FIM Supersport World Championship Portimao, Portugal October 16 Race Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Chaz DAVIES, Great Britain (Yamaha YZF-R6), 20 laps, 35:31.062 2. David SALOM, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -1.253 seconds 3. James ELLISON, Great Britain (Honda CBR600RR), -1.415 4. Luca SCASSA, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R6), -5.522 5. Florian MARINO, France (Honda CBR600RR), -21.658 6. Roberto TAMBURINI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R6), -24.490 7. Massimo ROCCOLI, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -25.506 8. Miguel PRAIA, Portugal (Honda CBR600RR), -32.271 9. Vladimir LEONOV, Russia (Yamaha YZF-R6), -32.660 10. Balazs NEMETH, Hungary (Honda CBR600RR), -32.680 11. Vladimir IANNUZZO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -34.732 12. Fabien FORET, France (Honda CBR600RR), -35.109 13. Alexander LUNDH, Sweden (Honda CBR600RR), -51.652 14. Gino REA, Great Britain (Honda CBR600RR), -54.002, ran off track 15. Pawel SZKOPEK, Poland (Honda CBR600RR), -54.400 16. Bastien CHESAUX, Switzerland (Honda CBR600RR), -57.653 17. Luca MARCONI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R6), -57.933 18. Marko JERMAN, Slovenia (Triumph Daytona 675), -58.900 19. Gunther KNOBLOCH, Austria (Yamaha YZF-R6), -64.473 20. Gianluca VIZZIELLO, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), -74.703 28. Sam LOWES, Great Britain (Honda CBR600RR), -9 laps, DNF, retired 30. Robbin HARMS, Denmark (Honda CBR600RR), -16 laps, DNF, retired 31. Broc PARKES, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -18 laps, DNF, retired World Championship Point Standings (after 12 of 12 races): 1. Davies, 206 points 2. Salom, 156 3. Foret, 148 4. Parkes, 136 5. Scassa, 134 6. Lowes, 129 7. Ellison, 99 8. Marino, 89 9. Tamburini, 80 10. Roccoli, 71 More, from a press release issued by Parkalgar Honda: PARKALGAR HONDA’S Miguel Praia thrilled a huge crowd at his home Parkalgar circuit near Portimao in Portugal coming from 12th place with five laps to go to take eighth at the finish line and equal his season best performance in the final round of the World Supersport Championship. Sam Lowes on his Parkalgar Honda was battling for the lead on lap 10 when he lost the front of his bike and crashed unhurt. Despite remounting he was forced to retire. Sam is racing again at the Sunflower Meeting at Bishopscourt in Northern Ireland on 21st and 22nd October. Local favourite, TT winner and road racer Michael Dunlop will join Sam on the team for this event. Sam: “I am absolutely gutted not to finish. I felt good, my Parkalgar Honda was great and I was within touching distance of Chaz in the lead. I was pushing hard and simply lost the front. I am disappointed just as much for Parkalgar as I would have loved to have won my first race here at our home track. It’s been a good learning season and a big thank you to all my team and the supporters at Parkalgar – and of course to my fans, we will be back. On it.” Miguel: “I enjoyed that race a lot. At the start the bike was moving a lot on me and it took me a couple of laps to adapt my riding style. Then as the race wore on I kept my speed and got faster while everyone else was slowing down. I am very happy to equal my best result this season at Parkalgar, the cheering from the fans in the crowd helped me on every pass I made. Thank you to my Parkalgar Honda team and everyone who came here to watch us race, it’s been a great end to the season.” Simon Buckmaster, Parkalgar Honda Team Manager: “Miguel had the crowd cheering and shouting at the end of the race when he was coming through the field. He rode exceptionally well and this is probably one of his best ever races because he beat such strong competition – that will keep him motivated through the winter for sure. “Sam was in contention for the race win and went down fighting. We are all disappointed in the race result but I congratulate him on having a fantastic first season at World Championship level. No-one will deny that with the experience he has gained he is going to be a title contender in 2012 and we look forward to that with a lot of relish. “Thank you to Parkalgar, Elf, LeoVince, A&A Lamb, CIA Insurance, Bogdanka and Honda for all their support this season, it’s been a fantastic season and now we will focus on 2012 and finalise our plans – more news on that soon.” Paulo Pinheiro, Parkalgar Chief Executive: “It is a shame that Sam crashed out fighting for the lead but it was a great race for Miguel and he rode very well – at the end of the race he was amongst the fastest on circuit and that shows his potential. Well done to James Ellison on getting on the podium on