From a press release issued by Honda Racing:

MUGGERIDGE GIVES CBR600RR IMOLA WIN AS VERMEULEN TAKES WORLD TITLE

Honda CBR600RR rider Karl Muggeridge won a sensational race with his team-mate Chris Vermeulen and second place was enough to clinch the world title for Vermeulen in Sunday’s 10th round of the World Supersport championship at Imola in Italy.

The two fought tooth and nail for victory in the 21-lap affair but it was Muggeridge who took his second successive win and the sixth win of the year for the Honda CBR600RR.

“It was a tough last lap,” admitted Muggeridge. “I didn’t expect Chris to pass me with half a lap to go and he gave me a fright. But I knew he was never going to stop in time for the corner! I’m pleased to win again and want to make it a hat-trick at Magny-Cours in three weeks.”

Vermeulen becomes the youngest ever World Supersport champion as the 21-year-old eventually settled for second place to confirm his new status.

He said: “I wasn’t that bothered about winning the race but Karl was a little slower out of the chicane and I managed to pass him. When I ran wide I knew it was time to worry about finishing the race.”

Jurgen van den Goorbergh bounced back from a heavy crash in the last round at Assen to take third with former world champion Stephane Chambon fourth.

Klaffi Honda’s Sebastien Charpentier was looking to challenge for third place in the early stages and give Honda a 1-2-3 but the Frenchman almost crashed on the fourth lap and was relegated to eighth. He fought back to an eventual fifth.

“I tried everything I knew to pass Chambon,” said Charpentier. “But he brakes really late and makes it difficult to make a move. After my highside I was determined to try and get back to Chambon but then Katsuaki Fujiwara crashed in front of me and I almost stopped just to avoid hitting him.”

Luckless Gianluca Nannelli finished sixth, dropping two places on the last lap as his machine ran short of fuel. Wild card Japanese rider Tekkyu Kayo took a lonely seventh place while Van Zon Honda’s Iain MacPherson battled into eighth place after starting from 18th on the grid.

“I can’t believe I finished eighth,” said MacPherson. “It really felt effortless but I was up against it. Jorg Teuchert put me on the grass on the first lap and I had to get my head down from that moment until the end. The machine and tyres felt as good as they have all year.”

Italian Yamaha pair Antonio Carlacci and Simone Sanna finished ninth and 10th respectively while Klaffi Honda’s Robert Ulm took 13th place. Ulm commented: “After two crashes this weekend I couldn’t relax. I’m disappointed that I haven’t found my top form, which I¹ve been searching for all year.”

Werner Daemen, on the second of the Van Zon Honda’s, was a third lap retirement, the diminutive Belgian explained: “The fault was intermittent so it must be something electrical. I’m very disappointed, especially as I was really looking forward to the race here.”

World Supersport championship race result:
1 Karl Muggeridge, Australia (Honda) 39m 48.471s, 2 Chris Vermeulen, Australia (Honda) +0.771s, 3 Jurgen van den Goorbergh, Holland (Yamaha) +7.380s, 4 Stephane Chambon, France (Suzuki) +10.035s, 5 Sebastien Charpentier, France (Honda) +10.766s, 6 Gianluca Nannelli, Italy (Yamaha) +13.884s, 7 Tekkyu Kayo, Japan (Yamaha) +15.870s, 8 Iain MacPherson, GB (Honda) +34.341s, 9 Antonio Carlacci, Italy (Yamaha) +35.085s, 10 Simone Sanna, Italy (Yamaha) +35.151s. 13 Robert Ulm, Austria (Honda) +44.370s.

World Supersport championship points after 10 of 11 rounds: 1 Vermeulen 181, 2 Chambon 126, 3 Van den Goorbergh 120, 4 Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan (Suzuki) 119, 5 Muggeridge 109, 6 Christian Kellner, Germany (Yamaha) 82, 7 Alessio Corradi, Italy (Yamaha) 68, 8 Fabien Foret, France (Kawasaki) 64, 9 Jorg Teuchert, Germany (Yamaha) 60, 10 Charpentier 59.

Manufacturers’ points: 1 Honda 222, 2 Suzuki 176, 3 Yamaha 166, 4 Kawasaki 96.

Next round: Magny-Cours, France ­ October 19



More, from a press release issued by Chris Vermeulen’s publicist:

AUSTRALIAN WORLD CHAMPION

In the tradition of Mick Doohan and Troy Bayliss, 21 year old Australian Chris Vermeulen has etched his name on a motorcycle world championship trophy, following a thrilling 10th round of the World Supersport Championship at Imola in Italy tonight.

