FIM Supersport World Championship Monza, Italy May 10, 2009 Race Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Cal CRUTCHLOW (Yamaha YZF-R6), 16 laps, 29:34.605 2. Joan LASCORZ (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -2.660 seconds 3. Fabien FORET (Yamaha YZF-R6), -2.716 4. Eugene LAVERTY (Honda CBR600RR), -2.780 5. Andrew PITT (Honda CBR600RR), -9.270 6. Katsuaki FUJIWARA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -9.332 7. Michele PIRRO (Yamaha YZF-R6), -20.178 8. Garry MCCOY (Triumph Daytona 675), -20.221 9. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Honda CBR600RR), -22.681 10. Gianluca NANNELLI (Triumph Daytona 675), -26.993 11. Franco BATTAINI (Yamaha YZF-R6), -31.343 12. Miguel PRAIA (Honda CBR600RR), -32.236 13. Barry VENEMAN (Suzuki GSX-R600), -32.695 14. Gianluca VIZZIELLO (Honda CBR600RR), -33.216 15. Alessandro POLITA (Suzuki GSX-R600), -33.652 16. Matthieu LAGRIVE (Honda CBR600RR), -37.937, crash 17. Doni Tata PRADITA (Yamaha YZF-R6), -44.249 18. Jesco GÃœNTHER (Honda CBR600RR), -44.860 19. Danilo DELL’OMO (Honda CBR600RR), -56.772, ran off track 20. Arie VOS (Honda CBR600RR), -73.876 21. Fabrizio LAI (Honda CBR600RR), -74.344 22. Jose MORILLAS (Yamaha YZF-R6), -105.778 23. Massimo ROCCOLI (Honda CBR600RR), -1 lap, DNF, crash 24. Russell HOLLAND (Honda CBR600RR), -3 laps, DNF, crash 25. Mark AITCHISON (Honda CBR600RR), -6 laps, DNF, crash 26. Yannick GUERRA (Yamaha YZF-R6), -8 laps, DNF, crash 27. Anthony WEST (Honda CBR600RR), -14 laps, DNF, crash Championship Point Standings (After 5 of 14 races): 1. Crutchlow, 99 points 2. Laverty, 81 3. Sofuoglu, 72 4. Pitt, 54 5. West, 52 6. Lascorz, 47 7. Foret, 44 8. Aitchison, 34 9. Pirro, 33 10. Veneman, 28 11. Lagrive, 25 12. TIE, Fujiwara/Robbin Harms, 23 14. TIE, McCoy/Roccoli, 20 16. Nannelli, 16 17. vizziello, 9 18. Praia, 8 19. TIE, Battaini/Patrik Vostarek, 5 More, from a press release issued by Parkalgar Honda: Laverty battles to fourth at Monza PARKALGAR HONDA racer Eugene Laverty took a hard-earned fourth in a race-long battle for the World Supersport podium on his first visit to the super-fast Monza circuit in Italy, cementing his second place in the Championship standings. Parkalgar Honda’s Miguel Praia scored a season best equalling 12th, easily out-performing his qualifying position of 15th. The race was won by Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow. The sixth round of the World Championship takes place at Kyalami in South Africa in one week’s time on Sunday, 17th May. Eugene: “I wasn’t happy at the end of the race because on the last lap I thought I could have caught and passed the pair in front of me. I did all the hard work and then on the last corner was sucked in and ran wide. I simply didn’t have the confidence in my front tyre to brake harder and take the inside line it had folded a couple of times on me in the race. With hindsight I may have used a different front tyre the same as the riders around me but that is down to experience at this circuit. It was nice to go faster in the race than qualifying and that was helped by some changes to my chassis overnight. Foret allowed Cal to get away by trying to win the race on every lap. Still, I am 18-points behind Cal in the Championship and it is not even half-way yet so there is a lot more to come and the team is really stepping up its game.” Miguel: “I got a good start and up to around 12th or 13th but was held up at the Parabolica and dropped back four places avoiding Vizziello. I got my head down to recover as many places as I could and battled with Veneman. He was playing with me and over-taking when I felt if he had followed me we would have caught up with Battaini. The pace was fantastic with all laps in the 1min 52s which is very good. On the last lap I had a near huge highside and was not able to catch Battaini. It is good points and a result that I needed.” Simon Buckmaster, Parkalgar Honda Team Manager: “It is a surprise to see an ex-World Champion and experienced rider such as Foret riding so erratically. It hurt Cal at Assen and hurt us here; it certainly cost Eugene the chance to go with Cal during the race. Eugene is still second in the Championship and there’s a long way to go. Parkalgar Honda has a good bike package but we will be working hard to improve it when we return from the two flyaway races, we have some ideas to gain performance. Well done to Miguel for equalling his best result of the season and racing with some good guys, it was a very good ride by him and he can carry that momentum through to South Africa next week.” More, from a press release issued by Team YZF Yamaha Doni Tata Pradita 17th Good learning experience for Doni who finished in 17th position. He could have had a better result, but he was suffering from his right hand because of a physical problem. In the beginning of the event, Doni was in 19th position, fighting with riders like Holland and Gunther. He tried his best to get a good result but his right hand was hurting. Nevertheless he could finish the race and this is a good experience for the young rider in this Supersport World Championship. The Yamaha R6s did pretty well in Monza as Cal Crutchlow won the race with his team mate Fabien Foret finishing in 3rd position behind Joan Lascorz. Crutchlow increased his lead in the World Championship. Doni Tata Pradita: “I was in a good position in the first corner. I pushed hard for the first 5 to 7 laps. Then my front brake lever was coming inside. I tried to ride more relaxed. I followed an other rider and passed him in the straight. But I had a problem with my hand as the brake lever is too short. It’s not good for me. I tried hard at the end of the race. It’s not so bad. I am sorry for my Indonesian friends as it could have been better. I could have finished 15th if I didn’t have this problem with my hand. I will try to achieve a good result at the next race.” Team-manager Martial Garcia: “This 17th position is an unexpected result. Doni showed a good progression as he was faster during the race than during the practice. His very fast motorcycle could let him stay with the other riders. He could have finished 2 or 3 positions better, but he had some problem due to his physical shape. He finished 44 seconds behind the winner and he keeps on learning.” More, from a press release issued by Stiggy Racing Honda: West crashes in Monza Race; Vizziello takes 14th The struggle continued for the Stiggy Racing Honda team in the fifth round for the Supersport World Championship in Monza today. Although the good atmosphere at the famous track, and high number of spectator attendance seemed a promise for a good day, the team once again found the unlucky charm, that influenced the results since the first practice sessions on Friday, on their side. Anthony West struggled throughout the Monza qualifying sessions and had to start today’s race from a disappointing 20th place on the grid. The disappointed Australian – who came close to taking his first win of the season in Valencia – started his race determined to make up for ground lost. West got off to a good start from his fifth row position, and came through the first lap in 12th place. He seemed to have found some flow he had been looking for early on in the weekend, and recorded a top speed of 289 km/h aboard his CBR600RR. While pushing hard to firm a connection with the fast group from his 11th position, West lost the front of his machine and went down on the third lap of the race. Vizziello, who had qualified in 18th position, managed to gradually improve throughout the race, and took two points home as he crossed the line in 14th place. Gianluca Vizziello, 14th: “I had a good start from my 18th place on the grid. I touched another rider in the chicane and had to get off the gas for a second. The rhythm was good today, but I was lacking some acceleration coming out of the corners. My crew have worked hard this weekend, and I am happy with the set up of my bike. I am convinced this is the way forward for me to improve my results, and hope I can continue my progress in the next race “. Anthony West, DNF: ” I had a crap weekend here in Monza. We made some changes to the bike after the bad qualifying results, but starting from that position on the grid is it just hard to make some ground. My only choice was to go flat out, but then I pushed too hard and lost the front. I made a small mistake with big consequences. I’m very disappointed and would like to forget this weekend and look ahead to the next race”. Johan Stigefelt, Teammanager: ” Unfortunately, Anthony ran off the track and crashed his bike. It was the end of a bad weekend, probably one of the worst races for our Supersport team in many years. Luckily, Gianluca managed to grab two points here, so we don’t leave empty handed. It was a good reward for his crew after they struggled through a difficult series of qualifying sessions. I’m looking forward to the next race in South Africa, and definitely hope we can achieve some better results there “. More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Starting from seventh place on the grid, Pitt battled hard with the other leading riders in the early stages of the 16-lap race around the iconic 5.8km Monza circuit. However, Pitt slipped back at the Parabolic turn on lap seven and was unable to get back into contention for podium honours. His Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Kenan Sofuoglu, took his CBR600RR to ninth place at the flag after struggling with corner entry and exit issues. The Turkish ace, who won the opening race of the season at Phillip Island, is confident of improvements for round six, however, which takes place at Kyalami in South Africa next Sunday. Andrew Pitt – 5th The bike was actually really good at the start of the race – the balance of the chassis felt fine and I was able to push at the front with the others. But, as the race progressed, it became clear that we were really over-working the rear tyre. I had problems controlling the bike into and out of turns, especially the entry. In the end I was having to use the gearbox to slow down because if I used the brakes too much, the rear would just want to come round and overtake me. We’re definitely going in the right direction with the new bike, though, and just need to work on the rear setting a little to get a result next week. Kenan Sofuoglu – 9th I can only say that I am really very disappointed with this weekend here in Monza. I had a very big crash in qualifying yesterday and, although I was not too badly injured, I lost quite a lot of confidence. I have some problems with braking and accelerating but we will work hard to put these right in time for the next race in South Africa. I know that I am in a very professional team and I trust the guys that I work with. I will also do my best to improve the rider performance and hopefully we can all get a good result next week. Ronald ten Kate team manager It’s been a challenging weekend for us again here at Monza, but we can take a positive from the fact that, during the first half of the race, Andrew’s bike felt OK for him something we could see from the way he was riding. We can use his data to prepare for next weekend’s race in Kyalami, because it’s about time that we start to bring home some results if we want to play an active role in the outcome of this championship. More, from a press release issued by Honda: Laverty Fourth After Tough Monza Race-day. Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda CBR600RR) repeated his qualifying position of fourth in today’s race at Monza, making him the first Honda rider home. He was only 0.064 seconds from a podium finish in a race he looked capable of winning at one stage, but a first chicane contact with another rider on the final lap pushed him back and he could not make up enough ground to grab a top three finish in the very last corner. A delayed start to the 16-lap World Supersport race was the result of a restart for the first Superbike race of the day, and this contributed to a nervous first few laps for most riders. Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) was seventh in qualifying but improved to fifth in the race itself, despite suffering from a lack of rear traction. Pitt’s team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) was with the leaders in the early lap rankings, but slipped back to finish ninth, three places behind his qualifying place. Miguel Praia (Parkalgar Honda CBR600RR) went from 15th on the grid to 12th in the race, the fourth Honda rider home, and the only other Honda points scorer was Gianluca Vizziello (Stiggy Racing Honda CBR600RR), 14th and two places better than qualifying. Anthony West (Stiggy Racing Honda CBR600RR) was mystified to qualify 20th yesterday and today he lasted only two laps, crashing on the third when simply pushing too hard. West is now fifth in the championship, one below Pitt and one above today’s second place rider Joan Lascorz. Cal Crutchlow won the race, from Lascorz and Fabien Foret. Mark Aitchison (Althea Honda CBR600RR) had high hopes at Monza after a positive recent test at the classic 5.973km circuit. Despite starting inside the top five, and running strongly for a time, he fell at the Parabolica and had to retire. His team-mate Matthieu Lagrive (Althea Honda CBR600RR) was 11th in qualifying but after crashing and restarting, he was only one place from a point, 16th. The RES Software Veidec Honda riders experienced mixed fortunes over the weekend. Robbin Harms did not race due to injuries sustained in practice while team mates Jesco Gunther and Arie Vos overcame persistent front end problems in qualifying to finish the race in 18th and 20th places respectively. Crutchlow leads the series going into Kyalami next weekend, 99 points to Laverty’s 81. Sofuoglu is on 72 points, Pitt 54 and West an unchanged 52. Eugene Laverty said: “I wasn’t happy at the end of the race because on the last lap I thought I could have caught and passed the pair in front of me. I did all the hard work and then on the last corner was sucked in and ran wide. I simply didn’t have the confidence in my front tyre to brake harder and take the inside line. It had folded a couple of times on me in the race. With hindsight I may have used a different front tyre, the same as the riders around me, but that is down to experience at this circuit.” Kenan Sofuoglu said: “I can only say that I am really very disappointed with this weekend here in Monza. I had a very big crash in qualifying yesterday and, although I was not too badly injured, I lost quite a lot of confidence. I have some problems with braking and accelerating but we will work hard to put these right in time for the next race in South Africa. I know that I am in a very professional team and I trust the guys that I work with. I will also do my best to improve the rider performance and hopefully we can all get a good result next week.” Andrew Pitt said: “The bike was actually really good at the start of the race – the balance of the chassis felt fine and I was able to push at the front with the others. But, as the race progressed, it became clear that we were really over-working the rear tyre. I had problems controlling the bike into and out of turns, especially the entry. In the end I was having to use the gearbox to slow down because if I used the brakes too much, the rear would just want to come round and overtake me. We’re definitely going in the right direction with the new bike, though, and just need to work on the rear setting a little to get a result next week.” Anthony West said: “We made some changes to the bike after the bad qualifying results, but starting from that position on the grid is it just hard to make some ground. My only choice was to go flat out, but then I pushed too hard and lost the front. I made a small mistake with big consequences. I’m very disappointed and would like to forget this weekend and look ahead to the next race.” Gianluca Vizziello said: “I had a good start from my 18th place on