1. Corser, Suzuki GSX-R1000 2. Kagayama, Suzuki GSX-R1000 3. Neukirchner, Honda CBR1000RR 4. Vermuelen, Honda CBR1000RR 5. Nieto, Ducati 999R 6. Corradi, Ducati 999R 7. Laconi, Ducati 999F05 8. Abe, Yamaha YZF-R1 9. Bussei, Kawasaki ZX-10R 10. Sanchini, Kaw ZX-10R 11. Ben Bostrom, Honda CBR1000RR 12. Andrew Stroud, Suzuki GSX-R1000 13. Lanzi, Ducati 999R 14. Paria, Yamaha YZF-R1 15. Alfonsi, Yamaha YZF-R1 More, from a press release issued by FGSport: 2005 CORONA EXTRA SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PHILLIP ISLAND (AUSTRALIA) 1/2/3 APRIL 2005 RACE REPORT CORSER DOUBLES UP FOR SUZUKI AT WINDY AND WET PHILLIP ISLAND Weather Can’t Keep Corser Down: The wet start to raceday at Phillip Island cleared shortly after morning warm up but the strong north winds gathered pace as the first Superbike race of the day got underway, at 12 noon local time. Race one was taken, in convincing fashion, by local hero Troy Corser (Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki). The 25 knot winds, gusting to 40 knots on occasion, did not help any of the riders in their quests, especially during fast changes of direction into the prevailing gales. As the winds abated slightly, the rains duly returned to halt race two after 12 laps, and leave a ten lap ‘wet’ race to be completed. The result was declared as an aggregate of leg one and two, delivering a magnificent double to Troy Corser who now leads the World Championship from twice second place finisher, Yukio Kagayama. Race 1: Troy Corser took the lead into the first corner and kept it for all 22 laps of the race, winning by a margin of 8.279 seconds, from his own team-mate, Yukio Kagayama. The fight for third place, which was to be determined some 12.551 seconds down on Corser at the flag, was a seven rider battle at one stage, as early runner Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) eventually faded from his impressive start to finish fifth, behind an awesome fight between Chris Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda) and Max Neukirchner (Klaffi Honda). Touching fairings at one stage, the pair battled it out right to the very end, with Vermeulen scoring the podium, but Neukirchner covering himself in glory. The 21-year-old German’s success was consolation for his Klaffi Honda team, as their lead rider Pierfrancesco Chili suffered a broken collarbone on Saturday. Race 2: In the second race, a harsh fall of rain stopped the race, and as the contest had not yet reached the two thirds stage, a second leg was called. This second ten lap race was run under ‘wet’ rules, with the aggregate leaders from the first race being Troy Corser, Regis Laconi (Ducati Xerox) and Max Neukirchner. Corser, leading for a period, was re-passed by Kagayama, but won the aggregate race by 5.822 seconds, from his Japanese team-mate. Third, on the track and on aggregate, was German sensation, Max Neukirchner, his first podium score in only his fourth-ever World Superbike race. Off Podium Fights: Chris Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) ended the day in fourth place in the championship fight, after a fourth in race two and fifth in race one. Starting from row three these were impressive results, and unlike many other riders, he was to finish both races. His team-mate Karl Muggeridge, finished eighth in race one, but fell in race two – after a collision with fellow crasher world champion James Toseland (Xerox Ducati). Laconi Battles Hard: After a lowly seventh in race one, Regis Laconi (Ducati Xerox) looked on course for a second place finish in the re-run. When the rains came, he had to make an acrobatic save of a potential high side approaching Lukey Heights, fell from his Ducati, and then bravely restarted, to finish his day with a pair of seventh places. His team-mate Toseland had an even tougher day, finishing race one only 14th, after a bad start and some grip issues throughout. After his second race tangle with Muggeridge at the hairpin, he slipped to eighth in the championship, on 22 points. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati SC 999RS) was disqualified from the race when his machine was found to be underweight, promoting all riders behind him up one place, and earning Toseland his two points. Yamaha Riders Tough It Out: A challenging day for the Yamaha Motor Italia squad saw Andrew Pitt’s fifth place in race one become the highlight of the weekend, as he crashed out in race two on two occasions. Noriyuki Haga also had woes as the Japanese rider suffered a retirement in race one and a crash at exactly the same corner in the wet part of race two as Pitt. The Yamaha Motor France pairing of Norick Abe and Sebastien Gimbert had different fortunes in race trim, as Abe scored a sixth in the dry and an eighth in the interrupted race two. Gimbert had clutch troubles which left him 11th in race one, and an electrical problem in race two robbed him of any more points. Jose Luis Cardoso (Yamaha DFX Extreme Sterilgarda) burned his clutch in race one, pulling in on lap one and he once more failed to finish race two. Kawasaki Nearly There In the Wet: Chris Walker (PSG-1 Ducati) had the pleasure of leading the second wet leg of race two, but like three other riders, crashed around turn eight, and was unable to continue. He thus had a high point of ninth in race one. In race two, Giovanni Bussei (Bertocchi Kawasaki) was the highest placed Kawasaki rider, confirming himself in ninth place on aggregate. Bostrom Scores: Ben Bostrom (Renegade Honda Koji) had to retire from race one, but after being outgunned in the dry section of race two, he had greater pace in the second wet leg, finishing 11th, and adding his name to the points table. Petronas Riders Out of Luck: Garry McCoy and Steve Martin failed to take a race finish between them, as neither Petronas FP-1 made it through race one, and then Martin crashed out on race two, in a bizarre double fall. He jumped off right in front of the following Andrew Pitt, without either rider’s machines touching each other, and with neither rider to blame for the other’s accident. Nieto Nets A Goal: Fonsi Nieto (SC Ducati 999RS) took a convincing fifth place in race two, thanks in part to his wet weather prowess. The big-name Spaniard has great experience of Phillip Island, but not on his current Ducati four-stroke. This was his first top five in World Superbike. Supersport: High winds delayed the start of the 21-lap Supersport race, as trackside advertising hoardings, two TV towers and pit lane awnings blew over. With grey clouds rushing past overhead, the 19-strong Supersport grid formed up for battle, in a contest eventually taken by Winston Ten Kate Honda rider Sebastien Charpentier. His win propelled him to the top of the championship table with 45 points. Young Italian charger Michel Fabrizio (Team Italia Megabike) took an early lead, but was rebuffed by the charging Yamaha Motor Germany R6 of experienced rider Kevin Curtain. Fabrizio failed to finish the race, with only three laps to go, but Curtain finished second, to take third in the championship with 33 points. Qatar race winner Katsuaki Fujiwara (Winston Ten Kate Honda) lost his personal battle with third place man Fabien Foret (Team Italia Megabike Honda), taking fourth place in the race and now sitting second overall, on 39 points. A strong ride on a circuit he knows well gave Jurgen van den Goorbergh (Ducati Selmat) a fine fifth place. The next rounds of both World Superbike and Supersport take place back in Europe, at Valencia in Spain, from 22-24 April. More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: 2005 World Superbike championship, round two Phillip Island, Australia Race two Sunday, 3 April 2005 MORE POINTS FOR VERMEULEN BUT DISAPPOINTMENT FOR MUGGERIDGE Chris Vermeulen finished in fourth place in a rain-interrupted second race at Phillip Island this afternoon in round two of the 2005 World Superbike championship. The race was won by fellow-Australian, Troy Corser, but Vermeulen’s Winston Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Karl Muggeridge retired after crashing out on lap six of the 22-lapper. Starting in dry but very windy conditions, race two was red-flagged on lap 13 as further rain fell on the 4.4km Phillip Island circuit. Vermeulen collected a further 13 points from the restart to follow up his third place in race one and retains fourth place in the championship standings. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “It’s a pity about the weather here today because in the first dry part of that second race, Chris’s lap times were improving and he was making another charge towards a podium finish just like in race one. Unfortunately we couldn’t complete the job in the wet second half but that’s how it goes sometimes. At least he collected another handful of points. I feel sorry for Karl, who has endured a tough day. I feel he deserved a lot more after qualifying so well but we’ll regroup and hope for better things when we return to Europe.” Chris Vermeulen fourth “I had some good starts today but it just span up like crazy in the wet restart so I couldn’t get away as well as I needed to. It was really slippery out there worse than in warm-up and the wind didn’t help. I was going fine again in the dry and felt really comfortable but at least I got a few points today. A third and a fourth from ninth on the grid isn’t so bad. Imagine what we could do from pole position; but I haven’t had that pleasure yet. Then again, I’ve never started from the third row either!” Karl Muggeridge DNF “It was getting pretty aggressive in that first part of race two but I was comfortable and the bike was feeling good, even though I hadn’t got a great start. I was battling with James Toseland and we got into a situation at turn 10 where I just had nowhere to go. It’s disappointing because we’d been making steady progress right through the weekend and had a pretty good qualifying and Superpole. After the crash in warm-up this morning I wanted a couple of good results for the team, who have worked really hard, but I guess that’ll have to wait until Valencia.” World Superbike, Phillip Island – race two results, aggregate times (22 laps, 97.79kms): 1 Troy Corser AUS (Suzuki) 37m34.183s, 2 Yukio Kagayama JPN (Suzuki) +5.822s, 3 Max Neukirchner GER (Honda) +10.897, 4 Chris Vermeulen AUS (Winston Ten Kate Honda) +18.757, 5 Fonsi Nieto ESP (Ducati) +53.089, 6 Alessio Corradi ITA (Ducati) +54.127, 7 Regis Laconi FRA (Ducati) +58.076, 8 Norick Abe JPN (Yamaha)+1:03.328, 9 Giovanni Bussei ITA (Kawasaki) +1:04.355, 10 Mauro Sanchini ITA (Kawasaki) +1:08.754. Championship points after two of 12 rounds: Corser 91, Kagayama 85, Laconi 54, Vermeulen 50, Neukirchner 37, Abe 33, Andrew Pitt AUS (Yamaha) 31, James Toseland GBR (Ducati) 22, Bussei 20, Nieto 17, Muggeridge 15. Next round: Valencia, Spain 24 April More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: CHANGEABLE WEATHER CONDITIONS BRING MIXED FORTUNES FOR DUCATI XEROX TEAM AT PHILLIP ISLAND Phillip Island (Australia), Sunday 3 April: Ducati Xerox Team riders Régis Laconi and James Toseland came away from the second round of the World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island with mixed results as they were hampered by a lack of grip in race 1 and then had to deal with changeable weather conditions in a rain-affected two-part second race. Seventh and fourteenth respectively were all Régis and James could manage in a windy race 1 after starting from rows 2 and 3 of the grid as Corser (Suzuki) took the win. “I never had to ride so hard to stay on the bike because the front was just going away all the time” declared Laconi. “I lost it five times at the same place at 220 kph because of the wind or the tyres, I don’t know which. It was so crazy that I couldn’t even stay on the bike and I just did the best I could do. I passed everyone to move up to fourth and thought I was OK but then it was so difficult because after 6 or 7 laps the bike was just so hard to ride”. Toseland instead had problems with his rear tyre, which prevented him from making an impact on the race after just a few laps. “I got a bad start and almost went off at the first corner and that dropped me down to fifteenth. After that I just started to lose grip very early on and that was it for my race” he declared. Race 2 was red-flagged for rain after just over half-distance, with Laconi four seconds behind Corser in second place. In the final ten laps, which were run on full wets, Laconi did his best to maintain that position but had a nasty moment when he lost control of the rear of his 999 at Lukey Heights and crashed. The Frenchman was able to restart but eventually finished seventh overall. “I made a good start and had a good first lap to be immediately up with the leaders. Troy