From a press release:

TAYLOR IS BACK WITH Z1 CYCLETECH DUCATI

Four-time Canadian National Champion Michael Taylor will be riding the 2004 Ducati 999S for Z1 Cycletech in the Parts Canada National Superbike series.

Recently returned from testing Ducatis in Spain for Cycle Canada magazine, Taylor declared himself completely fit and eager to go racing. “Five months ago I asked myself the question, will I be strong enough to compete? Indeed I will! My new team has the right bikes, the right people AND the right tires and I will be faster this year!”

Zaid Saleemi, owner of of Z1 Cycletech is also looking forward to the challenge. “Having someone of Michael’s calibre and experience certainly makes my job a lot easier. We’re all really excited about the 999, everyone knows it’s a great platform to go racing. And I think Canadian fans are going to appreciate seeing a Ducati. I’m sure in some ways this will be a learning year for both of us, but as the season progresses be prepared for some surprises.”

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, inc.

World Superbike
Phillip Island, Australia
Race One
3/28/04

1. Regis Laconi, Ducati 999F04, 22 laps, 35:04.598
2. Chris Vermeulen, Honda CBR1000RR, -7.145 seconds
3. James Toseland, Ducati 999F04, -7.336 seconds
4. Steve Martin, Ducati 999RS, -7.417 seconds
5. Garry McCoy, Ducati 999RS, -7.608 seconds
6. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-10R, -27.638 seconds
7. Marco Borciani, Ducati 999RS, -27.724 seconds
8. Noriyuki Haga, Ducati 999RS, -28.040 seconds
9. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati 999RS, -35.840 seconds
10. Chris Walker, Foggy Petronas FP1, -35.947 seconds
11. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki ZX-10R, -36.063 seconds
12. Gianluca Nannelli, Ducati 998RS, -62.342 seconds
13. Troy Corser, Foggy Petronas FP1, -68.910 seconds
14. Alessio Velini, Yamaha YZF-R1, -83.698 seconds
15. Warwick Nowland, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
16. Miguel Praia, Ducati 999RS, -1 lap
17. Piergiorgio Bontempi, Suzuki GSX-R1000, DNF
18. Sergio Fuertes, Suzuki GSX-R1000, DNF
19. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati 998RS, DNF
20. Leon Haslam, Ducati 999RS, DNS
21. Jiri Mrkyvka, Ducati 998RS, DNS

Fastest Lap of the Race: Laconi, 1:34.742

From a press release issued by MonsterMob Ducati:

British Superbike Championship
Round 1
Silverstone, Northants
27/28 March

FOURTH AND FIFTH FOR EMMETT, WHILST LAVERTY GETS THIRD

MonsterMob Ducati rider Sean Emmett got his season off to a start by scoring a fifth and a fourth place respectively at the opening round of the British Superbike Championship in front of a 23,500 crowd at Silverstone today.

The first race was marred with damp weather at the start, which meant a tough tyre choice for all the teams. Emmett led the race for the first couple of laps but then dropped back as he struggled with the track conditions, to end up in fifth place at the end of the 22 laps.

Race two saw the 34 year old Londoner finish in fourth place aboard the VK Vodka Kick and Cetelem (UK) supported Ducati 999 F04, after leading early on, but scored more important points in the 26 race series.

“I would have been satisfied with two rostrums today, but now I’ll have to be satisfied with a fourth and fifth instead. This circuit suits the four cylinder bikes but it is a difficult for the twin cylinder bikes, especially with it being a new bike as well. We’ve got some data from here and we can build on that and also the next round is at Brands Hatch which is a completely different circuit. There’s only one real corner here but I’ve got two finishes and we’re 17 points off the lead, but there is still a long way to go yet” said Emmett.

Team mate Michael Laverty scored an impressive third place in his first race aboard the Ducati 749 Supersport machine. The 22 year old from CountyAntrim enjoyed a race long battle to score 16 points and claim his third place in the Championship.

“I’m happy enough with the result but disappointed that I wasn’t closer to Karl Harris who won the race. But considering how things have gone this weekend I am pretty pleased with the result. We will get the bike set up better for Brands Hatch and start the challenge from there” said Laverty.

Penrith-based team boss Paul Bird was pleased with his team’s overall results.

“That’s a good start. We knew it was going to be tough and it definitely has been. The weather didn’t help in the first race, but overall that was two good starts. It’s a difficult circuit for the Ducati here at Silverstone but we’re happy enough. The Supersport result was perfect – top three was better than we could ask for” said Bird.

Superbike Race One Result
1, Michael Rutter (Honda) 36:18.615
2, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) -2.874
3. John Reynolds (Suzuki) -21.065
4, Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) -33.099
5, Sean Emmett (MonsterMob Ducati) -45.732
6, Marty Nutt (Yamaha) -50.747
7, Scott Smart (Kawasaki) -51.751
8, Dean Thomas (Ducati) -51.808
9, Glen Richards (Kawasaki) -53.367
10, Craig Coxhell (Honda) -61.019

Superbike Race Two Result
1, John Reynolds (Suzuki) 32:10.864
2, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) -0.510
3, Michael Rutter (Honda) -1.340
4, Sean Emmett (MonsterMob Ducati) -12.504
5, Scott Smart (Kawasaki) -17.619
6, Dean Thomas (Ducati) -22.764
7, Stuart Easton (Ducati) -36.684
8, Gary Mason (Yamaha) -43.615
9, Steve Plater (Yamaha) -57.525
10, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) -59.826

Supersport Race Result
1, Karl Harris (Honda) 30:24.585
2, Craig Jones (Triumph) -2.708
3, Michael Laverty (MonsterMob Ducati) -3.002
4, Pere Riba (Kawasaki) -5.571
5, Leon Camier (Honda) -10.240
6, Kieran Murphy (Honda) -11.248
7, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) -17.950
8, Jay Vincent (Honda) -26.889
9, Adrian Coates (Suzuki) -33.820s
10, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) -35.092



Superbike Championship Standings (after Round 1)
1, Michael Rutter (Honda) 41 pts
1, John Reynolds (Suzuki) 41 pts
3, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 40 pts
4, Sean Emmett (MonsterMob Ducati) 24 pts
5, Scott Smart (Kawasaki) 21 pts
6, Dean Thomas (Ducati) 19 pts
7, Stuart Easton (Ducati) 14 pts
8, Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) 13 pts
9, Craig Coxhell (Honda) 12 pts
10, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) 11 pts


Supersport Championship Standings (after Round 1)
1, Karl Harris (Honda) 25 pts
2, Craig Jones (Triumph) 20 pts
3, Michael Laverty (MonsterMob Ducati) 16 pts
4, Pere Riba (Kawasaki) 13 pts
5, Leon Camier (Honda) 11 pts
6, Kieran Murphy (Honda) 10 pts
7, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 9 pts
8, Jay Vincent (Honda) 8 pts
9, Adrian Coates (Suzuki) 7 pts
10, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) 6 pts



BSB 2004 Dates
Mar 28: Silverstone, Northamptonshire.
Apr 12: Brands Hatch Indy, Kent.
Apr 25: Snetterton, Norfolk.
May 3: Oulton Park, Cheshire.
May 23: Mondello Park, Ireland.
Jun 6: Thruxton, Hampshire.
Jun 20: Brands Hatch, Kent.
Jul 4: Knockhill, Fife, Scotland.
Jul 18: Mallory Park, Leicestershire.
Aug 15: Croft, North Yorkshire
Aug 30: Cadwell Park, Lincolnshire.
Sep 12: Oulton Park, Cheshire.
Sep 19: Donington Park, Leicestershire


More, from a press release issued by MSS Discovery Kawasaki Team:

British Supersport/Superstock Championships ­ Round one ­ Silverstone

Sunday March 28 2004

RIBA AND ZX-6RR SECURE SOLID FINISH FOR MSS DISCOVERY KAWASAKI AT SILVERSTONE

Hard-charging Pere Riba grabbed a fourth place finish in Sunday’s opening round of the British Supersport Championship at Silverstone, Northants as the MSS Discovery Kawasaki team launched its campaign in determined fashion.

Riba¹s ride, from seventh place on the grid, came in contrast to the fortunes of his team-mate Rob Frost, a second-lap faller after being hit by another rider. Frost escaped injury in the Woodcote corner crash.

Riba, after his British Championship debut, commented: “I’m really, really pleased with fourth place. We knew before the weekend that it would be tough but we are so close now to a perfect setting. The engine is very strong and the tyres are excellent. Once we find that base setting for the chassis and suspension I will be able to win races.”

Spaniard Riba added: “I worked so hard to keep fourth place but I was convinced I may be able to get onto the podium so there was no way I wanted to lose sight of the third place rider. But as soon as riding this machine becomes really enjoyable I will start to challenge for victories.”

Frost blasted through the field on the first lap and had moved from 18th place on the grid to 11th when he fell, after a tangle with another rider on lap two.

“I’m not even sure who it was who hit me,” said Frost. “I was peeling into Woodcote and minding my own business, next thing I knew I was down. I’m as frustrated about the lack of a result as I am about the crash. The team worked really hard overnight on my set-up and the machine felt brilliant.

“I knew the race would be tough from 18th on the grid but I got a great start and was into 13th place by the first corner. It’s disappointing but I know we have a good enough package in the ZX-6RR for me to be able to challenge for wins in the next few rounds.”

Steve Allan completed the day with a podium finish for the MSS Discovery team as the Scotsman took the ZX-10R to third place in its debut in the National Superstock Championship.

Allan grabbed the holeshot and led until lap 13 of the 18-lap affair ­ breaking the lap record along the way ­ before accepting a comfortable third place.

“I knew that I needed to finish the race and, beforehand, I was confident that I’d be in the top six ­ just from the performance of the ZX-10R in pre-season testing,” explained Allan.

He continued: “I could only go at a pace I was comfortable with and after crashing yesterday in the final qualifying session the last thing I needed to do was give the team another load of work. Third place will do and we’ll build on that. To take a podium finish in the first race for the new machine is perfect.”

