FIM SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 4 MONZA, ITALY- 4 MAY 2006 Pre-event release May 2006, Monza (Italy) This weekend World Superbike returns to its spiritual heartland of Italy, to the incomparable circuit of Monza, located close to the industrial powerhouse of Milan. The parkland circuit exudes history from every pore, and is once more set to provide a unique emotional experience to all comers, as it has done for lovers of two and four wheel sport since the 1920s. Winning at this circuit is a special thing for any rider, with the memory of each win resonating throughout his career in an unquenchable fashion. The Monza circuit is famous throughout the world, and it presents a unique challenge to the competitors. After the first few races of the season it is easy to predict that there will particularly tough competition for the wins. To meet the challenge of Monza, the motorcycles have to adopt set-ups which are peculiar to the parkland track, with engine tuning set for the fastest venue of the year, suspension set up and chassis geometry altered to handle the high speed corners at full lean, and also allow for heavy braking and quick changes of direction while approaching and then negotiating the Ascari and della Roggia chicanes. Over the weekend a total of 174 pilots will take to the track at some stage, compared to 137 at the same stage of the season in 2005. An incredible entry which once more shows the status and importance of SBK racing in the modern era. For this event, close to Pirelli’s headquarters in Milan, some 6000 tyres will be transported to Monza, with diverse solutions for both Superbike and Supersport classes. In Superbike (Pirelli Diablo Superbike is the chosen tyre) there will be 3 fronts and 3 rears, plus qualifying tyres. Pirelli technicians and engineers have put in place a structure which turns development and research into the best tyres possible, and so all three of the different rear solutions for Monza will exhibit some innovations. The initiative which has produced a 200mm rear, the ‘big tyre’ which made its debut at Misano last year, delivers its latest version. The other 2 rears will be in the classic 190 size, but to suit the demands of the fastest corners at Monza, multiple compound tyres will be adopted. Multi-compounds will also be available on the qualifying tyres in Superpole, when the top 16 pilots will have their best chance to set their ultimate best time. In Supersport (using Pirelli Dragon Supercorsa PRO SC) there will be two tyres featuring new carcasses, to add to the most favoured existing tyre, each of which was proven in recent Valencia official tests and are thus available to everyone in the class. As well as Superbike and Superstock there is Superstock 1000 (on Pirelli Dragon Supercorsa PRO SC2), and Superstock 600 (running with Pirelli Diablo Corsa III), plus the Suzuki Cup (using Pirelli Dragon Supercorsa PRO SC2). A weekend of important engagements for Pirelli, and one that will not cease with the podium ceremonies on Sunday but carries on until monday. At that time the Monza Autodrome will be theatre for the international presentation of the Pirelli Diablo Corsa III, which will make its second appearance in race trim this season on Saturday, during the Superstock 600 race. The Previous Year: Superbike Race 1: Rider Bike Team Race time 1 Corser Suzuki GSXR Alstare Suzuki 32’40.906 2 Kagayama Suzuki GSXR Alstare Suzuki +0.985 3 Toseland Ducati 999F05 Ducati Xerox +1.040 Superbike Race 2*: Rider Bike Team Race time 1 Vermeulen Honda CBR 1000 RR Winston Ten Kate 30’49.758 2 Laconi Ducati 999F05 Ducati Xerox +0.582 3 Corser Suzuki GSXR Alstare Suzuki +2.458 * shortened by one lap More, from a press release issued by FGSport: 2006 SBK CORONA EXTRA SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP® MONZA 4th ROUND 5th, 6th and 7th MAY CURIOSITY Monza, Thursday 4th May 2006 THE TROY’S IN MONZA World Championship leader Troy Bayliss is back in Monza after a 3 years absence, but comes back as a winner. In his last 4 starts he racked up 4 wins (in 2001 and 2002) that out of 6 total starts make him one of the riders with the best performances on the italian track. Bayliss is the most successful winner of all times in Monza together with Fogarty, Pirovano and Chili. Only one win and 5 retirements out of 18 starts for Troy Corser in a circuit he like much. It’s one of the few tracks in which Corser hasn’t