HONDA RIDERS CHALLENGE FOR GLORY ONCE AGAIN The 22nd World Superbike Championship season gets underway at Philip Island in Australia on Sunday March 1, with rounds scheduled for both World Superbike and World Supersport Championship classes. This coming season is reckoned by many long-time observers to be the most open and competitive since the first year of WSB competition, way back in 1988. In WSS, fresh injections of talent and machinery have been a feature of the off-season, despite the dramatic resurgence of the World Superbike category itself. A classic year is in store for production derived racing, with full grids and strong wildcard interest expected at most rounds as well. There are no fewer than seven manufacturers involved in WSB, and five in WSS. Honda has achieved great success in both main classes in the near and distant past, with four Manufacturers’ Championship wins being added to six individual Riders’ World titles. Three different formats of Honda engines have powered champions to victory; 750cc vee-fours for Fred Merkel and John Kocinski, 1000cc twins for Colin Edwards, and a 1000cc in-line four for the most recent Honda champion, James Toseland in 2007. The same Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team that partnered Honda and Toseland to the biggest Superbike prize of all is back in action in 2009, fielding three riders on CBR1000RRs, two in full Hannspree colours and one in Honda red white and blue. Carlos Checa and Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) will compete in the Hannspree sponsored end of the WSB garage, with Ryuichi Kiyonari (Ten Kate Honda Racing CBR1000RR) on his own. All three of these riders won races for Honda in 2008; Checa twice in America, Kiyonari three times in the UK, while Rea did his winning in World Supersport, finishing second in the overall championship and taking a late season wildcard ride in WSB at Portimao as well. He makes the full-time switch to WSB this year, and has been impressively fast in testing. Checa fell in the recent test at PI, and suffered a head and shoulder knock, but he is expected to be fit for Sunday’s two WSB races. Honda in general and Ten Kate Honda in particular have proved imperious in the WSS series recently with seven straight Riders’ Championships, one for the CBR600FS in 2002 and then the CBR600RR from then on. The 2007 WSS champion Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) and the 2001 and 2008 champion Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) are teamed up in the Hannspree Ten Kate garage this year, making a strong play case for this being the WSS dream team of all time. Honda machines are a popular choice for 2009 as usual, and as well as the Ten Kate riders there are several top level CBR600RR entries in with chances of podium finishes or more. Two WSS Honda teams from 2008 have made an expansion into WSB in 2009, with Stiggy Racing Honda adding Leon Haslam and Roby Rolfo and their CBR1000RRs to new signings Anthony West and Gianluca Vizziello in Supersport. Rolfo has elected to not have his injured shoulder operated on until the end of the season, instead embarking on a targeted course of physiotherapy. Hannspree Honda Althea returns once more in WSS, with Mark Aitchison and Matthieu Lagrive, but they have internally promoted Tommy Hill from WSS to WSB, in a lone rider CBR1000RR set-up. Gregorio Lavilla with race for the Pro Ride WSB squad on a CBR1000RR in 2009, but he will not be in Australia or round two in Qatar, due to sudden financial issues playing an unwanted part. Former Superstock 1000 European Champion Vittorio Iannuzzo (Squadra Corse Honda CBR1000RR) is another 2009 Honda WSB rider, for the team, based in Italy. Another potent pairing, this time in WSS, is new full-time rider Eugene Laverty and seasoned Parkalgar Honda competitor Miguel Praia. Unlike most other Honda teams, the Parkalgar riders did not get the chance to ride at Phillip Island in recent tests, but they will be running 2009 machinery, while some others in WSS, notably Ten Kate, will be on 2008 bikes at the start of the season. Honda WSB Rider Quotes Jonathan Rea said: “Well, according to some websites, I crashed on the final day at the PI tests and was like seventh quickest. I’m happy to report, however, that I didn’t crash and did a 1’31.8s lap which we think was the fastest today! What matters is that we were able to find a setting that allows some tyre life at the end of the race and that I’m getting to grips with the traction control. We did two full race simulations today and the bike felt great. We know what we have to do next weekend but I’m really excited at the potential we’ve shown here.” Carlos Checa said: “My shoulder is still a little sore and my head, well, that’s always had some problems! No, I am really OK and will be fit for next weekend’s first round after some rest this week. I was able to complete a good number of laps to try some new things, but we were hoping to try a new rear tyre, which unfortunately we couldn’t do. With the weather in Portimao and the crash here in Australia, it hasn’t been the perfect winter testing, but I like Phillip Island and I’m looking forward to racing again next weekend.” Ryuichi Kiyonari said: “I had some problems finding a good set-up on the first day of this test but we made some changes for the second day and definitely made some progress. It was not so much to make one fast lap, but we were happy with consistency of laps during a race simulation. I had a small crash today but it was not such a problem. Of course, there is still some work to do but I am really looking forward to the start of the season next week.” Leon Haslam said: “We have got a lot of things done over these days, we have been trying many different things on the bike, mainly focusing on set-up and suspension as well the grip and tyre life. I have been putting down many laps and made a race distance run at the end of the day. With the temperatures rising in the