From a press release issued by Honda Racing Information:
SUPERSPORT HONDAS TUCK INTO THE MONZA SLIPSTREAM
The historic and ultra-fast parkland circuit of Monza hosts the fourth round of the World Supersport Championship this weekend, a venue and event much anticipated by the ranks of factory-supported Honda riders. Generally acknowledged as the fastest bike in the 2003 series, the new Honda CBR600RR is expected to be the leading force at Monza, much as the previous CBR model was in 2002.
As the 1-2 Honda finish last season showed, a high top speed and expansive engine power are important assets at the fastest race of the year. Average lap speeds of over 180kmph are experienced at Monza, despite the frequent interruptions of the Prima Variante, Variante della Roggia and Variante Ascari chicanes.
With three race weekends and the championship’s only two ‘long-haul’ rounds at Phillip island and Sugo completed, Europe will be the base for the rest of the Supersport season, with Monza a more than fitting focus of attention to re-start the series. The oldest permanent racing circuit still in regular use in Europe, Monza was first laid down as a banked oval in 1922, but even the much modified modern 5,793m circuit – with ultra-fast corners and straights punctuated by hard braking for the slow chicanes – still retains an all-pervading atmosphere of history and importance.
Chris Vermeulen (Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) approaches Monza as the World Championship leader by 10 points, and the holder of the fastest ever Supersport lap of the track, with a time of 1:53.127 (184.350kmph) secured during official qualifying in 2002. He finished second on a van Zon Honda in the race itself, inches behind eventual World Champion Fabien Foret, on a Ten Kate Honda.
The 20-year-old Vermeulen, now a veteran of 29 World Supersport starts on the eve of Monza, has many reasons to feel optimistic in his return to the classic circuit.
“I’m glad I’m on a Ten Kate Honda,” said Vermeulen in the run up to race weekend, alluding to his machine’s consistently impressive straight-line speed. “I’m looking forward to it because it’s a really fast track and Ten Kate are known to have had fast bikes there before. Hopefully they’ll keep that reputation up. It’s a pretty cool track, last year it gave me my best result, my first pole position and my first ever podium. If I can repeat something like that I’ll be happy.”
Vermeulen’s team-mate Karl Muggeridge is another Australian Honda rider with a single World Supersport race win to his credit. Having taken slightly longer to settle into his new 2003 task than Vermeulen, Muggeridge is nonetheless improving with every outing on the CBR6000RR.
“I’m confident for Monza,” said Muggeridge, seventh overall in the championship at this stage. “It’s taken me a while but we’re slowly getting the bike better and better and I’m feeling more comfortable. Soon we’ll start seeing some decent results.”
Christophe Cogan (BKM Honda CBR600RR), who narrowly missed out on a podium finish after the first race of the year at Valencia, lies eighth in the series.
“Monza will be better, the circuit is more flowing compared with Sugo and we should have a better result there,” affirmed a determined Cogan, the most experienced rider in the Supersport pack.
With his impressive early season rides yet to end kindly enough to deliver him a podium, a fully-fit Broc Parkes (BKM Honda CBR600RR) expects Monza to be one of his better chances for early season success.
“Hopefully I can do something a bit better in Monza and if we have a fast engine then for sure we can be fast in a straight line. That’s one of the biggest things,” acknowledged Parkes, 12th in the championship table. “At Sugo I could stay in the slipstream better than Philip Island so we’ve already found a little bit more.”
Points scores in every round so far have taken Werner Daemen (Van Zon Honda CBR600RR) to 14th overall, a net 12th when the two top Japanese wild cards from the Sugo round are discounted. The Belgian rider is still working to maximise his race long performances on his all-new machine.
“We need a little bit of work on the engine I think, to try and get it exactly how I want it,” said Daemen, looking for every last possible advantage in this highly competitive year. “The results are going to get better and better and at Monza I think a top ten might be possible. I hope so.”
Robert Ulm has been the top rider in the Klaffi Honda squad this year, but has found good fortune an elusive riding partner once aboard his CBR600RR.
“I think we have the chance to do well at each track but so far we have not had so much good luck,” said a rueful but determined Ulm. “At Monza we should have an even better chance because our top speed is always good. We only have a small problem exiting corners to work out. Monza should be good for us.”
Iain Macpherson, the 1999 World Championship runner-up, approaches Monza with new energy and motivation after seeing three strong rides result in two DNFs and a non-points scoring finish in Japan.
“Sugo was a bad result so I have been focussing very hard on Monza, thinking about the whole event even more than I would normally,” said Macpherson as he approached a pivotal weekend. “It should be an ideal track for our bike but racing at Monza means that there is always a bit of luck involved. You can ride a perfect race and still be passed by a few riders on the last lap, just because of the slipstreaming and constant overtaking.”
For recent Klaffi Honda inductee Sebastien Charpentier Monza will be the ideal chance to demonstrate his true abilities on the fast and well-developed CBR600RR. Having missed the first two rounds, Charpentier was thrown in at the deep end in Sugo, finishing the race but missing out on points in 19th.
Two weeks after Monza the championship will move Oschersleben, an earlier feature on the calendar than usual, with raceday on June 1.
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