Subscription

Car Racing

Motorcycle Racing

Racing in Oz

Shop

2005 WORLD SUPERBIKE: SPAIN

CIRCUIT: VALENCIA

• Ricardo Tormo
• length: 4.005 km ; 9 Left corners; 5 Right corners
• Year opened: 1999
• Superbike lap record: 1'35.007 (Neil Hodgson, 2003)

Last year's RESULT: 2004

• Race 1: 1 James Toseland, Ducati 999 F04
  2 Chili , Ducati 999 RS +4.7s
  3 Walker, Petronas FP1 +22s
• Race 2: 1 Noriyuki Haga, Ducati 999 RS
  2 Toseland, Ducati 999 F04
  3 Martin, Ducati 999 F04

RACE RESULT

WINNER, CORSER: "Well that was just about perfect. The bike worked like a dream and although there were grip problems for all of us - due to the changing conditions - I was still able to control both races. I used the same rear tyre for both races, but there didn’t seem to be as much grip in the second race. The track temperature was quite a bit hotter, so that probably is the explanation. We had done our homework in the two days of qualifying, so we were well prepared for the changing track conditions. I made a good start in race one and pretty much controlled things from the front. I kept an eye on my pit-board, so I knew what I had to do ... In race two, I saw Andrew (Pitt) get off the line ahead of me, but I didn’t panic and try to get him before turn one. I waited until the moment was right and then overtook him. I then pushed quite hard for about seven or eight laps, to make a break on the rest, and that probably affected the tyres quite a bit. So, in the later stages of the race, I used different lines (to use different parts of the tyres) and eased off a little. It is always great to do a double and it was the perfect end to a perfect weekend. I have to thank all my team and all at Alstare for giving me a great bike to ride. I’d like to dedicate my wins today to a good friend in Australia, whose father died recently. She has been a bit low as a result, so I am sure this will bring a smile to her face."

VERMEULEN, 2ND: “That was just as hard as it was in race one but at least I was able to stay relatively close to Troy (Corser). He’s riding so well but I think we’re moving in the right direction every time we go out and hopefully, by the time we get to Monza, we will have closed the gap even more. Chris (Walker) showed what a good rider he is but when I saw a yellow bike behind me I assumed it would be Kagayama. Chris put me under a lot of pressure so it was important not to make a mistake. The Honda is pretty fast so I knew I was OK down the straights. I just had to brake as heavy as I dared into the corners. The track was pretty slippery and it was very hard to turn on the brakes, especially in the early part of the lap. But I’m happy to be on the podium again and to have collected a good load of points.”

SUPERBIKE RACE 1

• 1 Troy Corser (Aus) Suzuki GSX-R 1000
• 2 Chris Vermeulen Honda CBR 1000RR + 9s
• 3 Y. Kagayama Suzuki
• 4 Walker
• 5 Haga
• 6 Gimbert
• 7 Chili
• 8 Toseland
• 9 Fuertes
• 10 Checa 11 Clementi 12 Bostrom 13 Bussei 14 Alfonsi 15Silva
• 16 Vizziello 17 Nieto 18 Borciani

SUPERBIKE RACE 2

• 1 Troy Corser Suzuki GSX-R 1000
• 2 Chris Vermeulen Honda CBR 1000RR +5.3
• 3 Chris Walker Kawasaki ZX-10
• 4 Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha)
• 5 Norick Abe (Yamaha)
• 6 Ben Bostrom (Honda)
• 7 Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki)
• 8 Andrew Pitt (Yamaha)
• 9 David Checa Carrera (Yamaha)
• 10 Pierfrancesco Chili (Honda)
• 11 Gimbert 12 Neukirchner 13 Clementi 14 Vizziello 15 Alfonsi

SUPERSPORT RACE:

• 1 Sébastien Charpentier (Honda)
  “That was a very good race for me and a good weekend with my third pole position, fastest lap and my second win of the season. But it was certainly not easy. Conditions were very difficult out there and after I got into an early lead I just tried to put in many consistently good laps. Before half race distance I was reading plus zero on my pit board and I knew that Kats was there. For sure he pushed me very, very hard until the end – especially on that final lap. I’m so pleased for the team, who have worked so hard to keep me at the front all weekend, and for all the team’s guests who are here today. I think we put on a good show for them.”
• 2 Katsuaki Fujiwara (Honda)
• 3 Curtain
• 4 Fabrizio
• 5 Foret
• 6 Parkes
• 7 Veneman
• 8 Nannelli
  

