World Superbike Race Two Results: 1. Lorenzo LANZI, Ducati, 23 laps 2. Yukio KAGAYAMA, Suzuki, -6.662 seconds 3. Norikyuki HAGA, Yamaha, -10.722 seconds 4. Troy CORSER, Suzuki, -13.457 seconds 5. Chris WALKER, Kawasaki, -16.651 seconds 6. James TOSELAND, Ducati, -17.005 seconds 7. Andrew PITT, Yamaha, -20.863 seconds 8. Max NEUKIRCHNER, Honda, -22.280 seconds 9. Norick ABE, Yamaha, -22.713 seconds 10. Pierfrancesco CHILI, Honda, -31.108 seconds 11. Ben BOSTROM, Honda, -32.270 seconds 12. David CHECA, Yamaha, -38.195 seconds 13. Fonsi NIETO, Kawasaki, -45.314 seconds 14. Julien DA COSTA, Yamaha, -46.922 seconds 15. Gianluca VIZZIELLO, Yamaha, -50.604 seconds 16. Vincent PHILIPPE, Suzuki, -50.803 seconds 17. Mauro SANCHINI, Kawasaki, -51.434 seconds 18. Alessio VELINI, Ducati, -83.608 seconds 19. Michel NICKMANS, Yamaha, -1 lap 20. Laurent BRIAN, Kawasaki, -1 lap 22. Chris VERMEULEN, Honda, -5 laps, DNF. mechanical 23. Sebastien GIMBERT, Yamaha, -11 laps, DNF, mechanical 24. Ivan CLEMENTI, Ducati, -17 laps, DNF, mechanical 25. Marco BORCIANI, Ducati, -19 laps, DNF, mechanical 26. Andrew NOTMAN, Foggy Petronas, -19 laps, DNF, mechanical 27. Steve MARTIN, Foggy Petronas, DNS 28. Karl MUGGERIDGE, Honda, DNS 29. Giovanni BUSSEI, Kawasaki, DNS More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: VERMEULEN MISSES OUT ON FRENCH DOUBLE Chris Vermeulen was denied his second winning double of the season at Magny-Cours today when the chain jumped off the rear sprocket of his Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR. Having won the 23-lap opener of the final World Superbike championship round at the 4.4km French circuit, Vermeulen looked to be in control of race two, despite the close attentions of Italy’s Lorenzi Lanzi. On lap 19, however, Vermeulen cruised to a halt at the end of pit lane, realising that his 2005 World Superbike championship season was over. Lanzi went on to win the race from the Japanese pairing of Yukio Kagayama and Noriyuki Haga. The race was stopped on the first lap after Vermeulen’s team-mate, Karl Muggeridge, was involved in an incident with Andrew Pitt and three other riders. Muggeridge was unable to make the restart, suffering a laceration to the back of his neck that required stitches. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “Chris’s sprocket was damaged with one tooth particularly bad. We need to make some further investigations but maybe some debris got in between the chain and the sprocket, which basically cost Chris the race and his second double of the season. With what happened to Chris, and Karl getting taken out at the start, it’s almost too much to take in for just one race, let alone the last one of the season. Obviously, we’re all disappointed that the year has ended this way but, hopefully in about a week and a half, we’ll be in a position to announce our 2006 rider line-up. Then we’ll start preparing for next year.” Chris Vermeulen – DNF “I’m not happy, that’s for sure. We’ve only had two DNFs this season and neither of them have been my fault. I knew there was a problem because it was jumping for a few laps before the end, especially when I was accelerating hard. I was just trying to slow the pace down as much as I could and would have settled for second or third, because there was quite a big gap behind Lanzi. It’s better if that sort of thing happens on the first lap because after you’ve put in all that hard work, it hurts a bit. Our season started badly and it’s just ended badly, too; but there have been a lot of high points in between and we’ve certainly shown lately that we’ve got the bike working a lot better. It’s good to hear that Karl’s OK, though.” World Superbike, Magny-Cours race two results (23 laps, 101.453km): 1 Lorenzo Lanzi ITA (Ducati) 39m01.858s, 2 Yukio Kagayama JPN (Suzuki) +6.662s, 3 Noriyuki Haga JPN (Yamaha) +10.722, 4 Troy Corser AUS (Suzuki) +13.457, 5 Chris Walker GBR (Kawasaki) +16.651, 6 James Toseland GBR (Ducati) +17.005, 7 Andrew Pitt AUS (Yamaha) +20.863, 8 Max Neukirchner GER (Honda) +22.280, 9 Norick Abe JPN (Yamaha) +22.713, 10 Pierfrancesco Chili ITA (Honda) +31.108 Final championship points: Corser 433, Chris Vermeulen AUS (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 379, Haga 271, Toseland 254, Kagayama 252, Regis Laconi FRA (Ducati) 221, Walker 160, Pitt 156, Lanzi 150, Chili 131. