Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn Le Santo

Chambon emphatic at Brands

Stephan Chambon dominated the World Supersport race at Brands Hatch which was shortened by a second-to-last-lap crash involving Stefano Cruciani. Jurgen van den Goorbergh fought off a late charge by Klaffi Honda’s Sebastien Charpentier, but the podium positions could well have changed if the race had gone to full distance.

Karl Muggeridge got the holeshot, but Chambon slid up the inside into Druids on the first lap with van den Goorbergh in third and Championship points leader Chris Vermeulen in fourth. Both Ten Kate Honda riders were suffering with lack of drive after choosing a too-hard rear tire.

Fabien Foret reeled in Vermeulen on lap eight and it was clear that Vermeulen was struggling with drive out of corners.

Charpentier passd Muggeridge and set off after van den Goorbergh, but Cruciani’s crash and the subsequent red flag ended any last-lap attempts.

World Supersport Race Results:

1. Stephane Chambon, Suzuki GSX-R600, 21 laps, 31:28.121
2. Jurgen van den Goorbergh, Yamaha YZF-R6, -7.045 seconds
3. Sebastien Charpentier, Honda CBR600RR, -7.310 seconds
4. Karl Muggeridge, Honda CBR600RR
5. Fabien Foret, Kawasaki ZX-6RR
6. Chris Vermeulen, Honda CBR600RR
7. Christian Kellner, Yamaha YZF-R6
8. Jorg Teuchert, Yamaha YZF-R6
9. Katsuwaki Fujiwara, Suzuki GSX-R600
10. Alessio Corradi, Yamaha YZF-R6
11. Iain MacPherson, Honda CBR600RR
12. Tom Sykes, Yamaha YZF-R6
13. Pere Riba, Kawasaki ZX-6RR
14. Christophe Cogan, Honda CBR600RR
15. Broc Parkes, Honda CBR600RR
16. Stefano Cruciani, Kawasaki ZX-6RR
17. Matthieu Lagrive, Yamaha YZF-R6
18. Robert Ulm, Honda CBR600RR
19. Barry Veneman, Honda CBR600RR
20. Jamie Robinson, Yamaha YZF-R6

24. Thierry Vd Bosch, Yamaha YZF-R6
25. Werner Daemen, Honda CBR600RR, -10 laps, DNF
26. Simone Sanna, Yamaha YZF-R6, -13 laps, DNF
27. Dean Thomas, Honda CBR600RR, -20 laps, DNF

Fastest Lap: Stephane Chambon, 1:29.149


More, from a press release issued by Chris Vermeulen’s publicist:

CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD EXTENDS

A mature Chris Vermeulen has ridden to a conservative 6th placing in round 8 of the World Supersport Championship at Brands Hatch in England.

Starting from 4th on the grid, the young speedster wasn’t able to add to his winning total in 2003, however he did manage to out strip his nearest rival for the world crown.

Katsuaki Fujiwara finished in 9th spot to slip 38 points behind in the race for the title. Jurgen van den Goorbergh’s 2nd saw him move to outright 2nd in the series, 37 points behind the young Aussie.

“It wasn’t a win or the top 5 I was hoping for, but I did manage to extend my lead for the championship so that’s a real positive,” Vermeulen said.

With three rounds remaining, Vermeulen and his Tenkate Honda CBR600RR edged ever so close to the title, after the race was red flagged in the final lap due to a minor crash.

“We had a pretty good race package but just seemed to be a touch off the pace, no matter we get another month off to think about things and then it’s on to Assen. Another solid result there and the championship will be close.”

The series now enjoys a months break before resuming at Assen in the Netherlands on September 7.


More, from a press release issued by Honda racing:

HONDA’S CHARPENTIER SCOOPS FIRST PODIUM

Honda CBR600RR rider Sebastien Charpentier took his first World Supersport championship podium finish with third place in Sunday’s eighth round of the championship at Brands Hatch, GB.

Charpentier finished behind winner Stephane Chambon and runner-up Jurgen van den Goorbergh as he took the Klaffi CBR600RR machine to third place. He said: “I felt I could get a good finish today but you never really know until the race is under way.

“I got into third place and although the race was red-flagged with a lap to go I don’t really think I could have got ahead of van den Goorbergh, he looked smooth and in the end I was happy to take third place for my team.”

Ten Kate Honda’s Karl Muggeridge held second place in the early stages before settling for fourth place and 13 world championship points, the Australian commented: “I chose the wrong rear race tyre and within five laps the rear started spinning. From that moment on I just wanted to finish the race.”

Behind fifth-placed Fabien Foret came championship leader Chris Vermeulen, taking sixth place on his Ten Kate Honda to maintain a 37-point lead in the series with three rounds to go.

“I went for the wrong rear race tyre and I knew early on that the race was going to be a struggle,” said Vermeulen. “The temperature was a lot higher today and it caught us out with tyre choice. It’s disappointing but there are some races when finishing is important–today was one of those.”

The German Yamaha pairing of Christian Kellner and Jorg Teuchert finished seventh and eighth respectively with Suzuki’s Katsuaki Fujiwara ninth and Alessio Corradi 10th.

Iain MacPherson took the Van Zon Honda to 11th place despite brake trouble for the Scotsman, he explained: “My right arm pumped up after about nine laps when the brake was coming back to the handlebar, I was in agony at the end.”

