World Superbike Race Two Results: 1. Regis LACONI, Ducati 999F05, 25 laps 2. Chris VERMEULEN, Honda CBR1000RR, -1.491 seconds 3. Troy CORSER, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -3.143 seconds 4. James TOSELAND, Ducati 999F05, -14.562 seconds 5. Pierfrancesco CHILI, Honda CBR1000RR, -16.291 seconds 6. Norick HAGA, Yamaha YZF-R1, -18.600 seconds 7. Karl MUGGERIDGE, Honda CBR1000RR, -24.065 seconds 8. Steve MARTIN, Foggy Petronas FP1, -24.503 seconds 9. Lorenzo LANZI, Ducati 999RS, -25.865 seconds 10. Giovanni BUSSEI, Kawasaki ZX-10R, -28.458 seconds 11. Chris WALKER, Kawasaki ZX-10R, -28.522 seconds 12. Yukio KAGAYAMA, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -31.223 seconds 13. Mauro SANCHINI, Kawasaki ZX-10R, -33.345 seconds 14. Lorenzo ALFONSI, Yamaha YZF-R1, -35.792 seconds 15. Norick ABE, Yamaha YZF-R1, -39.660 seconds 16. Miguel PRAIA, Yamaha YZF-R1, -85.453 seconds 17. Giuseppe ZANNINI, Yamaha YZF-R1, -97.770 seconds 18. Adam BADZIAK, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap 19. Andrew PITT, Yamaha YZF-R1, -4 laps, DNF, mechanical 20. Garry MCCOY, Foggy Petronas FP1, -7 laps, DNF, crash 21. Luca CONFORTI, Ducati 999RS, -7 laps, DNF, mechanical 22. Max NEUKIRCHNER, Honda CBR1000RR, -8 laps, DNF, mechanical 23. Ben BOSTROM, Honda CBR1000RR, -11 laps, DNF, crash 24. Alessio VELINI, Ducati 999RS, -13 laps, DNF, mechanical 25. Norino BRIGNOLA, Ducati 999RS, -14 laps, DNF, mechanical 26. Gianluca VIZZIELLO, Yamaha YZF-R1, -15 laps, DNF, mechanical 27. Lucio PEDERCINI, Ducati 999RS, -16 laps, DNF, mechanical 28. Jose Luis CARDOSO, Yamaha YZF-R1, -17 laps, DNF, mechanical 29. Paolo BLORA, Ducati 998RS, -19 laps, DNF, mechanical 30. Fonsi NIETO, Ducati 999RS, -20 laps, DNF, crash 31. Michel NICKMANS, Yamaha YZF-R1, -22 laps, DNF 32. Michele GALLINA, MV Agusta F4-1000, -23 laps, DNF, mechanical 33. Ivan CLEMENTI, Ducati 999RS, -24 laps, DNF, crash More, from a press release issued by FGSport Group: LACONI THE MISANO MASTER – LACONI SCORCHES TO DOUBLE WIN: In front of a partisan weekend crowd of 52,000 vociferous Italians, Frenchman Regis Laconi (Xerox Ducati 999F05) powered to a double race win, his first of the season and his third win overall. Ducati riders have now won the last four races in World Superbike, underlining the Italian manufacturer’s recent resurgence. In a day for doubling up – and which will long be remembered for temperatures which made racing hard work for all – Chris Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda) scored a pair of second places, while Troy Corser (Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki) took two third places, losing a sliver of ground in the championship to new second placed rider Vermeulen. Corser has 254 points, Vermeulen 181 and Laconi 162. RACE ONE: A crash involving Italian privateer Norino Brignola (Ducati) meant the race was stopped on lap five. Regulations demanding an aggregate result thus demanded a second leg, which was itself delayed when several riders reacted to the starting lights, causing a second reformation of the grid, a stop for refuelling, and a reduction in the race distance from 25 to 24 laps. The race itself was won by Regis Laconi (Ducati Xerox 999 F05) with Chris Vermeulen second and Troy Corser, in an on track fight with James Toseland (Ducati Xerox 999F05), a safe third – four seconds up on the English rider. Lorenzo Lanzi had a superb ride on home soil, taking his SC Caracchi Ducati to fifth. Karl Muggeridge (Winston Honda Ten Kate) had a difficult day, feeling unwell but fighting to tenth in race one and seventh in race two, spending some time warring with the leading riders. RACE TWO: The finishing order for race two was a carbon copy of the opener, right down to fourth place, but this time Pierfrancesco Chili (Klaffi Honda) was the rider in fifth, fighting against the hot track and air conditions of 32°C and 53°C respectively. Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki) suffered a crash in race one, and partly due to a badly bruised hand, finished race two in 12th, losing his overall second in the championship fight, slipping to fourth overall. YAMAHA RIDERS TOIL IN THE SUN: Noriyuki Haga improved his set-up all weekend but had to fight against a lack of rear traction to take a brace of battling sixth places. His team-mate Andrew Pitt crashed after losing the front in race one, and saw his machine lose forward motion in race two. Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France Ipone), on his first trip to Misano, crashed in race one and then scored the last point for 15th in race two. MARTIN MERITORIOUS IN MISANO: Despite being outgunned on the straights, Steve Martin took his Petronas triple to 11th in race one and a truly creditworthy eighth in race two, despite the high numbers of crashers and retirees. In total the hot air and track conditions saw 14 riders in race one and 15 in race two fail to finish. The extraordinary high number of starters nevertheless meant that race one had 20 finishers, race two 18. KAWASAKI FIGHTERS: Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki) secured an eighth place finish in race, but due to increasing chatter in race two, he dropped to 11th, behind his main rival in the last laps, Bertocchi Kawasaki runner Giovanni Bussei. HONDA HOPEFULS GROUNDED: Crashes and drama were the keynotes for two Honda riders, as Ben Bostrom was one of the competitors fooled by the lights sequence on the second start. He finished race 1 14th, hurting from a big warm-up crash in the morning, but in race two he fell again, taking away only two points from Misano. Max Neukirchner (Klaffi Honda) collided with his team-mate Chili just as race one was stopped for the first time, and on the re-start suffered brake problems, crashing once more. In race two he battled against a cracked exhaust and lack of traction before retiring. SUPERSPORT RACE: An all-French battle between eventual winner Fabien Foret (Team Italia Megabike) and Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) was a game of two halves, with Foret leading for the first ten laps, before Charpentier overhauled him and kept his lead for the remaining 13. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Winston Ten Kate Honda) had an eventually lonely third place, over four seconds down on the leaders. Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) could not keep the leading pace and finished a spirited fourth, ahead of his team-mate Broc Parkes and wild-card rider, Simone Sanna (Team Improve Honda). Gianluca Nannelli (SC Ducati 749R) crashed out of contention on lap two, and Michel Fabrizio (Team Italia Megabike Honda) stuttered to a halt on the second lap. In the championship fight, Charpentier leads Fujiwara by 140 points to 106, with Curtain on 93, Foret on 74 and Parkes on 60. More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: DOUBLE PODIUM FOR FLYING VERMEULEN Chris Vermeulen took another second place finish in the second of today’s two World Superbike championship sixth round races at Misano in Italy. With temperatures once again reaching the mid-thirties, the Winston Ten Kate Honda rider finished behind today’s double winner, Regis Laconi, with series leader Troy Corser taking another third place. Vermeulen’s fellow Australian and team-mate, Karl Muggeridge, again started well, but a debilitating stomach ailment dropped him to seventh place at the flag. Another good start saw Vermeulen lead the early stages of the race but falling grip levels did not allow him to maintain his advantage. After the interview commitments following race two, Vermeulen took a helicopter to Bologna airport with team-mate Katsuaki Fujiwara. The Winston duo is flying to Japan this evening for an HRC test at Suzuka starting on Tuesday morning. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “I think that, with the new components we have and the changed set-up to the bike, we can say that the hunting season is open for the second half of the championship. Chris rode very well today and, although he has only taken eight points out of Corser’s lead, the hot conditions made it very hard for everyone. Karl went on a drip between the two races to replace lost fluid but his illness would explain his lap times falling and the drop from his qualifying performance. We’re now looking forward to Brno and then a test straight afterwards at Lausitzring which should allow us to find that missing element for the second half of the season.” Chris Vermeulen – second “I was a little closer to Regis (Laconi) that time but the important thing was that I finished ahead of Troy in both races. Regis was really strong today and, although I was OK through the faster parts of the circuit, where I could pick up a tenth or two, I had very little grip in the tighter sections. I nearly lost it in the last chicane on virtually every lap. It was hard work in the heat and doubly hard having to compensate for no grip and the last five laps were really tough. We’ve still got a few things to work on on the bike but I’m looking forward to Brno now. I’ve never been there before but I’d never been to Laguna Seca before last season and managed to do the double there. I’d love to do the same again.” Karl Muggeridge – seventh “I really think that without Clinica Mobile I wouldn’t have been able to do the second race today. They dosed me up with some fluids after race one, when I was just riding around really. I didn’t feel too bad at the start of race two but about six laps from the end I was getting a little queasy again. It’s a real shame because I was so much happier on the bike this weekend. We’ve still got some work to do here and there, and I guess there’ll always be something we feel we can improve. But I felt we’d made a big step forward here and it’s a shame I wasn’t able to capitalise on it. I’ll get over this bug and move on to Brno, where I hope we can turn the progress into some good results.