Kagayama”. commented Lorenzo Lanzi. “The bike was perfong well, but when Kagayama overtook me the leaders grabbed some advantage. In the final lap I wait to attack in the final corners, because I wouldn’t give to an very expert rider like Kagayama the chance to reply, and I passed him inside Sterling downhill during race-1. Duiring race-2 he rode very close to inner limit to no allow me to pass, but after an outside false attack he opened a small space inside and I’ve been able to overtake him. I’m very satisfied. Now we have to improve the start to stay from the early beginning in the leader’s group. If I could be able to do it I’m confident in a prestige result because my racing pace at the end ist the same, or better, as the leaders’s pace. I have to thank my team for the splendid work they’ve done once more during all the week end.” Fonsi Nieto was quite disappointed at the end of race-2 and let immediately the pit. After a good result in the morning warm up session it was looking that the problem could be solved. Then during race-1 front fork troubles forced him to stop at 16th lap, neither he had a better fortune during race-2, entering the pit for gearboc troubles during 12th lap. The splendid week end of Supersport team ended at the race start today. After the warm up when Nannelli conffirmed himself as one of the final favourite, the 749R Ducati SC Caracchi selected by the Florentine rider eneded the sighting lap losing a bit of cooling liquid. Nannelli started with the T-bike, but after a very good start the engine start to have sudden fire off and it was no possible to go on. A disappointed Nannelli rejoined the pit at 9th lap following two promising practice day. “That today could be a black day we see early during the sighting lap”. declared Gianluca Nannelli. “When I was back on the grid the bike lose some cooling liquid, so we took the T-bike to start. When the red light went off I started perfectly and I managed the first corner in first position, but just I put the bike down the engine went off, so I must put the bike up and three or four people overtook me. This problem went on a lot of time, with the risk to be hitted by someone, so I entered the pit. After a control of the bike it looks to be cause of a fuel return tap, new but defective. The top of fool has been when Farnè fired on the first bike, upgrading the engine temperature until 100°C, and everything was running perfectly. Maybe it was just some liquid in excess! It has been a true pity, today I had the feeling for a very good result on this track that I love.”

Provisional World Supersport Race Results: 1. Sebastien Charpentier, Honda, 23 laps 2. Michel Fabrizio, Honda, -0.985 second 3. Kevin Curtain, Yamaha, -1.173 seconds 4. Stephane Chambon, Honda, -7.317 seconds 5. Fabien Foret, Honda, -7.777 seconds 6. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Honda, -17.008 seconds 7. Alessio Corradi, Ducati, -18.416 seconds 8. Craig Jones, Honda, -21.131 seconds 9. Mattieu Lagrive, Suzuki, -28.218 seconds 10. Cal Crutchlow, Honda, -28.788 seconds 24. Broc Parkes, Yamaha, -7 laps, DNF, mechanical More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: SIX OF THE BEST FOR CHARPENTIER AT BRANDS HATCH Winston Ten Kate Honda rider, Sébastien Charpentier, scorched to his sixth World Supersport championship win of the season in this afternoon’s eighth round at Brands Hatch in southern England. The Frenchman won the exciting 23-lap race ahead of fellow Honda rider, Michel Fabrizio, by less than one second with Charpentier’s team-mate, Katsuaki Fujiwara, finishing in sixth place. The win gives Charpentier a commanding 74-point lead in the championship with just four rounds and a potential 100 points remaining this season, while Fujiwara retains second place in the table, just seven points ahead of Curtain. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “That’s the team’s twelfth World Supersport championship win in a row and maintains our 100% record for this season. I am especially delighted with this victory because it means Sébastien has the potential to wrap up the championship at the next round, which is our home round in Assen. We will keep on working hard from race to race, though, to keep Sébastien in a winning position. I’m a little disappointed for Kats, who spent most of the race on his own. His qualifying position promised more so we’ll be hoping for better results in the races to come. He still holds second place in the championship but we’ll have to help him to beat his rivals if he is to retain that position.” Sébastien Charpentier first “It was a very exciting race and Michel (Fabrizio) was in very good form today and pushed me all the way. He was very fast when he was behind me but, whenever he got in front, he seemed to slow the pace and was gesturing for me to come