WINSTON SUPERSPORT ONE-TWO AT VALENCIA TEST Sébastien Charpentier and Katsuaki Fujiwara head for round two of the 2005 World Supersport championship at Phillip Island, Australia on 3 April in confident mood after completing a two-day official test at Valencia in Spain. The two Winston Ten Kate Honda riders headed the combined time sheets for the weekend in first and second place respectively. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “It’s very satisfying to carry our one-two finish at the first race in Qatar through to this test in Spain, although the positions for Kats and Sébastien are reversed. It shows that our Supersport team continues to work hard to improve and develop the new CBR600RR. Grip levels dropped this afternoon as the track temperature rose slightly but we were able to do a good long run with Sébastien this morning when he did consistent 1m38s laps. With Kats, we’re still working around the base setting to get him more familiar with how small changes can affect the bike. We’re looking forward to Phillip Island, which is like a second home to all of us, although it’ll be strange going there without an Australian Supersport rider for the first time in some years.” Sébastien Charpentier 85 laps (two days), 1:37.880 “This has been a really good test for me and I’m very happy. The tyres have been fantastic here and the front worked really well in a race simulation, when I was able to do many fast laps. The bike feels very strong everywhere and the team has been working really well together. Everything is perfect and I think we have a great package for Phillip Island and especially for when we come back to Valencia to race in April.” Katsuaki Fujiwara 88 laps (two days) 1:38.178 “I’m still learning about the new CBR but I’m working better and better with the team. The race win at the first round in Qatar was fantastic for me but we still have some work to do on the bike especially the rear. The front is much better now and I think the problems that everyone had in Qatar were because of the surface there. Before Australia, I’m looking forward to spending some time at home in Japan to see my family and maybe do some fishing. I’m also going to have a big party with some people from the Honda factory to celebrate my win in Qatar!” Valencia test two-day combined times: 1 Sébastien Charpentier FRA (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 1:37.880; 2 Katsuaki Fujiwara JAP (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 1:38.178; 3 Broc Parkes AUS (Yamaha) 1:38.804; 4 Kevin Curtain AUS (Yamaha) 1:38.913; 5 Fabien Foret FRA (Honda) 1:38.943; 6 Michel Fabrizio ITA (Honda) 1:39.238; 7 Stefan Folkesson SWE (Honda) 1:39.382; 8 Ginaluca Nannelli ITA (Ducati) 1:39.535; 9 Barry Veneman NED (Suzuki) 1:39.985; 10 Javier Fores ESP (Suzuki) 1:40.072. More, from a press release issued by Pirelli: In the Supersport class team Ten Kate again showed its great potential placing like in Qatar his riders on the two top positions, respectively Charpentier first and Fujiwara second, in front of the two Yamaha Germany pilots. Yamaha is back in the fight then, showing how Pirelli’s can well satisfy the needs of all the 600 and promising a thrilling race here on the 24th April. It’s always difficult to make comparisons, many are the variables playing at any time, but considering the times made here in Valencia last year we can talk of a good improvement, with a laptime 1 second and a half better than 2004’s best – VD Goorbergh’s (1’39.2) Rider Team Bike Best lap Laps 1. Charpentier Winston Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR600RR 1’37.880 85 2. Fujiwara Winston Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR600RR 1’38.178 88 3. Parkes Yamaha Motor Germany Yamaha YZF R6 1’38.804 104 4. Curtain Yamaha Motor Germany Yamaha YZF R6 1’38.913 82 5. Foret Team Megabike Honda CBR600RR 1’38.943 97 6. Fabrizio Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR 1’39.238 111 7. Folkesson Stiggy Motorsports Honda CBR600RR 1’39.382 86 8. Nannelli Ducati SC Carachi Ducati 749R 1’39.535 96 9. Veneman Suzuki Netherland Suzuki GSX 600R 1’39.985 104 10.Fores Alstare Suzuki Corona Suzuki GSX 600R 1’40.072 109 More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Javi Fores continued to suffer grip problems today and so was unable to grab a place in the top six as he had intended. But he and the team found some good directions and left Valencia feeling positive about the next outing in Phillip