Provisional World Supersport Race Results: 1. Sebastien Charpentier, Honda, 23 laps 2. Michel Fabrizio, Honda, -0.985 second 3. Kevin Curtain, Yamaha, -1.173 seconds 4. Stephane Chambon, Honda, -7.317 seconds 5. Fabien Foret, Honda, -7.777 seconds 6. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Honda, -17.008 seconds 7. Alessio Corradi, Ducati, -18.416 seconds 8. Craig Jones, Honda, -21.131 seconds 9. Mattieu Lagrive, Suzuki, -28.218 seconds 10. Cal Crutchlow, Honda, -28.788 seconds 24. Broc Parkes, Yamaha, -7 laps, DNF, mechanical More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: SIX OF THE BEST FOR CHARPENTIER AT BRANDS HATCH Winston Ten Kate Honda rider, Sébastien Charpentier, scorched to his sixth World Supersport championship win of the season in this afternoon’s eighth round at Brands Hatch in southern England. The Frenchman won the exciting 23-lap race ahead of fellow Honda rider, Michel Fabrizio, by less than one second with Charpentier’s team-mate, Katsuaki Fujiwara, finishing in sixth place. The win gives Charpentier a commanding 74-point lead in the championship with just four rounds and a potential 100 points remaining this season, while Fujiwara retains second place in the table, just seven points ahead of Curtain. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “That’s the team’s twelfth World Supersport championship win in a row and maintains our 100% record for this season. I am especially delighted with this victory because it means Sébastien has the potential to wrap up the championship at the next round, which is our home round in Assen. We will keep on working hard from race to race, though, to keep Sébastien in a winning position. I’m a little disappointed for Kats, who spent most of the race on his own. His qualifying position promised more so we’ll be hoping for better results in the races to come. He still holds second place in the championship but we’ll have to help him to beat his rivals if he is to retain that position.” Sébastien Charpentier first “It was a very exciting race and Michel (Fabrizio) was in very good form today and pushed me all the way. He was very fast when he was behind me but, whenever he got in front, he seemed to slow the pace and was gesturing for me to come back past. I had no problems today, though, and I was able to push a little bit hard towards the end to make it a little more comfortable. It’s another complete weekend with pole position, fastest lap and the race win. It just shows how good this bike is and how hard the team has worked. I’m looking forward to Assen and hope I can give them a big thank you present there.” Katsuaki Fujiwara sixth “I didn’t get a very good start and lost touch with Sébastien and the leaders quite early. About halfway through the race I started to lose rear grip and was starting to slide into corners and then again as I tried to accelerate out. I spent the second half of the race trying to chase Foret and Chambon but I could not get any closer to them. It’s a shame because I was happy with my race set-up and the way I had adapted to riding the bike again. I will be looking for a much better result the next time out at Assen and I’ll keep trying to close the gap on my team-mate.” World Supersport, Brands Hatch results (23 laps, 96.531km): 1 Sébastien Charpentier FRA (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 34m33.153s, 2 Michel Fabrizio ITA (Honda) +0.985, 3 Kevin Curtain AUS (Yamaha) +1.173, 4 Stephane Chambon FRA (Honda) +7.317, 5 Fabien Foret FRA (Honda) +7.777, 6 Katsuaki Fujiwara JPN (Winston Ten Kate Honda) +17.008, 7 Alessandro Corradi ITA (Ducati) +18.416, 8 Craig Jones GBR (Honda) +21.131, 9 Matthieu Lagrive BEL (Suzuki) +28.218, 10 Cal Crutchlow GBR (Honda) +28.788. Championship points after eight of 12 rounds: Charpentier 190, Fujiwara 116, Curtain 109, Foret 85, Fabrizio 82, Chambon 68, Broc Parkes (Yamaha) 60, Gianluca Nannelli ITA (Ducati) 56, Javier Fores ESP (Suzuki) 52, Tauto Lauslehto FIN (Honda) 42. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: WSS : Curtain podiums at Brands Round: 8 – Brands Hatch Circuit: Brands Hatch Date: 7 August 2005 Crowd: 103000 Temp: 20ºC Weather: Dry Kevin Curtain recovered from the ‘worst start of his career’ to produce a fighting podium finish at Brands Hatch today. The Yamaha Motor Germany rider, starting from second on the grid, made a poor start and found himself pushed out onto the grass at the turn one. Ending the first lap outside the top 10, the gritty Australian was able to pick his way through the pack and almost close down leading duo Sèbastien Charpentier and Michel Fabrizio (both Honda). The 39-year-old closed the gap down to within a second, but a lack of rear grip – a result of his hard riding charge through the field – saw him unable to mount a challenge. Nonetheless, Curtain was delighted with his third place, which sees him close to within seven points of second place in the championship. Team-mate Broc Parkes was involved in a thrilling battle for seventh, only to retire with mechanical gremlins six laps from the end. In the championship, Charpentier extended his advantage to 74 points over team-mate Katsuaki Fujiwara, with Curtain third and Parkes seventh on 60 points. Kevin Curtain “That was the worst start of my career! I found myself pushed right out, I think one of the Ducatis touched me, and I was quite lucky to stay on. From then it was just a case of getting my head down and working my way through the pack. I’m glad to be on the podium, although maybe I could’ve won judging by the way I was able to catch the guys. I just run out of laps and at the end my rear tyre couldn’t give any more, but the result is good for my championship.” Broc Parkes “It’s been a difficult weekend. I was involved in a tough battle but the engine lost a bit of power and I had to pull in.” Race classification WSS Round: 8 – Brands Hatch Circuit: Brands Hatch Circuit Length: 4197 Lap Record: 1′ 29.149 (Stéphane Chambon, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1′ 28.376 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2005) Race: 23 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 S. Charpentier Honda FRA 34′ 33.153 2 M. Fabrizio Honda ITA +0.985 3 K. Curtain Yamaha AUS +1.173 4 S. Chambon Honda FRA +7.317 5 F. Foret Honda FRA +7.777 6 K. Fujiwara Honda JPN +17.008 7 A. Corradi Ducati ITA +18.416 8 C. Jones Honda GBR +21.131 9 M. Lagrive Suzuki FRA +28.218 10 C. Crutchlow Honda GBR +28.788 11 X. Fores Suzuki ESP +29.853 12 T. Tunstall Honda GBR +30.065 13 R. Harms Honda DNK +30.382 14 T. Lauslehto Honda FIN +30.699 15 J. Stigefelt Honda SWE +33.175 Fastest Race Lap: Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 S. Charpentier Honda FRA 1′ 29.380 Championship standings WSS Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points 1 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 190 2 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 116 3 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 109 4 Fabien Foret Honda FRA 85 5 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 82 6 Stephane Chambon Honda FRA 68 7 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 60 8 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 56 9 Xavi Fores Suzuki ESP 52 10 Tatu Lauslehto Honda FIN 42 11 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 33 12 Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 28 13 Alessio Corradi Ducati ITA 25 14 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 21 15 Craig Jones Honda GBR 18 Manufacturers standings WSS Pos. Manufacturer Points 1 Honda 200 2 Yamaha 109 3 Ducati 76 4 Suzuki 65 5 Kawasaki 21 More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: CHARPENTIER HITS OPPOSITION FOR SIX Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) battled hard for his sixth win of the 2005 championship series, having to put in a final lap effort of outstanding effectiveness to win the Brands Hatch race by just under one second. It was his fellow Honda rider, Michel Fabrizio (Team Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR) who caused him most concern over all 25 laps, as he was the only rider to match Charpentier’s pace around the warm tarmac of Brands Hatch. Kevin Curtain (Yamaha) was a close, but unthreatening, third, with private Honda entrant Stephane Chambon in fourth. Fabien Foret (Team Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR) was fifth after sliding back from potential contention for a podium, while Suzuka 8-Hour podium rider Katsuaki Fujiwara (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) battled for his sixth place finish. Finnish rider Tatu Lauslehto (Klaffi Honda CBR600RR) was eased off track at one stage and had to use all his fighting instincts in a group of sometimes five riders, battling for the same stretch of tarmac. He finished 14th, taking two more championship points. Charpentier is now potentially only one race from the championship outright, as he enjoys a lead of 74 points over teammate Fujiwara. He also left Brands with a new qualifying track record for Supersport, 1’28.376. “It was a very good race and Michel was in very good form today, and pushed me all the way,” stated Charpentier. “He was very fast when he was behind me but, whenever he got in front, he slowed the pace and was gesturing for me to get back in front. I had no problems today and I was able to push a bit harder towards the end to make things a bit more comfortable. It’s another complete weekend, with fastest lap, pole position and the race win. It just shows how good the bike is and how hard the team has worked.” Fabrizio followed up his recent Brno race second with another runner up sport, almost moving to fourth in the championship, with four rounds remaining. “I pushed hard all race but I think I chose a slightly too soft rear tyre to be able to stay with Sebastien on the last lap,” said Fabrizio. “Our engine was not quite as powerful as his and we had some trouble in practice with our set-up, so second is a good finish in my first Supersport race here.” Foret looked like he may find a podium spark at one stage but was quickly relegated to the second echelon of the race. He now sits fourth in the series, on 85 points. “I got quite a bad start again,” said Foret, “but tried to push hard later on to catch the two guys out in front. But I couldn’t do it and when Curtain came past I could not even follow him. A bad weekend for me, I am tired and I don’t feel too good. I had a little problem with the front but it is not only the bike. I do not feel so good in myself. I am not so strong at the moment.” After racing at the Suzuka 8-Hour on Superbike spec machinery, Fujiwara was in good shape for his return to action in the Brands Supersport race, until a mid race fade. “I didn’t get a very good start and lost contact with the leaders quite early. About halfway through the race I started to lose rear grip and was starting to slide into corners, then again as I accelerated out. I tried to spend the second half of the race trying to chase Foret and Chambon. But I could not get any closer to them. It was a shame because I was happy with my race set-up and the way I had adapted to riding the bike again.” Lauslehto, in is first Brands race weekend, found the layout a challenge, as most rookie riders do at this venue. His 14th place leaves him on 42 points, tenth in the championship. “I got run off the track by Fores at one point and lost places to another couple of riders,” said Lauslehto, in his first visit to the English venue. “My engine temperature rose a little high as well and it was a real battle with so many riders. Some of them crashed out but I wanted to make sure I could finish the race.” In the championship battle, Charpentier has 190 points, having only dropped ten points all year. Behind Fujiwara’s 116 Curtain has 109, Foret 85, and Fabrizio is a close fifth on 82.