back past. I had no problems today, though, and I was able to push a little bit hard towards the end to make it a little more comfortable. It’s another complete weekend with pole position, fastest lap and the race win. It just shows how good this bike is and how hard the team has worked. I’m looking forward to Assen and hope I can give them a big thank you present there.” Katsuaki Fujiwara sixth “I didn’t get a very good start and lost touch with Sébastien and the leaders quite early. About halfway through the race I started to lose rear grip and was starting to slide into corners and then again as I tried to accelerate out. I spent the second half of the race trying to chase Foret and Chambon but I could not get any closer to them. It’s a shame because I was happy with my race set-up and the way I had adapted to riding the bike again. I will be looking for a much better result the next time out at Assen and I’ll keep trying to close the gap on my team-mate.” World Supersport, Brands Hatch results (23 laps, 96.531km): 1 Sébastien Charpentier FRA (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 34m33.153s, 2 Michel Fabrizio ITA (Honda) +0.985, 3 Kevin Curtain AUS (Yamaha) +1.173, 4 Stephane Chambon FRA (Honda) +7.317, 5 Fabien Foret FRA (Honda) +7.777, 6 Katsuaki Fujiwara JPN (Winston Ten Kate Honda) +17.008, 7 Alessandro Corradi ITA (Ducati) +18.416, 8 Craig Jones GBR (Honda) +21.131, 9 Matthieu Lagrive BEL (Suzuki) +28.218, 10 Cal Crutchlow GBR (Honda) +28.788. Championship points after eight of 12 rounds: Charpentier 190, Fujiwara 116, Curtain 109, Foret 85, Fabrizio 82, Chambon 68, Broc Parkes (Yamaha) 60, Gianluca Nannelli ITA (Ducati) 56, Javier Fores ESP (Suzuki) 52, Tauto Lauslehto FIN (Honda) 42. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: WSS : Curtain podiums at Brands Round: 8 – Brands Hatch Circuit: Brands Hatch Date: 7 August 2005 Crowd: 103000 Temp: 20ºC Weather: Dry Kevin Curtain recovered from the ‘worst start of his career’ to produce a fighting podium finish at Brands Hatch today. The Yamaha Motor Germany rider, starting from second on the grid, made a poor start and found himself pushed out onto the grass at the turn one. Ending the first lap outside the top 10, the gritty Australian was able to pick his way through the pack and almost close down leading duo Sèbastien Charpentier and Michel Fabrizio (both Honda). The 39-year-old closed the gap down to within a second, but a lack of rear grip – a result of his hard riding charge through the field – saw him unable to mount a challenge. Nonetheless, Curtain was delighted with his third place, which sees him close to within seven points of second place in the championship. Team-mate Broc Parkes was involved in a thrilling battle for seventh, only to retire with mechanical gremlins six laps from the end. In the championship, Charpentier extended his advantage to 74 points over team-mate Katsuaki Fujiwara, with Curtain third and Parkes seventh on 60 points. Kevin Curtain “That was the worst start of my career! I found myself pushed right out, I think one of the Ducatis touched me, and I was quite lucky to stay on. From then it was just a case of getting my head down and working my way through the pack. I’m glad to be on the podium, although maybe I could’ve won judging by the way I was able to catch the guys. I just run out of laps and at the end my rear tyre couldn’t give any more, but the result is good for my championship.” Broc Parkes “It’s been a difficult weekend. I was involved in a tough battle but the engine lost a bit of power and I had to pull in.” Race classification WSS Round: 8 – Brands Hatch Circuit: Brands Hatch Circuit Length: 4197 Lap Record: 1′ 29.149 (Stéphane Chambon, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1′ 28.376 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2005) Race: 23 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 S. Charpentier Honda FRA 34′ 33.153 2 M. Fabrizio Honda ITA +0.985 3 K. Curtain Yamaha AUS +1.173 4 S. Chambon Honda FRA +7.317 5 F. Foret Honda FRA +7.777 6 K. Fujiwara Honda JPN +17.008 7 A. Corradi Ducati ITA +18.416 8 C. Jones Honda GBR +21.131 9 M. Lagrive Suzuki FRA +28.218 10 C. Crutchlow Honda GBR +28.788 11 X. Fores Suzuki ESP +29.853 12 T. Tunstall Honda GBR +30.065 13 R. Harms Honda DNK +30.382 14 T. Lauslehto Honda FIN +30.699 15 J. Stigefelt Honda SWE +33.175 Fastest Race Lap: Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 S. Charpentier Honda FRA 1′ 29.380 Championship standings WSS Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points 1 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 190 2 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 116 3 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 109 4 Fabien Foret Honda FRA 85 5 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 