British Supersport Championship, round one result (20 laps ­ 44.26 miles):
1 Karl Harris, Honda, 30:24.585
2 Craig Jones, Triumph, 30:27.293
3 Michael Laverty, Ducati, 30:27.587
4 Pere Riba, Kawasaki, 30:30.156
5 Leon Camier, Honda, 30:34.825
6 Kieran Murphy, Honda, 30:35.833
7 Cal Crutchlow, Honda, 30:42.535
8 Jay Vincent, Honda, 30:51.474
9 Adrian Coates, Suzuki, 30:58.405
10 Tom Sykes, Suzuki, 30:59.677

Championship points after one of 13 rounds: 1 Harris 25, 2 Jones 20, 3 Laverty 16, 4 Riba 13, 5 Camier 11, 6 Murphy 10, 7 Crutchlow 9, 8 Vincent 8, 9 Coates 7, 10 Sykes 6.

Next round: Brands Hatch ­ April 12

National Superstock Championship, round one result (18 laps ­ 39.83 miles):
1 Ben Wilson, Suzuki, 27:20.577
2 Andy Tinsley, Suzuki, 27:21.476
3 Steve Allan, Kawasaki, 27:21.737
4 Tristan Palmer, Suzuki, 27:24.830
5 Les Shand, Yamaha, 27:28.918
6 Jamie Morley, Suzuki, 27:33.095
7 Danny Beaumont, Yamaha, 27:33.213
8 Craig Fitzpatrick, Suzuki, 27:47.091
9 Kevin Reilly, Ducati, 27:52.829
10 Mark Heckles, Yamaha, 27:58.894

Championship points after one of 13 rounds: 1 Wilson 25, 2 Tinsley 20, 3 Allan 16, 4 Palmer 13, 5 Shand 11, 6 Morley 10, 7 Beaumont 9, 8 Fitzpatrick 8, 9 Reilly 7, 10 Heckles 6.

Next round: Brands Hatch ­ April 12


More, from a press release issued by Hawk Kawasaki:

BSB Championship, Round 1
Silverstone
Race 1 & 2

Sunday March 28
Track length: 2.2130 miles
Track temperature: 12 C
Air temperature: 7 C

SMART TAKES SUPERB FIFTH IN ZX-10R’s FIRST BSB ROUND

Hawk Kawasaki rider Scott Smart took a superb fifth place in the second BSB race at the opening round at Silverstone today. The number 88 rider’s excellent showing backed up his hard-fought seventh place in the first race, secured on a drying track when he pipped Ducati-mounted Dean Thomas to the line by just one tenth of a second.

“It was a pretty good result because I made an error on the last lap and I was quite a way back on Dean,” said Scott of his first race finish. “I knew I was much quicker through the last two corners so I had a go and passed him cleanly, although it was probably a bit of a surprise to him. I had a massive moment near the beginning when Glen and Dean got past me. I could see Kagayama and Reynolds and thought, ‘right I’m going to have them’ but I went though the second chicane and my feet were off the pegs and I ran onto the grass. I managed to drag it back onto the track and got a good result in the end though. We ran wets because it was declared a wet race and they were destroyed at the end. I was trying higher gears in the hope it’d hook up better but all it did was spin more. It didn’t matter though in the end because both Glen and Dean were in the same boat.”

Smart’s fifth in the second race upped his weekend’s points haul to 21, and fifth place in the points table. “It’s a lot harder in the dry than it is in the wet and the bike is very aggressive near the limit,” he said. “You’ve just got to be really gentle with it all the time. I’m pleased because I’ve come away with two good results, but also gutted because if I’d found a tenth of a second a lap I could have beaten Emmett in the second race. I was hanging on, hanging on, missed a couple of gears and then thought, ‘must bring it home’, plus I so nearly hit Glen when he crashed. We’ve now got a good base point and we just want to start finishing a few places further up.”

Smart’s team mate, Glen Richards, had a more challenging first outing on the ZX-10R, finishing ninth in the first race, due to badly worn wet tyres, and crashing out of a potential fifth in the second race. “The rear wet that we had was fairly soft so after half a dozen laps it wasn’t real good, but most people’s tyres were no good by then,” explained the Aussie of the first race. “Because of that we didn’t have any grip at the back. The bike wasn’t too bad but I if I’d tried to go any faster I think I would have crashed and after the day that I had yesterday I was determined to make it to the finish.” Sadly he fell in the second race, although fortunately was uninjured from the spill.

Smart’s strong finishes aboard the ZX-10R delighted Hawk Team Principal Stuart Hicken, especially as there is so much more to come from the new machine. “We were running very close to the leading pack using an almost stock motor – we’ve still got an ignition key on the bike,” he said. “Glen could have done without that tumble, but Scott’s adapted to the bike quickly which is good. I’m very pleased with how close we are to the leaders. To see that halfway through the race we’re still on the start/finish straight with the leading pack is real important because we have a tremendous amount to come at the moment. We’re looking forward to getting the Motec ignition on and doing more work on the bikes.”

The next BSB round is at Brands Hatch from April 10-12.

BSB Race 1
1) Michael Rutter, Honda. 2) Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda. 3) John Reynolds, Suzuki. 4) Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki. 5) Sean Emmett, Ducati. 6) Marty Nutt, Yamaha (P). 7) Scott Smart, Hawk Kawasaki. 8) Dean Thomas, Ducati. 9) Glen Richards, Hawk Kawasaki. 10) Craig Coxhell, Honda. 11) Stuart Easton, Ducati. 12) James Ellison, Yamaha (P). 13) Jon Kirkham, Suzuki (P). 14) Tommy Hill, Yamaha. 15) Sam Corke, Suzuki (P)

Fastest lap: Michael Rutter, Honda: 1:37.543

BSB Race 2
1) John Reynolds, Suzuki. 2) Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda. 3) Michael Rutter, Honda. 4) Sean Emmett, Ducati. 5) Scott Smart, Hawk Kawasaki. 6) Dean Thomas, Ducati. 7) Stuart Easton, Ducati. 8) Gary Mason, Yamaha. 9) Steve Plater, Yamaha. 10) Tommy Hill, Yamaha. 11) Jon Kirkham, Suzuki (P). 12) Craig Coxhell, Honda. 13) Dennis Hobbs, Suzuki (P). 14) Dean Ellison, Ducati. 15) James Ellison, Yamaha (P)

Fastest lap: Michael Rutter, Honda: 1:26.890

BSB Championship after 1 round
1) Michael Rutter, 41. 1=) John Reynolds, 41. 3) Ryuichi Kiyonari, 40. 4) Sean Emmett, 24. 5) Scott Smart, Hawk Kawasaki, 21. 6) Dean Thomas, 19. 7) Stuart Easton, 14. 8) Yukio Kagayama, 13. 9) Craig Coxhell, 12. 10) Tommy Hill, 11. 11) Gary Mason, 9. 12) Glen Richards, Hawk Kawasaki, 8. 13) Steve Plater, 7. 14) Kieran Clarke, 4. 15) Dean Ellison, 4

Manufacturers Championship after 1 round
1) Honda, 45. 2) Suzuki, 41. 3) Ducati, 24. 4) Kawasaki, 21. 5) Yamaha, 14

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

MotoGP World Championship
Catalunya, Spain
3/28/04
Combined Best Lap Times Of IRTA Test:

1. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha, 1:44.571
2. Alex BARROS, Honda, 1:44.631
3. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda, 1:44.634
4. Colin EDWARDS, Honda, 1:44.653
5. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, 1:44.669
6. Loris CAPIROSSI, Ducati, 1:44.871
7. Kenny ROBERTS, Suzuki, 1:45.046
8. Ruben XAUS, Ducati, 1:45.073
9. Carlos CHECA, Yamaha, 1:45.171
10. Marco MELANDRI, Yamaha, 1:45.196
11. Makoto TAMADA, Honda, 1:45.226
12. Max BIAGGI, Honda, 1:45.519
13. Neil HODGSON, Ducati, 1:45.520
14. Shinya NAKANO, Kawasaki, 1:45.654
15. Alex HOFMANN, Kawasaki, 1:46.007
16. Shane BYRNE, Aprilia, 1:46.170
17. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, 1:46.182
18. Shin’ichi ITOH, Honda, 1:46.212
19. Gregorio LAVILLA, Suzuki, 1:46.227
20. John HOPKINS, Suzuki, 1:46.329
21. Nobuatsu AOKI, Proton, 1:46.620
22. Norick ABE, Yamaha, 1:47.429
23. Jeremy McWILLIAMS, Aprilia, 1:48.391
24. Marcellino LUCCHI, Aprilia, 1:49.489
25. Michel FABRIZIO, Harris WCM, 1:50.114
26. Vittoriano GUARESCHI, Ducati, 1:50.186

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Former AMA factory pilot Mike Smith took three wins Sunday during the opening round of the WERA National Challenge Series at Jennings GP in Jennings, Florida.

Riding a Suzuki GSX-R1000, Smith beat Yamaha YZF-R1-mounted Larry Pegram to win in Open Superstock. Smith then used his GSX-R750 to beat Vesrah Suzuki’s Tray Batey in 750cc Superstock and Formula One.

Pegram won the 600cc Superbike race on his Triangle Cycles Yamaha YZF-R6, and Batey defended his Heavyweight Twins National Championship with a win on his SV1000S.

First-year Expert Ben Thompson won the 750cc Superbike race on his Racersupply.com Suzuki GSX-R600.

Michael Killingsworth beat Roger Bell in the Lightweight Twins sprint. Both racers rode Suzuki SV650s.

Mark Brown won the Formula Two race on another Suzuki SV650.

From a press release issued by Fuchs Kawasaki:

MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2004
IRTA TEST – CIRCUIT DE CATALUNYA
28TH MARCH 2004

FUCHS KAWASAKI’S NAKANO CLOSES THE GAP ON THE LEADERS

Fuchs Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano took maximum advantage of a break in the weather to post the 13th fastest time in today’s 40 minute timed practice session, during the final day of the IRTA test at the Circuit de Catalunya.

More important than his finishing position was the fact that the 26-year-old Japanese rider ended the session just over one second behind reigning World Champion, and today’s pole position finisher, Valentino Rossi. For Kawasaki, this was the closest they have been to a dry pole position time since returning to the MotoGP World Championship at the end of the 2002 season. And, while today may have been only a practice session, with a BMW car on offer to the fastest rider, competition was as intense as for any race.