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: LACONI (DUCATI XEROX) TAKES SUPERB DOUBLE WIN IN MISANO CAULDRON Misano Adriatico (Italy), Sunday 26 June: A splendid double win for Régis Laconi thrilled a large Santamonica circuit crowd today and re-launched the Ducati Xerox Team rider’s ambitions in this year’s championship. At the half-way point of the season, Laconi has now closed the gap on leader Troy Corser (Suzuki) to 92 points with six rounds left. In a sweltering Misano (air temperature hovering around 32° and track 53°), the French rider scored two dominant wins, finishing twice on the top of the podium together with Australians Chris Vermeulen (Honda) and Corser (Suzuki) in that order. Team-mate James Toseland also rode two determined races but had to settle for two fourth places. “This is a great day for us because Misano is always one of our home circuits. There were a lot of people from Ducati here today and a lot of our fans around the circuit” declared Ducati Corse CEO Claudio Domenicali. “We know that the competition in Superbike has improved a lot this year and that for sure we’re going to have to work really hard during the rest of the season, but today Laconi rode two extraordinary races and fully deserved the wins”. “This was the second double win of my career, but my first this year and I am so happy” declared Laconi. “Ducati have done a great job to help me win these races today. They were both really hard because of the conditions but the second race was even more so. In particular the last five laps were terrible and I just wanted to finish because really I couldn’t do any more, I was just sliding everywhere and I slowed down so much at the finish because I was so tired. A big thanks to Ducati and thanks to my team, we did a great job today and this double win is for them!” “I rode really hard in both races” commented James. “In the second we made a slight change but it didn’t make things much better. Unlike Régis I’ve never been unbelievably fast around here for some reason, which is my problem and I know I have to sort that out. I was good in a few places but I didn’t get the best feeling all weekend and it was a bit frustrating for me out there today. Coming home in fourth was not the plan but that was all I could get and I couldn’t do any more. I’ve had worse days and two fourths are not bad results but I have to feel a bit disappointed. I might have had a podium if the first race hadn’t been stopped”. More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: CHARPENTIER LEADS HONDA TOP THREE AT MISANO In the superheated temperatures of an Italian summer Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) took his fourth win of the year, extending his championship advantage to 34 points. The early front-runner was pole position rider Fabien Foret (Team Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR) but after a close battle for the last half of a delayed 23-lap race, there was a mere 0.496 between the Frenchmen. Foret had led for ten laps, but from then on in, despite some valiant efforts, Charpentier was the leader across the line.” Charpentier’s team-mate, Katsuaki Fujiwara (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) looked to be keeping a watching brief on proceedings, but dropped back as tyre wear and the sheer pace of the leading duo told. Nonetheless, he finished a comfortable third, over eight seconds ahead of fourth placed rider Kevin Curtain (Yamaha). Tatu Lauslehto (Klaffi Honda CBR600RR) spent most of his 23-laps in a fight with four other riders, before securing tenth place, 27 seconds from the lead. Into the top positions with his team-mate Foret at the start of the race, Italian rider, Michel Fabrizio (Team Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR) experienced misfortune once more, as his machine stopped after only one full lap, having shed its drive chain. Charpentier’s latest race win extends his championship advantage, and he now sits on a total of 140 points. Fujiwara is second, 106, with Foret fourth, on 74. Fabrizio claims seventh, on 42, while Lauslehto held onto his ninth place overall, on 36. Charpentier, in good shape despite battling throughout a race held in temperatures of 32°C air and 50°C track, knew he was in a tough contest, albeit one he was prepared for after some practice low points. “I am particularly happy because Misano is one of my least favourite circuits and it has not been easy this weekend. I’ve had a couple of crashes and conditions have been difficult to set up the bike properly. After a strange start, when the lights were doing some peculiar things, I managed to settle into a rhythm and actually enjoyed the race. It was great fun and I feel OK, because I am in good physical shape.” Foret, as his last lap attempts to get back on terms with Charpentier demonstrated, was simply desperate to add the race win to his pole win. His second place finish was nonetheless a season highlight for the 2002 World Champion. “I’m happy with the bike now after our recent tests at Brno, that made a huge difference to our competitiveness. I just made a mistake under braking at Tramonto, and lost too much ground to Sebastien. But I am happy that we can have the same performance as the Ten Kate machines from now on.” Fujiwara was not able to stay on the race winning pace, on a different race set-up to Charpentier, and experiencing greater traction issues than his team-mate. “It was a good race but the start was a little bit mad, with everyone going so fast into the first corner. But the tyres were