From a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: HANNspree Ten Kate Honda ready for countdown With the 2008 season kick-off in Qatar only a couple of days away, eyes are set on the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda’s five men strong squad to defend the World Supersport and Superbike titles. With 15 races spread out over 5 continents and a starting grid that’s boasting both quantity and quality, the 2008 Championship is set to become another spectacular one. The first round of the series will start this Saturday, 23rd at the 5.4km Losail International Circuit in Doha, on the outskirts of Qatar’s capital city. It’s only a couple of weeks ago the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Superbike riders finished their one and only test on board the new CBR1000RR Fireblades in preparation for the new season. Due to the late arrival of the bikes in the Team’s headquarters in Nieuwleusen, the team was forced to miss out on the Philip Island test earlier this year. Hopes are high as the team now makes its final preparations before the race on Saturday. Having put in a tremendous amount of effort over the last couple of weeks to get the bikes ready, the team is confident and eager to face the competition in Qatar. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager: The late arrival of the new CBR1000RR Fireblade has left us little time for preparation but the overall feeling within the team is great and we are positive we can succeed. At the first test in Almeria the new bike has already proven to be quicker than its predecessor and the riders continued to get to grips with the Fireblade in each lap of testing they completed. Needless to say we still have a lot of development to do during the first races, but we are confident and ready to face the challenges that lie ahead of us this season. Carlos Checa, Honda CBR1000RR: I am very excited to start the new season and face the new challenges ahead of me. I have already completed a succesful test here in Qatar on the old 2007 machines and know the track well from the MotoGP races I have done here. It will be different on the new CBR1000RR Superbike but I am happy with the performance of the bike and the progress we have made so far. There is still a lot of development to be done but I am confident we can be competitive. Ryuichi Kyonari, Honda CBR1000RR: I am a little bit nervous because it will be my first time in the WSB championship. I know the track well as we did a test here last November on the old machines. My new team feels like a family to me which is helping me out a lot. I still have a long season ahead of me, but I am very much looking forward to starting on Thursday. The qualifying practice on Thursday afternoon will tell me were I stand within the whole field of competition. Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda CBR1000RR: It’s going to be an exciting weekend for me as it will be my first race in the Superbike competition. It’s a dream come true for me to participate in the World Superbike competition this year. As a child I used to watch the races on television and saw Bayliss, Haga and Biagi compete with eachother, now I will be riding with them. For sure the start will be difficult for me as I am still getting used to riding the new CBR1000RR, but I have set myself a big goal and am ready to achieve it. Andrew Pitt, Honda CBR600RR: I am very much looking forward to starting this weekend and ride a full season in the Supersport Championship. My new team mate Jonathan Rea has proven to be fast out of the box which will be helpful in achieving our goals. Hopefully I will be able to put in a good result this weekend before my home race in Australia next week. Jonathan Rea, Honda CBR600RR: Am really excited about starting the new season with my new team. Obviously the testing has gone well but it’s not a valid gauge as not all our competition was present at the test. The qualifying practice on Thursday will tell us were I am at within the whole field. Hopefully we’ll find a good set-up for the bike straight away and will be competitive from the start. More, from a press release issued by Honda: TITLE CHALLENGE BEGINS AT QATAR FOR HONDA SUPERBIKE RIDERS The 15-round World Superbike Championship gets underway at Losail, Qatar, on Saturday 23rd February with no fewer than nine well-equipped CBR1000RR riders attempting to retain the Riders’ Championship for Honda. Honda’s latest model of Fireblade makes its competitive debut in the World Superbike Championship this coming weekend after a winter of intense development, both on and off the racetracks of the world. Some teams will start the season with the 2007 version at the first two long haul rounds, for logistical reasons, and will move onto 2008 machinery for the first European round. An impressive overall Honda line up features riders who are SBK class rookies, experienced WSB campaigners, MotoGP race winners, winners of the last three British Superbike Championships, Australian Champions, 250GP stars and two World Supersport Championship winners. Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) is a former MotoGP race winner who has turned his full attention to World Superbike in 2008. He will be teamed up with double British Superbike Champion Ryuichi Kiyonari (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) and Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR Jr) the reigning World Supersport Champion for the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team. A new adventure beckons for Roberto Rolfo (Hannspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR) who forms a one-man team for the coming season, running 2008 machinery from the outset. Rolfo, now in his third straight World Superbike season, came close to scoring podiums for Honda last year and will be chasing that aim again at Losail, a circuit he knows well. Shuhei Aoyama (Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR) makes a career shift in 2008, moving from 250cc Grands Prix to World Superbike. His early season races will be conducted on 2007 machinery, as will those of his young Italian team-mate Luca Morelli (Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR), back for his second year in World Superbike. Gregorio Lavilla (Vent Axia VK Honda CBR1000RR) is another former British Superbike winner to have joined Honda but for Gregorio it is a return to World Superbike. Having scored podiums in his previous WSB career, in the late nineties and beyond, Lavilla will start the year on 2007-spec machinery, before moving to all-new equipment for the European races. Karl Muggeridge (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR) and Russell Holland (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR) are at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to World Superbike experience, with 2004 World Supersport Champion Muggeridge entering his fourth season on Honda Superbike colours while Holland is completely new to World Superbike. The former Australian 250cc Champion has, however, already posted good results in testing at Qatar. In the run-up to the first race Carlos Checa said: “I am very excited to start the new season and face the new challenges ahead of me. I have already completed a successful test here in Qatar