Preferring to continue with his planned test programme, rather than abandoning it in favour of chasing a one-off flying lap, Alex Hofmann still managed to finish today’s timed session 15th fastest, just over three tenths of a second behind his more experienced teammate.

The 23-year-old German rider waited until the chequered flag came out to end the timed practice, before putting in his fastest lap with just seconds to spare. For the remainder of the day, Hofmann continued to work with his crew to refine the set-up of his Fuchs Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR, in preparation for the opening race of the season, which takes place on 18th April at Welkom in South Africa.

The Fuchs Kawasaki Racing Team head for Jerez in Southern Spain tomorrow, for a further two days of intensive testing.

Alex Hofmann: 15th (1:46.007)
“We concentrated today on completing our test programme, after losing so much time to bad weather during the first two days, rather than building up for a fast lap in the timed session. We used this afternoon’s session to test some softer compound tyres and it was these tyres on which I set my fastest lap. I’m pretty happy with how things went today, although we know we still have some work to do with the bike. The chassis and tyres look to be a lot closer to our rivals in terms of performance in the turns and on the brakes, but the difference in top speeds on the main straight today is a good indication of where we need to concentrate our development effort. We need to find some more power from the engine, but we also need to be able to control this power better if we are to stop the bike from spinning up and trying to lift the front wheel out of the turns.”

Shinya Nakano: 13th (1:45.654)
“After so much rain over the past two days I was glad to get in some dry laps on the bike today. My first run in the timed session felt good, and I was pretty confident that I’d be able to improve my lap time on my second run. Unfortunately, I had a problem with clutch slip on the main straight and, while the bike sounded real fast, I wasn’t able to get the power down and hit top speed on my flying lap. Even so, we ended the timed session just over a second off pole position, so I’m reasonably happy overall. But, although we are closing the gap I think there is still room for improvement, especially out of the turns where the bike still spins up the rear too easily. We will continue to work on solving this problem during the two day test at Jerez next week.”

Harald Eckl: Team Manager
“Today we closed the gap on the leading riders in the championship, which makes all the hard work during the winter months worthwhile. Of course, development work will continue, especially on the engine, and I am confident that there is still a lot more to come yet, both from the new bike and from Shinya and Alex.”


More, from a press release issued by Honda:

HONDA RACING INFORMATION

IRTA MotoGP tests Barcelona, third and final day, Sunday March 28 2004

Track temperature: 16 degrees C
Ambient temperature: 14 degrees C
Humidity: 45%

HONDA RIDERS RIGHT ON THE PACE ON FINAL DAY AT BARCELONA

The sun finally shone on the last day of this three-day test session at the Montmelo track near, Barcelona in Spain. Honda’s six full-time MotoGP riders made the most of the dry track time and spent a full day circulating the 4.427km circuit as it warmed up to a more accommodating 16 degrees C from a low of seven yesterday.

A sizeable crowd of 30,000 thronged the grandstands for the morning session and spectator interest peaked as a special 40-minute sprint, with a sports car as the prize for the fastest rider, began in the early afternoon. But after only ten minutes of action the session was red-flagged as Aprilia rider Jeremy McWilliams crashed and then four other riders went down on fluid lost from his machine.

The four riders, Alex Barros (Repsol Honda RC211V), Carlos Checa (Yamaha) and Ducati duo Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss, emerged relatively unscathed and continued testing. On the restart Colin Edwards (Telefonica MoviStar Honda RC211V) rocketed himself into the reckoning and then headed the timesheet with a 1:45.224 lap.

The Texan then carved that time down to 1:45.167 with Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi 0.192 seconds shy of his time in second place with fifteen minutes of the session to go. In the final five minutes Capirossi catapulted himself to second spot with Rossi now heading the rankings with a 1:44.716 lap.

But Edwards was by no means done yet and bested Rossi’s time with a 1:44.653 lap in the final minute – but with other riders on their final ‘hot’ laps his slender advantage was always under threat and Rossi pulled out a 1:44.571 lap time on his final tour.

Among the top ten riders overall today were four Honda men: Barros in second, his team-mate Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) in third, Colin Edwards (Telefonica MoviStar Honda RC211V) fourth and Sete Gibernau (Telefonica MoviStar Honda RC211V) fifth.

Alex Barros put in some steady work in the remaining hours of the day and thus climbed to second overall by mid-afternoon when the more serious business of prolonged testing resumed. His 1m 44.631s time reflecting the undoubted speed the experienced Brazilian will show this season on his return to the Honda fold after a troubled season with Yamaha.

Fastest laps:
1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1:44.571
2. Alex Barros (Repsol Honda RC211V) 1:44.631
3. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) 1:44.634
4. Colin Edwards (Telefonica MoviStar Honda RC211V) 1:44.653
5. Sete Gibernau (Telefonica MoviStar Honda RC211V) 1:44.689
6. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 1:44.871
7. Kenny Roberts (Suzuki) 1:45.046
8. Ruben Xaus (Ducati) 1:45.073
9. Carlos Checa (Yamaha) 1:45.171
10. Marco Melandri (Yamaha) 1:45.196

Riders quotes

Alex Barros: “A day of highs and lows,” said second fastest man Alex Barros. “We were looking good in the morning when we checked that everything was OK for the sprint for the car. But early on I went down on the oil from someone else’s crash. I was first to hit the spill and then the others. By the time any of us saw the flag it was already too late. I started again but then there was too much traffic and then the tyres went off. All the bad stuff happened at the same time! But we got going again in the afternoon and things are looking better now.”

Nicky Hayden: “We had a bit of trouble with a disc when we went to fit a qualifier in the sprint and that hampered us a bit. But overall we’ve got lots of resources and I’m confident we’re going to find the answers. But it’s not all about the bike. My expectations from last year have changed and I have to aim high, but I feel like I’ve really learned stuff today.”

Colin Edwards: “We didn’t get a lot of track time to test the new chassis. We only had two hours on Friday, we made some changes but you always need more time to get things right and we didn’t have it. Things are OK overall and I just concentrated on some tyre endurance tests towards the end of the day – and then it’s Jerez next week.”

Sete Gibernau: “We tested as much as we could under the circumstances and today was not a bad day for us. The new chassis and the Michelins we tried were working well even if the conditions weren’t great. The sprint was a little tough on everyone and I was on a fast lap right at the end before I hit traffic, but the main thing is the work we did overall.”

Makoto Tamada (Camel Honda RC211V) was 11th fastest: “We had many things to try – and not a lot of time to try them in. And the problems with the cold and the wind only went away on the last day. We have a big test programme to complete and we’re running out of time to complete it, but we have made a new plan to use at Jerez and we’ll take things from there.”

Max Biaggi: “These three days have not been positive for us. We are still very far away from our best set-up. The bike feels heavy during changes of direction and the weather has been a problem – but for everybody else too. At Sepang and Phillip Island we got close to our best set-ups quite quickly – but here we struggled. Let’s hope we can do better at Jerez.”


More, from a press release issued by Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha Team:

Catalunya IRTA Tests
Montmelo circuit, Catalunya
Sunday 28th March

ROSSI TOPS THE TIME SHEETS ON FINAL DAY AT BARCELONA IRTA TESTS

Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi recorded the fastest lap of the weekend as an intense fight saw the top 13 MotoGP riders, including Rossi’s team-mate Carlos Checa, finish the Barcelona IRTA Test with times inside one minute of each other. Today’s MotoGP riding agenda entailed three sessions, and with a prize of a BMW Z4 up for grabs during the 45-minute afternoon official practice, Italian Rossi prevailed at the last minute with a time good enough to keep him at the top of the combined standings throughout the final free practice later on. After an early fall along with five other riders due to oil on the track, Carlos Checa finally finished the test ninth fastest at his home circuit, pleased with his progress and feeling positive for Jerez next week. The incident interrupted the first half of the early afternoon session, as the red flags were put out whilst track officials cleaned up the oil.

The leader board was dominated in the early afternoon by American Colin Edwards, who put in a string of consistently fast laps on his Honda machine. With seven minutes left on the clock, Rossi took the lead with a flying lap, only to relinquish it again to Edwards a few minutes later. Returning to the pits for a brief tyre change, Rossi took the lead again on his last lap with a time of 1:44.571. This was enough for him to claim the BMW prize, despite last minute charges from Edwards again (1:44.653) and fellow Honda rider Sete Gibernau (1:44.669.) Checa, slightly shaken up from his earlier brush with the tarmac, was happy to post the eighth fastest time of 1:45.171.

Rossi stayed on top for the rest of the day but the final leader board altered slightly during the last session of the test, when Honda team-mates Alex Barros and Nicky Hayden put in hot laps of 1:44.631 and 1:44.634 respectively to take them second and third fastest of the test. Checa had another unfortunate fall at the same corner as earlier, caught off-guard by tyres which were slightly too hard. However he was not hurt and continued to work on the set-up of Yamaha’s latest engine spec, which he first tested on Friday.

Valentino Rossi (1:44.571)
“This is really satisfying! I am really sincerely very happy to win this car, to have got this time and to have put in more than one fast lap. The whole day has been a brilliant surprise and we’re all very happy. I think this year will be great for the Championship as a whole because it’s going to be very competitive. Everyone has put in so much hard work – the team and the Yamaha engineers – and we’ve done a great job so far. There is still a lot of work to do and a long way to go, but we’ve made a good performance. This year is going to be a great challenge; let’s see if we can continue as we have started today.”

Carlos Checa (1:45.171)
“The moment I went out on the track for the qualifying session I felt there was some oil on the track, and before I could do anything about it there were six bikes on the ground. The new engine spec I’m trying works quite well with this chassis but we need to alter the set-up a bit more; I still have a long way to go. Valentino did a great job today and it’s very motivating to have him as a team-mate; it’s a great challenge for me to see how close I can get.

Davide Brivio, Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha Team Director
“We didn’t win a race and we didn’t get any points but it’s nice to win this first prize. I’m very happy that we can offer today’s results to everyone involved in the project. We are having a very busy winter and it’s very satisfying for everyone on days like today. This will give us more motivation to continue working hard with the target to be competitive in a race situation as soon as possible.”