sliding very much – not so bad on the slower corners but on the fast left handers going onto the back straight, it was very, very difficult. For the last ten laps the tyres were finished so I had to ease back a little bit, and take third place. Sebastien was riding very well and using the same tyres as me, so maybe my settings could have been a bit better.” Lauslehto once more rode with confidence, in himself and his machinery; recording another top ten finish in his rookie season. He also holds an enviable record for scoring points in every single round so far. He frequently battled against local riders with hundreds of laps of Misano in race conditions. “I was a bit worried about this because I am from Finland and it is not as hot as this there! But my physical condition was fine, even in the heat, and I was happy to race against such experienced riders. Some of them were at their home track and I was competitive with them.” Fabrizio was distraught at his misfortune again, as his chain broke exiting the final corner of the first lap, causing his second technical retirement in two races. “I don’t know what we have to do to change our luck, and especially because I felt very confident for the race itself. It’s a real shame that it was just the chain that came off the sprocket. We always adjust it after warm-up so we are not sure what happened.” World Superbike Round 6 of 12 VERMEULEN SECOND IN BOTH MISANO RACES Chris Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) secured a fighting pair of second places at an overheated Misano, coming within 1.491 seconds of his second race win of 2005 in the second outing. His finishing positions replicated his Superpole start, in the runner up position. For the second race in succession Pierfrancesco Chili (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) was the next best Fireblade rider, taking an aggregate seventh in race one and straight fifth in race two. In the opening race of the day, stopped due to a crash and a subsequent oil spill, then delayed once more as riders jumped the re-start and had to be repositioned, Regis Laconi took his Ducati to the win, with an eventually lonely but assured second for Vermeulen. In aggregate third came championship leader Troy Corser. The podium finishing positions in race two were repeated, installing Vermeulen into second in the championship race, with 181 points to Corser’s 254. Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) fought against illness and a comparative lack of traction to record a tenth and a seventh. Max Neukirchner (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) was twice a faller in the first race, then a retiree in race two. Ben Bostrom (Renegade Honda Koji CBR1000RR) was once more battling in the midfield, scoring points in race one but falling again in race two. The championship, Chili is eighth, with 86 points, Muggeridge 10th with 65, Neukirchner 12th on 50 and Bostrom 18th on 23. Vermeulen slugged it out all day and was pleased to have made progress between races. “I was a little closer to Regis (Laconi) that time but the important thing was that I finished ahead of Troy in both races. Regis was really strong today and, although I was OK through the faster parts of the circuit, where I could pick up a tenth or two, I had very little grip in the tighter sections. I nearly lost it in the last chicane on virtually every lap. It was hard work in the heat and doubly hard having to compensate for no grip and the last five laps were really tough.” Chili knows that he needs to find improvements in set-up to be on the same level as the podium challengers, but the 41-year-old was satisfied with the efforts made at Misano. “I think we did as well as we could do with the conditions we had. When the tyres support me I can go fast like the guy in front but when the tyre performance drops down it drops our performance down too much. We need to make some more work with the rear linkage as well, because we are not giving the rear shock enough travel. I used the bigger rear tyres this weekend, and it brings with it heavy steering, but it does offer more rear grip, until it drops down.” Muggeridge was in the wars and had the on-site medics to thank for allowing his to complete two points scoring finishes. “I’m not feeling so great with this stomach problem that just left me with no energy after seven or eight laps. On top of the other problems that everyone else seems to have, it was just really, really hard work. I really think that without Clinica Mobile I wouldn’t have been able to do the second race today. They dosed me up with some fluids after race one, when I was just riding around really. I didn’t feel too bad at the start of race two but about six laps from the end I was getting a little queasy again. It’s a real shame because I was so much happier on the bike this weekend.” Neukirchner had an eventful raceday, crashing into Chili when the red flags came out, crashing again in the restarted race, then suffering a retirement in race two. “In the first race I was behind Frankie and I did not see the red flag right away. So Frankie braked and I hit him, touching my brake lever and then