on the 2007 machines and know the track well from the MotoGP races I have done here. It will be different on the new CBR1000RR Superbike but I am happy with the performance of the bike and the progress we have made so far. There is still a lot of development to be done but I am confident we can be competitive.” Ryuichi Kiyonari stated: “I am a little bit nervous because it will be my first time in the WSB championship. I know the track well as we did a test here last November on the old machines. My new team feels like a family to me, which helps me out a lot. I still have a long season ahead of me, but I am very much looking forward to starting for real on Thursday. The qualifying practice that afternoon will tell me were I stand within the whole field of competition.” Kenan Sofuoglu, the 2007 World Supersport Champion, said: “It’s going to be an exciting weekend for me as it will be my first race in World Superbike competition. It’s a dream come true for me to participate in the World Superbike competition this year. When I was younger I used to watch the races on television and saw Bayliss, Haga and so on compete; now I will be riding with them. For sure the start will be difficult for me as I am still getting used to riding the new CBR1000RR, but I have set myself a big goal and I’m ready to achieve it. Roberto Rolfo said: “We will start his year with our first real test of the 2008 bikes in the first practice session, as our bike was not quite at full Superbike spec during our tests at Vallelunga. I think this year is a big opportunity, because I am the only rider in my team and all the focus of development will be for me. The team is very good and that gives me confidence.” Shuhei Aoyama said: “I see this as a real chance for me, and it has always been an ambition to race Superbikes at a high level. I will have the possibility to race against many big names like Biaggi, Checa and Haga, so I am pleased to be here in this team.” Gregorio Lavilla stated: “I am looking forward to the challenge and am very excited to be back in World Superbikes. We still have lots to learn – many new circuits and the new tyres – and also racing a four-cylinder bike after three years on a twin. I know it will be tough. Also, there are at least fifteen factory-supported riders out there, all of whom will be very fast. So we have to be realistic about our chances, especially early in the season. I feel that I have been riding well in testing and will be trying my best as always.” Karl Muggeridge said: “We are just having the standard steep learning curve with the new bike and needed everything on our side to make enough progress. We didn’t get a real chance to post a fast time in our Qatar tests but I know the track and we found out what areas we needed to improve in for the race.” Russell Holland said: “Our Qatar test went well and we posted a good time in the first day. We were not credited with a time on the second day of testing for some reason, but we were much more interested in getting the new bike ready to race. I know it is a big thing to ask for in my first WSB year but I am really aiming for a top ten. I know it is a very strong championship this season but this is what I am aiming for.” World Supersport Championship The 2008 World Supersport Championship is expected to be the most open in recent years thanks in large part to the numbers of competitive riders equipped with the class-leading Honda CBR600RR. Seven riders are on supported CBR600RR machinery this year, and Honda riders have won this particular championship for the past six consecutive years, an achievement without parallel in World Supersport history. The strong Honda presence includes the 2001 World Champion, Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) plus his team-mate and previous British Superbike contender Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) who rides in WSS in his rookie season. Both have been competitively fast in pre-season tests, and are looking to continue Honda’s great record at this circuit, with three wins for the CBR600RR in the previous three seasons. Gianluca Nannelli (Hannspree Althea Honda CBR600RR) is another proven WSS force in Honda colours this year, and the rider from Florence will be teaming up with British Superbike Championship regular Tommy Hill (Hannspree Althea Honda CBR600RR) after Hill recovers from injuries suffered in a winter testing crash. For this race and the next in Australia, Andrea Antonelli will be Hill’s substitute in the team. Josh Brookes (Hannspree Stiggy Motorsports Honda CBR600RR) and Robbin Harms (Hannspree Stiggy Motorsports Honda CBR600RR) team up once more for an assault on the WSS championship. Brookes is a race winner in this class already, when riding as a Honda Australia wild card at Phillip Island, while Harms will be out to win his first WSS race this year, having come close many times in the past. Craig Jones (Parkalgar Honda CBR600RR) proved an almost instant hit when he joined WSS and Honda full time in 2007, and he is back in 2008 in a new team, sponsored in part by the venue for the final race of the 2008 season. Raceday for both Superbike and Supersport classes takes place on Saturday 23 February at Losail with the second round taking place at PhiIlip Island in Australia, on Sunday 2 March. Unlike the Superbike championship class, the Supersport teams will contest only 14 rounds of competition, as there will be no WSS race at the new venue of Salt Lake City, in June. Andrew Pitt said: “I’m really looking forward to starting this weekend and riding a full season in the Supersport Championship again. My new team-mate Jonathan Rea has proven to be fast right out of the box which will be helpful in achieving our goals. Hopefully I will be able to put in a good result this weekend before my home race in Australia next week.” Jonathan Rea said: “I am really excited about starting the new season with my new team. Obviously the testing has gone well but it’s not a valid gauge as not all our competition was present at the test. The qualifying practice on Thursday will tell us were I am within the whole field. Hopefully we’ll find a good set-up for the bike straight away and will be competitive from the start.” Gianluca Nannelli said: “I think this year World Supersport will return to a year when nothing is decided until the last corner of every race. There is a stronger balance of fast bikes and riders than there has been for a few years. I think there will be maybe as many and ten riders in it, and I feel I will be one of these riders.” Craig Jones said: “The three day test we did in Spain recently could not have gone any better. The 2008 CBR600 we ran was not quite at full race specification but already it feels stronger and faster in every department than last year’s bike and allowed me to break the lap record for the circuit on an old race tyre. I am very happy with the performance of my bike and team. I am confident we can challenge for the title this year and in great physical shape, I can’t wait for the racing to start. We have had a power increase but we’re not up to full spec quite yet. Nonetheless, the package is better than we ended the season with in 2007, and that was a proven podium level. I’m confident this year, just looking forward to racing now.”