2007 FIM Superbike World Championship Brands Hatch, England August 5, 2007 Race Two Results: 1. James TOSELAND (Honda CBR1000RR), 25 laps, 36:34.177 2. Noriyuki HAGA (Yamaha YZF-R1), -1.686 seconds 3. Troy CORSER (Yamaha YZF-R1), -1.760 seconds 4. Michel FABRIZIO (Honda CBR1000RR), -8.456 seconds 5. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suzuki GSX-R1000K7), -8.988 seconds 6. Ruben XAUS (Ducati 999F06), -9.470 seconds 7. Troy BAYLISS (Ducati 999F07), -18.313 seconds 8. Max BIAGGI (Suzuki GSX-R1000K7), -19.116 seconds, jump start/ride-through penalty 9. Regis LACONI (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -20.501 seconds 10. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Suzuki GSX-R1000K6), -20.586 seconds 11. Roberto ROLFO (Honda CBR1000RR), -21.808 seconds 12. Lorenzo LANZI (Ducati 999F07), -24.883 seconds 13. Fonsi NIETO (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -31.988 seconds 14. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Honda CBR1000RR), -33.253 seconds 15. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yamaha YZF-R1), -36.868 seconds 16. Steve MARTIN (Yamaha YZF-R1), -37.972 seconds 17. Dean ELLISON (Ducati 999RS), -67.216 seconds 18. Luca MORELLI (Honda CBR1000RR), -68.297 seconds 19. Jakub SMRZ (Ducati 999F05), -20 laps, DNF, crash 20. Stefano CRUCIANI (Suzuki GSX-R1000K6), -25 laps, DNF, mechanical 2007 FIM Superbike World Championship Standings (after 20 of 26 races): 1. Toseland, 355 points 2. Haga, 289 points 3. Biaggi, 286 points 4. Bayliss, 258 points 5. Corser, 227 points 6. Xaus, 163 points 7. Lanzi, 161 points 8. Rolfo, 146 points 9. Neukirchner, 123 points 10. Kagayama, 116 points 11. Fabrizio, 109 points 12. Laconi, 98 points 13. Nieto, 65 points 14. Smrz, 58 points 15. Nakatomi, 41 points 16. Brookes, 40 points 17. Muggeridge, 35 points 18. Martin, 19 points 19. Giovanni Bussei, 11 points 20. TIE, Vittorio Iannuzzo/Luca Morelli, 9 points More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office: Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi raced to third place in his first ever race at Brands Hatch in front of a huge sun-baked crowd of over 100,000 at today’s World Superbike Championship round. The Roman was confident of following that up in the second race but was judged to have moved before the start and was given a drive-though penalty. He had been well-placed in fourth position at the time but dropped to 16th because of the penalty. After he rejoined the race, he managed to claw his way up to eighth place before the 25-lap race was over. Team mate Yukio Kagayama suffered a heavy crash with only four laps left of the opening race and was stretchered off. He was taken to the Clinica Mobile where he was found to have severe bruising of both knees, but no other injuries. Despite pain and ligament damage, he rode determinedly and finished a superb fifth in second race. Series leader James Toseland won both races much to the delight of the huge partisan crowd. It was Toseland’s first ever World Superbike win at Brands Hatch and his first ever double and he was so happy that he took off his leathers and threw them into the crowd at the end of the second race! Troy Corser (Yamaha) finished second in race one, helped a little by both Troy Bayliss (Ducati) and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) crashing out. Biaggi took third spot with Ruben Xaus (Ducati) a long way back in fourth. Race two was a real dogfight between Toseland and Haga for over three-quarters of the 25-lapper. But when Toseland pulled out a small advantage, Haga could not respond. At the flag, Toseland’s margin of victory over Haga was over one-and-a-half seconds, with Corser close by in third. Max Biaggi – Race 1: 3rd, Race 2: 8th: “Considering this was the first time I’ve raced here, I’m very happy to get a podium in the first race. This track is very different to any track I’ve ever seen and it is probably the most difficult track I’ve ever raced at. It’s a real fun track to ride when you know where you are going and what makes it even more special is that the fans are so close and you can hear them! “I want to apologise to my team for what happened in race two. I must have moved a little on the line and because of that I was given a ride-through penalty. So I went from fourth to 16th and then had to fight hard to get back into the points. But I rode as hard as I could and managed to get up to eighth. If the race had been one lap longer, I’m sure that I would’ve passed Bayliss and taken seventh. I’m sorry for the team because I think I could have given them another podium. So I’m disappointed for this but happy overall because I think I showed everybody my ability.” Yukio Kagayama – Race 1: DNF, Race 2: 5th: “I am very disappointed today because I think I could’ve taken two podiums. In race one, I was shadowing Max and waiting to make my move but crashed just four laps from the end. I had worked out how and where I was going to pass him, but I had a little brake problem going into Clearways and down I went. It is a fast place to crash! I hurt both my knees in the crash and damaged a ligament in my right knee and that made it hard for me to get comfortable on the bike. It was hard just to get my right foot down on the ground at the start of the second race and then move it around on the footpegs. I also had some problems with nearly highsiding a few times, so in the end I decided that I didn’t want to crash again and rode steadily for a finish. I