82 6 Stephane Chambon Honda FRA 68 7 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 60 8 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 56 9 Xavi Fores Suzuki ESP 52 10 Tatu Lauslehto Honda FIN 42 11 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 33 12 Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 28 13 Alessio Corradi Ducati ITA 25 14 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 21 15 Craig Jones Honda GBR 18 Manufacturers standings WSS Pos. Manufacturer Points 1 Honda 200 2 Yamaha 109 3 Ducati 76 4 Suzuki 65 5 Kawasaki 21 More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: CHARPENTIER HITS OPPOSITION FOR SIX Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) battled hard for his sixth win of the 2005 championship series, having to put in a final lap effort of outstanding effectiveness to win the Brands Hatch race by just under one second. It was his fellow Honda rider, Michel Fabrizio (Team Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR) who caused him most concern over all 25 laps, as he was the only rider to match Charpentier’s pace around the warm tarmac of Brands Hatch. Kevin Curtain (Yamaha) was a close, but unthreatening, third, with private Honda entrant Stephane Chambon in fourth. Fabien Foret (Team Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR) was fifth after sliding back from potential contention for a podium, while Suzuka 8-Hour podium rider Katsuaki Fujiwara (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) battled for his sixth place finish. Finnish rider Tatu Lauslehto (Klaffi Honda CBR600RR) was eased off track at one stage and had to use all his fighting instincts in a group of sometimes five riders, battling for the same stretch of tarmac. He finished 14th, taking two more championship points. Charpentier is now potentially only one race from the championship outright, as he enjoys a lead of 74 points over teammate Fujiwara. He also left Brands with a new qualifying track record for Supersport, 1’28.376. “It was a very good race and Michel was in very good form today, and pushed me all the way,” stated Charpentier. “He was very fast when he was behind me but, whenever he got in front, he slowed the pace and was gesturing for me to get back in front. I had no problems today and I was able to push a bit harder towards the end to make things a bit more comfortable. It’s another complete weekend, with fastest lap, pole position and the race win. It just shows how good the bike is and how hard the team has worked.” Fabrizio followed up his recent Brno race second with another runner up sport, almost moving to fourth in the championship, with four rounds remaining. “I pushed hard all race but I think I chose a slightly too soft rear tyre to be able to stay with Sebastien on the last lap,” said Fabrizio. “Our engine was not quite as powerful as his and we had some trouble in practice with our set-up, so second is a good finish in my first Supersport race here.” Foret looked like he may find a podium spark at one stage but was quickly relegated to the second echelon of the race. He now sits fourth in the series, on 85 points. “I got quite a bad start again,” said Foret, “but tried to push hard later on to catch the two guys out in front. But I couldn’t do it and when Curtain came past I could not even follow him. A bad weekend for me, I am tired and I don’t feel too good. I had a little problem with the front but it is not only the bike. I do not feel so good in myself. I am not so strong at the moment.” After racing at the Suzuka 8-Hour on Superbike spec machinery, Fujiwara was in good shape for his return to action in the Brands Supersport race, until a mid race fade. “I didn’t get a very good start and lost contact with the leaders quite early. About halfway through the race I started to lose rear grip and was starting to slide into corners, then again as I accelerated out. I tried to spend the second half of the race trying to chase Foret and Chambon. But I could not get any closer to them. It was a shame because I was happy with my race set-up and the way I had adapted to riding the bike again.” Lauslehto, in is first Brands race weekend, found the layout a challenge, as most rookie riders do at this venue. His 14th place leaves him on 42 points, tenth in the championship. “I got run off the track by Fores at one point and lost places to another couple of riders,” said Lauslehto, in his first visit to the English venue. “My engine temperature rose a little high as well and it was a real battle with so many riders. Some of them crashed out but I wanted to make sure I could finish the race.” In the championship battle, Charpentier has 190 points, having only dropped ten points all year. Behind Fujiwara’s 116 Curtain has 109, Foret 85, and Fabrizio is a close fifth on 82.