scored a pole position and for a rider that obtained 35 poles in 16 different tracks, that looks a bit strange. It’s worth remembering that in 2005 in Monza Corser ended a 5 wins streak started in Phillip Island race 1 when he finished third in race 2, and he wasn’t able to find his way to the top step of the podium until Brno race 1, 5 races later. LESS THAN A SECOND It’s the gap race recorded at the end of 17 (out of 28) races run in Monza, a fotofinish track. The 5 thousandths of a second in race 1, 1997, and in race 2, 1999, are the minimum gap ever recorded in the whole history of the World Championship. These are the 10 closest finishes. Year Race Winner Second Gap 1999 2 Fogarty Edwards 0’00″005 1997 1 Kocinski Slight 0’00″005 1996 2 Chili Slight 0’00″007 2000 1 Chili Edwards 0’00″028 2000 2 Edwards Chili 0’00″031 2003 2 Hodgson Lavilla 0’00″044 1993 1 Slight Russell 0’00″045 2001 1 Bayliss Edwards 0’00″066 1990 2 Pirovano Monti 0’00″070 1998 1 Edwards Slight 0’00″083 The 2 races in 2005 ended respectively with a gap of 0″985 in race 1 (Corser in front of Kagayama) and 0″582 in race 2 (Vermeulen on Laconi) 2005 SUPERPOLE™ – In 2005 Yukio Kagayama with the Suzuki obtained the pole spot with only 0″007 over team-mate Corser, the third gap in qualifying in the history of the World Championship behind the 0″002 that separated Akira Yanagawa by Wataru Yoshikawa in Sugo 1997 and the 0″005 that have been recorded in two races: Estoril 1993 (Aaron Slight – Carl Fogarty) and in Laguna Seca 1999 (Corser – Anthony Gobert). LACONI AIMS 1000 POINTS The french rider misses only 11 points to become the 16th rider in the history of the series to have scored at least 1000 points. The all-time leader is Fogarty with 3020. WEEK ANNIVERSARIES – May 2 1994, Donington, first presence in the front row, first podium and first fastest lap for Troy Corser – 1999, Donington, 50th fastest lap for Honda by Colin Edwards – May 4 1997, Donington, first pole position for Neil Hodgson e 50th race start for Pierfrancesco Chili. – May 7 1995, Hockenheim, first presence in the front row for Pierfrancesco Chili, first pole position for Troy Corser. MILESTONES IN MONZA 1992 first podium for Piergiorgio Bontempi. At the time the italian rider was at his 43rd start. Up to the end of his career (in 2004) Bontempi will pick up 2 other podium finishes (Spain and Portugal 1993) but he will never be able to win a race. At the moment he is the rider in SBK™ history with most race starts (194) without a win. 1995 100th race start for Carl Fogarty (that will end the career with 221), first win and first fastest lap for Pierfrancesco Chili and first podium for Colin Edwards; 1996 10th fastest lap for Troy Corser, at the moment the australian counts 40; 1997 150th race start for Carl Fogarty; 1998 100th race start for Scott Russell, first win for Colin Edwards; 1999 150th win for Ducati by Carl Fogarty in race 2; 2000 25th pole for Honda (Colin Edwards); 2003 200th win for Ducati by Neil Hodgson, first fastest lap for Regis Laconi; 2004 10th podium for Regis Laconi; 2005 10th pole position and 25th fastest lap for Suzuki (Kagayama), 25th podium for James Toseland, first presence on the front row for Karl Muggeridge. HIGHS AND LOWS OF 2005 IN MONZA – Best race career result for Karl Muggeridge, a fourth in race 2 that he will repeat in Magny Cours race 1; – Best season race result for Marco Borciani, a 12th place in race 1 (scored also in Losail in race 1); – Worst season race result for Noriyuki Haga, 11th in race 1 (scored also in Losail in gara 2); – Double retirement for Steve Martin, during last season the aussie recorded a double DNF also in Phillip Island. A bad weekend for Martin, that in Monza recorded the worst qualifying performance of 2005: a 24th spot scored also in the following race in Silverstone. HONDA’S SEQUENCES The series of amazing streaks by Honda continues in the Supersport Championship, before Monza the situation is as follows: 28 pole positions, 30 front rows (absolute records) and 84 races in the points (3° record of all times). CHARPENTIER In the Supersport Championship Sebastien is only one win short of becoming the all-time winner. He misses only a win to reach Casoli and Muggeridge at 11. If he wins in Monza he will also equal the all-time winning sequence of 4 wins, that now belongs to himself (Silverstone 2005-Brands Hatch 2005) and Karl Muggeridge (Brands Hatch 2004-Magny Cours 2004). Same situation also for the pole positions count, with Charpentier that has 14 and Muggeridge, all-time leader at 15. The performances of the french rider are astonishing: during 2006 he ran in the lead for 90% of the total championship distance and the last time that he crossed the line during a race in a position above 3rd was in Brno 2005, lap 1, a race he eventually won. If we exclude the retirement at Eurospeedway Lausitz in 2005, Sebastien climbs on the podium since Brands Hatch 2004. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Xerox Team: World Superbike Leader Bayliss Looks For Another Good Result At Monza While Teammate Lanzi Seeks Third Podium Finish Monza (Italy): The Ducati Xerox Team riders Troy Bayliss and Lorenzo Lanzi come to the legendary Autodromo Nazionale di Monza on the crest of a wave following sensational results in the recent round 3 of the World Superbike Championship at Valencia. The 37 year-old Australian Troy Bayliss racked up a full haul of points at the Spanish Round to increase his lead over reigning champion and fellow Aussie Troy Corser (Suzuki) to 22 points. He returns to Monza with two double wins and two fourths already under his belt at the high-speed parkland circuit. “Last time I was at Monza I had a double win!” declared Troy. “I’m very fond of the place and I just love racing there. Out of all the races I’ve done, I’ve done six at Monza and I’ve always had great results there. It’s going to be very important for me to do a good job this weekend and it’s not going to be easy. Every race is difficult but I’d like to shine there. “Things are going quite well so far this year, although strange to say, I feel the season has been a little bit below expectations. Judging how well the tests went in the winter the first two races were a little bit of a reality check actually and we expected a little bit more. We’ve always been right at the front but we haven’t done exactly what we thought we’d do”. His 24 year-old Italian team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi kicked his 2006 season into gear at Valencia with two gritty races that earned him two third places and his first podiums of the year. “The two races at Valencia were very positive, and we came back on form in a big way” declared Lorenzo. “The two podiums, especially the one in race 2, gave me a lot of satisfaction. Now we are here determined to do well, just like in every race, because we know that I can run up at the front with the leaders. “Monza is a place that I like, I’ve always had a good rapport with this track. The variante Ascari is my favourite point of the circuit, but you have to work to get a good setting for the entire track because at Monza it’s difficult to get a break and get away. You get the classic group of the quickest riders, and the second group of those who are unable to keep the slipstream. I want absolutely to stay with the leading group so as to be able to fight it out for the win at the end”. CIRCUIT HISTORY: Construction of the Autodromo di Monza was decided in January 1922 by the Milan Automobile Club, started in May of the same year and the work was completed in a record 122 days. Today Monza is one of the most functional and safest tracks in the world with a history that is incomparable. The WSBK round has been held at the Autodromo since 1990 and Troy Bayliss holds the circuit win record of four victories, on a par with Carl Fogarty, Pierfrancesco Chili and Fabrizio Pirovano. THE CIRCUIT: Name: Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. Length: 5.793 km. Pole Position: left. Corners Left/Right: 5/8. Longest straight: 1195 metres. CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: (after 3 of 13 rounds). Riders 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 125; 2. Corser (Suzuki) 103; 3. Toseland (Honda) 86; 4. Haga (Yamaha) 64; 5. Barros (Honda) 62; 6. Pitt (Yamaha) 58; 7. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 47; 8. Abe (Yamaha) 40. Manufacturers 1. Ducati 126; 2. Suzuki 113; 3. Honda 91; 4. Yamaha 84; 5. Kawasaki 40; 6. Petronas 4. STATISTICS: Best lap: Hodgson (Ducati) 1m46.981s (2003). Lap record: Bayliss (Ducati) 1m47.434s (2002). Superpole: Hodgson (Ducati) 1m46.981s (2003). Race distance: 2 x 18 laps/104.256 km. 2005 RESULTS. Race 1: 1. Corser (Suzuki); 2. Kagayama (Suzuki); 3. Toseland (Ducati Xerox). Race 2: 1. Vermeulen (Honda); 2. Laconi (Ducati Xerox); 3. Corser.