will have a little holiday now and be back to full fitness for the next race, where I shall be chasing podiums again.” More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: World Supersport and Superbike Championships 2007 Round 10, Brands Hatch British Round Temperature: Air: 28°C Ground: 44°C Conditions: Dry, sunny, humid. Spectator Attendance: 126,000 (claimed all weekend). Brands Hatch Race Report 3-5 August 2007 World Supersport Round 10 of 13 SOFUOGLU THE CHAMPION WITH THREE RACES TO SPARE Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) finished second in the Brands Hatch Supersport race and in doing so he scored his first and Honda’s sixth Riders’ Championship. All six have come from the Ten Kate Honda team, the first with Fabien Foret in 2002, then Chris Vermeulen (2003), Karl Muggeridge (2004) and Sebastien Charpentier (2005 and 2006). The Prime Minister of Turkey called Sofuoglu to congratulate him personally at his success, shortly after the culmination of the race. Second in qualifying, Sofuoglu chose to leave eventual winner Broc Parkes to finally capitalize on his lead after the messy early laps were completed, and concentrate his own efforts on scoring enough points to take him unassailably clear of Fabien Foret in the championship fight. Sofuoglu now has an advantage of 80 points, with only a maximum of 75 left to be gained by any single rider. He is on a total of 206, with Foret on 126. In the Manufacturers’ Championship Honda leads by 56 points with races still to be completed at Eurospeedway Lausitz, Vallelunga and Magny-Cours. Despite having to start at the every back of the grid after a late machine change, Sebastien Charpentier (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) worked his way back to 15th, but was excluded for not entering Parc Ferme on his return to pitlane at the end of the 23 lap race. Charpentier had scored his 21st pole position success in qualifying, and was originally set to start from the first place on the grid. He is now 13th overall, with 37 points. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Althea Honda Team CBR600RR) was third in qualifying and was looking for a podium in a warring four-rider group until his machine stopped on lap 17. He is, however, still third overall in the championship standings, with a total of 87 points. Lorenzo Alfonsi (Althea Honda Team CBR600RR) came good in a race for which he qualified inside the top ten, and he made the most of his top ten finish by securing his season high of seventh place, moving to tenth position overall, on 45 points. Sofuoglu was overcome with the magnitude of the day he sealed the title, especially as his ambition was achieved so early in his amazing championship year. “I cannot explain what I am feeling,” said the Turkish rider. “To win the championship in August is such an amazing feeling and I don’t think anyone has ever done this before. I have to thank the team because without them this would not have been possible. The race was actually pretty difficult, particularly in the last laps, and there was so much going on in my head that it was hard to concentrate. I just tried to focus and once I got to the final lap I knew I had done it. This is incredible, I am so happy!” Fujiwara was disappointed not to finish strongly after a good qualifying and race performance but was glad to keep hold of overall third in the championship. “I don’t know what the problem was but the bike just stopped,” said ‘Kats’. “I was holding back at the end of the group but even in practice and warm up I was not sure if the new engine we fitted was quite as fast as the one we had used before. No points today but we still hold onto third, which I can’t believe. But I’m very happy about it.” Charpentier, the outgoing champion, was full of praise for his team-mate and but disappointed that his pole in practice only ended in such a negative fashion. “I am very happy for Kenan,” started the 2005 and 2006 champion. “He has worked hard all season and has had some good luck as well. I would obviously have liked a better performance for myself but it was not to be. We have had some positive practice and testing at Brands Hatch, but it would have been nice to complete that with a podium finish in the race.” Alfonsi had said pre-race that if he had a good start he would be able to make a good finish, and raceday proved he was right. “I started in the top ten and that was why I had a top ten finish,” said Alfonsi. “I was happy with my tyre choice but near the end the front started to slide and I almost lost it at Clearways twice. So I had to be careful not push too hard to pass Foret. But I am happy with that finish.” World Superbike Round 10 of 13 TOSELAND EXTENDS ADVANTAGE WITH SUPERB DOUBLE WIN James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) increased his championship lead to 66 points after scoring his first ever double win in World Superbike, giving himself a more than useful cushion over his main rivals as the SBK season enters its traditional summer break. Toseland lead for the majority of each 25-lap race, and scored his wins over Troy Corser in race one, and Noriyuki Haga in race two. With his rivals all finding at least one sticky patch at Brands, Toseland now has 355 points, Haga 289, Max Biaggi 286 and Troy Bayliss 258. An aggressive Toseland pushed hard on early race one leader and pole position winner Troy Bayliss, passing him on lap three and running from then on to his first ever Brands Hatch