The next MotoGP Official IRTA Tests take place in Jerez, Spain on Wednesday 31 March and Thursday 1 April.


More, from a press release issued by Proton Team KR:

THE FIRST PROTON TO TOP 200MPH

Montmelo, Spain – March 28, 2004: Proton Team KR rider Nobuatsu Aoki joined the 200mph club at the Catalunya GP circuit today, the third of three days of official group tests for the forthcoming GP season. It is thought to be the first time this speed has been attained by any Proton, on two or four wheels.

Riding the second-generation Proton KR V5, with a revised engine and an all-new high-tech chassis, Aoki clocked 204.12 mph in the final session, in what was virtually a shake-down test for the latest machine.

With the engine still not yet fully set up, the new chassis fitted with a brand-new swingarm for the first time, and the team still gaining familiarity with their new Dunlop tyres, it was a clear proof of progress for the machine, and an endorsement of the confidence in its ultimate potential.

The new Proton is the first to bear the stamp of ex-F1 engineering guru John Barnard. Novel and super-accurate chassis construction techniques, culled from aerospace and F1 technology but never before seen on a motorcycle, take the all-independent England-built racer a clear step forward in the fight against the factories.

“We know we need more engine power, and we’re working on that. But we also know these are very early days for the new bike, and that everything is getting better all the time,” said team principal Kenny Roberts, a former triple World Champion, and racing legend.

The three-day tests were hit with bad weather, with the first day cut short by rain and the second all but drowned out completely …only a handful of riders went out, with Aoki running just three laps. The third was cold, with fresh snow on the mountains surrounding the circuit outside Barcelona, but dry and sunny. Aoki completed 52 laps, to place 22nd in the session.

Team-mate Kurtis Roberts was not at the tests, after dislocating his shoulder at earlier tests a fortnight ago in Valencia. He is recuperating at home in the USA, and is expected to be fit in time for the first race, the South African GP on April 18.

NOBUATSU AOKI – best time 1:48.128
I am happy with the new chassis and swingarm. We worked very hard and adjusted many things … it was like a shakedown this weekend. Now the bike is getting to the point where we have good base settings and can concentrate on fine running the suspension and so on. The new engine is not working properly yet. The top-end power is the same as last year, but the mid-range is not good at all. It makes the engine very peaky. When you touch the throttle at 10,000 rpm it hesitates a lot, and is inconsistent. The engine shop has to work to make it easier to ride. It was our first official time on Dunlop tyres, and though the qualifying tyres are very good, there is a lot of work to do. We have to cooperate to improve things, and I hope I have given them a lot of ideas.

CHUCK AKSLAND – Team Manager
I believe that’s the first time any Proton has done more than 200 mph! All in it was a pretty positive end to the test. Nobu went faster than last year, and we still don’t have a lot of experience on the Dunlop tyres, or with the new bike. With the little bit of testing we’ve done, we know where we’re at. We need more engine performance, and to establish our relationship with Dunlop. And to keep moving forward.


More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda Racing Information:

Closing day of tests in Catalunya
IRTA sessions to continue in Jerez


This was the last of three days of IRTA tests on the Montmelò circuit before the second round gets underway in Jerez on Wednesday and Thursday next. The pale sun that came out in the early hours of the morning made it possible for the tests to carry on all day long, also making it possible to put in 40 minutes of “official” tests. This was the only good opportunity to gather data and information after the entire scheduled work programme had been put on hold.

Yellow-blue Camel Honda riders Max and Makoto were trying out the new frames on their
RC 211Vs, and work on achieving top performance was carried out during the official tests, when the tarmac temperature was slightly higher than during the rest of the day. Like this morning, the ground temperature was only 8°C (46.5°F) in the late afternoon.

A pity for Max for, just when he made his decisive sortie, at the end of the 40 “official” minutes, he had a loss of pressure in his rear tyre and was unable to make the best of this opportunity to move up towards the sharp end of the ratings.

Sito Pons – Camel Honda (Team Principal)
“The very difficult weather conditions of the past two days meant we could only really work well today. The riders had to try out the new frames and they didn’t have enough time to gather all the necessary information to ensure the best possible settings. So we had to make up for lost time, considering the potential that the other contestants showed today. So this week’s tests in Jerez will be really important for us to get ready for the first World Championship race.”

Max Biaggi – Camel Honda (Michelin tyres) – 12th – 1’45.519
“These three days in Catalunya have not been all that easy. We still haven’t found the perfect settings for my bike and I feel it’s very heavy when changing direction. So we’ve still got to discover the right way to get the very best out of this new frame. Then misfortune stepped in when it was time to go for the fast lap in the official tests. The others were faster than us, and this simply means they were better then we were. We’ve still got two days’ tests in Jerez and I’m confident that we’ll be able to improve.”

Gianluca Montiron – Camel Honda – (Makoto Tamada Team Manager)
“We had a number of different materials to try out, and very little time for the huge amount of work we had planned to do. The bad weather undoubtedly complicated matters, so we didn’t concentrate as much on going for top performance in the fast lap as finding out the right direction to work in so that we can get to Jerez with the right programme that will let us recoup the time we’ve lost during this first session of IRTA tests.”

Makoto Tamada – Camel Honda (Bridgestone tyres) – 11th – 1’45.226
“So many things to try out, and so many details to examine. I mean: new tyres, new frame and hardly any time available, because yesterday and the day before it really seemed it was midwinter. We’ve examined all the work we did today in order to get ready for Jerez with a work programme and ideal settings for those two very important dates, so we can prepare for Welkom.”


More, from a press release issued by Telefonica Movistar Honda/Gresini Racing:

Edwards and Gibernau second and third fastest respectively during the sprint on day three

Test Irta – Catalunya, day Three
Real action started around 12.00 on a cold but dry track at the Circuit of Catalunya.
Colin Edwards went out around 11.45 lapping with the new bike, while Sete Gibernau went out 30 minutes later for some laps with the new bike before the timed session of the day.
The sprint of 45 minutes to win the BMW Z4 offered by BMW was hard-fight until the end of the session when Sete and Colin missed the pole for a handful of thousandths: only 0.082 the gap between Colin and Valentino, the fastest of the session and 0.016 the gap between Sete and Colin.

Colin Edwards (1’44″653).: “we had not so much track times here because, during the previous days, rain spoiled the testing programme. I’m ok but I could do better.”

Sete Gibernau (1’44”.669): “with these temperatures it was hard for everyone, during the last lap I was doing very well but I found a bit of traffic and I missed the pole. All in all, I’m satisfied, my compliments to Valentino.”

Tested continued during the afternoon. Both Telefonica MoviStar riders lapped with the new bike. Work was mainly focused on developing the new chassis and the new fork, moreover some tyre testing for Michelin was carried out.

Sete Gibernau: “I’m satisfied with the work we did today, I did two small endurance tests and worked with Michelin testing some tyres.”

Colin Edwards: “we lapped with the new bike but these weather conditions are not good for finding the best setting. We need to do more laps. We also did some tyre testing with Michelin.”

Fausto Gresini, Team Manager: “Today’s practices have demonstrated that we are competitive. We missed the pole for a few thousandths. We aim at finding the best setting for the new bike. I hope to find better weather conditions next week in Jerez.”

At the end of the day Colin and Sete finished fourth and fifth respectively.
The team move onto Jerez for the second session of Irta Test schedul! ed for next Wednesday and Thursday

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

World Superbike
Phillip Island, Australia
3/28/04
Race Two Results:

1. Garry McCoy, Ducati 999RS, 22 laps, 35:10.023
2. Chris Vermeulen, Honda CBR1000RR, -4.951 seconds
3. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati 998RS, -6.469 seconds
4. Marco Borciani, Ducati 999RS, -8.829 seconds
5. Troy Corser, Foggy Petronas FP1, -11.824 seconds
6. Noriyuki Haga, Ducati 999RS, -12.223 seconds
7. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-10R, -19.236 seconds
8. Chris Walker, Foggy Petronas FP1, -19.323 seconds
9. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki ZX-10R, -19.478 seconds
10. Leon Haslam, Ducati 999RS, -35.352 seconds
11. Piergiorgio Bontempi, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -35.709 seconds
12. Gianluca Nannelli, Ducati 998RS, -36.279 seconds
13. Alessio Velini, Yamaha YZF-R1, -70.305 seconds
14. Warwick Nowland, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -70.545 seconds
15. Steve Martin, Ducati 999RS, -3 laps, DNF
16. Regis Laconi, Ducati 999F04, -8 laps, DNF
17. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati 998RS, -14 laps, DNF
18. James Toseland, Ducati 999F04, -19 laps, DNF
19. Miguel Praia, Ducati 999RS, -20 laps, DNF
20. Sergio Fuertes, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -21 laps, DNF
21. Jiri Mrkyvka, Ducati 998RS, DNS

Fastest Lap of the Race: McCoy, 1:34.514


World Superbike Championship Point Standings:

1. Toseland, 61 points
2. Chili, 56 points
3. TIE, McCoy/Vermeulen, 55 points
5. TIE, Haga/Borciani, 43 points
7. Walker, 39 points
8. Martin, 29 points
9. Sanchini, 27 points
10. Laconi, 25 points
11. Haslam, 24 points
12. Corser, 19 points
13. Nannelli, 18 points
14. Clementi, 14 points
15. Fuertes, 12 points


More, from a press release issued by FGSport:

World Superbike Championship 2004

Round Two – Phillip Island
26 – 28 March

Perfect weather draws Superbike fans to Phillip Island

With blue skies and temperatures in the low 30s, the second round of the 2004 World Superbike Championship attracted an excellent crowd. The provisional 3-day attendance figures for the Australian round are 48,000 – 50,000.


More, from a press release issued by Ten Kate Honda:

Two Second Places For Vermeulen

Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR rider Chris Vermeulen used his new for 2004 machine to great effect at Phillip island, securing his first podium finish in race one and backing it up with another second place in the second 22-lap contest. The high track and air temperatures were no barrier to the progress of the CBR1000RR, a machine in only its second competitive event.

A raceday of contrasts for Vermeulen saw him fight hard in a four-way scrap for his eventual second place in the opener, but the second running was a more clear cut affair at the end.