our sister Bogdanka PTR Honda bike.” More, from a press release issued by Bogdanka PTR Honda: BOGDANKA PTR HONDA’S James Ellison enjoyed a race long battle at the front of the field at the final round of the World Supersport Championship at Parkalgar in Portugal, before finishing a close third less than 1.5seconds away from the victory. Pawel Szkopek on the second Bogdanka PTR Honda ended the season on a positive note scoring another point in 15th place. In its first attempt at the Championship Bogdanka PTR Honda is pleased with its sixth place overall in the team standings. For all the off-season news on Bogdanka PTR Honda, visit www.bogdankaracing.com, the team will be back to compete in the 2012 World Supersport Championship. James: “That was a great race, I really enjoyed it. I was chipping away at Chaz in front trying to bring him back and racing with Salom for second at the same time. I was losing grip as the race went on and on the last lap I left too much of a gap and let Salom through and that interrupted my rhythm. I am not too disappointed though, I am happy with a podium end to the season and also with getting the fastest lap of the race – it shows what we can do.” Pawel: “That was a good race and I am pleased to score another Championship point. My Bogdanka PTR Honda felt good and I made sure that I was going to finish and in the best place possible. It has been a good season and I have learnt a lot – thank you to Bogdanka, PTR, Opeus and all of the sponsors, I hope you have enjoyed it as much as we have.” Simon Buckmaster, Bogdanka PTR Honda Team Manager: “James has really come good since the mid-season break and from 10th on the grid he was able to challenge at the front for most of the race. It was very impressive and well done to him and his crew. “Pawel has shown more consistency recently and has scored another point at a very difficult event, he should be proud of his achievements this year; he has shown that he deserves to be in the Championship. “A big thank you to Bogdanka, Michael Piasecki and all the Polish support that helped make this team happen this year, we look forward to coming back faster and stronger in 2012.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha ParkinGO Team: Goodbye to 2011. Yamaha ParkinGO Team is saying bye to the Supersport fans with another victory where Giuliano Rovelli’s team beat all records with Yamaha factory. To the title that Chaz Davies has conquered at the last round, they have to add, thanks to today’s results, manufacturers and best team title. A successful season that has seen the talent of a “enfant prodige” forgotten too soon on the motorcycle world and Giuliano Rovelli has rediscovered and valuated. Today Chaz Davies has been simply perfect. In first position from the first corner, he has managed the race with skills, giving no chance to the adversaries to question his leadership bringing his R6 all the way to chequered flag. Very positive as well Luca Scassa’s race, victim of his starting grid position. The Italian rider stuck on the battle at the beginning of the 20 laps, placed himself in seventh position at the first corner. After fighting with slower riders, he started to improve trying to reach podium but his tire didn’t allow him to finish what it would have been the perfect end of the season. Chaz Davies – Yamaha YZF R6 #7 – “This has been the best season of my career. I have made my dream come true and I have finished this year the way I wanted: with a victory. From Friday morning I have improved bit by bit, solving all problems of the bike. At the race my bike was perfect like many times this season”¦thanks to all my team!” Luca Scassa – Yamaha YZF R6 #9 – “I have done my best to get to podium position but yesterday’s crash didn’t help me at all today, starting too far back the race. I am quite heavy and I found it a bit hard passing slow riders in front of me as I wasn’t too fast in acceleration after the tight corners. Once I past them, I’ve tried to come close to Ellison and Salom but I didn’t have tires to get to them at the end.” Giuliano Rovelli – team owner – “It has been a fantastic year, where the whole team gave the 110%. We have won the riders, manufacturers and team world championship leaving Yamaha as the most winning team of their history on the World Supersport class. I want to thank every body that made this season possible. Now it’s time to enjoy these results!.” More, from a press release issued by Ten Kate Honda: Tough season’s end for Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Hannspree Ten Kate Honda riders Florian Marino and Fabien Foret finished in fifth and twelfth places respectively in today’s final race of the 2011 World Supersport