QUALIFYING - CORSER ON POLE

Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Troy Corser lived up to his "Mr Superpole" reputation by comfortably taking Superpole at Valencia today. It was his thirty-first pole position in World Superbikes and his time of 1:35.676 was half a second faster then his nearest rival, Chris Vermeulen (Honda). Third quickest was Regis Laconi (Ducati), with Max Neukirchner (Honda) fourth. Troy's team mate Yukio Kagayama made a small mistake exiting turn two which upset the rhythm of his lap and pushed him down the order to ninth. (SUZUKI)

SBK GRID, SUPERPOLE, APR 23, 2005

• 1 Troy Corser (Aus) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 1m 35.676
  "I have to thank my Alstare Suzuki team because they've done a great job. Our test here before Phillip Island went very well and we started with that set-up. The front end is working really well and I've more or less chosen my tyres for the race. I'll only change my mind if the conditions are different. It's going to be a couple of long, tough races tomorrow and tyre conservation is going to be very important - especially if it is hot. My Superpole lap went quite smoothly and there were no dramas on it. In fact, I felt pretty comfortable this afternoon and now all I need to do is to try and translate that into a couple of wins tomorrow."
• 2 Chris Vermeulen Honda CBR 1000RR
  "We've done a lot of work on the front this weekend and, as I've said, it's not ideal to be testing things during a meeting but that's just how it is. I spent most of today's practice sessions using the same tyres and just going through a load of different settings on the bike. I'm quite comfortable at race pace here, although the temperature tomorrow will have a lot to do with what that pace is. The track has become slippery in the afternoons so we'll have to see what the weather is like tomorrow. I tried to make my Superpole lap as smooth as possible with a new front tyre. I guess I could've been a little bit quicker here and there but it was my fastest lap of the weekend. We've got some more work to do still, but I'm comfortable with the bike now and looking forward to tomorrow."
• 3 Regis Laconi Ducati 999F05
• 4 Max Neukirchner Honda CBR 1000RR
• 5 Andrew Pitt Yamaha YZF R1
  "You've got to be happy with that after yesterday! When I come into the garage I was looking at the screen to see if I could stay on the front two rows. As it was I almost made it to the front row, but I can't be too upset at missing out after the progress we made. Straight from the first session it was obvious that we made a massive change in the right direction and I can leave the circuit in a very different mood from yesterday."
• 6 Karl Muggeridge
  "I'm real comfortable on the qualifiers and was happy to be second fastest going into my second Superpole. I got the lap about as smooth as I could but unfortunately it's dropped me back to the second row. Superpole worked the other way for me in Australia where I moved up a few places but at least I'm in the right area and challenging at the front again here. The bike is still coming up a little too fast as I gas it out of corners so I have to wait a fraction longer before opening the throttle. We need to work on that a little more and will try a couple of things in warm-up tomorrow. But it's good turning in and we're definitely making progress. I think we're quite close to a good race set- up so we'll see what tomorrow brings."
• 7 Chris Walker
• 8 Norick Abe
• 9 Yukio Kagayama
• 10 Noriyuki Haga
• 11 David Checa Carrera 12 Pierfrancesco Chili 13 Lorenzo Lanzi 14 Steve Martin 15 Sebastien Gimbert 16 Ben Bostrom

SBK SAT QUALIFYING, APR 23, 2005

• 1 Troy Corser (Aus) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 1m 35.6
• 2 Karl Muggeridge 1m 36.1
• 3 Max Neukirchner Honda
• 4 Walker , Kawasaki
• 5 Vermeulen , Honda
• 6 Abe , Yamaha
• 7 Laconi , Ducati
• 8 Kagayama , Suzuki
• 9 Chili , Honda
• 10 Gimbert
• 11 Checa 12 Pitt 13 Bostrom 14 Haga 15 Lanzi
• 16 Martin 17 Cardoso 18 McCoy 19 Clementi 20 Alfonsi
• Toseland 23