win, and he was never really threatened by second place man Troy Corser. Toseland had started the day by singing and playing the British National anthem to the crowd on the piano, and gave the substantial home attendance much to cheer about after his assured first win. He doubled the dose a few hours later, after winning a personal duel with Haga, with his best ever weekend of SBK work behind him. Honda now enjoys a 26-point advantage in the Manufacturers’ Championship, with three rounds remaining. Michel Fabrizio Michel Fabrizio (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR) was the next best Honda rider on show with a fifth and then an even more impressive fourth, pushing his points total to 109 and placing 11th overall. He had the better of Roberto Rolfo (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) on the very last lap of race one to score fifth. Rolfo found problems in race two, and finished only 11th. He is now eighth overall, on 146 points. Karl Muggeridge (Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR) could not shake off his recent misfortunes by posting a DNF when his machine ran out of fuel and then recording a lowly 14th in race two, experiencing front tyre issues and handing problems over the bumps. He is now 17th overall, with 35 points. Luca Morelli (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR) was 17th and 18th, and out of the points at Brands, which he has never raced at before. Toseland was understandably ecstatic at his best ever raceday in SBK, especially as it had taken him so long to score two wins in the same day, and he had come so close to making it a perfect weekend, only missing out on a Superpole win on Saturday by 0.028 seconds. He now has eight 2007 SBK season race wins and 16 in total. “I’ve waited a long time for this moment and I can’t quite believe I have finally done it,” said Toseland. “It’s taken me seven years, but to get the Superbike double win at Brands Hatch was well worth the wait. The crowd here today have been absolutely amazing and I can’t thank them enough for their support. On top of that, I dedicate the wins to my team, my family and my friends.” Rolfo was happy in race one, less so in race two, as braking problems played their part in his slide back through the field. He had been ninth in qualifying. “The feeling on the bike during the morning was good and I was looking forward to the races to try to get up to the front of the pack,” said Rolfo. “I had a good start in race one, but in race two I had a braking problem and was unable to push as hard as I wanted to. Anyway, we have made some good progress this weekend and I have enjoyed racing at Brands Hatch.” Fabrizio was in great raceday form, having qualified only tenth, but scoring two top fives, on the back of a podium finish two weeks ago at Brno. “I’m very happy for today because the results follow the good weekend after Brno,” said Fabrizio. “Compared to this weekend, Brno was easy. Brands was certainly not easy. The bike worked well all weekend and between race one and race two the bike is exactly the same. In race one I spent a lot of time getting past people, but in race two the start was good and the other riders were not such a problem.” Muggeridge had another tough weekend, and was 13th in Superpole, making his raceday job all the harder. “The handling of the bike was better today but still not what we need to have to get good results,” said Muggeridge. “We ran out of fuel in race one, which was disappointing to say the least. In race two I could probably have gone for a different front tyre but it didn’t make so much difference. The weekend has been spent compensating for the handling problems and the bumps.” Teenager Morelli was pushing hard in each race but from 20th on the grid, in races with only five non-finishers between them, points were beyond him today. “This weekend was very difficult because I didn’t know the track at all before I came here,” said Morelli. “I like the track and improved my experience and my feeling with the bike and both races. I am finishing closer to the top riders now.” The WSS and SBK championships now embark on a long summer break, and reconvene on 9 September at Eurospeedway Lausitz. More, from a press release issued by Team Yamaha YZF: Nakatomi now in 15th position Shinichi Nakatomi finished two times in the points at Brands Hatch despite painful back and feet. He gained one position in the championship standings and he is now 15th. Steve Martin did a very good first race, finishing 11th. Because of a heavy crash on Friday morning, Nakatomi was not in the best possible physical shape. With courage, he tried his best and was 15th after the first lap of race 1. He then gained some positions and ended up 13th on the finish line. Steve Martin was 14th after lap 1, and he then progressed regularly to finish with a very good 11th position. Nakatomi was 15th in the beginning of race 2. He kept this 15th position at the end of the race. Steve Martin did not have a good start and was 17th at the end of the first lap. Things did not go so well for the friendly Australian and he finished 16th. James Toseland was the winner of both races in front of the happy British crowd. This was for him a great opportunity to score many precious points for the championship standings that he leads now with a 66 points margin. Shinichi Nakatomi: “It was a difficult weekend because of my Friday morning crash. I did my best and I am happy to have been two times in