the grid. I touched another rider in the chicane and had to get off the gas for a second. The rhythm was good today, but I was lacking some acceleration coming out of the corners. My crew have worked hard this weekend, and I am happy with the set up of my bike. I am convinced this is the way forward for me to improve my results, and hope I can continue my progress in the next race.” Miguel Praia said: “I got a good start and up to around 12th or 13th but was held up at the Parabolica and dropped back four places avoiding Vizziello. I got my head down to recover as many places as I could and battled with Veneman. He was playing with me and over-taking when I felt if he had followed me we would have caught up with Battaini. The pace was fantastic with all laps in the 1min 52s which is very good. On the last lap I had a near huge highside and was not able to catch Battaini. It is good points and a result that I needed.” Mark Aitchison said: “At the beginning it was a tough race and I was able to remain in the first group of riders also if my rhythm was not perfect. Starting from the sixth laps I found a very good pace when I crashed in Parabolica curve. I was not pushing too hard but probably I entered that curve just a little too fast, I lost my front wheel and I crashed. Not very much I can say”¦.I ended my race for a small mistake that probably cost me the podium.” Matthieu Lagrive said: “Because of a bad start I pushed extremely hard from the beginning and I was able to reach the riders in front of me. I tried to move forward in combat with Pitt and Fujiwara but I ran out in a curve and crashed. I rejoined the race trying to collect some points for my championship standing but I obtained only the sixteenth place. I’m very disappointed because with a better start I could have fought for the victory.” Jesco Günther said: “It was important to finish the race but I am not completely satisfied with my 20th place. We have some good feedback now from the machine and it felt much better than in the previous two races. I need to get back some race pace and I am sure that this weekend has been a good start to that end. I am happy that the next event is coming up very soon, so we can keep on improving. I want to thank my team for the work that they have done this weekend, and I hope I can give them something to cheer about in Kyalami. I also hope Robbin is fit enough to race again with our team.” Arie Vos said: “Again I had to fight hard so as not to finish right at the back, and that doesn’t feel good. It is hard to say why my results are so disappointing at the moment. I know that part of it is that I am struggling on the bike, but the bike itself is not as easy to ride fast as I would like. I don’t know if we can solve this in a short period because the next race is just seven days away. We don’t have time to work on the machine in between these two races so we just have to see how it goes when we get there, and what we can do to improve matters. Nevertheless my team worked hard this weekend and I hope we will have a better result in Kyalami.” Robbin Harms said: “I had my surgery on Saturday at 2pm and it took more than two hours, but everything went well. The doctors put a plate on my fracture and I don’t have much pain anymore. Because of the surgery the muscles in my neck and shoulder have shortened, and I feel very stiff now. It can take up to a few months before this gets back to normal, but I am working on it already! As for the crash, I am not sure what happened, and the bike doesn’t show any signs of technical failure. In a moment my back tyre slipped away and the bike had a huge high-side. It happened really quickly and I didn’t even have time to react to prepare for the fall. I am happy that the surgery went well, however, and that I am able to ride next week. I will at least try to finish the race in South Africa!” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Lascorz Second at Monza Despite Early Setback WSS, Monza, Italy, 10 May 2009 Joan Lascorz overcame a problem soon after the start of the 16-lap race to record a season best second place race finish on his Ninja ZX-6R Kawasaki. The fifth round of the 14-round season proved to be far from straightforward for Lascorz, after a first lap near-crash injured his leg, before he regained ground and hunted down all the riders in his path except one, eventual race winner Cal Crutchlow. Lascorz improved his placing in the championship from eighth to sixth, after his second podium finish in two races. Katsuaki Fujiwara was in the early mix at the fast and furious Monza, up to fifth at one point and looking capable of sticking with the podium contenders at one time. He battled with Andrew Pitt for fifth place on the last lap, and only just lost an even higher final placing. Fujiwara, who has endured some hard weekends mixed in with a best of fifth at Valencia, improved his championship standing to 12th, after a very positive day for Kawasaki in the Supersport class. Joan Lascorz: “I had a big problem at the start of the race when I almost crashed and hurt my leg when my footpeg dug right into my left leg. It numbed my whole leg for a time and it made changing gears very difficult. I lost some places but recovered them again when I got some feeling back and had to ride hard to take second place. We had a good race here, our best finish of the year and after a start like that it was a good result.” Katsuaki Fujiwara: “Not so bad today and we had an improvement in our set-up. We just needed a bit more of an improvement again to finish any higher than this. The team and I are now working very well and although I am happy with the result today I am a racer and I always want more.