Vermeulen’s pair of seconds gave him fourth overall in the championship, with James Toseland on 61 points, Chili (Ducati) on 56 and Vermeulen on 55, shared with second race winner Garry McCoy (Ducati).

For Vermeulen, the race weekend was a perfect homecoming, and reward for a weekend of toil. “The first race was a lot cooler and the track got a lot hotter in the second race so it made the tyres slide a lot – but we got on the podium for a second time in two races. The bike is getting better all the time; the team has done a great job. We’ve already had two podiums so we’ll wait and see what happens at the next few races. It’s been great today so I hope we can keep this up.”

Team Manager Ronald Ten Kate put the win down to the hard work put in by all the team since the first race at Valencia. “It was almost the perfect result today,” he stated. “With an all new bike and a rider new to Superbike we have brought it home in second position twice. Especially in the first race, that was a good effort. We are learning every time out there, learning more and more about the bike. It also looks as if there is more to come.”

The next round for the Ten Kate Honda Superbike squad is at Misano, Italy, on 18 April.

World Superbike Championship
Round Two – Phillip Island
26 – 28 March 2004
Race Result

Race 1
1. R. Laconi, FRA, Ducati 999 F04
2. C. Vermeulen, AUS, Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR
3. J. Toseland, GBR, Ducati 999 F04
4. S. Martin, AUS, Ducati 999 RS
5. G. McCoy, AUS, Ducati 999 RS

Race 2
1. G. McCoy, Aus, Ducati 999 RS
2. C. Vermeulen, Aus, Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR
3. P. Chili, ITA, Ducati 998 RS
4. M. Borciani, ITA, Ducati 999 RS
5. T. Corser, AUS, Petronas FP1

Parkes Fourth After Unpredictable Aussie Race

Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Honda) secured a safe fourth place after a home race of mixed fortunes for the Ten Kate pairing of Parkes and Karl Muggeridge. In a safe and steady third, Muggeridge suffered the heartbreak of slowing in the last two laps, finishing an eventual 12th, earning four points.

The race was won by the charging local rider Josh Brookes, the only remaining wild card in the field, who held off the challenge of WSS regular Kevin Curtain (Yamaha).

For Parkes, it was a tough home race, but one marked by his first points core of the season, which leaves him in eighth place overall. “The set-up wasn’t quite right all weekend,” admitted the young Aussie. “It got better but we didn’t quite know what to do to improve it enough. We tried lowering it and raising it at both ends but because we were in Valencia, and did a lot of testing before this race, I think maybe it was something internal in the suspension we could have changed. But it could have been a lot worse. At least we got some points this time.”

Sitting in pole position for the second race in succession, Muggeridge was philosophical about his raceday fate. “The engine just stopped,” he said. “We’re down but not out. I was having some trouble with the front end but coming into this race I was determined to bring it in strong for a good finish. Third was mine, even if Jurgen was a little bit behind – but far enough back for me to handle in the last laps.”

Team Manager Ronald Ten Kate stated, “There was a sudden drop in power, and now we are taking out the data from the machine. There was no leak, no breakage, but the power was gone and he had to back it off quite a lot to make sure he could bring it to the line to get those couple of points. They might make all the difference. I think a podium for Karl would have been a fairer result.”

The next round of the championship takes place at Misano, Italy, on 18th April.


More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist:

2004 World Superbike Championship
Round 2, Phillip Island (Australia)
Sunday 28th March
Circuit: 4.445 kms
Weather: dry, sunny
Crowd: 50.000 (3-day figure)

TROY TAKES A HARD FOUGHT FOR FIFTH
After a troublesome first race, when he finished thirteenth, Troy bounced back in race two and took a superb fifth place at Phillip Island today in front of a large partisan crowd. After his problems in the opening race, Troy was able to ride much harder in the second and actually have a battle with a group of riders all chasing a top five finish. The first race was comfortably won by Regis Laconi (Ducati), with Chris Vermeulen (Honda) second and James Toseland (Ducati) third. Troy’s Petronas FP1 overheated virtually from the start of the first race and slowed as the race progressed. Troy could’ve pulled in, but he kept going and managed to grab three points. Regis Laconi dominated the start of race two, but blotted his copybook with an unexpected crash after fourteen laps. Ducati riders Steve Martin and Garry McCoy then fought tooth and nail for the lead, with Martin looking the stronger as the race neared its conclusion. Martin looked to have it in the bag, but then his bike blew up with just three laps remaining, leaving McCoy to stroll to victory. Chris Vermeulen wrapped up a good day by taking runner-up spot for the second time, with Frankie Chili (Ducati) taking third.

TROY Race 1: 13th, Race 2: 5th
It was a mixed day really, but I am happy enough with my performance in race two. The bike overheated more or less on the start line in the first race and then just got slower and slower. I could’ve pulled in, but I kept riding as hard as I could and managed to get some points. Race two was better. The bike still ran hot, but it ran at a consistent temperature and so I was able to have a bit of a real race. The bike was slow on the straights, so I had to do a lot of work on the brakes and in the turns, but at least I was competitive and able to battle. I enjoyed having a dice again and having a bit of fun. Towards the end, I though Haga was going to pass me, but I was a lot quicker through the Hayshed and then I didn’t let him get past me on the run on in to the flag.


More, from a press release issued by FGSport:

World Superbike Championship 2004
Round Two – Phillip Island
26 – 28 March

Raceday

Laconi And McCoy Run Out Phillip Island Winners

Regis Laconi (Ducati Fila 999F04) shook off the ghosts that haunted him in the first round at Valencia and secured a fine win in the first 22-lap Superbike race, streaking to a clear 7.145 margin of victory over his closest challengers. With Superpole winner Laconi in a class of his own after an early race dust up with his team-mate James Toseland and Steve Martin (DFX Ducati), a superb four-way battle for second place supremacy was played out on the final circuits of the first race.

The home crowd and Honda fans could hardly contain their delight when Chris Vermeulen (Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) pounced to secure his first podium finish in Superbike, and in second place to boot. Behind him, the hard charging James Toseland, who was leaving huge plumes of tyre smoke in his wake as he attacked the throttle, despite with an imperfect bike set-up, ended his first race in third place.

The second 22-lap event was held in different conditions, still dry and warm, but each of the factory Ducati runners was to find ill fortune awaiting in the gravel, traps, as first early leader Laconi and then Toseland fell. The battle for second between Steve Martin (Ducati DFX) and Garry McCoy (Xerox NCR Ducati) was thus eventually a battle for the win, and was decided in McCoy’s favour when Martin’s bike blew up.

Despite the second place finish enjoyed once more by Vermeulen, the second race itself proved to be a completely different animal to the opener, as Pierfrancesco Chili (PSG-1) Ducati ripped to third place, having jumped from his first race 999 machine to his more familiar 998. Outside the podium places the Phillip Island race proved to be a fascinating contest, with many and various participants writing their names on the scoreboard. The first race sort-out for second place saw Martin fourth and Garry McCoy fifth.

It was a satisfying event for the all-new Kawasaki Bertocchi machine of Mauro Sanchini, who held off the determined challenge of Marco Borciani and Valencia race winner Noriyuki Haga to take sixth. Borciani’s own luck, thanks to the crashes up the front in race two, just got better and he finished race two in fourth place, an excellent result for a rider maturing into a real force to be reckoned with.

Chili, riding his 999 with a single sided swingarm in race one was a lowly ninth, while Chris Walker once more was the fastest Petronas rider in tenth. Four non-finishers included the flying Leon Haslam, the early lap leader in the opener.

The minor places in race two were as closely contested as any others, with Troy Corser beating the out-of-sorts Haga to take fifth. Sanchini, Walker and Ivan Clementi (Kawasaki Bertocchi ZX-10) battled for seventh, the Italian taking the upper hand. Tenth place went to Haslam, a poor reward for his front row starts.

In the World Championship itself, Toseland is still the leader, although his race two DNF allowed Pierfrancesco Chili to creep up to within five points of his leading total of 61. One point behind, race winner McCoy shares his 55 points with Chris Vermeulen, but leads in the table because of his single race win.

SUPERSPORT

Wildcard Wildchild Rocks The Old Guard at Home

After another dramatic and unpredictable measure of Supersport racing a raw rookie, 20-year-old Aussie wild card rider Josh Brookes (Castrol Honda) stole the limelight from the WSS establishment, winning his first ever World Supersport race. An Aussie championship regular, Brookes, diced for the lead throughout, finishing off WSS regular Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) on the last sector of the last lap. It was a close run thing, with the gap at the end only 0.025 as Curtain attempted to slipstream on Phillip Island’s long front straight.

Jurgen van den Goorbergh, the Valencia race winner, extended his championship advantage by mounting a steady charge to third, as the challenge of the Ten Kate Honda riders, Broc Parkes and Karl Muggeridge faded. Parkes was an eventual fourth, but engine problems for Muggeridge put him down in 12th, losing a seemingly certain podium finish.

Sebastien Charpentier (Klaffi Honda) roared to a fifth place finish, with van den Goorbergh’s team-mate Fabien Foret in sixth. Lorenzo Lanzi, the only Ducati finisher, rode through problems with the front to finish ninth. The top Suzuki was that of Stephane Chambon (Alstare Suzuki) with Katsuaki Fujiwara, in 11th. Van den Goorbergh now leads the table on 41 points, with Foret second on 30 and Curtain third, on 27.

The next round for both championships takes place at Misano on Sunday April 18.


More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

LACONI TAKES FIRST WIN OF THE YEAR AT PHILLIP ISLAND BUT BOTH FILA DUCATI RIDERS CRASH OUT IN RACE 2

Phillip Island (Australia), Sunday 28 March: Regis Laconi (Ducati Fila) finally got his championship season off to the best possible start with a convincing win in race 1 of the second round of the World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island, but then blotted his copybook with an unexpected crash on lap 14 of the second race while leading comfortably. Team-mate James Toseland fared little better in today’s two 22-lap races, the British rider taking the final podium slot in the first after a terrific scrap with Vermeulen (Honda) and Martin (DFX Ducati), and then crashing out on lap 3 of the second. In his first-ever Superbike season, Australian Garry McCoy (Xerox Ducati) took his first win in race 2 in front of a 50,000 strong home crowd.