Provisional World Superbike Race One Results: 1. Troy Corser, Suzuki, 25 laps, 36:45.074 2. Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, -0.186 second 3. Regis Laconi, Ducati, -1.976 seconds 4. Chris Vermeulen, Honda, -4.590 seconds 5. Chris Walker, Kawasaki, -5.746 seconds 6. Karl Muggeridge, Honda, -8.428 seconds 7. Andrew Pitt, Yamaha, -8.598 seconds 8. Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, -15.628 seconds 9. Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, -15.671 seconds 10. Max Neukirchner, Honda, -28.250 seconds 11. Norick Abe, Yamaha, -32.470 seconds 12. Ben Bostrom, Honda, -32.500 seconds 13. Dennis Hobbs, Yamaha, -32.683 seconds 14. Pere Riba, Kawasaki, -32.885 seconds 15. Steve Martin, Foggy Petronas, -35.171 seconds 16. Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, -35.272 seconds 17. Ginaluca Vizziello, Yamaha, -46.876 seconds 18. Lorenzo Alfonsi, Yamaha, -48.628 seconds 19. Ivan Clementi, Ducati, -50.123 seconds 20. Jose Luis Cardoso, Yamaha, -1 lap 21. Giovanni Bussei, Kawasaki, -3 laps, DNF, mechanical 22. Fonsi Nieto, Ducati, -10 laps, DNF, mechanical 23. Pierfrancesco Chili, Honda, -12 laps, DNF, mechanical 24. Miguel Praia, Yamaha, -15 laps, DNF, mechanical 25. James Toseland, Ducati, -16 laps, DNF, mechanical 26. Michel Nickmans, Yamaha, -16 laps, DNF, mechanical 27. Alessio Velini, Ducati, -18 laps, DNF, mechanical 28. Garry McCoy, Foggy Petronas, -19 laps, DNF, mechanical 29. Marco Borciani, Ducati, -21 laps, DNF, mechanical More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: VERMEULEN FOURTH IN BRANDS HATCH OPENER Chris Vermeulen finished fourth in today’s opening eighth round World Superbike championship race at Brands Hatch in the UK. The race was won by fellow Australian, Troy Corser, with Vermeulen’s Winston Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Karl Muggeridge, sixth. Starting from eighth place on the grid for the 25-lap race around the 4.2km Brands Hatch circuit, Vermeulen overcame first his team-mate and then friend and training partner, Chris Walker, to take fourth with two laps to go. Muggeridge, meanwhile, started strongly, running in second place in the early stages, but a loss of rear grip dropped him eventually to sixth. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “The results are a little disappointing, for sure, but Chris’s lap times prove he can be up there with the leaders if he can get a good start in race two. Karl was doing very well in the first part of the race and underlining his qualifying position but his rear grip started to drop off five or six laps before the leading bunch. I’m sure that a couple of changes for the second race will see Chris and Karl move up in the results.” Chris Vermeulen – fourth “I was struggling with grip in the early stages and dropped two and a half seconds off the front runners on the first lap. From there on it was difficult because it’s so hard to pass here. It’s hard enough on a Supersport bike but on a Superbike it’s even tougher. I touched Karl when I passed him and Chris (Walker) once as well; and I was right on the kerb a couple of times too. Chris was always going to be tough in front of his home crowd but if I can get a better start, then race two can be better.” Karl Muggeridge – sixth “We haven’t quite got the rear setting right and that’s what caused the grip to drop off after around 15 laps. I was running pretty comfortably at the start but it’s so difficult to pass anyone here and when I got passed by Laconi coming out of Clearways, it was hard to put a move back on him. I think we can make a little change to the rear to improve things for race two just to stop the rear spinning up so much.”

Sunday Morning World Supersport Practice Times: 1. Sebastien Charpentier, Honda, 1:29.009 2. Kevin Curtain, Yamaha, 1:29.445 3. Gianluca Nannelli, Ducati, 1:29.530 4. Broc Parkes, Yamaha, 1:29.555 5. Fabien Foret, Honda, 1:29.723 6. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Honda, 1:30.075 7. Michel Fabrizio, Honda, 1:30.105 8. Cal Crutchlow, Honda, 1:30.188 9. Craig Jones, Honda, 1:30.357 10. Alessio Corradi, Ducati, 1:30.391

Sunday Morning World Superbike Practice Times: 1. Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, 1:27.614 2. Troy Corser, Suzuki, 1:27.745 3. Regis Laconi, Ducati, 1:27.771 4. Chris Walker, Kawasaki, 1:27.989 5. Karl Muggeridge, Honda, 1:28.058 6. Chris Vermeulen, Honda, 1:28.089 7. Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, 1:28.163 8. Max Neukirchner, Honda, 1:28.202 9. James Toseland, Ducati, 1:28.249 10. Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, 1:28.377 11. Ben Bostrom, Honda, 1:28.563 12. Steve Martin, Foggy Petronas, 1:28.639 13. Giovanni Bussei, Kawasaki, 1:28.846, crash 14. Andrew Pitt, Yamaha, 1:28.954 15. Marco Borciani, Ducati, 1:28.957 16. Pierfrancesco Chili, Honda, 1:29.114 17. Pere Riba, Kawasaki, 1:29.142 18. Ivan Clementi, Ducati, 1:29.240 19. Norick Abe, Yamaha, 1:29.389 20. Dennis Hobbs, Yamaha, 1:29.500 21. Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, 1:29.565 22. Lorenzo Alfonsi, Yamaha, 1:29.653 23. Fonsi Nieto, Ducati, 1:29.710 24. Garry McCoy, Foggy Petronas, 1:30.000 25. Jose Luis Cardoso, Yamaha, 1:30.355 26. Gianluca Vizziello, Yamaha, 1:30.356 27. Alessio Velini, Ducati, 1:30.755 28. Miguel Praia, Yamaha, 1:31.514 29. Michel Nickmans, Yamaha, 1:32.434