championship at Portimao in Portugal. The race was won by newly-crowned champion Chaz Davies, but it was a frustrating end to the season for the highest-placed Honda team, especially for Foret, who also slipped from second to third in the overall standings. Starting from the front row, Marino ran at the front in the opening laps before grip issues forced him further down the field. Foret, too, slipped down the order after starting well from his second row grid position. Florian Marino 5th It was a really hard race and the grip levels were definitely down, but it was the same for everyone. I also had a problem when I let go of the brake and the bike wanted just to go straight instead of turning. I over-pushed a bit I guess, bu t ended up losing time. In the end, I just wanted to avoid crashing because the track was so slippery. So fifth is OK but what’s disappointing is that we finished quite far from the top. Fabien Foret 12th It’s been one of the toughest weekends of the season and we really didn’t expect to have the grip problems that we had today. It seems especially bad in the last race, which is always the one you remember. But our first race this season was difficult too, so we started badly and we’ve ended badly. There have been some great moments in between this year, but also some difficult ones. I’m 50% happy and 50% frustrated because it could have been different and much better. We also lost second place in the championship, but there isn’t much difference between second and third because winning is the most important thing. Anyway, I want to thank the team for the time we’ve had this ye ar. There is a fantastic relationship between us and it would be my great wish to spend one more year with them. Ronald ten Kate team manager Although we didn’t have the season that we all wanted, I’m still reasonably happy with the outcome. We were racing until the end for second or third place in the championship and we’ve maintained our ten-year run of having at least one of our riders in the top three. Once again, we are also the top Honda finisher so it hasn’t been so bad. We had quite a lot of unexpected difficulties today on the track but the season has come to an end, and we are now looking forward to confirming the programme for 2012. It’s going to take quite a bit more work but we are all confident that we’ll be flying high again in the 2012 championship. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Salom Second In Final Race And Championship Standings WSS, Portimao, Portugal, 16 October 2011 David Salom won today’s battle for second in the championship and celebrated his 27th birthday in the process. Broc Parkes was unable to compete after his machine was damaged in a lap one collision. The Provec Motocard.com Kawasaki riders were peerless in qualifying with David taking his third pole position of the season in fine style on Saturday and then running inside the top places through the race. Involved in a duel with James Ellison that looked like it may go away from Salom, a last lap effort pulled him clear to score his third podium of the 12-round season. The race was won by new champion Chaz Davies, with Salom eventually only 1.253 seconds behind at the flag, after 20 laps of racing in hot temperatures. Parkes, second in qualifying, was desperately unlucky when Gino Rea’s machine suddenly lost rear traction and almost caused Rea to fall exiting a left hand corner early in lap one. Broc was so close behind that he could not avoid his rival and the impact punctured a hole in the Ninja ZX-6R’s engine cases, losing oil and coolant and causing Broc to retire through no fault of his own or his machine’s. Parkes won the race at Misano this year but three DNFs have put him fourth in the final championship standings. The Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki team of Massimo Roccoli and Vittorio Iannuzzo had impressive showings today. Roccoli was seventh even though he is no fan of the Portimao circuit and Iannuzzo battled away hard despite losing front tyre grip, and going 11th. In the title race Roccoli got a place in the top ten, with Iannuzzo 14th. David Salom: “I was given the opportunity to finish second and I took it and I am very happy this weekend. I took pole and second in the race was a great result. This weekend I am happy because it is my birthday today and I took second place in the race and also in the championship. I have to thank the team and Kawasaki for this year. This is my best season of racing and a lot of it is because of the bike I rode and the team I rode for.” Broc Parkes: “Gino Rea lost control in front of me and I had nowhere to go. His bike’s footpeg went through the side casing of my bike and all the water and oil came out so I could not continue. I was last after that incident and I was really upset because I knew I could have battled for another race win and second in the championship. For me that was the big thing, to try and get second. But congratulations to David, he rode well and got the runner-up place. We just needed to be a little bit more consistent because we got three DNFs and you cannot win championships with that, even thought this one was not my fault.