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: DUCATI XEROX TEAM ENDS 2005 SEASON WITH PODIUM FOR TOSELAND – LACONI DID NOT START DUE TO ARM INJURY Magny-Cours (France), Sunday 9 October: The 2005 World Superbike Championship came to a close at Magny-Cours with a third place finish for James Toseland (Ducati Xerox Team) in the first race, which was won by Chris Vermeulen (Honda). Toseland had to fight hard to hold off the challenge from Karl Muggeridge (Honda) for the podium, and then finished sixth in the second race of the day after battling with 2005 world champion Troy Corser (Suzuki) and Chris Walker (Kawasaki). Team-mate Régis Laconi had a disappointing end to his 2005 season. After checking on his condition in the morning warm-up, the Frenchman was unable to take part in today’s races due to his arm injury, which was causing him considerable difficulty around the Magny-Cours track. The day was a memorable one for Ducati however as Lorenzo Lanzi sensationally took his second win of the season in race 2. Lanzi, riding a third Ducati 999F05 for the Ducati SC Caracchi team with additional Xerox branding, took the factory machine to its sixth win of the year in an all-Italian triumph. “That was a good hard fight I had with Karl but it was very fair” declared Toseland, “I’ve cleaned the blue paint of my fairing and he can clean the red off his! We were a little bit wide in places, he left half a gap but it was a very close race. I was riding for my pride out there and so I just gave it all I had. It was great and I’m just so pleased to get on the podium after all the difficulties we’ve had this weekend” “There was nothing that could be done today because there are just too many right hand curves on this track” declared Laconi. “I have very little strength in my right arm and it was impossible to do more than a couple of laps. I tried this morning and it was not possible to race. It’s tough for me because it’s the final round but it would have been too dangerous for myself and all the others if I had taken part in the race. I will need another month to get back to full fitness, hopefully I will be ready for the winter tests and obviously also for 2006. That’s life, this injury has ruined the end of my season, it’s a real pity”. Ducati Corse Superbike director Paolo Ciabatti added: “It has been a difficult season for Ducati and the opposition has been very tough this year. But we have shown that the Ducati 999F05 is still a winning machine and that it has won in the hands of all three riders who have raced it, James, Régis and Lorenzo, and we look forward to the 2006 season. A big thanks to all of our partners who have accompanied us this year, in particular title sponsor Xerox, with whom we are in the first year of our partnership, and technical sponsor Shell Advance for all of their support”. RACE 1: 1. Vermeulen (Honda); 2. Kagayama (Suzuki) ; 3. Toseland (Ducati Xerox) ; 4. Muggeridge (Honda) ; 5. Corser (Suzuki) ; 6. Pitt (Yamaha) ; etc. RACE 2 : 1. Lanzi (Ducati SC Caracchi) ; 2. Kagayama; 3. Haga (Yamaha); 4. Corser; 5. Walker (Kawasaki); 6. Toseland; etc. FINAL POINTS: Riders – 1. Corser (Suzuki) 433; 2. Vermeulen (Honda) 379; 3. Haga (Yamaha) 271; 4. Toseland (Ducati Xerox) 254; 5. Kagayama (Suzuki) 252; 6. Laconi (Ducati Xerox) 221; etc. Manufacturers – 1. Suzuki 468 ; 2. Honda 403 ; 3. Ducati 385; 4. Yamaha 322; 5. Kawasaki 183; 6. Petronas 48. More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: ECSTASY AND AGONY FOR VERMEULEN ON LAST DAY OF SEASON A final day of high drama and shifting fortunes made for another delayed end to raceday in the Superbike class. Chris Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda) got the day off to a superb start with a transcendental win in front of the 56,0000 weekend strong sun-kissed fans, with a margin of victory of over eight seconds from second placed rider Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki). It was his sixth race win of the 2005 season. His weekend ended in an unforeseen fashion, as his chain jumped the sprockets after the rear sprocket appeared to get damaged by a foreign object. Leading the race from Lanzi until he was forced out, he retired on lap 19. Karl Muggeridge (Winston ten Kate Honda) equalled his season best of fourth in race one, then suffered a heavy fall on the race two start line, while Max Neukirchner (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) had the first of two eighth places in race one. His team-mate Pierfrancesco Chili (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) took a DNF from race one, but a tenth place from the re-run second race. Ben Bostrom (Renegade Honda Koji CBR1000RR) soaked up more points in each race, finishing 12th and 11th. In addition to taking the new outright track best in Superpole qualifying, with a 1’39.836, Vermeulen lapped under lap record pace in race one, with a 1’40.985 – a new race lap record until race two winner Lorenzo Lanzi improved it once again, to 1’40.601. In third place, James Toseland (Ducati) just held off Muggeridge for the final podium slot, after a final few laps of breathtakingly close contact between the two. In race two a five rider pile up, after Muggeridge and Andrew Pitt (Yamaha) collided shortly after the start, saw Muggeridge receive stitches to a head would caused when his bike landed on him, and two other riders, Giovanni Bussei (Kawasaki) and Steve Martin (Petronas) fail to make the restart. Vermeulen was delighted with his race one win, but mystified by his race two misfortune. His points total grew to a final 379, only 54 from champion Corser, despite two DNFs. “In race one it may have looked like it was a bit of a cruise but Yukio kept me honest,” said Vermeulen. “He