crashing. In the restart the front brake was not right and I had to adjust it four or five times. It was still inconsistent, so I could never work out a real braking point each corner, and I fell again. In the second race I had a problem with the exhaust becoming very noisy, and something slippy going onto the rear tyre, so I had a lot of slides.” Bostrom once more had to fight for every point, starting each race from 16th after failing to finish Superpole. “I had a big crash this morning, which didn’t help, but race one wasn’t so bad. I just wanted to get more grip for the second race so I changed to the largest section rear tyre. It was a bad choice because we were just ploughing the front. You can only ride the thing like that so much and then you will crash. The lights also went red, then yellow, then red, in the restarted race, so a few of us went, wondering what was going on.” The seventh rounds of the WSS and SBK championships take place at Brno on 17th July, a venue not used for SBK racing since the 1996 season. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Troy Corser consolidated his series lead with a pair of hard-fought-for third positions in the sixth round of the Superbike World Championship at Misano today. The high temperature and very humid conditions would have been testing enough if there had only been one 25-lap race, but to compete in two was an absolute feat of endurance. At the end of the day, Corser was happy to survive, take two podiums and leave with a 73-point advantage over his nearest rival, Chris Vermeulen. Suzuki continue to lead the Manufacturer’s Championship with their GSX-R1000s earning 263 points so far, 63 ahead of Ducati. Corser’s team mate Yukio Kagayama had a day that he will be happy to forget: He crashed out in the first race holding third place and, because his bike was too badly damaged, had to use his number two bike in the second race. But the number two bike had a different set-up and he struggled to keep up with the pace, ending up 12th. Both races today were won by Frenchman Regis Laconi (Ducati), but he had to work hard for the wins: Vermeulen and Corser had challenged him throughout both 25-lappers, but Laconi was on a mission and would not be denied. Troy Corser – Race 1: 3rd, Race 2: 3rd: “That was without a doubt one of the hardest day’s racing of my life. One race in these conditions would have been bad enough. But two was murder. The heat was one thing, but today was much more humid then the past two days and that really sapped my energy. I had some clutch problems in both races today and I feel that prevented me from doing better. Our GSX-R had a bit of a clutch problem in the opening round, but we thought we had sorted that out. I know that the bike doesn’t like doing lots of starts, so the first race was always going to be tricky because the two-parter and a false start meant that I did three starts! So I spent most of the second part – 20 laps – without a clutch. That made it particularly difficult on the brakes when I was close to Chris and Regis. “In the end, I decided third was better then trying for second and making a mistake. I also had clutch problems in race two and could get right up to Chris, but wasn’t confident that I could get past safely and make it stick, so I settled for another third.” Yukio Kagayama – Race 1: DNF, Race 2: 12th: “I felt I was riding well today because I found a good feeling with my bike at this track which I did not have for the past two days. The first race was stopped after five laps and we had to start again and do a 20-lap race. I was in third place in that one and comfortable, but then I made a mistake exiting Tramonto when I got on the gas a bit too early and crashed. I was very angry – especially when I saw the damage to my bike. I could not use this bike again so I had to use my number two machine and the set-up was not as good. I had to do the 25 laps, try and stay upright and finish as high as I could. Before today, I really felt that I could get a podium or two, so I am disappointed how things turned out.” WSB Results: Race 1: 1 Laconi (I-Ducati), 2 Vermeulen (Aus-Honda), 3 Troy Corser (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 4 Toseland (GB-Ducati), 5 Lanzi (I-Ducati), 6 Haga (J-Yamaha), 7 Chili (I-Honda), 8 Walker (GB-Ducati), 9 Nieto (E-Ducati), 10 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda). Race 2: 1 Laconi, 2 Vermeulen, 3 Troy Corser (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 4 Toseland, 5 Chili, 6 Haga, 7 Muggeridge, 8 Martin (Aus-Petronas), 9 Lanzi, 10 Bussei (I-Kawasaki), 12 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra). WSB World Points: 1 Corser (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 254, 2 Vermeulen 181, 3 Laconi 162, 4 Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 148, 5 Toseland 124, 6 Haga 88, 7 Walker 87, 8 Chili 86, 9 Pitt 70, 10 Muggeridge 65. SUPERSTOCK 1000: Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Riccardo Chiarello used his head to win today’s Superstock 1000 race in style at Misano. Didier Van Keymeulen (Yamaha) led the race for the first seven laps chased by Vittorio Iannuzzo (MV) and