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2005 WORLD SUPERBIKE: SAN MARINO

CIRCUIT: MISANO

• Misano Adriatica, SAN MARINO
• 4 km circuit; technical and demanding; long left hand
• first WSBK race in 1991
• lap record: 1m 35.98s, Corser, Aprilia 2000
• 2000 winner: T Corser, Aprilia, Race 1 & 2
• 2001 winner: T Bayliss, Ducati, Race 1; B Bostrom, Ducati, Race
• 2002 winner: Bayliss, Ducati (both races)
• 2003 winner: Hodgson, Ducati (both races)
• 2004 winner: Laconi Race 1; Chili Race 2

Last year's RESULT: 2004

• Race 1:
• 1 Laconi, Ducati 999 F04 , 25 laps
• 2 Corser, Foggy Petronas FP1
• 3 Chili, Ducati 999 RS
• Race 2:
• 1 Chili, Ducati 999 RS
• 2 Laconi, Ducati 999 F04
• 3 Steve Martin, Ducati 999 RS

RACE RESULT

SUPERBIKE RACE 1

• 1 R. Laconi Ducati FRA 40' 0.000
  2 C. Vermeulen Honda AUS +4.439
  3 T. Corser Suzuki AUS +8.043
  4 J. Toseland Ducati GBR +10.198
  5 L. Lanzi Ducati ITA +14.105
  6 N. Haga Yamaha JPN +16.841
  7 P. Chili Honda ITA +18.000
  8 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR +20.110
  9 F. Nieto Ducati ESP +21.468
  10 K. Muggeridge Honda AUS +22.590
  11 S. Martin Petronas AUS +24.800
  12 M. Sanchini Kawasaki ITA +26.201
  13 J. Cardoso Yamaha ESP +27.795
  14 B. Bostrom Honda USA +31.185
  15 I. Clementi Ducati ITA +34.975

SUPERBIKE RACE 2

• 1 R. Laconi Ducati FRA 40' 46.260
  2 C. Vermeulen Honda AUS +1.491
  3 T. Corser Suzuki AUS +3.143
  4 J. Toseland Ducati GBR +14.562
  5 P. Chili Honda ITA +16.291
  6 N. Haga Yamaha JPN +18.600
  7 K. Muggeridge Honda AUS +24.065
  8 S. Martin Petronas AUS +24.503
  9 L. Lanzi Ducati ITA +25.865
  10 G. Bussei Kawasaki ITA +28.458
  11 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR +28.522
  12 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN +31.223
  13 M. Sanchini Kawasaki ITA +33.345
  14 L. Alfonsi Yamaha ITA +35.792
  15 N. Abe Yamaha JPN +39.660

SUPERSPORT RACE, 23 LAPS

• 1 S. Charpentier Honda FRA 38' 14,344.000
  2 F. Foret Honda FRA +0.496
  3 K. Fujiwara Honda JPN +4,981.000
  4 K. Curtain Yamaha AUS +13.368
  5 B. Parkes Yamaha AUS +19.396
  6 S. Sanna Honda ITA +22.277
  7 X. Fores Suzuki ESP +26.558
  8 A. Antonello Kawasaki ITA +26.871
  9 C. Migliorati Kawasaki ITA +26.901
  10 T. Lauslehto Honda FIN +27.564

YAMAHA RACE REPORT:

• Round six of the Superbike World Championship at Misano saw Yamaha Motor Italia rider Noriyuki Haga battle exceptionally hot track conditions to secure two sixth places under the burning Adriatic sunshine. With ambient temperatures into the mid-thirties, and track temperatures well over 50 degrees Celsius, rear grip and traction were at a premium for the YZF-R1 riders, who spent much of practice and qualifying trying to improve rear end grip.
• Despite starting from a lowly 21st position on the grid, the hard-charging Japanese scythed through the field to gain 20 valuable points from the two races to move him up to sixth in the championship.
• Race one was a two-parter, shortened by one lap to 24, after a crash brought out the red flags. For Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) the flags came out marginally too late, as an earlier crash had put him out of contention for the re-start. In race two a slipping clutch ruled him out of the results in the last few laps, and he pulled in with four to go.
• Yamaha Motor France's Norick Abe scored a single finish, earning a point in race two after a crash in race one. Team-mate Sebastien Gimbert was forced to miss the Misano weekend after suffering a chipped bone in his lower right leg at the previous Silverstone round.
• The first race win was taken by Regis Laconi (Ducati), from Chris Vermeulen (Honda) and Troy Corser (Suzuki). Race two delivered an identical top three, and was run in equally hot temperatures. Corser still leads the title chase, on 254 points to Vermeulen's 181. Haga sits sixth on 88, Pitt ninth on 70 and Abe 11th with 63.
• Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia)
  "I made real progress in the early laps but it was not easy coming up from 21st position in qualifying. Right at the end of race two I had passed Chili but I entered the first corner a little too hot maybe and he got past me again. The conditions made it very difficult today, very hard work and lots of sliding. But we made a good job with what we had."
• Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France)
  "Again this was my first time at a new track but all weekend we have not had good grip from the rear. We tried so many settings and different suspension packages but everything was the same - no good. I used a qualifying tyre in practice but even here it was spinning all the time. I used the 200 section tyre all weekend, and it should have had more grip, but it didn't make any difference."
• Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia)
  "We spent a bit of time trying to choose a front tyre that would go the distance but I just had no grip, really strange. I was easing it into the entry of the last chicane, being careful, but it still went away. It's been hard all weekend, struggling to find settings that worked. We improved bit by bit but the conditions made it worse."
• Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia)
  "I think Noriyuki did remarkably well in race conditions but I think this weekend shows the problems of our team being new to this championship. Misano is a difficult circuit and it is hard for to go there with no information from previous races. We had a tough time finding good settings in qualifying but the team tried to understand what Nori's feelings about the bike were and last night we made real progress. We even made some positive changes between warm up and the first lap so I am very happy for the way that the team has worked this weekend."