was riding at 100% all the way to the flag. I’m not happy about race two, that’s for sure. We’ve only had two DNFs this season and neither of them has been my fault. It’s better if that sort of thing happens on the first lap because after you’ve put in all that hard work, it hurts a bit. Our season started badly and it’s just ended badly, too; but there have been a lot of high points in between and we’ve certainly shown lately that we’ve got the bike working a lot better.” Chili ended his inaugural Honda Superbike season in tenth place, once more spending raceday attempting to overcome chassis set-up issues for his particular riding style. “A very tough weekend,” said Chili in summation. “I felt the bike chattering and lost time in race one. Then I thought I had no chance to do better lap times so I retired. In the second race I tried to change everything – offset, spring on the rear, swingarm position – we tried to modify a lot. We needed to get rid of chatter and gain quick steering at the front.” Muggeridge, who was lucky to escape more severe injury than his cut head and bruised body, is only seven points behind Chili in the final table, on 124 points. After race one, Muggeridge was determined to score a podium in race two, after such a good showing. “I just braked a little too late into the hairpin on that final lap and ran maybe two meters wide, ” said Muggeridge of his race one experiences. “That allowed James through and I was just too late to do anything about it.” Neukirchner’s rookie season ended in another two secure points scores, as he once more ran with the leading groups of riders. “The first race was OK,” said Max of his Magny-Cours weekend. “I lost only ten seconds to the second placed rider, and the lap times and tyres were very good throughout. But in race two maybe because the track temperature went up the same tyres were not good for me. The last ten laps were very hard. I guess in the last few races I scored consistent points, so that was important for me.” In pain for the last few rounds, as he has struggled to throw off a back injury, Bostrom was glad to get Magny Cours over with, scoring nine points and finishing his year overall 15th, on 58 points. “I’m beat up again,” said Bostrom. “I need a few months off I think. The bike was quite good, but the clutch wouldn’t take two starts, so we couldn’t make a second good start in race two. I just let the clutch out and nothing. It was making so much noise I thought the fairing was dragging at one stage. I backed off and was almost coming in then the noise stopped. In the last five laps I lost a lot of grip from the front as well.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Yukio Kagayama raced to two second places at today’s 12th and final World Superbike Championship round at Magny Cours in France, lifting him to fifth in the overall series standings. The Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider’s team mate, World Champion Troy Corser, put in two heroic rides from the fourth row of the grid to claim fifth and fourth places. A broken chain was all that stood between Chris Vermeulen and two wins: The Australian Honda rider cruised to victory in race one and was fending off a hard-charging Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) in the second when his chain let go. Yukio Kagayama: “I had a good start to the season and a bad middle section which means that I am very happy to finish the season with two podiums. I enjoyed the second race very much dicing with Nori Haga. I am a crazy Japanese rider but I learnt my craziness from Haga-San. I want to thank my team for all the good work this season and hope next year will be even better.” Troy Corser: “Obviously I was always going to have my work cut out starting from 16th on the grid as it is very tricky to pass on this track unless you have a perfect set-up. I made a few mistakes in the first race which meant I was always trying to make up places again. I had a good start in the second race but then at the restart I got boxed in but had some great dicing along the way to fight my up to fourth. It’s not what I wanted but I feel I did as much as I could. I have to thank Yukio for all the good work he did, particularly in testing, and the whole team for making it a fantastic year.” World Superbike Results: Race 1:1 Vermeulen (AUS-Honda), 2 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 3 Toseland (GB-Ducati), 4 Muggeridge (AUS-Honda), 5 Corser (AUS-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 6 Pitt (AUS-Yamaha), 7 Walker (GB-Kawasaki), 8 Neukirchner (D-Honda), 9 Lanzi (I-Ducati), 10 Abe (J-Yamaha). Race 2: 1 Lanzi, 2 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 3 Haga (J-Yamaha), 4 Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 5 Walker, 6 Toseland, 7 Pitt, 8 Neukirchner, 9 Abe (J-Yamaha), 10 Chili (I-Honda). Final World Superbike Points: 1 Corser 433, 2 Vermeulen 379, 3 Haga 271, 4 Toseland 254, 5 Kagayama 252, 6 Laconi 221, 7 Walker 160, 8 Pitt 156, 9 Lanzi 150, 10 Chili 131. More, from a