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Yamaha dominate the Supersport podium It was a fantastic race for the Yamaha World Supersport Team as both riders fought hard for the duration, taking well earned places on the podium at the chequered flag. Fabien Foret initially dropped to eighth place at the start but worked hard to make the places back up again. Cal Crutchlow was a constant presence in the top group, taking the lead from Laverty in a fast overtake on lap five at the Ascari chicane. Foret moved up swiftly behind him, taking second position. The two pushed on at the front until lap ten when a daring pass up the inside by Laverty at the Roggia chicane put him past both Yamaha riders and into the lead. Not content to sit back, Foret took the lead back as they turned through the Parabolica and headed out onto the straight. In a show of the incredible speed of the Yamaha R6 Crutchlow then came back to take both Foret and Laverty at the end of the start finish straight heading into lap 11. Lap 13 saw Foret run wide, allowing Laverty and Lascorz through, while Crutchlow began to extend his lead. Lascorz then made a crucial error on lap 14, sitting up and forcing Laverty wide, allowing Foret to get past. Foret then tussled with Lascorz but eventually accepted third position and a long awaited podium whilst his team-mate Crutchlow had put a definitive gap between him and the second placed Kawasaki rider for the chequered flag. Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team, (1st) “it’s going really good here at Monza and I’m really happy with the race. We came here looking to finish in the top five to be honest on a circuit I don’t know. We did a good job this weekend at Yamaha so thanks to everyone who put a lot of effort in. we were never as fast as we could have been but we worked hard. When I got the break in the race today I went for it, I was willing to do anything to win, you could see by some of the passes I was taking no prisoners! It’s all credit to the team who got me here so a great win for the team!” Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team, (3rd) “I’m pretty happy, I can clearly fight again now and I’m not injured anymore. I made a few mistakes in the race and someone hit my exhaust pipe which didn’t help. It was a tough one but I enjoyed it and I think I’m back and definitely looking forward to the next one now.” Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager “We are first and third, and for me the whole weekend was good, not just the race which can be a bit of a gamble as you saw with the Superbikes . You can easily make a mistake here and accidents can happen so I’m really happy nothing went majorly wrong in the supersport race. I’m really pleased to have both the riders on the podium, it’s great we leave here extending our championship lead and with Fabien taking good points away as well.” More, from a press release issued by ParkinGo Triumph BE1 Racing: Team ParkinGo Triumph BE1 Racing leaves Monza with two top 10 results. Garry McCoy and Gianluca Nannelli took eighth and tenth place respectively after a race during which they fought some spectacular duels. The three cilinder Triumph performed well also and proved that not only bikes that adapt better to the circuit can be fast on this track. In fact, Nannelli was the third quickest today as he reached a speed of 288,1 km/h.These results will certainly be a morale booster for the entire team. However, the only negative part of this round would be the machine’s lack of consistency between start and finish and it is on this particular flaw that the team will be working on. Moreover, the next rounds will take place overeseas, in South Africa and the United States. GARRY McCOY | Triumph Daytona 675 | 8th : “I had a good start but at the First Variante I almost went off track. From that moment on, I started pushing hard to stay in the leading pack but I lost valuable time during the battle against Sofuoglu, Roccoli and Pirro. I managed to overtake the Turkish rider but at the Parabolica I braked a bit too late and left just enough space to Pirro who eventually passed me”. GIANLUCA NANNELLI | Triumph Daytona 675 | 10th : “I couldn’t race the way I intended to today as the bike started slipping after a few laps. As a consequence, I couldn’t be as effective as in yesterday’s practice and, to top it all, the tyre was almost worn out in the last laps. I really would’ve loved to fight for the top 5 but still I’m satisified with my result”. GIULIANO ROVELLI – TEAM MANAGER: “We’ll have to work harder to improve our race performance. During our simulations we are constantly very fast, but in the actual race we keep having problems. From what we’ve gathered this season, there seems to be no anomaly in the machines’ behaviour. Nonetheless, we’ll try to get to the bottom of this and see what is the cause of this year’s performance. However, I’m happy with both riders’ results given the fact that Monza is a really hard circuit”.