World Supersport and Superbike Championships 2006 Round 3 Valencia – Spain Valencia Race Preview 21 – 23 APRIL 2006 World Supersport Round 3 of 13 HONDA’S SUPERSPORT EFFORT BACK TO FULL STRENGTH AT VALENCIA Round three of the 13-round World Supersport championship starts a ten-race run of European action, and despite recent injuries for two of Honda’s supported riders, the CBR600RR contingent is back to its usual size, shape and strength. The Valencia race offers Winston Ten Kate CBR600RR Honda star Sebastien Charpentier the second chance to lift Spanish silverware in two years, and he is also going for three race wins in three 2006 starts. His victories at Qatar and Phillip Island were masterful displays of front running and already give him a ten-point advantage over his closest challenger Kevin Curtain. 2006 season Honda signing Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) has had one podium finish and one crash-induced DNF thus far, but after a largely positive test at Valencia in late March, he is ready to add to his third place from the Qatar weekend. With the Ten Kate riders sitting out the most recent official SBK test sessions at Misano, it was left to the returning Katsuaki Fujiwara (Team Megabike Honda CBR600RR) to test some new development parts, as well as ascertain the condition of the hand injury he suffered in Qatar. It held up well, and with more time to recuperate before taking his second race start of the year, the Japanese rider could show well in Spain. Fujiwara’s team-mate Yoann Tiberio (Team Megabike Honda CBR600RR) is going through his rookie season in World Supersport, and despite suffering his own injury worries early in the year, he is back and ready for the fight. For Charpentier, Valencia is a happy hunting ground, and another chance to continue his goal of taking an unprecedented second straight WSS Riders’ Championship. “Until this moment things have gone perfectly for me and I hope I can continue on this road in Valencia,” said the 2005 champion. “In the Valencia test I was always fast, we never had any problems and therefore I expect great things from this race, which I won last year. I want to thank the team and Honda because this year they have put me in the best condition to race.” The long break between round two (on March 5) and the forthcoming race at Valencia has given Sofuoglu a chance to reappraise his up-and-down rookie season. “I have finally spent some time at home in Turkey with my family and this has been really good for me,” said Sofuoglu in the run-up to Valencia. “It helped me to relax and recharge. I really needed it, especially after the hard fall in the last test in March. I am learning the bike more and more; the third position in Qatar has made me understand that I can easily end every race in the top five. In Valencia I am ready to be one of the main competitors. Sebastien seems unreachable, but with the rest it should be a great contest.” Fujiwara is ready to race, and was encouraged both by his performances in the recent Misano tests, and how his wrist reacted to the physically demanding Misano circuit – not dissimilar to the one he will race around this weekend. “I only got my cast taken off of my wrist a few days before the Misano tests,” said Fujiwara, “but it seemed to be OK. With even more time to train and get back my strength before Valencia I think it will be OK for the race. I tried two different specifications of machine in Misano and we should have both again in Valencia.” Nineteen-year-old Tiberio missed out on the first race of the year but his excellent performance in the most recent Phillip Island race, and the Misano test has bolstered his confidence in the run-up to round three. “I’m very satisfied after the Misano test,” said the Frenchman. “We tried many things, especially with the suspension and I have confidence for Valencia race because I made a lot of laps with a good race rhythm. In Spain I will try to start from the first or second row because is very important for the final result of the race.” World Superbike Round 3 of 13 EUROPEAN THEATRE OF OPERATIONS WELCOMES SUPERBIKE QUINTET James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) enters the third race weekend of the year in second position overall, just a single point from leader Troy Bayliss. The 2004 World Champion has tested at the 4.005km long Circuito Ricardo Tormo recently, and was in the upper echelons in simulated race conditions. James goes for his second race win of the 2006 season, and will have two opportunities to do so on Sunday 23 April. Joining him in Spain will be his temporary new team-mate, Giovanni Bussei, brought in for a single race to deputise for injured team regular, Karl Muggeridge. The Australian