“I am so happy to win my first race with Ducati Fila. That’s what I wanted in Valencia but it didn’t come there. I didn’t push so hard because the track temperature was very warm, I just preserved my tyre and tried not to destroy it,” declared Regis after race 1. “I didn’t make a good start, I had to pass Leon (Haslam) and also James but I think I made a good race. In the second race I just lost the front, I don’t understand what happened because I was pushing hard and riding to keep the distance from the next bike. It was very strange because I’m beginning to know the tyres quite well, maybe I was pushing too hard, maybe the temperature was cooler, but for sure I’m not happy with what I did today in race 2.”

James Toseland leaves Phillip Island with his championship lead intact but also disappointed with his performance. “After a few laps I was finding it difficult to put the power down in the first race but by the time Martin had caught up and passed me he was having similar problems” declared James. “I hung on to him, made a mistake with six laps to go, then Chris (Vermeulen) took Steve (Martin) and left a gap for me to pass him for third. It was a fantastic race, the last few laps were speedway-style!.

“We made a slight modification to the set-up at the rear for race 2, which gave me a much better feeling. I was a bit too confident however because I went into Siberia, the rear grip wasn’t there, I pushed the front too hard and it went away from me. The only thing I’m happy about in that second race is that we are getting there with the bike and I’m still leading the championship.”

RACE 1
1. Laconi (Ducati Fila)
2. Vermeulen (Honda)
3. Toseland (Ducati Fila)
4. Martin (DFX Ducati)
5. McCoy (Xerox Ducati)
6. Sanchini (Kawasaki)

RACE 2:
1. McCoy
2. Vermeulen
3. Chili (PSG-1 Ducati)
4. Borciani (DFX Ducati)
5. Corser (Petronas)
6. Haga (Renegade Ducati)


POINTS: (Riders)
1. Toseland 61
2. Chili 56
3. McCoy 55
4. Vermeulen 55
5. Haga 43
6. Borciani 43
10. Laconi 25.

(Manufacturers)
1. Ducati 100
2. Honda 55
3. Petronas 42
4. Kawasaki 27
5. Suzuki 18
6.
Yamaha 13.


More, from a press release issued by Pirelli:

ROUND 2 – PHILLIP ISLAND 26-28 MARCH
Race Report

Phillip Island, 28th March 2004 – Day of change at Phillip Island where the World Superbike weekend was eventually blessed with sunshine, as the track temperatures and the track action heated up in sometimes-unpredictable fashion. Podiums were shared among five different riders, on factory and private twin-cylinder bikes – and a four-cylinder machine.

RACE 1
TRACK CONDITIONDRY
TRACK TEMPERATURE 39°C
AIR TEMPERATURE27°C

After his disappointments at Valencia pole position man Regis Laconi (Ducati Fila 999) ran away with the first race in Australia, winning by a margin of almost five seconds. His closest challenger was the SBK rookie, Chris Vermeulen (Ten Kate Honda), enjoying his best ever finish of second after a last lap charge ahead of three other riders. Despite some spectacular race long tail sliding from James Toseland (Ducati Fila 999) he fought his way back to a third place finish. Long time second place rider Steve Martin (DFX Ducati) was ultimately fourth, holding off his countryman Garry McCoy (Ducati). Mauro Sanchini gave the Bertocchi Kawasaki team its best finish of the season, a close sixth place in a man-to-man fight with DFX Ducati rider Marco Borciani.

RACE 2
TRACK CONDITIONDRY
TRACK TEMPERATURE 32 C
AIR TEMPERATURE25°C

In Race 2 McCoy capitalized on the ill fortune of leader Laconi, who fell with eight laps remaining, losing the front on his factory Ducati. Steve Martin looked set for his first race win in SBK, but his machine expired with only three laps to go, allowing McCoy a clear run. Vermeulen proved his race one finish was no fluke by scoring second place once more. Having ridden his 999 Ducati, complete with single-sided swing arm, in race one Pierfrancesco Chili secured his second podium of the year, and thus went second in the championship, just five points shy of race two crasher Toseland.

Giorgio Barbier (Pirelli Racing Manager): “There was a significant difference in track temperature from the first to the second race but the problem is not that but the intensity of the sun. The power of the UV rays from the first race to the second is different because it was cloudy in the afternoon. All the riders made a conservative front choice than in race one, they used a ‘C’, the hardest one, and for sure some of them had problems in these conditions. The back pushes the front more. Guys like McCoy, who used a ‘B’ compound, had the advantage in the second leg whereas the factory Ducati guys went for a ‘C’ compound. The tyres performed quite well, even in the second race. We have not had so much time to test in pre-season with the four cylinders, because the Honda and Kawasaki machines only arrived in February, and yet we can see the four-cylinder bikes on the podium with the twins. So the tyres can work with either type of engine and that is very pleasing.”

A highly interesting Supersport race delivered an almost incredible result, as wild card rider Josh Brookes (Castrol Honda) rode his heart out to win his first ever World Supersport race, using Pirelli tyres for the first time. His personal duel with countryman Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Germany) was won on the very last section of the last lap, with championship leader Jurgen van den Goorbergh running out third after a stalk and pounce race. Front row starter Broc Parkes secured fourth place for Ten Kate Honda, but pole position rider Karl Muggeridge (Ten Kate Honda) lost power and finished only 12th. Sebastien Charpentier gave the Klaffi team a fifth place, with Yamaha Italia pilot Fabien Foret running out sixth.

Giorgio Barbier: “It was really interesting to see this young Aussie guy, who was not as used to our tyres, win the race. This wildcard showed that to take the attitude of our tyres is very easy. In four sessions he understood the tyres. The podium in Supersport was very interesting because the three riders on the podium used completely different tyres. ‘C’ for the winner, ‘B’ for second and ‘A’ for the third placed rider.”


More, from a press release issued by Honda:

HONDA RACING INFORMATION

World Supersport Championship 2004 Round 2
Phillip Island Race Result
26 – 28 March 2004
Attendance 48,000 weekend

PARKES FOURTH AS WILDCARD BROOKES TAKES AUSSIE WIN

With the sun beating down on the 23-rider Supersport field the unpredictable nature of the Supersport class was underlined once more, with favourites falling by the wayside and an unexpected winner, Castrol Honda Racing wildcard Josh Brookes – competing first ever World Supersport race. He took his victory after a race long battle with his fellow countryman Kevin Curtain (Yamaha).

With the Ten Kate Honda pairing of Karl Muggeridge and Broc Parkes first and third after qualifying, and fully competitive in the early laps of the race, it looked like a bumper day for the Dutch team’s Aussie pairing. Each was, however, to suffer misfortune, compounded when championship leader Jurgen van den Goorbergh (Yamaha) finished third, extending his championship lead.

Parkes slowed as his imperfect race suspension set-up told in the later laps, but the young protégé of former World Champion Wayne Gardner secured fourth place and his first points of the year. Muggeridge had an as yet undiagnosed engine problem in the last few laps, slowing from third to finish 12th.

The Klaffi Honda pairing of Sebastien Charpentier and Max Neukirchner fared somewhat better against the hot track and the hotter competition, with Charpentier the third Honda rider in the top five; teenager Max Neukirchner a brilliant eighth on his first visit to the fast and challenging 4.445km circuit, in the state of Victoria.

The Honda Italia Megabike teamsters, Alessio Corradi and Denis Sacchetti, were unsatisfied with their day’s work, with the ever combative Corradi seventh, his younger and less experienced team-mate 17th and out of the points.

Parkes, despite his third place qualifying, was unhappy with his inability to stay on terms after a sparkling start to the race. “The set-up wasn’t quite right all weekend,” he stated. “It got better but we didn’t quite know what to do to improve it enough. We tried lowering it and raising it at both ends but because we were in Valencia, and did a lot of testing before this race, I think maybe it was something internal in the suspension we could have changed. But it could have been a lot worse. At least we got some points this time.”

Charpentier’s weekend was a tough one, but one which lifted his spirits after a round one disqualification. “For me it was very important to finish the race because of the no score in Valencia,” said the Frenchman. “I pushed very hard in the middle of the race but two or three laps from the end I had to relax. The race was not very easy for me but I finished with good points.”

Corradi, looking for his first Honda podium, stated: “My race was not so good because I had the same problem as in the qualifying session yesterday. The temperature was so high and my chassis set-up was not good. In the free practice the time is not so bad but when the temperature is high I push and push and think I am going fast – but the lap time is bad.”

Pure joy was the reaction of German rookie Neukirchner to his eighth place. “My second World Supersport race and I finished in eighth position! I like tracks with fast and flowing nature,” explained Max. “Valencia was more stop-start but this was a better track for me.”

In 12th, Muggeridge was disappointed not to take what seemed a sure podium. “The engine just stopped,” he explained. “We’re down but not out. I was having some trouble with the front end but coming into this race I was determined to bring it in strong for a good finish. Third was mine, even if Jurgen was a little bit behind – but far enough back for me to handle in the last laps.”

Sacchetti, determined to score some points, said “I have not had any experience at Phillip Island before, but still I am not happy. However, I finished the race, which is more than I can say for the opening round at Valencia. I had a few problems throughout the race, and I know that I am capable of a much better result.”

Arguably the star of the Phillip Island show proved to be the unlikely figure of Brookes, who commented on his win. “At the start I felt pretty comfortable but then after a few laps I started to feel tired and got passed by a few of the guys,” he declared. “I knew that to have a any chance of winning I needed to stay with the front two and once I got into second Curtain was setting a hot pace and we were able to break away. This has been a dream of mine for years – to win a world championship event.”

In the World Supersport Championship, van den Goorbergh leads on 41 points, with Fabien Foret (Yamaha) on 30, Curtain on 27 and Josh Brookes on 25. Parkes is the highest placed regular Honda competitor, in eighth place with 13 points.

World Superbike Races Regis Laconi (Ducati) followed up his Superpole win in qualifying with his first points score of the season, a perfect 25, in the first 22-lap World Superbike race at Phillip Island. Chris Vermeulen (Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) rode the all-new privately entered Fireblade to its first World Superbike podium finish, after a long recovery from ending lap one in seventh place.