press release issued by Scuderia SC Caracchi NEW TRIUMPH FOR LORENZO LANZI IN MAGNY COURS New fantastic all-Italian triumph for Lorenzo Lanzi in Superbike in the final race of 2005 WSBK Championship on Magny Cours. Lorenzo rode once more the 999F05 and the team has been integrated, as in Imola, with Ducati Corse engineers, and didn’t let the occasion, recording in three rounds two wins and a pole position and ending the championship standing in ninth position, bets of Italian riders. “I’m on the seventh heaven.” – said after the victory Lorenzo Lanzi. “This win makes me up for the Imola delusion. During race-1 I suffered a lot for the front tyre which vibrates heavily and didn’t allow me to ride; I had the tears under my helmet because I could see the others close to me and I wasn’t able to fight them. During race-2 I had a good start, both in the first start as in the restart after the red flag interruption. When I catched Vermeulen we started studying eachother looking at the final laps. Then he suddenly slowed at 18th lap and I was lonely leading the race. Of course looking that from sporting point of view that’s be a pity, but also I was confident to win to see a rival like Vermeulen out makes everything easier. I wish to dedicate this victory to everybody were close to me, to my sponsors which are above all good friends, to the Scuderia SC Caracchi, to my crew engineer, to Ducati Corse that gave me a splendid factory bike and a factory rider service. I don’t know at the moment my 2006 program, but I hope to remain in this ambience that gave me so much.” Less satisfied is Gianluca Nannelli that in Magny Cours ended in 9th position after an hard race. After a bad collision just after the start that throwed him in 14th position at the first split passage, Nannelli earned some position ending ati fight with Chambon in the final corners, but the expert French rider has been able to resist. “I was right yesterday to fight for the front row!” commented Gianluca Nannelli after the race. “I got quite a good start, but just at the first corner somebody hit me on the rear and I lot a lot of positions. The bike with full thank was not handling and the tyres do deteriorate quickly. I earned some position, but I’m not very satisfied for this result. This season in Supersport on the 749R has been fantastic and allowed me to work side by side to special people like Franco Farnè and the team’s guys, but for next season I hope to be once more in Superbike that is better for my riding style, and I wish myself to still remain with Ducati.” Stefano Caracchi too is very happy for this new win that follows just an week later the one of Imola. “It looks not to believe.” said Caracchi. “two victories in a row for a small private team like we are is a strong incentive to go on. I must say that if the Supersport victory was a total fruit of our team for Lanzi’s victory we must be grateful to Ducati Corse that put at our disposition the fantastic 999F05 and the engineer for those last events, further the rider lended for the season. Lorenzo has been fantastic, after some difficulties for the new class at the beginning of the season, fron Misano on started to collect always better results until the victory on Lausitz and now is ready for join a factory team.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: WSB : Haga ends R1’s debut season in third Round: 12 – France Circuit: MagnyCours Date: 9 October 2005 Crowd: 56000 Temp: 20ºC Weather: Sunny Yamaha Motor Italia star Noriyuki Haga ended his 2005 season on a high with a rostrum finish at Magny Cours today. The Japanese star finished third in race two to end the season third in the world championship standings in the Yamaha YZF-R1’s first season in the Superbike World Championship. Earlier in the day Haga missed the chance to increase his run of eight consecutive podium finishes when he crashed out of the opening race, an innocent victim of some frantic opening laps that saw him fall after colliding with another rider. Nitro Nori hit back in race two with a race-long thrilling battle with fellow Japanese Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki). Kagayama got the better of the personal battle, but Haga’s third place gave him the points needed to secure his bronze medal championship finish. Team-mate Andrew Pitt had a tough race day after showing so much promise in practice. The Australian was involved in the battle for third place in race one, eventually finishing sixth, before being part of a huge five rider pile-up at the first turn of the second heat. With the accident causing the race to be stopped, Pitt was able to join the restart on his spare machine but was understandably detuned after the accident. Despite this, the Australian gave a typically gritty performance to work his way through to seventh place and retain his eighth place in the final championship table. Yamaha Motor France teamsters Norick Abe and Sebastien Gimbert had mixed fortunes at their team’s home race. Abe overcame a troubled qualifying session to take