The Honda rider needed just a solid finish to stitch up his maiden world championship. A hard fought 2nd behind his team mate Karl Muggeridge was more than enough, after his nearest championship rival Katsuaki Fujiwara crashed out of contention.

“It’s unbelievable actually, it’s a completely different feeling than I expected but I am over the moon,” Vermeulen said after the race. “Obviously I was thinking more of the championship but I got a Two Out on my board, telling me Fujiwara was out of the race, so I thought now I can hang on.”

For the 2nd time in as many races Muggeridge and Vermeulen staged a stunning duel, with Chris attempting a last ditch passing move on one of the final corners, earning the wrath of his Dad, Peter who was on hand to witness his son crowned world champion.

Vermeulen’s rise to the top has been stunning. A former junior dirt bike champion, who was hand-picked by Barry Sheene at the tender age of 18 to race in the British Championship. Three short years later he’s the world champion and in an ironic and fateful twist his CBR600RR Honda carried the number 7, a number made famous by the late Sheene.

“There is no doubting without Barry’s influence I wouldn’t be standing here today. I wish he was here to see it,” The Queenslander said.

Vermeulen is tipped to be moving into World Superbikes next year, but before that there’s the final round of the series in France in 3 weeks. Vermeulen chasing one more record before the year ends.

“The all-time winning record in a year is five. I need one more to equal that.”


More, from another press release issued by Honda Racing:

CBR600RR GIVES VERMEULEN AND HONDA WORLD TITLES

Honda’s CBR600RR machine clinched the riders’ and manufacturers’ titles in the World Supersport championship in today’s 10th and penultimate round of the series here at Imola, Italy–in the machine’s debut season.

The CBR600RR has taken five pole positions and six race wins in its inaugural year. It has given 21-year-old Chris Vermeulen the world title and Honda its first manufacturers’ title in the middleweight sports production class.

“We knew right from the first test session that we had something special with the CBR600RR,” says Vermeulen. “Even just sitting on the machine felt good, you knew straight away that it was built to win races.”

He continues: “To be on the pace right from the start of the year and to be able to go to just about every circuit without machine data and then win says everything. We found a good base setting for the machine at Phillip Island in the second round and changed very little after that.”

A total of 14 podium finishes have been achieved during the 2003 campaign, most going the way of the Dutch-based Ten Kate Honda team.

Team owner Gerrit ten Kate explains: “I have worked with Honda for many years and the CBR600RR is one model that will be remembered for years to come as a machine which moved supersport racing to a new level.”

Ten Kate adds: “I know from the interest in my showroom during the year that the CBR600RR is a true winner ­ and I’m pleased to have been able to prove it with Chris (Vermeulen) in the world championship.”


More, from a press release issued by Team Yamaha Belgarda:

SUPERB PODIUM FOR JURGEN. SANNA AND KAYO IN TOP TEN.

Team Yamaha Belgarda rider Jurgen van den Goorbergh took a very hard fought for third place at Imola today and moved to within six points of second place in the championship, behind Stephane Chambon (Suzuki). Jurgen lost touch with the two leaders – Honda riders Karl Muggeridge and Chris Vermeulen, but then had a tremendous dogfight with Nannelli (Yamaha), Curtain (Yamaha) and Fujiwara (Suzuki) before consolidating third spot. Jurgen’s team mate Simone Sanna didn’t make a good start and was 18th at the end of the first lap, but he fought his way up though the field and ended tenth. Yamaha Belgarda’s guest rider Tekkyu Kayo also made a poor start and then found Imola a difficult track for overtaking. But he stuck to his task and – but for a small engine problem towards the end – and took a more then creditable seventh place. Muggeridge won the race, with Vermeulen second and scoring twenty points which was enough for him to be crowned 2003 Supersport World Champion. It was a tremendous feat for the Australian – at just twenty-one years of age.

JURGEN VD GOORBERGH – 3rd
I’m happy to get a podium, but in a way I felt that I could’ve done better then third. I would’ve liked to have fought with the two leaders, but I lost the gap and it was not really possible to catch them again. Also, I lost the front end a couple of times and so thought it’d be better ease the pace a bit. I was lucky to get third right at the end because I more or less ran out of petrol! Luckily it was ion the last lap at the top of the hill, so I could get the bike hone OK, but another lap wouldn’t have been possible! Now I’m just six points behind second in the championship, so the last round at Magny-Cours is going to be fun.

SIMONE SANNA – 10th
There’s not much to say really, except that I got a bad start and had a lot of work to do to make up for it. It was difficult to catch up and pass because there was a lot of traffic out there. When I got into tenth place, I lost my motivation because I could see that there was not much more possible. That was that.