SBK FRI QUALIFYING, APR 22, 2005 ; WEATHER: Hot, Temp: 43ºC

• 1 Troy Corser (Aus) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 1m 35.954
  "Everything has been going good so far and I'm pretty happy with our start here. We began by using the same set-up we ran here in the tests before we went to Phillip Island for the race and then started to fine-tune it. We worked quite a lot on the clutch to try and improve the engine braking and we also worked on the suspension to make the front tyre feeling better and to improve its life. When it was hotter in the afternoon, the grip went down and I set my quick time towards the start of the timed session. I knew that it was going to get hotter and that the grip would get worse. I did have a bit of a drama when I was on qualifying tyres - I lost the front at turn three - but I recovered it without a problem. At the moment, the balance of the bike is working for me and because of that I am having fun riding it, so let's see what tomorrow brings."
• 2 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR 1m 36.731
• 3 P. Chili Honda ITA 1m 37.003
• 4 M. Neukirchner Honda GER 1' 37.127
• 5 K. Muggeridge Honda AUS 1' 37.146
• 6 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1' 37.159
• 7 I. Clementi Kawasaki ITA
• 8 S. Martin Petronas AUS
• 9 L. Lanzi Ducati ITA
• 10 N. Abe Yamaha JPN
  "This is a track I know very well both from testing and MotoGP. Also I am more familiar with the R1 every time I ride it so I am optimistic for a good result this weekend. We had no problems today, so hopefully I can improve my time some more tomorrow."
• 11 Laconi 12 Toseland 13 Cardoso 14 Silva 15 Gimbert 16 Vermeulen

SUPERSPORT FRI QUALIFYING

• 1 Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) 1m 38.351
• 2 Katsuaki Fujiwara (Honda)
• 3 Fabien Foret (Honda)
• 4 Victor Carrasco (Yamaha) *wildcard

SBK FRI PRACTICE, APR 22, 2005

• 1 Troy Corser (Aus) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 1m 35.9
• 2 Regis Laconi (Fra) Ducati
• 3 Chris Vermeulen (Aus) Honda
• 4 Muggeridge
• 5 Cardoso
• 6 Haga
• 7 Gimbert
• 8 Toseland
• 9 Kagayama
• 10 Pitt

RACE PREVIEW:

SUZUKI

• CORSER, championship leader: "now we're back in Europe, I expect the others to start challenging us ... Ducati will be desperate to put one over us and Yamaha and Honda are going to get stronger and stronger ... But it is a long, long season, so my aim is to stay consistent, get on the podium as many times as possible, and take each race as it comes. If I can do that, I should be in a good position at the end."
• KAGAYAMA: "Suzuki is a very good bike and I am enjoying riding it. My style is a little shaky and for me it does not matter if the bike is moving around - I like it. I have had one victory this year, so my aim in Valencia is to take another one - with Troy in second place of course."

DUCATI

• TOSELAND (2004 CHAMPION): "I'm pleased to be back at a race track after my shocker of a start in Qatar and Australia. Fortunately for me the problems that have been occurring, apart from the crash in Qatar, have been out of my control. As far as riding and my confidence goes, I feel good and just want to get back out there. Lap times and everything else are all there, they just need to come together now. Valencia is totally different to the first two tracks, it's a lot slower and tighter, and very technical. Because of the small gaps between corners you have to be very accurate and if your concentration is off your lap time is ruined. It's all about keeping it flowing around here because every corner leads into the next one. Obviously you've got to get the bike to turn well but also keep some weight on the rear to have a fine balance. The whole package is capable of winning, we've just got to find the right form. This is where the season starts and we've got to knuckle down"
• LACONI: "Three weeks since the last round is too long ... so it just feels great to be back racing in Europe. We found some good solutions in Phillip Island for the settings and I hope they will work again at this track. Lap times were good in the tests here, so I think we can do a good job this weekend. Valencia is a very difficult circuit because it has a lot of hard braking but you need very good turning for the bike. That's something almost opposite so you have to find a good compromise. I feel my 999 is such a good package now but every small change makes a big difference and that's what I need, just two or three tenths is important to stay at the front or try to pass. We are not down on power, our bike is very fast and we have good acceleration, but the most important thing is to get the front of the bike to go precisely where you want. Then you can open the throttle early and get the best drive out of the corners"

