FIM Supersport World Championship Silverstone, England May 28 Race Results: 1. Sebastien CHARPENTIER (Hon CBR600RR), 28 laps, 41:54.640 2. Broc PARKES (Yam YZF-R6), -2.802 seconds 3. Kevin CURTAIN (Yam YZF-R6), -6.767 seconds 4. Pere RIBA (Kaw ZX6RR) -17.116 seconds 5. Robbin HARMS (Hon CBR600RR), -26.102 seconds 6. Massimo ROCCOLI (Yam YZF-R6), -26.373 seconds 7. Javier FORES (Yam YZF-R6), -27.097 seconds 8. Matthieu LAGRIVE (Hon CBR600RR), -27.492 seconds 9. Johan STIGEFELT (Hon CBR600RR), -29.073 seconds 10. Katsuaki FUJIWARA (Hon CBR600RR), -41.265 seconds 11. David CHECA (Yamaha YZF R6), -41.615 seconds 12. Maxime BERGER (Kaw ZX-6RR), -43.602 seconds 13. Kai Borre ANDERSEN (Suz GSX-R600), -44.079 seconds 14. Yoann TIBERIO (Hon CBR600RR), -47.538 seconds 15. Staurt EASTON (Ducati 749 R), -49.619 seconds 16. Tatu LAUSLEHTO (Hon CBR600RR), -51.383 seconds 17. Sebastien CHAMBON (Kaw ZX-6RR), -52.544 seconds 18. Barry VENEMAN (Suz GSX-R600), -52.719 seconds 19. Mauro SANCHINI (Yam YZF-R6), -1:02.972 seconds 20. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Hon CBR600RR), -1:05.725 seconds 21. Bernat MARTINEZ (Yamaha YZF R6), -1:16.412 seconds 22. Tom TUNSTALL (Honda CBR 600RR), -1:17.059 seconds 23. Miguel PRAIA (Hon CBR600RR), -1:18.457 seconds 24. Sam OWENS (Yamaha YZF R6), -1:22.319 seconds 25. Vladimir IVANOV (YZF R6), -1:32.966 seconds 26. Greg LEBLANC (Hon CBR600RR), -1:32.975 seconds 27. Gianluca VIZZIELLO (Yamaha YZF R6), -10 Laps, DNF, mechanical 28. Alessio ALDROVANDI (Honda CBR 600RR) -11 Laps, DNF, mechanical 29. Julien ENJOLRAS (Yamaha YZF R6), -14 Laps, DNF, mechanical 30. Christian ZAISER (Ducati 749 R), -14 Laps, DNF, mechanical 31. Alessio VELINI (Yamaha YZF R6), -20 Laps, DNF, mechanical 32. Alessio CORRADI (Yamaha YZF R6), -21 Laps, DNF, mechanical 33. Steven NEATE (Honda CBR 600RR), -23 Laps, DNF, Crashed 34. Sebastien LE GRELLE (Hon CBR600RR), -26 laps, DNF, Crashed 35. Andrea BERTA (Yam YZF-R6), DNS More, from a press release issued by Winston Media: CHARPENTIER TAKES FOURTH WIN OF THE SEASON Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) won his fourth 2006 WSS race after a front-running display at the short and tight Silverstone circuit, holding off intense early attacks from Yamaha riders Parkes and Curtain, despite a lack of dry set-up time after a mostly wet practice. Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda) finished the race in a lowly 20th place, after qualifying 18th. With so little dry qualifying time, Charpentier just missed out on a new lap record, but led every single lap, and went equal on the list of all time WSS race winners, with 11 victories to his credit. In the championship battle, Charpentier is in an unrivalled 116 points, 40 points ahead of Curtain’s 76. Sofuoglu now sits ninth in the series, with 27, having scored no Silverstone points. Ronald Ten Kate – Team Manager “I am so happy that Sebastien won again, after his great, crazy ride to third at Monza. He showed that he can run at the front again and that he is back in control. It is also good for his championship position, and he has a forty-point lead now. He led very well and at one point the two guys following him got close to him, dicing with each other and pushing for quicker lap times. At that moment the counterattack from Sebastien was very good because he put in a couple of 1’29 lows, and got a four second gap. That gave him the eventual win, and another perfect weekend for us. We can consider with Kenan that the weekend was a disaster. To be honest, I see no reason why he is in the position he’s in. Lucky for him we are going to the Brno test now, before the Misano race, so that will give him three days to recover, and come back to his old riding level. Finishing in 20th position is not what we are aiming for with him; it’s far less than his skills as a rider. So I am sure we will fix this out at Misano.” Sébastien Charpentier Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (1st Championship Position: 1st with 116 points) “It was not an easy race for sure, even if it looked that way. It was hard because it is very bumpy, a short track, very physical. So I am happy because yesterday it was difficult to practice, because there was so