was a bit faster than me but I kept second place well. I was happy because we changed the bike totally from the first race and now it was so good, so thanks to my team for giving me something different for the second race. I started to ride it in the wet but the rear shock was too hard and after three laps the rear tyre was finished. When I crashed, the rear went away and I made a big highside. I restarted the bike with the starter and got back in the race to finish seventh”. Toseland meanwhile was already out of his one-hundredth world superbike race on lap 6 after being taken out from behind by Muggeridge (Honda) at Honda Corner. “I’m going away from here with two points after working so hard this weekend. I was up there in top 5 in every practice on race tyres, so it wasn’t a coincidence. In Superpole the time I did would have put me second in every other session and I was tenth, then we had problems with the rear in race 1 and with Muggeridge who cut me up in race 2. What more can I say?”. RACE 1: 1. Corser (Suzuki); 2. Kagayama (Suzuki); 3. Vermeulen (Honda); 4. Neukirchner (Honda); 5. Pitt (Yamaha); 6. Abe (Yamaha); 7. Laconi (Ducati Xerox); etc. RACE 2 : 1. Corser ; 2. Kagayama ; 3. Neukirchner; 4. Vermeulen; 5. Nieto (Ducati); 6. Corradi (Ducati); 7. Laconi; etc. POINTS: (Riders) Corser 91, Kagayama 85, Laconi 54, Vermeulen 50, Neukirchner 37, Abe 33, etc. (Manufacturers) Suzuki 100, Ducati 56, Honda 53, Yamaha 41, Kawasaki 21, Petronas 1. More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: HONDA RACING INFORMATION World Supersport and Superbike Championships 2005 Round 2 of 12 Phillip Island Circuit Australia Phillip Island Race Report 3 APRIL 2005 CHARPENTIER THE WINNER AT WIND TORN PHILLIP ISLAND Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) secured the lead in the World Supersport Championship after a masterful win in the high winds which plagued Phillip Island. With the morning rains clearing away before race action started in earnest, 25 knot winds – with gusts up to 40 knots, took over the attentions of all 19 Supersport entrants and eventually delayed the start of the 21-lap Supersport race. Charpentier, starting from pole, had to fight hard for his win, after a poor start left him eighth off the line. Into the lead for the first time on lap four he had an almost race long fight with Yamaha rider Kevin Curtain, who eventually faded to finish second, 3.595 seconds down. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) and Fabien Foret (Team Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR) were left to fight it out for the final podium position, after their fellow podium challenger Michel Fabrizio (Team Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR) slipped out of the race with only three laps remaining. Foret was to take this coveted third place, by only 0.021 seconds, with Fujiwara fourth and Jurgen van den Goorbergh (Ducati) fifth. A knee injury for Foret, after a crash in the wet morning warm up, left his knee in a tender condition, affecting his early pace. World Supersport rookie Tatu Lauslehto (Klaffi Honda CBR600RR) took a confident ninth, only troubled by the high winds, which made the final two high-speed corners a real test of rider nerve with each passing lap. Qualifying has been something of a Honda whitewash, as Charpentier, Fabrizio and Foret led the order, with Charpentier setting the best lap of 1’35.746. Charpentier, who lost a huge lead in the first championship race in Qatar five weeks ago, was understandably relived and delighted to secure the top points score, and with it the championship lead. “I am especially happy with this win because of the disappointment from Qatar. I came here with a lot of confidence because we had a very good test at Valencia a couple of weeks ago. I had a very enjoyable race with Curtain but the main problem was the wind. It was blowing differently at every corner, changing lap by lap, but it was the same for everyone.” Foret, battling hard throughout and with the experience that his 2002 World Championship win brings, is now fourth in the title chase. “I crashed this morning in warm up and I had a problem with my knee, so at the start I was very worried about leaning into left corners, in case I banged it on the