Chiarello and it was these three who pulled away from the crest of the field. Iannuzzo took the lead on lap eight, but one lap later Chiarello made his move and hit the front. From then on in, despite massive pressure from Van Keymeulen, Chiarello held his nerve to run out a worthy winner. His margin of victory over Van Keymeulen was over six tenths of a second at the flag. Riccardo Chiarello – 1st: “I had a few little tyre problems in the early laps, but then I became used to what was happening and started to reel in the two ahead of me. When I took the lead, I felt pretty comfortable – even though I knew that Van Keymeulen would try and pressurise me. It was no big problem for me to stay in front and I was very happy to see the chequered flag.” Superstock 1000 Results: 1 Riccardo Chiarello (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 2 Van Keymeulen, 3 Iannuzzo, 4 Roccoli, 5 Polita, 6 Coxhell. Superstock 1000 Points: 1 Roccoli 74, 2 Sofuoglu 66, 3 Van Keymeulen 64, 4 Coxhell 57, 5 Chiarello 38, 6 De Angelis 32. EUROPEAN SUPERSTOCK 600: Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Xavier Simeon crashed out of Saturday’s 12-lap race, but escaped without injury. The young Belgian was in seventh place at the time but lost control of his bike when some oil went onto his rear tyre. Xavi Simeon – DNF (3 laps): “I am very disappointed to have crashed out of the race but, as it was not my fault or could do anything about it, I do not feel bad. Luckily I was not hurt, which is just as well because I had to get back to the pits and get ready for my GSX-R Suzuki European Cup qualifying! It’s quite a tough schedule and the very high temperatures made things very hard for me. But I have to live with it and I hope I can have a positive result in the GSX-R Cup race.” Superstock 600 Results: 1 Corti (I-Yamaha), 2 Tiberio (F-Honda), 3 Colatosti (I-Honda), 4 Antonelli (I-Kawasaki), 5 Lorenzetti (I-Yamaha), 6 Colucci (I-Suzuki). Xavier Simeon (B-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) – DNF. WORLD SUPERSPORT: Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Javier Fores took a hard-fought for seventh place at the sixth round of the Supersport World Championship at Misano today in swelteringly hot conditions. The high temperature and humidity tested all riders throughout the 23-lap race, but 26 managed to complete the race. Two Frenchmen (Sebastien Charpentier and Fabien Foret ) battled it out for glory, but in the end it was series leader Charpentier who took the chequered flag first. Javi Fores – 7th: “I am a bit happier today because seventh is not so bad – all things considered. Because of the heat and humidity it was a very difficult race and it didn’t help matters by not getting a good start because Nannelli crashed right in front of me and I had to take action to avoid him and that cost me some time. I tried my best to catch the group in front of me but my rear was sliding around a lot. Towards the end of the race the rear tyre was gone so I eased the pace so that I could make the finish. I am happy to finish the top Suzuki and hope that we can improve at the next race in Brno.” World Supersport Results: 1 Charpentier (F-Honda), 2 Foret (F-Honda), 3 Fujiwara (J-Honda), 4Curtain (Aus-Yamaha), 5 Parkes (Aus-Yamaha), 6 Sanna (I-Honda), 7 Javier Fores (E-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 8 Antonello (I-Kawasaki), 9 Migliorati (I-Kawasaki), 10 Lauslehto (SF-Honda), World Supersport Points: 1 Charpentier 140, 2 Fujiwara 106, 3 Curtain 93, 4 Foret 74, 5 Parkes 60, 6 Chambon 46, 7 Fabrizio 42, 8 Nannelli 40, 9 Lauslehto 36, 10 Javier Fores (E-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 36. More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TWO THIRDS FOR TROY IN THE MISANO HEAT! The temperature was high, the conditions very, very humid and he had clutch problems, but somehow Troy defied them all to take two superb third places at Misano today. At the end of the second 25-lapper, Troy looked drained and exhausted, but after a short rest and some water he was back to his normal self. Regis Laconi (Ducati) won both races today, with Chris Vermeulen (Honda) taking runner-up spot both times, but Laconi had to battle hard for his double and the competition was fierce throughout the two races. TROY Race 1: 3rd, Race 2: 3rd. We knew it was going to be hard today, after the past two days, but racing is different to practice and to do two 25-lap races in these conditions takes some doing. One race would have been more then enough, but then we had to go out and do it all over again. I can’t tell you how hard today has been. The heat would’ve been bad enough, but it was very humid and the combination was devastating. I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this at the end of a raceday. It was the same for all of us of course and all of us should be given credit for the show we put on today. I think we all more then earned our money! The first race was a two-part affair and there was also a false start I think, because we actually made three race starts. Our clutch doesn’t like that and sure enough there was an immediate problem with it when we