Laconi’s team-mate James Toseland had to dig in deep to secure third place, after a lack of rear traction had seen him lose an earlier duel with long time second place man, Steve Martin (Ducati), who was an eventual fourth.

After early second race leader Laconi crashed out of contention and new leader Martin’s machine broke down Garry McCoy (Ducati) took his maiden victory on home soil, followed at a 4.9 second distance by Vermeulen and the more remote 6.4 seconds to Pierfrancesco Chili (Ducati).

In the World Championship itself, Toseland leads despite his second race crash, on 61 points to Chili’s 56 and Vermeulen’s 55.

Next race for both Superbike and Supersport classes takes place at Misano in Italy, on 18 April.


More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati Nortel Networks – Scuderia Caracchi:

Triumph for Garry McCoy at Phillip Island!

Garry McCoy earned a superb victory on his home track at Phillip Island in race-2, after a thrilling duel with his compatriot Steve Martin, inflaming the 50.000 spectators who visit the Australian circuit. Garry finished race-1 in fifth position after a bad start that did hide him in the group in the early laps, followed by a fantastic ____ on the four riders which were fighting for the second position. The decision to return to the Friday’s set up on the front, when Garry recorded the second fastest in practice, has been positive and the bike got the lost handling. The Xerox Ducati 999RS Nortel Networks machine of Scuderia Caracchi, tuned by da Marco Mozzone’s crew, recorded during Race-1 the highest top speed ever reached in a World Superbike event, 314,3 kph under the trap at the end of the Phillip Island’s finish line. McCoy recorded also, during Race-2, the fastest lap of the race day. At the end of the race, after the winner press conference, Garry McCoy submit himself to the shaving cerimony, as he promised at the eve of the race.

“Well, I’m not a rookie and I won several races in grand prix too.” – said a joyful Garry McCoy during the press conference – “But every win is always splendid and is a great enjoyment like the first one, over all this victory, arrived just at my second attempt in Superbike, on a bike that I used for the first time less as two months ago. The team has been fantastic and all the work made to return at the right set up has get the best handling. I must say that I was hoping for this win, or at least a good result, on my home round and in front of my fans, so I focused myself totally on the bike during all the week end. As you know everything is quite new for me, the characteristics of the bike, the tyres and the week end tactics that to use this tyres imposes, so I’m very happy. I must say that today I’ve been lucky too; I can easily understand how feel now Steve Martin, Australiano like me, who has seen his victory dream fly away when just ten kilometres to the finish line were missing. But Steve is a very good rider and his turn to win is not far. Now we’ll find some circuit unknown for me, probably I’ll have a lot of work to do during practice time, but after this success I’m confident in a top season.”

Bad luck on the contrary for Miguel Praia, who missed for a position to enter in the points in Race-1 and crashed in Race-2. Back in the pit box Miguel said: “Today the track was warmer as the past days, so we choice a harder tyre, but the bike was sliding out of the corners, so I finished on the gravel and I crashed. It has been a pity, I coud earn some point looking at the final result.”

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Top Speeds of IRTA MotoGP Test:

1. Loris Capirossi, Ducati, 215.9 mph
2. Alex Barros, Honda, 215.7 mph
3. Makoto Tamada, Honda, 215.2 mph
4. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 214.9 mph
5. Max Biaggi, Honda, 214.3 mph
6. Colin Edwards, Honda, 214.2 mph
7. Sete Gibernau, Honda, 212.8 mph
8. Ruben Xaus, Ducati, 212.5 mph
9. Neil Hodgson, Ducati, 212.1 mph
10. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, 211.6 mph
11. Carlos Checa, Yamaha, 211.1 mph
12. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, 211.1 mph
13. Shin’ichi Itoh, Honda, 210.1 mph
14. Marco Melandri, Yamaha, 210.0 mph
15. John Hopkins, Suzuki, 210.0 mph
16. Norick Abe, Yamaha, 207.8 mph
17. Shinya Nakano, Kawasaki, 206.6 mph
18. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki, 206.2 mph
19. Vittoriano Guareschi, Ducati, 206.2 mph
20. Shane Byrne, Aprilia, 205.9 mph
21. Marcellino Lucchi, Aprilia, 205.0 mph
22. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton, 204.1 mph
23. Jeremy McWilliams, Aprilia, 204.0 mph
24. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki, 203.4 mph
25. Alex Hofmann, Kawasaki, 202.2 mph
26. Michel Fabrizio, Harris WCM, 195.8 mph

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

World Supersport
Phillip Island, Australia
3/28/04
Provisional Race Results:

1, Joshua Brookes, Honda CBR600RR, 21 laps
2. Kevin Curtain, Yamaha YZF-R6, -0.025 second
3. Jurgen Vd Goorbergh, Yamaha YZF-R6, -6.035 seconds
4. Broc Parkes, Honda CBR600RR, -9.216 seconds
5. Sebastien Charpentier, Honda CBR600RR, -11.175 seconds
6. Fabien Foret, Yamaha YZF-R6, -21.288 seconds
7. Alessio Corradi, Honda CBR600RR, -21.293 seconds
8. Max Neukirchner, Honda CBR600RR, -21.669 seconds
9. Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati 749R, -23.549 seconds
10. Stephane Chambon, Suzuki GSX-R600, -24.024 seconds
11. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Suzuki GSX-R600, -27.449 seconds
12. Karl Muggeridge, Honda CBR600RR, -37.271 seconds
13. Vittorio Iannuzzo, Suzuki GSX-R600, -43.863 seconds
14. Stefano Cruciani, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, -46.697 seconds
15. Matthieu Lagrive, Suzuki GSX-R600, -53.229 seconds
16. Walter Tortoroglio, Suzuki GSX-R600, -58.729
seconds
17. Denis Sacchetti, Honda CBR600RR, -65.325 seconds
18. Yaniv Peleg, Honda CBR600RR, -1 lap
19. Christian Kellner, Yamaha YZF-R6, -13 laps, DNF
20. Matteo Baiocco, Yamaha YZF-R6, -14 laps, DNF
21. Giovanni Bussei, Ducati 749R, -18 laps, DNF
22. Steve Brogan, Honda CBR600RR, -19 laps, DNF
23. Mark Stanley, Yamaha YZF-R6, -20 laps, DNF
24. Brendan Clarke, Yamaha YZF-R6, DNS


More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Belgarda:

Yamaha Belgarda Racing
Sunday, March 28th 2004
Circuit: Phillip Island (Australia), m. 4.445
Weather: Dry, sunny
Temperature: air 27° C track 35° C
Crowd: 55.000

PODIUM FOR JURGEN!
With two rounds gone, Yamaha Motor Italia riders Jurgen van den Goorbergh and Fabien Foret are first and second in the championship and are now looking forward to the next round at Misano. Jurgen took third place in a hotly contested race today and left Phillip Island with an eleven-point lead in the title race. His team mate Fabien struggled today, but still managed to finish sixth and grab enough points to make sure of his second place in the points total. The race was won by twenty-year old Australian Josh Brookes (Honda), with Kevin Curtain (Yamaha) second. The two fought each other tooth and nail for the majority of the 21-lapper, with Brookes taking the lead on the very last lap. Jurgen was a comfortable third, with Parkes (Honda) fourth.

JURGEN VAN DEN GOORBERGH – 3rd
I used a soft rear and I think it was the right choice. My plan before the race was to hang in with the front-runners and then make my move towards the end. But the leaders were very aggressive in the early stages and I wanted to get into my groove and time my move when I wanted. I lost touch a little with Brookes and Curtain and because they were riding so hard, I decided that it would be better to take third instead of doing anything risky and maybe crashing. I thought it would be better for the championship not to do anything silly and that’s what I did.

FABIEN FORET ­- 6th
I made a very bad start and from then on it was a very hard race. I also think my rear tyre was too hard and I didn’t have a lot of grip, so I couldn’t push as hard as I would’ve liked. In the end I had to be satisfied with grabbing as many points as I could, but I’m angry because my plan was to finish in the top three. My result should have been better.

Results
1 Brookes (AUS-Honda) 34:12.301
2 Curtain (AUS-Yamaha) -0:025
3 VD GOORBERGH (NL-YAMAHA MOTOR ITALIA) -6:035
4 Parkes (AUS-Honda) -9:216
5 Charpentier (F-Honda) -11:175
6 FORET (F-YAMAHA MOTOR ITALIA) -21:288
7 Corradi (I-Honda)-21:293
8 Neukirchner (D-Honda) -21:669
9 Lanzi (I-Ducati) -23:549
10 Chambon (F-Suzuki) -24:024

Points
1 VD GOORBERGH 41
2 FORET 30
3 Curtain 27
4 Brookes 25
5 Fujiwara
21
6 Lanzi 20
7 Chambon 17
8 Parkes 13
9 Iannuzzo 13
10 Muggeridge
12

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

MotoGP World Championship
IRTA Test
Catalunya, Spain
3/27/04

Testing Lap Times:

1. Norick ABE, Yamaha, 2:02.757, 32 laps
2. Shinichi ITOH, Honda, 2:06.453, 15 laps
3. Alex HOFMANN, Kawasaki, 2:12.093, 17 laps
4. Shinya NAKANO, Kawasaki, 2:16.264, 9 laps
5. Vittoriano GUARESCHI, Ducati, 2:16.386, 16 laps
6. Troy BAYLISS, Ducati, 2:17.175, 5 laps
7. Gregorio LAVILLA, Suzuki, 2:18.239, 8 laps
8. Marco MELANDRI, Yamaha, 2:24.356, 4 laps


More, from a press release issued by d’Antin Ducati:

RAIN PREVENTS ANY ACTION TODAY AT CATALUNYA

Barcelona, 27.03.04 The weather was undoubtedly the main protagonist at the official MotoGP tests today. The track was opened at ten o’clock as usual, but just prior to this the skies themselves had opened, and rain fell without pause throughout the entire day, with temperatures barely above six degrees Celsius. A big crowd had made the way to the circuit for the tests, only to be left disappointed; with still a day left for the riders to practice tomorrow, most of them chose to spend the day in the pit garage and wait for Sunday. At first everyone waited, and looked at the clouds above in the hope that the situation would improve, but at lunchtime it was clear there would be no change and the d´Antin MotoGP riders decided to leave their Ducatis ‘parked up’.