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Yamaha Clinch the 2011 World Supersport Manufacturers title at Portimao Yamaha ParkinGO team closed the spectacular 2011 season in perfect fashion today with an extraordinary number of achievements claimed throughout the year. Following a remarkable 12 podium finishes and nine race wins out of the 12 rounds of the 2011 season, Yamaha proudly clinched the 2011 Manufacturer’s World title today in Portimao, with a total of 251 points and a 21 point lead. World Champion Chaz Davies was on true champion form today powering his YZF-R6 to the finish line snatching the chequered flag and adding yet another race win to his numerous achievements. The Welshman immediately took the lead off the grid and continued to dominate the 20 lap race. Team-mate Luca Scassa also put on a strong solid performance, gradually working his way up from eighth place off the grid to cross the line in fourth place. Chaz Davies was crowned the 2011 World Supersport Champion already in the last round of the championship in Magny Cours two weeks ago, while team- mate Luca Scassa climbed back up the standings to close the season in fifth place on 134 points, missing out on third place by just 12 points. Yamaha ParkinGO team made a sudden change of manufacturer at the beginning of the season, choosing the Yamaha YZF-R6 as the weapon of choice to power the team to complete a stellar season, snatching the 2011 World Supersport Champion title, the 2011 Manufacturer’s World title and taking the top position in the 2011 Team classification. Chaz Davies Yamaha ParkinGO Team – 1st “This was the best possible way to end an amazing season. It was a tough race, I had a good start, put my head down but started losing the front and had to work hard to keep pushing. I’m worn out actually but I really enjoyed the race. I had a great package, great bike and the team did a great job and I couldn’t ask for anything more. The entire year has been amazing and the title and today is just a dream come true.” Luca Scassa Yamaha ParkinGO Team – 4th “It was a difficult last race today. I wanted to do my best and today I did, but the little crash yesterday caused me to start way back in eighth on the grid and it’s really difficult to make my way back up especially if you don’t do it in the first three corners. I had to pass a few riders ahead but it was tough, I was losing a lot accelerating; I think my weight was making it extra difficult. The team did a great job yesterday to repair the bike so I could get a few laps in in the second qualifying. I did my best and my worst this year, some silly mistakes have cost me a top three finish in the championship. But when one year ends, another begins and I’ll hopefully have a better year next year.” Lucio Nicastro – Yamaha ParkinGO Team Manager It seems like the year started yesterday and it’s already over. We made a sudden change to Yamaha just before the beginning of the season, so it was difficult to get adjusted, we had to work extremely hard. The entire team did a fantastic job and we were winning from the very start of the season. Nine victories out of 12 is a spectacular result, three for Luca who had a great start to the year but unfortunately struggled a little mid-way, which is a pity as I’m sure he could have been second in the championship. Chaz was just amazing and ended the season as a true champion, taking his sixth race win this year. Three titles this year; World Champion, Manufacturer’s title and top team in the Championship, we couldn’t ask for more.” Laurens Klein Koerkamp Racing Manager, Yamaha Motor Europe “What an impressive season this has been. Taking the World Supersport Rider’s world title with Chaz, Manufacturer’s world title, first in the team standings with the Yamaha ParkinGO team and winning 9 out of 12 races. A big thank you to Chaz and Luca, all team and the supporting staff for a fantastic season. We race to support our brand image and show the strength of our R-series production models and Yamaha couldn’t have asked for a better World Supersport season than this. The Yamaha R6 has dominated this year again, and on top of that Jed Metcher won European Superstock title today also on an R6. A perfect season.”