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2005 WORLD SUPERBIKE: MAGNY COURS

CIRCUIT

• 2004 WINNERS:
• RACE 1 - James Toseland, Ducati
• RACE 2 - Noriyuki Haga Ducati
• 2003 WINNERS:
• RACE 1 - Neil Hodgson GBR 999R Ducati
• RACE 2 - Ruben Xaus SPA 999R Ducati

RACE RESULT

SUPERBIKES, RACE 1

• 1 Vermeulen Chris Honda CBR 1000RR
  “If I can do that again in race two, I’ll be pretty happy; but, as ever, those other guys out there don’t make it easy. It may have looked like a bit of a cruise when I was out in front but Yukio (Kagayama) didn’t let up on the pressure at all so I was riding at 100% all the way to the flag. It’s nice to get the lap record to back up the Superpole lap yesterday, which was held in similar temperatures to what it’ll be like for race two; so we should have some information to go on.”
• 2 Kagayama Yukio Suzuki GSXR1000 +8.2
• 3 Toseland James Ducati 999F050 +13.3
• 4 Muggeridge Karl Honda CBR 1000RR
• 5 Corser
• 6 Pitt
• 7 Walker
• 8 Neukirchner 9 Lanzi

SUPERBIKES, RACE 2

• 1 Lanzi Lorenzo Ducati 999F05
• 2 Kagayama Yukio Suzuki GSXR1000 +6.6s
• 3 Haga Noriyuki Yamaha YZF R1
• 4 Corser
• 5 Walker
• 6 Toseland
• 7 Pitt
• 8 Neukirchner
• 9 Abe
• 10 Chili

CORSER, 2005 CHAMPION: "Obviously I was always going to have my work cut out starting from 16th on the grid as it is very tricky to pass on this track unless you have a perfect set-up. I made a few mistakes in the first race which meant I was always trying to make up places again. I had a good start in the second race but then at the restart I got boxed in but had some great dicing along the way to fight my up to fourth. It's not what I wanted but I feel I did as much as I could. I have to thank Yukio for all the good work he did, particularly in testing, and the whole team for making it a fantastic year."

HAGA, 3RD OVERALL IN 2005: "The first race was disappointing, especially because the crash was not my fault and I lost my run of podiums. The second was fun and I enjoyed making big fighting with Yukio. Almost every lap we touched each other - I think both of us are crazy! I am happy to finish third in the championship in the R1's first year in world superbikes. We have been strong in the second half of the season and we know what is needed to improve the bike so that it can be fighting for wins at every race next year."

SUPERSPORT, RACE

• 1 Parkes
  2 Curtain +0.75s
  3 Fabrizio
  Foret
  Fores
  Stigefelt
  Fujiwara
  Chambon
  Nannelli
  Lagrive

QUALIFYING

GRID, SUPERPOLE

• 1 Vermeulen Chris Honda CBR 1000RR 1'39.836
  2 Lanzi Lorenzo Ducati 999F05 1'40.349
  3 Haga Noriyuki Yamaha YZF R1 1'40.510
  4 Muggeridge Karl Honda CBR 1000RR 1'40.536
  5 Toseland James Ducati 999F050 1'40.981
  6 Neukirchner Max Honda CBR 1000RR 7 1'41.043
  7 Kagayama Yukio Suzuki GSXR1000 K5 1'41.112
  8 Pitt Andrew Yamaha YZF R1 1'41.241
  9 Walker Chris Kawasaki ZX10 1'41.264
  10 Laconi Régis Ducati 999F05 1'41.398
  11 Bostrom Ben Honda CBR 1000RR
  12 Bussei Giovanni Kawasaki ZX10
  13 Checa Carrera David Yamaha YZF R1
  14 Martin Steve Petronas FP1
  15 Chili Pierfrancesco Honda CBR 1000RR
  16 Corser Troy Suzuki GSXR1000 K5

FRI QUALIFYING, OCT 7, 2005

Yukio smashes the lap record to take provisional pole!

Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Yukio Kagayama absolutely blitzed Neil Hodgson's 2003 lap record and took provisional pole position, with a time of 1:40.512 at Magny-Cours today. Kagayama had tested here recently and the good work done then paid off handsomely in today's timed qualifying session. Second quickest today is Karl Muggeridge (Honda), ahead of Andrew Pitt (Yamaha) and Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati). Kagayama's team mate Troy Corser suffered with wheelspin throughout timed qualifying and finished fifth in the standings.