started the second (20 lap) part. It’s not easy riding hard without a clutch, because it meant that I couldn’t brake where and when I wanted to. It was hard work keeping up with Regis (Laconi) and Chris (Vermeulen) towards the end – especially as I was having a mother of a battle with James (Toseland) for third place. He actually crossed the line ahead of me, but when the times were aggregated, I got third. I also had a clutch problem in race two and once again I could hang with the guys but not be able to get past and keep in front. I was very close to Chris many times, but I couldn’t use the clutch and brake in the right places to make my moves. So, once again, I sat behind and settled for third, instead of trying for second and making a mistake. At the end, I felt pretty tired and was happy to have a bit of a sit-down and recover. A few minutes later I felt much better, but it had been one of the hardest day’s of my life. The good news though, is that I have a 73-point lead in the series and I don’t intend anybody to catch me. C ya. Troy More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Round six of the Superbike World Championship at Misano saw Yamaha Motor Italia rider Noriyuki Haga battle exceptionally hot track conditions to secure two sixth places under the burning Adriatic sunshine. With ambient temperatures into the mid-thirties, and track temperatures well over 50 degrees Celsius, rear grip and traction were at a premium for the YZF-R1 riders, who spent much of practice and qualifying trying to improve rear end grip. Despite starting from a lowly 21st position on the grid, the hard-charging Japanese scythed through the field to gain 20 valuable points from the two races to move him up to sixth in the championship. Race one was a two-parter, shortened by one lap to 24, after a crash brought out the red flags. For Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) the flags came out marginally too late, as an earlier crash had put him out of contention for the re-start. In race two a slipping clutch ruled him out of the results in the last few laps, and he pulled in with four to go. Yamaha Motor France’s Norick Abe scored a single finish, earning a point in race two after a crash in race one. Team-mate Sebastien Gimbert was forced to miss the Misano weekend after suffering a chipped bone in his lower right leg at the previous Silverstone round. The first race win was taken by Regis Laconi (Ducati), from Chris Vermeulen (Honda) and Troy Corser (Suzuki). Race two delivered an identical top three, and was run in equally hot temperatures. Corser still leads the title chase, on 254 points to Vermeulen’s 181. Haga sits sixth on 88, Pitt ninth on 70 and Abe 11th with 63. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) “I made real progress in the early laps but it was not easy coming up from 21st position in qualifying. Right at the end of race two I had passed Chili but I entered the first corner a little too hot maybe and he got past me again. The conditions made it very difficult today, very hard work and lots of sliding. But we made a good job with what we had.” Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) “Again this was my first time at a new track but all weekend we have not had good grip from the rear. We tried so many settings and different suspension packages but everything was the same – no good. I used a qualifying tyre in practice but even here it was spinning all the time. I used the 200 section tyre all weekend, and it should have had more grip, but it didn’t make any difference.” Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) “We spent a bit of time trying to choose a front tyre that would go the distance but I just had no grip, really strange. I was easing it into the entry of the last chicane, being careful, but it still went away. It’s been hard all weekend, struggling to find settings that worked. We improved bit by bit but the conditions made it worse.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator – Yamaha Motor Italia) “I think Noriyuki did remarkably well in race conditions but I think this weekend shows the problems of our team being new to this championship. Misano is a difficult circuit and it is hard for to go there with no information from previous races. We had a tough time finding good settings in qualifying but the team tried to understand what Nori’s feelings about the bike were and last night we made real progress. We even made some positive changes between warm up and the first lap so I am very happy for the way that the team has worked this weekend.” Yamaha Motor Germany riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes finished fourth and fifth respectively in a tough round six of the Supersport World Championship at Misano today, retaining their third and fifth places in the points standings. Both riders had long and lonely races, lapping consistently in hot conditions that put grip at a premium around the demanding Italian circuit. Starting from the front row, Curtain settled into an early second position behind early leader Fabien Foret (Honda), but was forced to give second best to Sebastien Charpentier and