two top 10 finishes, although Gimbert was unable to replicate his impressive performances of 12 months ago and scored just one point for 15th in race one. Today’s races were won by Chris Vermeulen (Honda) and Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati). Troy Corser (Suzuki) ended the year as world champion with Vermeulen second and Haga third. Magny Cours marked the end of Yamaha’s first season since returning to the Superbike World Championship. Before the season Yamaha set a target of using the opening part of the season for development, with the goal of achieving podium finishes and race wins in the second half of the season. With Haga at the controls, the YZF-R1 was able to take 10 podium finishes from 23 races, including two wins – at Brno and Brands Hatch. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) “The first race was disappointing, especially because the crash was not my fault and I lost my run of podiums. The second was fun and I enjoyed making big fighting with Yukio. Almost every lap we touched each other – I think both of us are crazy! I am happy to finish third in the championship in the R1’s first year in world superbikes. We have been strong in the second half of the season and we know what is needed to improve the bike so that it can be fighting for wins at every race next year.” Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) “It was a big crash at the start of race two and I can say that we don’t think any bones are broken, but that’s about it. Muggeridge and I clashed – I got a good start and he got a bad start and we both drifted over to the right to get a better line for the first corner. The bikes were wheelying and then I felt him touch the back of my bike and then it felt like something touched my brake lever. For the first couple of laps I was in a bit of a daze and going backwards. My head was pounding and my hands were hurting but after a few laps I was able to focus and work my way through to seventh. I thought I could have got on the podium in the first one, but we just didn’t get there. ” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator – Yamaha Motor Italia) “Andrew did incredibly well after such a big crash in the first start of race two. Fortunately he just took skin off his hands but I think that he did a good job in the circumstances. I am very happy that Noriyuki was able to finish third in our first year of the championship. We reached a target we set and I am satisfied – and proud of everybody involved. I would like to thank all of the team. We only started this project in October last year and everyone involved worked so hard to get us ready to race. These results are a reward for our hard work. Now we must look to next year. This will not be easy, but we know where we must improve and everyone is looking forward to the challenge.” Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) “Yesterday everything went wrong and I could not ride smoothly. We had a lot of problems this weekend, but today everything went well, especially in the second race, the start went very well. We could do the same lap times as qualifying, so that was a good indication.” Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) “In race one we scored a point but it was very difficult. We had many problems with the fork, the clutch and under braking, not a good weekend.” Martial Garcia (Team Manager – Yamaha Motor France) “A bad end for us. Two times the clutch went on Sebastien’s bike. I think he was very nervous to get good starts at his home race, so maybe he burned the clutch. The more he tried the worse it got. Norick was not so bad. He followed Pitt and made a good race so it was a good race day for him.” More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: Troy bags a fifth and a fourth. Troy Corser concludes the season in style at Magny-Cours. He made a mockery of his fourth row grid place to take a fifth and a fourth. A broken chain was all that stood between Chris Vermeulen and two wins at the last round of the Championship at Magny-Cours. The Australian Honda rider cruised to an easy victory in race one and was fending off a hard-charging Caracchi Ducati’s Lorenzo Lanzi in the second when his chain let go with more than half the race run. Chris’s retirement then allowed Yukio Kagayama to add a second 2nd place to the one he secured in the first encounter, with Toseland and Noriyuki Haga gaining a 3rd each. TROY – Race 1: 5th Race 2: 4th Obviously I was always going to have my work cut out starting from 16th on the grid as it is very tricky to pass on this track unless you have a perfect set-up. I made a few mistakes in the first race which meant I was always trying to make up places again. I had a good start in the 2nd race but then at the restart I got boxed in but had some great dicing along the way to fight my up to 4th. It’s not what I wanted but I feel I did as much as I could. I have to thank Yukio for all the good work he did, particularly in testing, and the whole team for making it a fantastic year.