• 1. Yukio Kagayama (JAP) Suzuki GSX R1000 1m 40.512
  "I had a little problem with wheelspin today, but it didn't really affect my riding style here. The conditions this afternoon were good - similar to when we tested here - and the set-up of the bike was pretty good also. If the track and weather conditions stay the same, then I will only need a small adjustment to the bike for the race. It's great to be at a track I have been to before - particularly as this is a track I find enjoyable to ride"
  2. Karl Muggeridge (AUS) Honda CBR 1000RR +0.34
  “I’m really struggling with grip here today, especially in the corners around the top of the circuit. We tried a lot of things this afternoon to find some grip – up, down, everything. We improved it slightly in that session but, unfortunately, that meant the bike not working properly around the rest of the lap. But our data guys have something they think will work in the rear so we’ll give that a go tomorrow morning. I want to stay where I am on the grid for Sunday’s race because it’s been a long time since I tasted some champagne. I’m feeling thirsty, for sure.”
  3. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Yamaha YZF R1 +0.65
  4. Lorenzo Lanzi (ITA) Ducati 999F05+0.71
  5. Troy Corser (AUS) Suzuki +0.73
  "Every tyre I tried seem to give us wheelspin problems and it is hard to understand why. This afternoon the conditions were more or less then same as when we tested here, so we cannot work out what is going on. I started with the Imola set-up, which is virtually the same as my normal set-up, so maybe we will try something slightly different tomorrow morning."
  6. Steve Martin (AUS) Petronas
  7. David Checa Carrera (SPA) Yamaha
  8. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Honda
  “No real problems apart from the fact that it’s a lot colder than when we tested here in June and the grip level offered by the track surface has fallen off dramatically. But I did my fastest lap towards the end of that session on race tyres that were both around 20 laps old and the bike felt OK. There’s really only a choice of one front and one rear here – nothing else is close. I’m happy enough to stay in about eighth place for Superpole tomorrow and then use a qualifier.”
  9. Chris Walker (UK) Kawasaki
  10. Giovanni Bussei (ITA) Kawasaki
• 11 Bostrom 12 Haga 13 Neukirchner 14 Gimbert 15 Abe 16 Nieto 17 Toseland 18 Chili 19 Laconi 20 Clementi

RACE PREVIEW: YAMAHA

• Circuit Nevers Magny Cours in France is the venue for this weekend's finale to the 2005 Superbike World Championship.
• The technically interesting circuit is host to many other high profile events, most notably the annual Bol d'Or 24-hour race, the classic endurance event previously held at Paul Ricard, and the French Formula One Grand Prix car race. It's also a favourite circuit of Yamaha Motor Italia rider Noriyuki Haga, who won the last race of the 2004 season to take third in the championship.
• That's the same position Haga occupies this year, his first on the Yamaha YZF-R1, and another win would be much welcomed as he looks to cement his third place in the championship and extend his current run of eight successive podium finishes. "I like Magny Cours very much," says Haga. "Last year I was able to push hard and make a first and second in the two races. It is an interesting circuit with some long straights, fast corners and very slow hairpins. There are a lot of places where you can make the pass on the brakes and this is where me and the R1 have been strong. I want to keep my third in the championship but also I always race to win - so this is first priority. If I make the good results then the championship will be ok."
• Team-mate Andrew Pitt goes to Magny Cours after a crash saw him fail to score at Imola and slip back to ninth in the rankings. The Australian has been tantalisingly close to a podium finish several times this season, recording a best of fourth place in the opening race of the year in Qatar. The hard-working former supersport champion is keen to end the year on a high and prove both his and the R1's credentials in their first full year in the championship.
• Yamaha Motor France have been looking forward to the opportunity to race at home and on their nominated test track. Norick Abe has enjoyed several tests at the circuit during the year, while few riders know the circuit better than team-mate Sebastien Gimbert. The Frenchman has completed thousands of kilometres at Magny Cours as part of the Yamaha GMT94 endurance team and he has caused a stir 12 months ago when he bagged a pair of fourth places as a wild-card for Yamaha Motor France.
• The championship itself was decided in favour of Troy Corser (Suzuki) with the cancellation of the second race in Imola meaning he cannot be caught by second placed Chris Vermeulen (Honda). Haga is currently third with a 27 point advantage over outgoing world champion James Toseland (Ducati).

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