the points.” Steve Martin: “I am happy. The team has done a fantastic job. I did my best. Race one, when I finished in 11th position, was quite good. Overall, it is a good weekend. Thank you very much to Martial and the team.” Team-manager Martial Garcia: “Race 1 went well with the 11th and 13th positions. It is a well-deserved result. In race 2, a small mistake costs us from 7 to 8 seconds. Nakatomi did a good job, considering that his back and feet were hurting. The bikes are working well, and we were competitive compared to Fonsi Nieto. We gained one position in the World Championship standings as Nakatomi is now 15th.” More, from a press release issued by FG Sport Group: TOSELAND SETS PERSONAL BESTS AND EDGES AHEAD AGAIN – LOCAL RIDER DOUBLE SENDS 126,000 STRONG CROWD WILD After the wettest summer ever in the UK, the local British crowd got to worship their latest local sun god in perfect conditions at Brands Hatch, as James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) basked in the glow of his first ever World Superbike double win, scored his first ever wins at Brands Hatch, and took a huge 66 point lead into the final three rounds, which appear after the traditional summer break. Toseland’s wins were his seventh and eighth of the year, and he has now won three of the last four races. RACE ONE Toseland led from lap three onwards, but for the pole man Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) disaster awaited on lap five when he fell at Druids, after being passed by Toseland and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia). The Japanese was to run on himself at Surtees and finish seventh, not his expected second or first, leaving the consistently fast Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia) 1.5 seconds down on Toseland at the flag, with astonishingly effective Brands debutant Max Biaggi (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) third. Max’s team-mate Yukio Kagayama, who was also on for a podium at one stage, fell at high speed at Clearways, and was lucky to escape serious injury. RACE TWO Toseland had to wait for more time to get to the front in race two, pursued by Haga and Corser, but when he did get into clear air he made the best of it and took a triumphant win, by 1.6 seconds. Haga scored second for his only podium of the day, Corser secured his second Brands podium after finishing a close third. In fourth place, eight seconds down on Toseland, Michel Fabrizio (DFX Corse Honda) was impressive again, holding off Kagayama. Biaggi made a jump start and was penalised with a ride-through penalty which saw him restart well down but recover to take eighth in race two. XAUS THE TOP DUCATI RIDER ON A DESPERATE DAY FOR BAYLISS AND LANZI Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Ducati) was the top scoring twin-cylinder rider in each race at Brands, running out fourth and sixth, while the highest place for Bayliss was a disappointing seventh in race two. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) was only 9th and 12th. For Roby Rolfo (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) a sixth an 11th place were poor rewards for a strong push, with Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Germany) tenth on two occasions. KAWASAKI MEN SCORE POINTS Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) and Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) each scored points at Brands, with Laconi the more effective, with an eighth and ninth place finish. Nieto, who had to recover from a crash in qualifying, was only 12th and 13th, at a circuit he is not particularly keen on. PRIVATEERS HAVE A BUSY DAY AT BRANDS For the majority of the pure private riders, Brands held few rewards, but notable rides came from Steve Martin (Yamaha YZF) in race one, as he scored 11th in his comeback event, but he used a different spec machine in race two and took a 16th place. Karl Muggeridge (Alto Evolution Honda) ran out of fuel in race one and struggled with a poor front tyre option in race two, finishing 14th. Jakub Smrz (Ducati Caracchi) was 14th in race one, as wild card Brit Marty Nutt (Nuttravel.com) took a point for 15th in race one. More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Double tops for Toseland at Brands Hatch James Toseland secured his first double race win of the season in front of a huge home crowd at Brands Hatch today. An estimated 126,000 people visited the Kent circuit over the weekend to support the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda rider at the final UK round of the Superbike World Championship. The double victory has enabled Toseland to extend his series lead to 66 points over new closest rival Noriyuki Haga with only three rounds remaining. However, there is still a lot of work to be done and the British rider faced strong challenges throughout both of today’s 25-lap races. Race one saw the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda rider battling with Troy Bayliss and Troy Corser for the top spot. Toseland gained the advantage before Bayliss crashed out of contention, leaving Corser and Max Biaggi to fill the other spots on the podium. In race two it was Haga who posed the biggest threat, swapping places with the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda contender several times in a thrilling dice for the lead. By lap 22 Toseland had pulled out a gap of more than one second and he maintained station until the chequered flag. Team-mate Roberto Rolfo endured a more difficult race day after struggling to get to grips with the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR at the 3.7km track in extremely hot and humid weather conditions. The Italian rider settled for sixth and 11th positions respectively to maintain eighth position overall. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager: “Sometimes the results get pretty close to perfection and I think today we hit the bullseye with Kenan winning the World Supersport Championship title and two magnificent wins from James. The goal was to extend the series lead, but as it happens the result was even better than this. To get the double in front of such a fantastic crowd makes it even more memorable for us. We have three more rounds to go and it would be nice to continue our domination throughout. We all share the same goal so I’m pretty sure that we will all give it 100 per cent” James Toseland: “I’ve waited a long time for this moment and I can’t quite believe I have finally done it. It’s taken me seven years, but to get the Superbike double win at Brands Hatch was well worth the wait. The crowd here today have been absolutely amazing and I can’t thank them enough for their support. On top of that, I dedicate the wins to my team, my family and my friends.” Roberto Rolfo: “The feeling on the bike during the morning was good and I was looking forward to the races to try to get up to the front of the pack. I had a good start in race one, but in race two I had a braking problem and was unable to push as hard as I wanted to. Anyway, we have made some good progress this weekend and I have enjoyed racing at Brands Hatch.” More, from a press release issued by Scuderia SC Caracchi: BRANDS HATCH: BLACK DAY FOR TEAM SC CARACCHI The British circuit curse did hit the Scuderia SC Caracchi at Brands Hatch too. In Supersport Gianluca Nannelli has been forced to retire by electrical troubles, as well in Superbike “Kuba” Smrz ended into the points race-1 despite a lack of power of his engine and crashed in the early laps of race-2. “I arrived at Brands Hatch with other goals.” commented at the end of the day Jakub Smrz. “At the first beginning the unknown track gave me some difficult, but the learning the racing lines I falled in love for it. During race-1 the engine had a lack of power after a few laps and I’ve not been able to be competitive, as well I scored some point for the Championship. In race-2 I had o good start and I was going to attack, but suddenly I lost the front wheel and I crashed. Bad end for a race in a disappointing day.” Nannelli too is very disappointed for to be a not finisher on this track that he loves: “The engine switched off several times for an intermittent electrical troubleon which we are investigating. It has been a true affliction because the problem started from the first lap and when I could earn a position quickly I lose it once more because the engine switched off. I was fighting with Charpentier at the points area limit when the engine had a fault once more and I finished out in the gravel of Dingle Dell corner. It is a miracle that I did not crash, so I preferred to join the pit, in my present condition to crash it would be actually too dangerous. Now we have a month free; that’s good for everybody, first for my knee that has been hardly stressed during the last two races.” More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TWO PODIUMS FOR TROY! Troy took a superb runner-up spot in the opening race of the tenth round of the Superbike World Championship at Brands Hatch today and then followed it up with a hard-fought for third in race two. It was his best race of the year since Donington back in April and, hopefully, a sign that his recent run of bad luck has come to an end. Series leader James Toseland won both races much to the delight of the huge partisan crowd. It was Toseland’s first ever World Superbike win at Brands Hatch, his first ever double and gives him a 66-point lead over Troy’s team mate Noriyuki Haga in the series. Behind Troy’s second place in race one, was Max Biaggi (Suzuki) in third, followed by fourth-placed Ruben Xaus (Ducati), Michel Fabrizio in fifth and Roby Rolfo (Honda) sixth. Troy chased Haga and Toseland throughout the second 25-lapper, but just couldn’t catch the duo. But his third place was way ahead of Fabrizio in fourth. Fifth went to Kagayama (Suzuki), with Xaus sixth. Troy – Race 1: 2nd, Race 2: 3rd Well, I feel that is my best weekend of the year and it’s how it should be every weekend. It’s what I had expected before the season started and I’m happy that we’re back to podium ways again. Racing at Brands Hatch is always very tough and demanding and today was no exception. It felt very hot and humid and it was hard work doing two 25-lap races out there today. The bike felt quite good, apart from a bit too much movement, but the tyres were pretty consistent in both races. We made some small changes to the bike for race two, just suspension, mapping and fork settings mostly, but I didn’t get a good start. So, I just put my head down and worked my way up through the field. I was held back by some riders, but it was good when I got clear of them and could catch Nori and James. I was aware of Nori’s position in the championship and was quite happy to settle for third. During my recent run of bad luck, I have never stopped believing that I could get podiums and today I feel that I am back where I belong and I hope the rest of the season continues the same way.