ground. So I closed the throttle a lot on these corners at the start! Afterwards, I got the measure of it and I am happy with this podium, because Qatar was not a good race for me. There is more work to do again to overtake Ten Kate but for now this is a good step.” For Fujiwara, fourth was hard won, and was good enough to keep him second overall, on 38 points. “I am obviously very disappointed to lose a podium finish for the width of tyre. That was very frustrating, but I am happy for Sebastien and the rest of the team. The wind made the bike very difficult to control but I had an amazing fight with Foret and Fabrizio, and I tried as hard as I could the whole way through.” Finnish rider Lauslehto was new to the demands of the magnificent Phillip Island circuit, only disliking the wind. “The track is very fast, with a great layout but the only problem was the wind. It was particularly bad in the last two corners. It would have been good if I could have caught Stephane Chambon in front of me but I did not want to push too hard in that wind.” Fabrizio, looking as likely as any of the other riders to take the last podium place, nonetheless increased his Supersport reputation once more. “I started very fast and I thought I would stay in the group with Foret and Fujiwara at the end, but a few laps from the finish I had a problem with front grip. It was never a problem during practice we did 25 laps with no problems – but today it arrived. The slow MG corner, where I slipped up, was the only one where I had to close the throttle completely. Around the others I could keep even 5% throttle, and that helped the front to stop pushing. Even then, I had to take very wide lines to take the pressure off the front.” World Superbike Round 2 of 12 Max Neukirchner (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) wrote his name large in the World Superbike skies over Phillip Island, running to a fourth and third in only his second ever Superbike race, swapping race finishes with Chris Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda) who was first third then fourth. 21-year-old German Neukirchner was revelation at such a difficult track, in only his second World Superbike race. Weather conditions played a menacing part in proceedings, with the high winds affecting all the riders in race one, while the rains returned midway through race two, making it an aggregate result of leg one and leg two. Each points scoring race delivered the same Suzuki 1-2 out front, Troy Corser heading up Yukio Kagayama, with Corser’s double giving him the championship lead, on 91 points. A wet start to the day meant that the 20-minute warm up sessions were run on rain tyres, but despite a few spots of water on the visors of the main protagonists the sun re-asserted its dominance on race one’s proceedings – just as it had done in qualifying and Superpole. The best placed Honda rider in Superpole proved to be rookie rider Neukirchner following up his second best qualifying performance in the regular sessions with an equally impressive third place in Superpole behind winner Yukio Kagayama and Petronas rider Steve Martin. In the first race of the day, Suzuki pairing Corser and Kagayama secured a 1-2 finish, with third place hotly contested in the final stages of the race. Chris Vermeulen secured third, after a hard and sometimes tactile battle with Neukirchner. Up to seven riders battled it out for the final podium place in the early stages, with Vermeulen and Neukirchner making best use of their tyres and machines to outpace eventual fifth place rider Andrew Pitt (Yamaha). In race two, the rains came after lap 12, and the contest was eventually completed after a wet race of 10 laps. In this battle against the elements Neukirchner was third on the road and third overall, a career best for rider and his Klaffi team. Raceday was a tough challenge for some other Honda riders, most of all Pierfrancesco Chili, who missed out on a start in either race, after falling in qualifying and breaking his left collarbone for the third time in five years. He is taking medical advice on his return to his native Italy, but may miss the next round at Valencia on April 24th. Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) had an eighth place in race one, and fell while contesting a corner with Ducati rider James Toseland in the dry section of race two, and could not complete the race. Ben Bostrom (Renegade Honda Koji CBR1000RR) was forced to retire in race one with a single lap to go, but finished race two 11th, enjoying the rain conditions on a machine which is still to reach its full race specification. Vermeulen remains fourth in the standings, with 50 points, while Neukirchner has jumped to fifth, on 37. Muggeridge holds 12th, on 15, just ahead of Chili, with 11. Bostrom’s five points for 11th put him 20th in the rankings. Neukirchner has been the find of the season so far, following up on his Rookie of the Year status in World Supersport 2004 with some astoundingly good rides in SBK already. “For my first time on a Superbike at Phillip Island, I’m really happy for the third and the fourth place. Many riders crashed in front of me, Walker, Haga – a lot of riders. I thought I should keep cool and relax, so taking third place was not so bad. It was good to be the first Honda in race two as well.” For Vermeulen, a return to home ground gave him his wished for podium. “I had a real battle with Max on another Honda towards the end of that first race. He was riding really well so well that I have a big black mark from his front tyre on my leathers! It’s just a pity that we had to start from the third row, and had to push so hard in the early stages. In race two it was really slippy out there, worse than in warm-up this morning. A third and fourth from ninth on the grid isn’t so bad.” Muggeridge had a less successful day than his team-mate Vermeulen. “I was having real problems getting the power to the ground in race one. In the second race I was battling with James Toseland and we got into a situation at Turn 10, where I just had nowhere to go. After my crash in warm-up this morning I wanted to have a couple of good results for the team, who have worked really hard.” Bostrom was forced to race with a less than full-spec race engine, and was most competitive in the wet leg of race two. “The bike is coming together but I have to get to grips with the tyres better. In the dry I wasn’t particularly special, we were only special in the wet. I haven’t been here for three years so I was pretty lost on Friday as well.” Chili, after breaking his collarbone and missing the races, was keen to get back to track action. “I will have to go home to have an operation and then they will be able to see how long the recovery will be. Just as I get to the stage of being able to have the plate removed, the bone breaks again.” Results SUPERSPORT: RACE : (Laps 21 = 93,345 Km) Pos /Rider /Nat. /Team / Time /Gap 1 / S. CHARPENTIER / FRA / Winston Ten Kate Honda / 34’28.920 / 2 / K. CURTAIN / AUS / Yamaha Motor Germany / 34’32.515 / 3.595 3 / F. FORET / FRA / Team Megabike / 34’38.561 / 9.641 4 / K. FUJIWARA / JPN / Winston Ten Kate Honda / 34’38.584 / 9.664 5 / J. VD GOORBERGH / NED / Ducati Selmat / 34’58.522 / 29.602 6 / J. STIGEFELT / SWE / Stiggy Motorsports / 35’03.088 / 34.168 7 / B. PARKES / AUS / Yamaha Motor Germany / 35’11.615 / 42.695 8 / S. CHAMBON / FRA / Gil Motor Sport / 35’15.280 / 46.360 9 / T. LAUSLEHTO / FIN / Klaffi Honda / 35’17.896 / 48.976 10 / C.COGAN / FRA / Moto 1 – Suzuki / 35’25.779 / 56.859 11 / J. FORES / ESP / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 35’49.276 / 1’20.356 12 / D. GARCIA / ESP / Lightspeed Kawasaki / 35’49.381 / 1’20.461 13 / T. MIKSOVSKY / CZE / Intermoto Czech Republic / 35’57.621 / 1’28.701 14 / P. SZKOPEK / POL / Intermoto Czech Republic / 34’46.990 / 1 Lap Fastest Lap 14° Sébastien Charpentier 1’37.438 164,228 Km/h Lap Record: 2003 Katsuaki Fujiwara 1’36.642 165,580Km/h Riders Championship Standings: 1 CHARPENTIER 45, 2 FUJIWARA 38, 3 CURTAIN 33, 4 FORET 27, 5 PARKES 19, 6 CHAMBON 17, 7 FABRIZIO 16, 8 FORES 13, 9 LAUSLEHTO 13, 10 VD GOORBERGH 11, 11 STIGEFELT 10, 12 NANNELLI 7, 13 MIKSOVSKY 7, 14 COGAN 6, 15 BERTA 5. SUPERBIKE Race 1: (Laps 22 = 97,790 Km) Pos /Rider /Nat. /Team / Time /Gap 1 / T. CORSER / AUS / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 35’15.199 / 2 / Y. KAGAYAMA / JPN / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 35’23.478 / 8.279 3 / C. VERMEULEN / AUS / Winston Ten Kate Honda / 35’27.750 / 12.551 4 / M.NEUKIRCHNER / GER / Klaffi Honda / 35’27.960 / 12.761 5 / A. PITT / AUS / Yamaha Motor Italia WSB / 35’28.403 / 13.204 6 / N. ABE / JPN / Yamaha Motor France-Ipone / 35’30.315 / 15.116 7 / R. LACONI / FRA / Ducati Xerox / 35’32.394 / 17.195 8 / K. MUGGERIDGE / AUS / Winston Ten Kate Honda / 35’49.020 / 33.821 9 / C.WALKER / GBR / PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse / 35’49.209 / 34.010 10 / G.BUSSEI / ITA / Kawasaki Bertocchi / 35’57.793 / 42.594 11 / S. GIMBERT / FRA / Yamaha Motor France-Ipone / 35’58.050 / 42.851 12 / M.SANCHINI / ITA / PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse / 35’59.755 / 44.556 13 / I. CLEMENTI / ITA / Kawasaki Bertocchi / 36’00.003 / 44.804 14 / J. TOSELAND / GBR / Ducati Xerox / 36’16.210 / 1’01.011 15 / A. STROUD / NZL / Superbike New Zealand / 36’47.355 / 1’32.156 Fastest Lap 2° Troy Corser 1’34.917 168,589 Km/h Race 2 : (Laps 22 = 97,790 Km) Combined Results Pos /Rider /Nat. /Team / Time / 1 / T. CORSER / AUS / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 37’34.183 / 2 / Y. KAGAYAMA / JPN / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 37’40.005 / 5.822 3 / M.NEUKIRCHNER / GER / Klaffi Honda / 37’45.080 / 10.897 4 / C. VERMEULEN / AUS / Winston Ten Kate Honda / 37’52.940 / 18.757 5 / F. NIETO / ESP / Ducati SC Caracchi / 38’27.272 / 53.089 6 / A. CORRADI / ITA / Team Pedercini / 38’28.310 / 54.127 7 / R. LACONI / FRA / Ducati Xerox / 38’32.259 / 58.076 8 / N. ABE / JPN / Yamaha Motor France-Ipone / 38’37.511 / 1’03.328 9 / G.BUSSEI / ITA / Kawasaki Bertocchi / 38’38.538 / 1’04.355 10 / M.SANCHINI / ITA / PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse / 38’42.937 / 1’08.754 11 / B. BOSTROM / USA / Renegade Koji / 38’48.630 / 1’14.447 12 / A. STROUD / NZL / Superbike New Zealand / 38’50.893 / 1’16.710 13 / L. LANZI / ITA / Ducati SC Caracchi / 38’54.187 / 1’20.004 14 / M.PRAIA / POR / DFXtreme Sterilgarda / 40’18.656 / 2’44.473 Fastest Lap 6° Troy Corser 1’34.979 168,479 Km/h Lap Record: 1999 Troy Corser 1’33.019 172,030 Km/h Riders Championship Standings: 1 CORSER 91, 2 KAGAYAMA 85, 3 LACONI 54, 4 VERMEULEN 50, 5 NEUKIRCHNER 37, 6 ABE 33, 7 PITT 31, 8 TOSELAND 22, 9 BUSSEI 20, 10 NIETO 17, 11 HAGA 16, 12 MUGGERIDGE 15, 13 CHILI 11, 14 GIMBERT 11, 15 SANCHINI 11 More, from a press release issued by Pirelli: FIM SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 1 PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA 3rd April 2005 Race Report 3rd April 2005 Phillip Island (Australia) High winds, and rains which came and went, were a feature of raceday at Phillip Island, a particular problem given that all previous testing and qualifying had been held in warm and dry conditions, with the wind a constant yet predictable companion. Six thousand Pirelli tyres were transported to the Australian circuit, with Superbike and Supersport classes each supplied with the latest Pirelli products. The second Superbike race of the day was affected by rain and was halted and re-started, while the Supersport race was delayed due to the high winds, which had knocked down two TV towers, plus other paddock equipment. Race 1 TRACK CONDITION Dry AIR HUMIDITY 64% TRACK TEMPERATURE 24° C AIR TEMPERATURE 33° C The first race went to the red-hot pre-race favourite, Troy Corser, who held off his team-mate Yukio Kagayama for his second win of the season. Kagayama, running his Suzuki well clear of the battle for third, was once more a true force in his rookie World Superbike season. The battle for third, which went to Chris Vermeulen, over Max Neukirchner, was so close that each rider touched on the last couple of laps, with Vermeulen’s defence only just adequate in the final run to the flag. Andrew Pitt had been third for long periods, but dropped back to a battling fifth. All riders chose the same spec rear, but only Corser used the softest possible front tyre. Race Standings: Rider Bike Team Race time 1 Corser Suzuki GSXR Alstare Suzuki 35’15.199 2 Kagayama Suzuki GXR Alstare Suzuki +8.279 3 Vermeulen Honda CBR1000RR Winstone Ten Kate +12.551 4 Neukirchner Honda CBR1000RR Klaffi Honda +12.761 5 Pitt Yamaha YZF R1 Yamaha Motor Italia +13.204 Race 2 TRACK CONDITION Dry-Wet AIR HUMIDITY 63% TRACK TEMPERATURE 31° C AIR TEMPERATURE 