Katsuaki Fujiwara (both Honda) after three laps, before settling down to a steady ride to the flag and 13 championship points. Parkes, equaling his best result for the team to date, was a further six seconds adrift of his more experienced team-mate, riding around a similar traction handicap brought on by the exceptionally high ground temperatures. The race was won by Charpentier from Foret and Fujiwara. With six rounds of the 12 race championship gone, Charpentier leads Fujiwara by 34 points, with Curtain a further 13 adrift in third. Kevin Curtain “I did all I could today. I tried to stick with the front three for as long as possible but there was just no grip at the rear – and the front was bouncing about a bit too – so I just had to bring her home for the points. It’s a shame because we had the perfect set-up in free practice this morning but the temperature increased by 10 degrees for the race and this made such a massive difference to the amount of grip out there. But there are still a lot of races to go and after testing at Brno recently I am confident of a good result there.” Broc Parkes “A tough race – I got off at the end and felt like I’d just done two races back to back. Like most guys I was struggling a lot for grip and although I felt that I rode well I can’t get excited about finishing fifth. On the positive side we’re finding a set-up more suited to my style and we’re staying on here at Misano to do the Italian championship round next weekend where we will get in some more development time.” More, from a press release issued by Scuderia SC Caracchi: FANTASTIC LORENZO LANZI IN MISANO’s DUCATI DAY Sixth round of the World Superbike to Misano it has thrown again the Ducati like great protagonist of the championship, and with to the Factory riders also Lorenzo Lanzi on the 999RS Scuderia SC Caracchi has been author of two excellent contests, ended with a fifth and ninth final place that has concurred to earn several positions in championship for Lorenzo. “Unfortunately I got bad starts in both the races, otherwise the result could have been much better”. said Lorenzo Lanzi at the end of the races. “In race-1 at the moment of the stop with red flag I was ninth and I was fighting with Haga, then during the second start has been that error of Bostrom that forced us to repeat the starting procedure under a terrible warmth. Unfortunately the Ducati’s clutch is very sensitive in these conditions and therefore I started slowly, remaining in the group, but after a few laps I started to get positions: tenth at the ninth lap, ninth at eleventh, seventh at twelfth, sixth at fifteenth and fifth at eighteenth, overtaking riders like Muggeridge, Walker, Haga. In the final laps I just thought to be able to grab also Corser and Toseland, they were just a few meters behind me, even if for the final classification for sum of times that would not be useful because my gap in the first heat. It has been however thrilling, the bike was perfect, marking the better top speed in race-1 and the second one in race-2, and I must thank the team who has worked perfectly during all the week end. In race-2 I still have a bad start and at the first lap I was fifteenth. I got some position, but when I catch up Walker and Bussei I did not succeed to pass them and when finally I passed it was too much late. However I’m satisfied of this result obtained on my home circuit, now I hope to do always better, also in order to pay the confidence and the great job of the team.” Also Fonsi Nieto has been author of an good performance in race-1, ended in ninth position, while a crash after a few laps has stopped its action in race-2. “I got a good start, early earning some position in race-1”. tells Fonsi Nieto at the end of the day. “The bike run perfectly and has recorded one of the highest top speed. Four laps to go I reached Walker, but he closed all the doors and it has not been possible to pass him. In race-2 instead, after a good start, during the third lap I crashed, I’ve been able to keep alive the engine and I rejoined the race, but at this point I was out of the race and the bike wasn’t no more running well, so I entered the pi. It’s a pity because I could have carried out another good result “. Actually unlucky the race of Gianluca Nannelli on the 749R in Supersport. After the promising morning’s warm up session the troubles emerged yesterday the afternoon seemed resolved, a spectacular crash during the second lap stopped the race of Florentine rider. “Already during the sighting lap the bike, with the warmth, did not perform like to the morning session.” tells a disappointed Gianluca Nannelli. “I had a good start and I was riding at the end the leaders group, but I felt the bike sliding in every corner, then during the second lap suddenly my steering closed and i crashed. Fortunately I had any physical damage, but the bike slipped hardly against the straw bales. I thought just to be able to get a good result and instead I have collected only bruises! Now we have to understand because this anomalous behaviour when the temperature goes up and abike perfect during the morning becomes impossible to ride in the warm hours “.