afternoon we were struggling a bit with the grip, but nothing major. We have found a good pace and I’m able to ride consistently. We definitely eliminated a lot of things over the days and I’m pretty confident for the race that we will be well prepared.” Roby Rolfo said: “I have to say that I’m really happy with how this test worked out. I have been able to ride for many laps over the days and my shoulder is feeling so much better than last time in Portimao. Yesterday I was able to do 90 laps and today around 95 and my shoulder doesn’t affect my strength, even though this track has a lot of left corners. All the training and rehabilitation I have been doing for the past three weeks really paid off!” Tommy Hill said: “I can’t wait to get racing, this is the best bit. The Portimao test didn’t go completely to plan, with some problems over the three-days of testing. My team worked hard to try and solve the problem, and we hope now we have cured this for Phillip Island. This will be my first race in Australia; the circuit looks fantastic and after many laps on the X-Box SBK Game I have started to learn the circuit. I really want to finish with consistent results, and be ready to fight for strong top 10 finishes, and keep me and my team smiling.” Ten Kate Team Manager – Ronald Ten Kate – said: “We’ve had quite a good test here, although it was disappointing for Carlos. He took a big knock to the head and his shoulder was sore but he has had a thorough check-up and will be good to go next week. It’s a shame because he was one of the fastest riders at that point of the weekend, so I’m sure he will be on the pace when it matters. We’ve made some progress on the second day with Kiyo-san and he is definitely fast on race tyres. Jonathan also found things a little difficult on the first day, but some overnight changes put the bike in the right place and he put in some quick times. There are still some issues on race distances but, all in all, it’s been a positive test and we’re in good shape for next week and the season ahead. Honda WSS Rider Quotes Kenan Sofuoglu said: “I am very happy and cannot wait to race my bike again next weekend. It was a little difficult to find a rhythm on the first day of this test but it all came together on day two and the bike is feeling fantastic again. There is still some more to come but I’m comfortable with the bike, the team and everything, so I’m really feeling positive for the season ahead.” Andrew Pitt said: “The times have been pretty good, even though we had a few problems yesterday and only managed about an hour in the morning when the conditions here are at their best. We made some changes and today I did a few laps first thing, changed tyres and was on it straight away. I’m looking forward to the race next weekend, especially starting the season at home as world champion.” Anthony West said: “My main focus for this test was getting in as laps as possible, become more comfortable with the bike and generally getting a better understanding and feeling for it. We are getting closer and closer and we have found a pretty good base set-up. I did two long distance runs and we were able to stay consistent. The heat in the afternoon made us lose some grip in the rear so we worked on that as most likely we will have the same conditions for the race. Lap times could have been better but at the end of the day most important is that I feel more “at home” on the bike now.” Gianluca Vizziello said: “I’m happy with the two days testing. We have tried many different things on the bike and we are making good progress. We started off well yesterday working on the set-up and suspension a lot. I set my fastest lap-time yesterday and today I have completed two long-runs (10 laps and 15 laps) and was able to keep consistent lap-times. Today’s focus was finding the right tyres for the possible hot race conditions and also the base chassis settings. All and all it has been a good test and I’m looking forward to the race.” Eugene Laverty said: “The waiting is almost over for me and I can’t wait to get on track and competing for a championship. After two years on an uncompetitive 250cc GP bike it is brilliant to be racing a competitive four-stroke again and with a team that I have the utmost confidence and faith in. I know Phillip Island so hopefully I can adapt quickly to the track and be near the front from the start. I hope that I can come away with a decent haul of points or maybe even a podium finish. One thing’s for sure, my Championship challenge starts here and I’ll be giving it my all.” Miguel Praia said: “I am now 100 per cent ready to go racing and very motivated after my winter preparations. For sure it will be a hard race, especially with a few of our competitors testing just beforehand, but we are in good shape and I think it will be a lot better for the team than last year. I have never achieved a top 10 finish in Supersport and that is my first goal. I came close with 12th at the last round in 2008 at Parkalgar and feel it will come soon and my main target for the opening round is to score that top 10 I want so much.” Mark Aitchison said: “I am really looking forward to getting my year started with the Althea team. We have focused our work on a few key areas with the bike in our recent tests and we are looking to improve once again in our final test before the first race at Phillip Island. I am starting to understand my Honda each time I ride and I appreciate all the great work my team has been doing during the winter. It seems a long time since last year’s final race at Portimao, so I can’t wait until we get underway at Phillip Island.” Matthieu Lagrive said: “I hope this first race will confirm the good tests that we made in Europe. I want to be a protagonist not only in Phillip Island but also in all the world championship races. I don’t like the whole track, only some parts, but this is not a problem as I want to be very fast in any circuit, in order to fight for the championship.”