Island. Frenchman Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) dominated the two-day test finishing with a lap of 1:37.880, nearly three tenths of a second ahead of his team mate Katsuaki Fujiwara. Third was Broc Parke s (Y amaha) with his team mate Kevin Curtain fourth. Javi Fores – 10th, 1:40.072: “I still didn’t find the rear-end grip I was looking for today although we tried many different settings. But all the information we gathered was good and gave us some ideas to think about and work on. All in all, I would say that these two days were very useful and, in a way, it’s the first real and proper test we have had with the new bike. I am looking forward to Phillip Island. I know it’s a hard track, but I learn tracks pretty quickly so I think I am going to have fun there.” Supersport Results (overall for two days): 1 Sébastien Charpentier (F Honda) 1.37.880 85 laps; 2 Katsuaki Fujiwara (J Honda) 1.38.178 88 laps; 3 Broc Parkes (AUS Yamaha) 1.38.804 104 laps; 4 Kevin Curtain (AUS Yamaha) 1.38.913 82 laps; 5 Fabien Foret (F Honda) 1.38.943 97 laps; 6 Michel Fabrizio (I Honda) 1.39.238 111 laps; 7 Stefan Folkesson (S Honda) 1.39.382 86 laps; 8 Gianluca Nannelli (I Ducati) 1.39.535 96 laps; 9 Barry Veneman (NL Suzuki) 1.39.985 104 laps; 10 Javi Fores (ESP Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1.40.072 109 laps. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Hard work from the Yamaha Motor Germany supersport team allowed riders Broc Parkes and Kevin Curtain to make considerable progress with the development of their 2005 model YZF-R6s at this weekend’s official tests in Valencia. The Australian pair set the third and fourth fastest times of the weekend and declared themselves pleased with improvements made to the bikes. After finishing fourth and sixth in the opening round in Qatar two weeks ago, the team was able to try new settings on the front forks which transformed the handling characteristics. Both riders were able to run consistently at race pace in the four 90 minute sessions over the two days. Parkes, almost fully recovered from the broken hand which hampered him at the opening race in Qatar, completed 104 laps and set a best time of 1:38.804. Curtain completed fewer laps than his team-mate due to a high speed crash on Saturday but ended up just a fraction of a second behind with a best of 1:38.913 from his 82 laps. Honda team-mates Sébastien Charpentier and Katsuaki Fujiwara set the fastest times of the weekend. Round two of the championship takes place at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia on the weekend of April 1-3. Supersport World Championship Valencia test – leading times 1. Sébastien Charpentier (Honda) 1:37.880 2. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Honda) 1:38.178 3. Broc Parkes (Yamaha) 1:38.804 4. Kevin Curtain (Yamaha) 1:38.913 Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) “The bike was heaps better here than it’s been all year and we’ve made more progress in these two days than we did in all of our time in Qatar. My broken hand is better. It’s not quite 100 percent but almost there it – it feels good to be fast again! I was able to put in consistent lap times and the front tyres are working really good over a race distance. I felt I could have gone quicker in the afternoon but the wind was a bit stronger and that affected times. Even so, this is the closest we’ve been to Charpentier.” Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) “We made big improvements to the suspension overnight and that gave me much more rear end grip. Because we’re running a new bike we’re still having to work our way through things with the suspension, but we are getting there and we’ve now got the bike working good round here. The crash was a real big one. I had just gone out and done a few and felt that I had found the limit, but I lost it going into turn five and got spat right off. I’m heading back off to Australia on Tuesday and I’m really looking forward to the race at Phillip Island.” Terrell Thien (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Germany) “I think everyone is really pleased with how things have gone. We’ve made good progress with the chassis and it was good that we didn’t have the high front tyre wear we suffered in Qatar. Broc’s wrist is much better now and today is the first time in around 18 months that Kevin has been beaten by his team-mate. It’s good to have two riders in the team who can push each other and they’re both keen to get back to Australia and race at Phillip Island.”