YAMAHA

• The Superbike and Supersport World Championship protagonists are on familiar territory this weekend as the series heads to Europe and the Ricardo Tormo circuit near Valencia for round three of the 2005 series.
• The Valencian circuit is a popular test venue for all the teams competing in the championships, none more so than the Yamaha Motor Italia squad, who had their first shakedown tests with the YZF-R1 superbike at the same venue a little more than five months ago. With just two superbike rounds under their belts, the Yamaha Motor Europe supported squad and their counterparts at Yamaha Motor France have shown the speed to match their rivals - and are hoping that familiarity with the Valencia circuit will allow them to challenge over race distance, the one element which has been missing in the opening rounds. Consistency has been the key to the Norick Abe's sixth place in the championship. The Yamaha Motor France rider has finished top 10 in every race so far, taking him to sixth overall and giving him the unofficial honour of being the top R1 rider. Australian rider Andrew Pitt lies seventh in the championship after two rounds, unlucky not to be higher after crashing out of a potential podium place as the rain came last time out in Phillip Island. Pitt was not the only victim of the Australian rain, team-mate Noriyuki Haga was one of many high-profile victims to go down and his double DNF puts him down in an uncharacteristically low 11th place in the championship.
• "Phillip Island was really tough for me and I was really beaten up after my crashes," said Pitt. "I really wanted a good result in front of my home crowd but that's life and we can only look to Valencia. It's a circuit that we know well and I have done so many laps around here on the R1 but it is a strange circuit because the grip levels are constantly changing. The bike is improving every time I ride it and although we know that this is a development period for the bike we are all racers. At the end of the day me, the team and everyone at Yamaha wants good results - so our objective is to get podiums and race wins when we get to the race track."
• Haga added: "Phillip Island was a disaster for me but I am looking forward to racing at Valencia. Still I am trying to find the right feeling with the R1 but when we tested at Valencia last month we made big progress with the front end, which allowed me to go much faster in the last session. This has been a good circuit for me in the past. I won here on the R7 in 2000 and again last year on the Ducati, so I know that if I get a good feeling with the bike I can get a good result this weekend."
• Ricardo Tormo circuit
  Although the Valencia circuit is well known by all the teams due to the vast number of laps they complete in testing, the Iberian venue still retains an air of mystery due to the ever changing grip levels that can leave even the best tyre and suspension technicians tearing their hair out in frustration.
• It is not uncommon for riders to hit upon the perfect set-up and tyre choice in one practice session, only to struggle to make the same lap times the next. It is now commonly accepted that the track is unusually slippery - a feature which is compounded by drifting dust and sand carried on the ever constant sea breeze and through rubber left by the many Formula One teams that often use the facility for wet weather tyre testing.
• The circuit itself has been designed for spectator viewing in mind, which leads to a compact layout with many stop-and-go 90-degree corners that put the emphasis on front-end confidence.
• Having tested extensively at the venue, including the official two-day test in March, the Yamaha teams go to Spain with good base settings. For the Yamaha Motor Europe-supported Yamaha Motor Italia squad, the team's key development areas - front end settings and improved engine mapping - will be critical for a good result. Confidence in the front end, along and a linear power delivery are vital at such a stop-start circuit. With so many hard braking zones, stability under braking will be the key - while the software engineers will have their work cut out to ensure the multi-adjustable engine management system provides a soft power delivery and good drive out of the slow-speed corners.
• Supersport World Championship
  Having scored Yamaha's first podium of the year at the last round in Australia, Kevin Curtain and the Yamaha Motor Germany squad return to Valencia filled with confidence.
• Curtain moved up to third in the championship after pushing eventual winner Sebastien Charpentier all the way in Phillip Island, while team-mate Broc Parkes fought bravely through the pain barrier to finish seventh after crashing in practice.
• With the squad still learning about the radically revised suspension on the 2005-model YZF-R6, Curtain and Parkes are optimistic that they can challenge for victory after a strong test at Valencia last month. "The suspension on the 2005 R6 is very different to last year's bike," said Yamaha Motor Germany team manager Terrell Thien. "We made a big step forward both in the test in Valencia and also in Australia. We still have a few more things to try which gives hope that we can match the Hondas in Valencia.
• This weekend also sees the opening round of the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup. R1 riders dominated the championship last year, taking the top four places. For 2005 Yamaha will again be represented by Yamaha Motor Germany riders Didier van Keymeulen and Kenan Sofuoglu. Last year's championship winning team, Lorenzini by Leoni, will contest the series with highly-rated Italian Massimo Roccoli.