Neil Hodgson said through a smile: “This is more like English weather than Spanish! It’s cold, it’s raining, and to be honest we don’t get very far by going out on track in these conditions. It would have been good to make something of today, but not with this weather, so we’ll wait until tomorrow. The forecast isn’t great, but anyway, I think we’ll go out whatever tomorrow.”

Rubén Xaus also had no doubts: ” With the temperatures here it’s worth nothing to go out today. The GP here is in June, and even if it rained then, it would never be as bad as this, so for us it seemed absurd to consider going out. The only riders to really have ridden are the test riders. I think everyone will go out tomorrow, even if it rains, and with this little bit of wet practice we’ll have enough to get our bearings. It’s a real shame because we needed to get on clocking up the miles, but what can you do?”


More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team:

WET WEATHER CONTINUES AT CATALUNYA

Torrential rain greeted Fuchs Kawasaki riders, Shinya Nakano and Alex Hofmann, as they arrived at the Circuit de Catalunya this morning to start the second day of the annual three day IRTA test session at the 4.727km Spanish track.

After sitting out the morning session hoping for a break in the weather, Nakano and Hofmann eventually took to the track early in the afternoon, with the rain still falling and Bridgestone wets fitted front and rear on their Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR machines.

For Nakano and Hofmann, today marked their first outing on Bridgestone wet weather tyres. Low track temperatures and standing water on parts of the circuit meant that conditions weren’t ideal even for wet weather testing, but both Fuchs Kawasaki riders took the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the characteristics of the treaded wets, as well as the wet weather set-up of their Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR machines.

While the weather forecast for tomorrow’s final day of testing promises more inclement weather, both Nakano and Hofmann are hopeful that conditions will improve enough to allow them to continue with their dry weather test programme.

Alex Hofmann: 2:12.10 (17 laps)
“The cold conditions meant it was difficult to evaluate the Bridgestone wets fully today, but at least now we’ve tried them for the first time. The rain also gave me an opportunity to make sure that the seat pad on the new bike doesn’t become too slippery in the wet and that the anti-fog system on my helmet works properly. These are only small things, but it’s better to make sure they work now, rather than discovering that there is a problem in the first wet race of the year. Although it was worth going out today, I couldn’t stay out for so long because my fingers were going numb with the cold after just four or five laps. Hopefully it will be dry tomorrow for the first timed practice session of the new season.”

Shinya Nakano: 2:16.24 (9 laps)
“This was my first time out on the Kawasaki in wet conditions, and the Bridgestone wets are also new for me. It was difficult to test the tyres in today’s conditions, as I didn’t really feel that confident in the corners, but the grip down the straight was good, with the rear tyre finding traction and not spinning. Obviously I am hoping for better weather tomorrow because we need to get more dry laps if we are to complete our test programme. But, if the rain continues then I will definitely carry on riding, as I want to try a few different wet set-up options.”


More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information:

IRTA MotoGP tests, day 2, Saturday March 27 2004

Track temperature: 7 degrees
Ambient temperature: 8 degrees
Humidity: 61%

WEATHER PLAYS HAVOC WITH TEAMS’ TESTING PLANS

A day of constant rain combined with unseasonal cold upset the carefully laid plans of the MotoGP teams here at the Montmelo track near Barcelona. A surprisingly large number of race fans huddled in the grandstands to watch only a handful of riders brave the conditions to test wet tyres and wet-weather set-ups.

Bridgestone tyres test-rider Shinichi Itoh (Pramac Honda RC211V) was the only Honda runner to make any laps in the atrocious conditions using the low track temperature of 7 degrees on soaking tarmac as an extreme examination of his Honda RC211V’s ability to find grip and speed in a wintry environment.

Repsol Honda riders Alex Barros, who was fastest yesterday, and Nicky Hayden sensibly decided not to risk either themselves or their RC211Vs on the saturated track. They will look forward to brighter conditions forecast for the final day of this three day IRTA test tomorrow. The rain is expected to ease, but the track temperature, so crucial to tyre performance, will remain an unknown quantity until tomorrow.

Camel Honda duo Max Biaggi and Makoto Tamada both elected to sit out today’s session and they look forward to a better day tomorrow and the chance to compete for a sports car in a special 40 minute period where the fastest rider in the session collects the prize.

Both Sete Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) and Colin Edwards (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) took the view that there was little point in risking riding in these conditions. In weather that would prove of little real value to test in owing to the very cold track temperature of 7 degrees, which is rarely encountered anywhere else, with the exception of Austalia’s Phillip Island.

The overall order at the top of the timesheet remains the same as yesterday. But with only three days of testing now remaining before the season’s curtain-raiser MotoGP at Welkom in South Africa on April 18, the pressure is really on to find baseline set-ups and consistent speed in a short timeframe.

“For us the wet is not a problem,” said Alex Barros’s Crew Chief Ramon Forcada. “It’s the cold. The Grand Prix here is in the middle of June and we’ll have temperatures perhaps 20 degrees higher – perhaps more, so we’ve gathered no useful data. We had to be careful today too, Alex is making a strong recovery from his shoulder operation and it would be so easy to make a stupid mistake for nothing.”

Trevor Morris, Nicky Hayden’s Crew Chief said, “That was a frustrating day hoping for a break in the weather – which never came. With the first round of the Championship only three weeks away it would have been mad to take any risks for no real purpose. Nicky really wanted to ride and I know these sorts of situations are difficult, but let’s hope for better weather tomorrow.”

Juan Martinez, Sete Gibernau’s Chief Mechanic felt the same way. “It’s not worth risking anything,” he said. “We decided not to test because of the cold which would give us no real indicators of how the bike would perform here with normal grip levels.”

Colin Edwards’ Chief Mechanic Fabrizio Cecchini said. “We are working on the set-up of the new bike of the new bike and it’s almost meaningless to go out in these conditions. Tomorrow there will be 40 minutes of timed practice and it will be like a qualifying session – even if the weather’s bad.”

Camel Honda Team Principal Sito Pons was realistic about the day’s outcome. “This would have been the perfect opportunity to see the potential of all the participants and to get a better idea of our level too. But in conditions like these it makes no sense to do any testing – which is why hardly anyone went out.”

Makoto Tamada’s Team Manager believed his rider derived some benefit from today. “Makoto spent quite a bit of time with his technicians in the pits working out how to run the test programme with only three days left. We played safe and we hope the weather gets better.”


More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda Racing Information:

Cold and wet at IRTA tests in Catalunya

Driving rain never let up today at Montmelò. Although the rain was bad enough, the bitter cold made things really hard for the riders out on the track. Most of the riders preferred to keep out of the danger zone, so for most of the day there were indeed very few bikes on the circuit. The weather looks highly uncertain for tomorrow too, with a forecast drop in the temperature suggesting there may even be some snow.

Technicians and riders of the yellow-blue camel Honda team preferred not to run any of the risks that today’s weather would have entailed, so the work programme was put off until the next few days. Even if tomorrow proved to be impossible too, there will still be two days of tests in Jerez next week, further down in the south of Spain where it’s hoped the spring will have arrived.

Sito Pons – Camel Honda (Team Principal)
“In conditions like this, it makes no sense to do any testing, and indeed almost nobody went out onto the track. It’s a pity these tests have been ruined by such difficult weather conditions. This would have been the perfect opportunity to see the potential of all the participants and get a better idea of our level too. I’m also sorry for the public, for all the fans out here in Catalunya. Even so, from 2 to 3 o’clock tomorrow there’ll be the official presentation of the championship live on television. And the trophy for the fastest lap will be awarded, so I think the spectators will at least get some satisfaction.”

Max Biaggi – Camel Honda (Michelin tyres)
“Really there’s not much to say: we didn’t even get out onto the circuit. If it had just been rain, possibly I might have done a few laps to get the rain configuration worked out, but really it’s far too cold here and it’s not worth taking any risks. I’ve seen the forecast and they’re saying we may even get sleet tomorrow: I just hope we don’t. If the worse comes to the worst, we’re still got two days in Jerez.

Gianluca Montiron – Camel Honda – (Makoto Tamada Team Manager)
“The weather’s really bad, so we decided to play safe and we didn’t let Makoto Tamada out onto the track and take any risks. Even so, Makoto spent quite some time with his technicians down in the pits working out an increasingly busy work programme for the three days left – obviously hoping the weather’ll get better.”

Makoto Tamada – Camel Honda (Bridgestone tyres)
“I preferred not to go out and run any risks. But I do know that Bridgestone went ahead with the development work on their tyres with their official test rider. What can I say? I just hope the weather gets better. We’ve been waiting so long for these tests, and the wait’s just getting longer.”


More, from a press release issued by Telefonia Movistar Honda/Gresini Racing:

Rain and Cold weather for the second day of Irta Test.

Test Irta – Catalunya, Saturday
No action at the Catlunya circuit today because of the rain and cold temperatures. The weather spoiled also the second day of the long-awaited motoGP test.

The Team Telefonica MoviStar Honda decided to be safe and not to lap on a cold and wet track.

Juan Martinez, Sete Gibernau’s Chief mechanic: “Today we decided not to test mainly because of the cold weather. Around midday, in fact, the air temperature was 9°C and the asphalt 11°C, lapping with these temperatures give us no indication about the correct setting for the new bike, it’s not worth risking.”

Fabrizio Cecchini, Colin Edwards’ chief mechanic: “Cold temperatures and heavy rain spoiled today’s test session. We are working on the set-up of the new bike and it has no meaning to go out in these conditions. Tomorrow there will be 40 minutes of timed practices and it will be like a session of qualifying practices, so we will go out even with bad weather.”

Fausto ! Gresini, Team manager: “with these temperatures the tyres do not reach the right temperature so we cannot work on the development of the bike. We have preferred to be safe, especially in preparation of the first race of the season. We look forward to the sun to warm us up and the spectators.”

Unfortunately according to the weather forecast, tomorrow the weather will not improve: rain and even snow are expected.

In case of bad weather the BMW 645 Ci worth Euro 80,000 offered as a prize from BMW for the best Qualifier may be postponed. The timed session is scheduled tomorrow from 14.05 to 14.55.