HONDA TEAMS PREPARE FOR AUSTRALIAN OPPORTUNITIES An early start to the 2005 World Supersport and Superbike seasons, at the Losail International Circuit, Qatar on 26th March left the top Honda riders in the 2005 World Supersport series in particularly good shape. Three CBR600RR Hondas filled the top three podium slots, with a 1-2 for the Winston Ten Kate Honda team of Katsuaki Fujiwara and Sebastien Charpentier, and Team Italia Megabike rider Michel Fabrizio third. Race winner Fujiwara and runner-up Charpentier were in simply immaculate form at Losail, the only riders challenging for the win, yet ably pursued by a small squadron of CBR riders. The new-for-2005 CBR has had an immediate impact, and one which is expected to continue for the next round at Phillip Island, on Sunday, April 3. A recent test at Valencia, which will itself play host to the third round of the series on April 24th, was another opportunity for the Honda riders to get to know their machinery more intimately. Nestling in a seaside locale the venue for this weekend’s round, Phillip Island, is a fast and often dramatically furious circuit, with elevations and camber changes aplenty. Hard braking and slow cornering make their presence felt in only two sections MG and Honda corner. A tricky circuit – but a peerlessly enjoyable one according to most riders – it will provide a fair challenge for even the best of the Honda pilots. Charpentier (31) and Fujiwara (29), will once more have 32-year-old Fabien Foret (Team Megabike CBR600RR) and Michel Fabrizio (Team Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR) on their tails, plus the new threat from Finland, Tatu Lauslehto (Team Klaffi Honda). Fujiwara, winner of round one after a slow catch-up to Charpentier, followed by a short but rapid escape, is enthused by his early season form. He has a proven pedigree of WSS race winning in his past and has already proved an outstanding acquisition for the Winston Ten Kate Honda team. “It was fantastic for me to win in Qatar but I have also been getting used to the bike and my new team,” stated Fujiwara. “The test at Valencia was another chance to make some progress and we worked mostly on the front of the bike because that gave us some problems in the first race. I’m really looking forward to Phillip Island and, although last year was not so good for me, I still have the lap record from the race in 2003 when I finished second behind Chris Vermeulen. I have spent the last couple of weeks back home in Japan relaxing with my family and with some people from Honda’s R&D department who threw a party to celebrate my win in Qatar.” For Charpentier, Phillip Island is a trial like no other, yet one he intends to come out on top of, especially after the unexpected drop off in front performance at Losail seems to have been resolved. “The Valencia test was very important for me to understand the front end problems I had in Qatar,” said Sebastien. “I was disappointed at the time, to finish second when I led for so long, but it was great for the team to get a one-two finish at the very first race. Now we go to Phillip Island where I finished fifth last year on the 2004-spec CBR600RR. The bike has really been improved for this season though and now I’m on a Ten Kate CBR, so I am confident that I can improve my result and go for a win for this incredible team.” Having tested well so far and raced even better, 2003 European Superstock Champion Michel Fabrizio looks forward to Phillip Island. “It was good to be fast and have a podium finish at Qatar,” said the highly-rated and already fast young Italian. “I really have a good team, we are growing up very quickly together and I think that we will be even closer the front fairly soon.” Foret, the 2002 World Champion with Ten Kate Honda, has found his 2005 challenge difficult so far, still searching for that elusive perfect front-end set-up. “We had some issues with the front over race distance at Qatar, and we worked on that in testing,” said Foret. “I normally like shorter tracks with more corners but we will all be doing our best to finish on the podium at Phillip Island.” After a successful European Championship campaign in 2004, Lauslehto meets his second new challenge of the year, at a second new track. “I have never been to Phillip Island but I have heard a lot about it. I think I can learn tracks quite quickly so I am looking forward to another new experience,” said Lauslehto. World Superbike Round 2 of 12 With one round, two races and a final official Superbike test recently disposed of the five-rider Honda challenge in the World Superbike class is already strong, with more progress expected at the Phillip Island races. The 2003 World Supersport Champion Chris Vermeulen and his 2005 team-mate Karl Muggeridge will compete in the second meeting of the year on their Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RRs. Each rider will be on home ground in Australia, with friends and family adding their support to that of the partisan local masses. Muggeridge, the 2004 WSS Champion for Ten Kate, has deservedly earned his ride in World Superbike this year, and but for a bout of severe fever, which afflicted both Ten Kate riders at Qatar, they would have made an even better start to the year than they were allowed by circumstance. The Klaffi Honda team, up from World Supersport after some sterling performances in the 600cc category, have made diametrically opposite if highly effective rider choices this year. Max Neukirchner (21) is teamed with the elder statesman of the SBK grid Pierfrancesco Chili (40). Their latest delivery of race parts for the CBR1000RR is expected at Phillip Island, but even without their latest mods each was a force to be reckoned with in the first round. In a single rider team, Ben Bostrom (30) has teamed up with proven SBK race winners Renegade, now on CBR1000RR machinery, after a season running Ducatis in 2004. Not quite ready to race at full strength at Qatar, and suffering a big crash in testing at Valencia, the Bostrom/Honda/Renegade Koji partnership will be at a higher level of strength in Australia, and at a track Bostrom knows well from previous SBK experience. For Vermeulen, the forthcoming race will be a chance to prove himself once more, after an outstanding rookie CBR1000RR-mounted SBK season in 2004. “I like Phillip Island a lot – it’s one of my favourite circuits and I’ve had some good success there in the past couple of years,” he affirmed after Valencia testing. “I won the World Supersport race there on my way to the title in 2003. Then, last year, I took two second places – my first World Superbike podiums – and left with the most points from the weekend. After the test in Valencia, we finally got a bit more quality time on the bike and started to make some real progress – so I think we’ll be pretty competitive by the time we reach Phillip Island.” Muggeridge, who is due to be married shortly after the PI race, is determined to make up for the disappointments of his illness-affected outings in Qatar. “I like Phillip Island, although I’ve never really been very successful there,” said the Queensland rider. “The move up from Supersport isn’t really anything more than I expected. As far as riding he bikes goes, the 1000 is pretty similar to the 600 – they’re a similar weight but I’ve got an extra 70-odd horsepower to play with, which is nice! It’s finding the strong base setting that we haven’t really had a chance to do yet. I was overall fifth after the two days of testing at Valencia, which wasn’t too bad and it was great to put some laps in on the bike, so there’s definitely lots more to come.” Fifth place in race two at Qatar, Chili showed his grit and experience, and should be in an even better position for the Australian round. “We must concentrate our energies on working to make the most of our expected new parts when we get to Australia,” said Chili. “I am a rider who needs grip for my riding style so not to have the grip I need to go fast was frustrating at the Valencia tests. Phillip Island is a very different track.” Neukirchner showed his true and yet still-developing talent at Qatar, running with the leaders for long periods. His Phillip Island experience has been limited, but it will still prove highly beneficial to him. “I had my first rides at Phillip Island last year, on a Supersport bike, affirmed Max, “but I learned the circuit quite fast. After the Losail races, especially race two, I am confident that we can have some good results.” It has been a tough early season for Bostrom so far, but he is unbowed in his quest for competitiveness in the championship which first brought him to global attention. “We’ll be in much better shape for the Phillip Island races,” said Bostrom. “Qatar did not go anything like the way we had hoped it would, especially when raceday came around. We will be ready for Australia, and I want to get some good points.” After Phillip Island, the championship circus returns to Europe for the remainder for the year, starting with round three, at Valencia, on 22-24 April.