The BKM pairing of Christophe Cogan and Broc Parkes completed the list of points scorers, taking 14th and 15th places respectively, Cogan said: “I found the race very difficult. The suspension didn’t feel quite right and, as soon as I let the brake off, the machine was moving around too much in the corner.”

Parkes commented: “I’ve had one of those weekends to forget. The exhaust developed a crack so I lost a little bit of power but I wanted to finish in the points and I just made it. In the last round I was in with a chance to win with five laps to go and then this weekend I’ve struggled ­ that’s supersport for you.”

Robert Ulm took 18th place on the second of the Klaffi Hondas, the Austrian rider admitted: “The feeling from the machine wasn’t quite right and I found it difficult to push hard. It really was a struggle throughout and that really sums up my weekend here.”

Van Zon Honda’s Werner Daemen escaped injury when he crashed out of the race on the 12th lap, the diminutive Belgian explained: “I was struggling to select third gear and the machine dropped back into second gear on the left-hander after Druids.”


More, from a press release issued by Ten Kate Honda:

Vermeulen extends championship lead by two points

Chris Vermeulen increased the gap at the top of the World Supersport Championship with a steady sixth place at Brands Hatch.

The title leader struggled for grip during the race after taking a tyre-choice gamble that didn’t pay off.

“Both myself and Karl chose a hard tyre for the race after the morning warm up,” explained Vermeulen. “Unfortunately morning warm up isn’t the best time to test tyres and the temperatures changed just enough for the race to make our choice the wrong choice.”

It was a similar story for Karl Muggeridge who finished a creditable fourth despite suffering the same grip problems.

“The tyre was awesome this morning so we really thought it would be the right one for the race,” said Karl. “I got a great start and the CBR600RR and the WP suspension were really working well and things felt good. But I soon realised we were in trouble because I just couldn’t match the other guys for drive out of the turns. I worked really hard going into the turns just to try and keep position.”

Although it wasn’t the result he was looking for, with no Ten Kate Honda riders on the podium, Team Manager Ronald ten Kate was satisfied. “Of course I prefer to win races,” he said, “but the main thing is the championship and we are still ahead even after a fourth and a sixth. We have two tests to complete prior to Assen so we’ll be arriving there fully prepared for the biggest race of the year for the team, at home in Holland in front of the fanatical Dutch crowd – we’re all really looking forward to it.”


More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Belgarda:

SUPER SECOND FOR JURGEN!
Team Yamaha Belgarda rider Jurgen van den Goorbergh took a superb second place at the eighth round of the Supersport World Championship at Brands Hatch today in front of over 120,000 spectators. Jurgen made a good start and was third at the end of the first lap and then charged past Karl Muggeridge (Honda) and into second on lap seven. But by then, Stephane Chambon (Suzuki) had already built up an advantage and Jurgen was unable to rein him in. The race was red-flagged two laps from the end, but Jurgen was comfortably in second at the time and that’s where he finished. Third went to Sebastien Charpentier (Honda), who also overtook Muggeridge, with Fabien Foret (Kawasaki) fifth and series leader Chris Vermeulen (Honda) sixth. But there was disappointment for Team Yamaha Belgarda rider Simone Sanna, who had a gearshift problem and went into the gravel trap at Druids corner and then crashed on lap nine. The Italian had not had a good qualifying and his tip-off was the end to a poor weekend.

JURGEN VD GOORBERGH ­ 2nd
I’m very happy to be on the podium again and I think we’re very close to our first win. This is the third time I’ve been second, so now it’s going to have be a win ­ maybe at my home track at Assen in the next round? My start was good and everything went pretty well except that Chambon got away at the beginning and we all couldn’t catch him. It is my first time here and although it’s a bit dangerous in places, the crowd makes it such a wonderful event. Fortunately the weather was much better today then the last couple of days and that helped us all. Now I am 37 points behind the series leader and it’s probably too difficult to catch him, but if I can’t do that I want to finish second. Now let’s go for a win ­at Assen!

SIMONE SANNA DNF
The crash ended what was a disappointing weekend for me. The track is spectacular but we never got enough good dry time to get to know it very well and find a good set-up. I think I had a gearshift or gearbox problem because I either found a false neutral or the wrong gear, but whatever happened I had to go straight on into the gravel at Druids and down I fell. There’s no more to say. I’d just like to forget about it.

RESULTS
1 Chambon (F-Suzuki), 2 Jurgen vd Goorbergh (NL-Yamaha Belgarda), 3 Charpentier (F-Honda), 4 Muggeridge (AUS-Honda), 5 Foret (F-Kawasaki), 6 Vermeulen (AUS-Honda), 7 Kellner (D-Yamaha), 8 Teuchert (D-Yamaha), 9 Fujiwara (J-Suzuki), 10 Corradi (I-Yamaha), Simone Sanna (I-Yamaha Belgarda) DNF

POINTS
1 Vermeulen 141, 2 Jurgen vd Goorbergh (NL-Yamaha Belgarda), 104, 3 Fujiwara 103, 4 Chambon 100, 5 Kellner 78, 6 Corradi 63, 7 Muggeridge 59, 8 Foret 54, 9 Riba and Teuchert 49, 17 Simone Sanna (I-Yamaha Belgarda) 18