TEKKYU KAYO – 7th
I’m happy-ish. I made a mistake at the start when I didn’t get away so well and then it was very hard to catch up again. Imola is not an easy place for overtaking, so it was very hard for me. The bike was very good. The tyres were good, the bike handled well and the only problem I had was in the last couple of laps when it lost a bit of power. The team have helped me a lot here and I’d very much like to race with them in World Supersport next year – if it is possible. Unfortunately, I will not be at the last round (Magny-Cours) because I will be racing in the All-Japan Championship on the same day.

RESULTS
1 Muggeridge (AUS-Honda), 2 Vermeulen (AUS-Honda), 3 Jurgen vd Goorbergh (NL-Yamaha Belgarda), 4 Chambon (F-Suzuki), 5 Charpentier (F-Honda), 6 Nannelli (I-Yamaha), 7 Tekkyu Kayo (J-Yamaha Belgarda), 10 Simone Sanna (I-Yamaha Belgarda)

Points: 1 Vermeulen 181, 2 Chambon 126, 3 VD GOORBERGH (YAMAHA BELGARDA) 120, 4 Fujiwara 119, 5 Muggeridge 109, 6 Kellner 82, 17 SANNA (YAMAHA BELGARDA) 24, 18 KAYO (YAMAHA BELGARDA) 22


More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service:

FOURTH FOR CHAMBON

2003 Supersport World Championship . Round 10, Imola, Italy. Sunday 28th September.

The overcast and cloudy conditions at Imola were a not a happy hunting ground for Team Alstare Suzuki Corona today, though Stephane Chambon did get fourth place after a very determined performance. Team mate Katsuaki Fujiwara was in contention in the early stages but crashed out of contention when he fell at the final chicane on the seventh lap. Karl Muggeridge and his Honda team mate Chris Vermeulen finished 1-2 today, with Vermeulen’s twenty points enough for him to be crowned 2003 Supersport World Champion. Chambon is now second, just six points ahead of van den Goorbergh, who is only one point ahead of Fujiwara, with one round of the championship remaining, so Magny-Cours is going to be very, very interesting indeed.

STEPHANE CHAMBON ­ 4th: I am not so happy to be fourth in some ways, because I could’ve done with something a bit better. A podium would’ve been nice and that would have made my charge for runner-up in the title a bit easier. But Imola was always going to be tough today and that’s how it was. There are not so many places to pass here and in the end, I had to be patient and see what I could pick up. Now there’s going to be a lot to do in the last round and I cannot afford any mistakes.

KATSUAKI FUJIWARA ­ DNF: I am very unhappy to crash today, because my chances of finishing second in the title race are now much harder. Of course there are only seven points between me and Stephane, but it’s a lot to catch up because he normally is quite consistent. But I am not going to give up until it is all over at Magny-Cours. I’m going to fight and fight and do my best to get a podium and leave the rest to fight each other. I think I touched a whiter line today, because the crash happened so quickly. There was no possibility of saving it at all – one minute I was OK, next minute I was on the floor.

Results: 1 Muggeridge (AUS-Honda), 2 Vermeulen (AUS-Honda), 3 Jurgen van den Goorbergh (NL-Yamaha), 4 CHAMBON (F-ALSTARE SUZUKI CORONA EXTRA) 5 Charpentier (F-Honda), 6 Nannelli (I-Yamaha), FUJIWARA (J-ALSTARE SUZUKI CORONA EXTRA) DNF,

Points: 1 Vermeulen 181, 2 CHAMBON (F-ALSTARE SUZUKI CORONA EXTRA) 126, 3 VD Goorbergh 120, 4 FUJIWARA (J-ALSTARE SUZUKI CORONA EXTRA) 119, 5 Muggeridge 109, 6 Kellner 82,


FABRIZIO’S SUPER WIN!

2003 European Superstock Championship. Round 8, Imola, 28th September 2003.

Team Alstare Suzuki Italia rider Michel Fabrizio took his GSX-R1000 to a dramatic victory at
Imola today and now has a fifteen point lead going into the final round at Magny-Cours on 19th October. He and Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) had fought tooth and nail throughout the 13-lap race until the final lap when Lanzi tried an impossible move on Fabrizio in the final chicane. Lanzi went down, but somehow Fabrizio managed to avoid him and carry on to take the chequered flag. Lanzi picked up his Ducati and pushed it over the line, but finished outside the points in 16th place.

Results: 1 FABRIZIO (I-ALSTARE SUZUKI ITALIA CORONA EXTRA), 2 Chiarello (I-Ducati), 3 Laverty (GB-Suzuki),

Points: 1 FABRIZIO (I-ALSTARE SUZUKI ITALIA CORONA EXTRA) 127, 2 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 112, 3 Alfonsi (I-Yamaha) 93,