much rain. The bike was not bad and for the championship I got more good points, so thanks to Ten Kate and Honda.” Kenan Sofuoglu Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (20th Championship Position: 9th with 27 points) “Things were not so good all weekend luck was not with me and it was difficult. I started in 18th position and that was far less than what I wanted to do, normally I want to be in the top five. But in the race it did not work out, I couldn’t go away from the others, and I was overtaken. I tried the maximum I could do but I did not feel so strong. My physical condition was OK, but I thought I was going to crash. I don’t know what the problem was exactly so I am looking to the Brno test to get my feeling back for the Italian race at Misano.” CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING: 1. Charpentier 116 points 2. Curtain 76 points 3. Harms 63 4. Parkes 58 5. Tiberio 50 9. Sofuoglu 27 points More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: CHARPENTIER CONTINUES HONDA’S 100% WINNING RECORD Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) scored his fourth win in five races this season, to extend his championship lead to 40 points. His start-to-finish win came after a period of pressure from Yamaha riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes, but Charpentier was a clear winner by 2.8 seconds in the final analysis, having started from pole and led every single lap. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Megabike Honda CBR600RR) was the next best supported Honda rider home, in eighth place, despite re-breaking a bone in his already injured hand. His team-mate Yoann Tiberio (Megabike Honda CBR600RR), the Monza race winner, was down in 14th, after experiencing tyre choice problems mid-race, dropping from the top six position to the second last point scorer. Charpentier’s team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) was only 20th overall, having started from a lowly 18th after a difficult first day in qualifying, which proved to be the only dry one. All the riders suffered from a lack of dry testing time, such was the pre-raceday weather. Raceday itself dawned dry, if windy. Charpentier knew that he had been in a tough race, but his will to win saw him overcome the lack of testing time, and some tough competition at periods in the race. “It was not an easy race for sure, even if it looked that way,” said Charpentier after his latest triumph. “It was hard because this is a very bumpy, short track, and very physical. So I am happy because yesterday it was difficult to practice, because there was so much rain. It turned out that the bike was not bad at all and for the championship I got more good points, so thanks to Ten Kate and Honda.” Fujiwara had to grin and bear the pain throughout the race, which was delayed due to a crash in the first Superbike event. “I have great pain in the hand that I broke in Qatar at the beginning of the season,” affirmed Fujiwara. “On Friday, during practice, I crashed and broke another little part of the same hand, and so Silverstone was a really difficult race for me. I made the best of it but the pain was very big. I hope to arrive in the best condition for the Misano race.” Tiberio, tenth in qualifying, gambled on tyre choice and it did not turn out the way he wanted, despite the cool ambient temperatures. “What a hard race,” said Tiberio simply. “I had a different choice of tyre from the other leading riders, too soft, and so I paid for it after five laps of the race. I’m not satisfied because I had no time to set the bike in the best way, because of the rain in practice.” Sofuoglu complained of a lack of feel from his machine at Silverstone, and suffered a crisis of confidence. “Things were not so good all weekend, luck was not with me and it was difficult,” said the young Turkish rider. “I started in 18th position and that was far less than what I wanted to do; normally I want to be in the top five. But in the race it did not work out, I couldn’t go away from the others, and I was overtaken. I don’t know what the problem was exactly, so I am looking to the Brno test to get my feeling back for the Italian race at Misano.” World Superbike Round 5 of 12