20° C The second 22-lap race on the Superbike card was halted after 12 laps, with a 10-lap restart carried out in wet, but drying track conditions. Corser won this contest once more, being fast in both wet and dry conditions. Kagayama benefited from the crash suffered by Regis Laconi’s Ducati, although he restarted to finish seventh for the second time. Pirelli Racing Manager Giorgio Barbier, stated, “What we missed this weekend were the results we got in the January Yamaha and Suzuki tests, in terms of the lap time at least. Same with Petronas last weekend. In January we had Troy doing a long run with 1’33 high and 1’34 low laptimes. Even with Petronas we got 1’34 lows. This weekend we never saw this except with the qualifying tyres. We are disappointed with this and we cannot explain it. Apart from the wind direction changing from Friday and Saturday. So, I am not happy with the grip and performance, of the rear tyres especially. The wind was at such a level today that we could have stopped the race, and it was hard for the riders to keep the correct lines. The rains brought a lot of dust onto the track as well. None of this helps the grip on the racetrack. In race two all the riders used the softest wets, and they finished the tyre by the end of the race. Kagayama told us that he understood now why Haslam won in BSB at Brands last year, because even when it is worn you can play and use it and keep the lap time. So we were pleased with that. All the riders used an A rear slick, while only two used the softest front, and one of them won the race. Mostly they used the hardest and two them got onto the podium. I think the weather did not allow the riders to find a set-up where they could use one tyre only, which they normally do. It was great to see such a young rookie SBK rider like Neukirchner taking a podium. It shows that you don’t need just one type of Honda to get good results, and that is very good for the championship.” Standings: Rider Bike Team Race time 1 Corser Suzuki GSXR Alstare Suzuki 37’34.183 2 Kagayama Suzuki GSXR Alstare Suzuki +5.288 3 Neukirchner Honda CBR 1000 RR Klaffi Honda +10.897 4 Vermeulen Honda CBR 1000 RR Winston Ten Kate +18.757 5 Laconi Ducati 999 F05 Ducati Xerox +53.089 World Championship Standings: Rider Bike Team Points 1 Corser Suzuki GXR Alstare Suzuki 91 2 Kagayama Suzuki GSXR Alstare Suzuki 85 3 Laconi Ducati 999 F05 Ducati Xerox 54 4 Vermeulen Honda CBR 1000 RR Winston Ten Kate 50 5 Neukirchner Honda CBR 1000 RR Klaffi Honda 37 6 Abe Yamaha YZF R1 Yamaha Motor France 33 7 Pitt Yamaha YZF R1 Yamaha Motor Italia 31 8 Toseland Ducati 999 F05 Ducati Xerox 22 9 Bussei Kawasaki ZX10 Kawasaki Bertocchi 20 10 Nieto Ducati 999 RS Ducati SC Caracchi 17 Supersport TRACK CONDITION Dry AIR HUMIDITY 70% TRACK TEMPERATURE 31° C AIR TEMPERATURE 20° C After losing a commanding lead at the previous round in Qatar Sebastien Charpentier had to fight for his win again, this time succeeding in his quest with his Honda. He chose a hard front tyre and had experienced Yamaha runner Kevin Curtain for close company for most of the race. Fabien Foret scored an excellent podium, having hurt his knee in a pre-race fall. Pirelli Racing Manager, Giorgio Barbier, stated, “All the riders in Supersport had more settled weather conditions, and a dry track, so they all seemed to use the same front, except Charpentier, who used a harder front after his experiences in Qatar. And this was the best solution” Race Standings: Rider Bike Team Race time 1 Charpentier Honda CBR 600 RR Winston Ten Kate 34’28.920 2 Curtain Yamaha YZF R6 Yamaha Motor Germany 3.595 3 Foret Honda CBR 600 RR Team Megabike 9.641 4 Fujiwara Honda CBR 600 RR Winston Ten Kate 9.664 5 VD Goorberg Ducati 749R Ducati Selmat 29.602 World Championship Standings: Rider Bike Team Points 1 Charpentier Honda CBR 600 RR Winston Ten Kate 45 2 Fujiwara Honda CBR 600 RR Winston Ten Kate 38 3 Curtain Yamaha YZF R6 Yamaha Motor Germany 33 4 Foret Honda CBR 600 RR Team Megabike 27 5 Parkes Yamaha YZF R6 Yamaha Motor Germany 19 6 Chambon Honda CBR 600 RR Gil Motor Sport 17 7 Fabrizio Honda CBR 600 RR Team Italia Megabike 16 8 Fores Suzuki GSX 600 R Alstare Suzuki Corona 13 9 Lauslehto Honda CBR 600 RR Klaffi Honda 13 10 VD Goorberg Ducati 749R Ducati Selmat 11