rider’s crash in testing at Valencia has ruled him out of this race, as the result of suffering two compressed vertebrae. Now in possession of a recently enhanced race spec Honda CBR1000RR, Phillip Island double podium finisher Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) relishes the prospect of racing on another circuit he knows well from his days in MotoGP. Tight and twisty, the Ricardo Tormo Circuit should offer the SBK rookie another chance to battle for the top places, to back up his second and third race finishes in Australia. Currently fourth overall, Barros has settled into the Klaffi Honda set-up in assured fashion since his relatively late inclusion into the 29-strong SBK ranks this year. For such a young rider Michel Fabrizio (DFX Honda CBR1000RR) has amassed a variety of experience thus far, and riding at Valencia will offer another novelty, albeit an unwanted one. In Spain he will be riding without his countryman and legendary figure in the SBK firmament, Pierfrancesco Chili (DFX Honda CBR1000RR). Chili broke his pelvis and two ribs in a heavy fall at recent official tests in Misano, and is expected to be out for four race weekends in total. Another fast Italian, Gianluca Nannelli, who first rode Chili’s DFX CBR1000RR Honda on the final day of the official Misano tests, will replace him for the next few races. Toseland, who confesses that Valencia may be the toughest test for his machine during the entire season, is nonetheless confident after a stellar start to what many consider to be the toughest championship season to date. “I really believe in our chances at this race, even if I know Bayliss will be just as fast as he was in the recent tests,” said Toseland. “Corser and Haga will be another two strong riders at the front, as usual. But I am really motivated and focused and I want to continue to get important results after the great start of the season I’ve had. Bayliss only has one point on me and I don’t have any intention of letting him get away. I am sorry Karl didn’t make it to the race at Valencia, but I wish the best of luck to my new team-mate Giovanni.” Bussei is no stranger to World Superbike, having competed on a wide variety of SBK machines in the past. Given the chance to replace Muggeridge at Valencia, he willingly agreed, and is sure to provide more than just back-up for Toseland during the tyre testing and machine set-up stages of race weekend. “I am really happy to be able to compete with the Winston Ten Kate Honda Team and I am aware that I will ride one of the top bikes in the entire series,” said Bussei. “It will be hard because I have to get used to the race rhythm but of course I will do all I can to payback the trust that has been placed in me. It will be nice to be James’ team-mate, even if only for one weekend, and for this I want to thank the team and the sponsors.” The influence of Barros on his Klaffi Honda team has been a positive one, and for Barros it’s been the latest in a long line of challenges to his adaptability. He knows his machine has been given a boost, just in time for round three, and aims to capitalise on it. “We tried a lot of things at the test at Misano and we made real progress,” said Barros. “We have more power, more than during the first and second rounds. I have three different specs of rear shock to try again at Valencia, where I think I can be a lot more competitive. I know the track very well so there should be no problems.” Michel Fabrizio, who scored a startling fifth place in his first ever World Superbike race at Qatar, is ready to make his fifth and sixth SBK starts, and was buoyed by his recent testing run outs at Misano and Valencia. “I am very happy after the winter in March at Valencia and the more recent one in Misano,” said Fabrizio. “Both the chassis and engine on my bike improved. In Misano, for the first time, we got the set-up of the EFI and electronics package working perfectly, and that made the bike very easy to ride fast. It was just a shame about Frankie injuring himself, I am sorry for him, I hoped to have him with us in Spain.” Chili’s misfortune has allowed Gianluca Nannelli the chance to shine under a Spanish sun, albeit not in circumstances that Nannelli would have wished for. “For Frankie; my best wishes. It is very difficult to speak about this situation. I am very grateful to Honda and Team DFXtreme because I was a rider without motorcycle in this World Championship. Now, thanks to them, I will ride a very important CBR1000RR for a good team. I did only 30 laps in Misano but the potential of the bike is very high. I will be careful for the next race in Spain but at Monza the “Nanna” will be very, very fast!” The next stop for the WSS and SBK train is at Monza, on 5 – 7 May.