QUALIFYING

SUPERPOLE SUPERBIKE, JUNE 25, 2005

• 1 Troy Corser , Suzuki GSXR1000 1m 35.330
  2 Chris Vermeulen Honda CBR 1000RR 1m 35.685
  3 Regis Laconi, Ducati 999F05 1m 35.798
  4 Muggeridge Karl Honda CBR 1000RR
  5 Kagayama Yukio Suzuki GSXR1000 K5
  6 Chili Pierfrancesco Honda CBR 1000RR
  7 Toseland James Ducati 999F05
  8 Martin Steve Petronas FP1
  9 Neukirchner Max Honda CBR 1000RR
  10 Lanzi Lorenzo Ducati 999RS
  11 Bussei Giovanni Kawasaki ZX10
  12 Clementi Ivan Ducati 999RS
  13 Pitt Andrew Yamaha YZF R1
  14 Cardoso Josè Luis Yamaha YZF R1
  15 Walker Chris Kawasaki ZX10
  16 Bostrom Ben Honda CBR 1000RR

SUPERBIKE - SAT, QUALIFYING, JUNE 25, 2005

• 1 Troy Corser , Suzuki GSXR1000 1m 35.417
  2 Max Neukirchner, Honda CBR 1000RR 1m 35.697
  3 Kagayama Suzuki GSXR1000 1m 35.944
  4 Laconi Ducati 999F05
  5 Vermeulen Honda CBR 1000RR
  6 Clementi Ducati 999RS
  7 Lanzi Ducati 999RS
  8 Muggeridge Honda CBR 1000RR
  9 Walker Kawasaki ZX10 1'37.487
  10 Bussei Kawasaki ZX10
  11 Chili 12 Toseland 13 Martin 14 Bostrom 15 Cardoso

SUPERBIKE - FRI, QUALIFYING, JUNE 24, 2005

• 1 Troy Corser , Suzuki GSXR1000 , 1m 35.717
  "In the morning I felt that the track was a bit dirty and so didn't really push hard at all. In the afternoon the grip definitely improved, but it was quite a bit hotter so then it was the tyres we had to consider. My Alstare Suzuki is working pretty well round here and there's not a lot we need to do to the bike , except decide on a front tyre. We started off on some tyres we didn't feel we would use, so that we could conserve what we thought we might use. That was OK this morning. In the afternoon I just lost the front without any warning whatsoever. One minute I was up, the next I was down - it was as quick as that. That's my first crash of the year, so that's pretty good going - considering. Today I have not felt confident in my front tyre, so that's the direction we will be working on tomorrow. We may also try some different gearing, but I do not reckon it's going to make a lot of difference"
• 2 Max Neukirchner, Honda CBR 1000RR +0.11
• 3 Regis Laconi, Ducati 999F05 +0.29
  "I am quite happy with my time. We did a good job for the settings in the afternoon. The heat was not making the grip worse, I was surprised about that because I thought there would be a lot less grip in the afternoon. We improved the front and the rear and tried the new big 200mm rear tyre and it was OK. I just feel so good on the bike, and the heat too was making it not too hard to ride. The race will not be easy but it's physically it's OK. I used the qualifying tyre in the end but my first pass was not perfect and I know I can do better".
• 4 Karl Muggeridge, Honda CBR 1000RR +0.45
• 5 James Toseland, Ducati 999F05 +0.6
• 6 Pierfrancesco Chili, Honda CBR 1000RR
• 7 Yukio Kagayama
• 8 Lorenzo Alfonsi
• 9 Ivan Clementi
• 10 Steve Martin
• 11 Pitt 12 Haga 13 Nieto 14 Vermeulen 15 Pedercini

SUPERBIKE - FRI, PRACTICE, JUNE 24, 2005

• 1 Laconi Régis Ducati Xerox Ducati 999F05 19 1'37.029
  2 Toseland James Ducati Xerox Ducati 999F05 22 1'37.078
  3 Neukirchner Max Klaffi Honda Honda CBR 1000RR 23 1'37.092
  4 Corser Troy Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra Suzuki GSXR1000 K5 24
  5 Walker Chris PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse Kawasaki ZX10 20
  6 Vermeulen Chris Winston Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR 1000RR 22
  7 Bussei Giovanni Kawasaki Bertocchi Kawasaki ZX10 23
  8 Kagayama Yukio Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra Suzuki GSXR1000 K5 26
  9 Chili Pierfrancesco Klaffi Honda Honda CBR 1000RR 17
  10 Nieto Fonsi Ducati SC Caracchi Ducati 999RS 25
• 11 Muggeridge 12 Cardoso 13 Vizziello 14 Sanchini 15 Martin

SUPERSPORT - FRI, PRACTICE, JUNE 24, 2005

• 1 Charpentier Sébastien Winston Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR 600RR 17 1'38.335
  2 Fabrizio Michel Italia Megabike Honda CBR 600RR 14 1'38.899
  3 Foret Fabien Team Megabike Honda CBR 600RR 15 1'39.009
  4 Parkes Broc Yamaha Motor Germany Yamaha YZF R6
  5 Nannelli Gianluca Ducati SC Caracchi Ducati 749 R
  6 Curtain Kevin Yamaha Motor Germany Yamaha YZF R6
  7 Sanna Simone Improve Racing Honda CBR 600RR
  8 Antonello Alessandro Kawasaki Bertocchi Kawasaki ZX 6RR
  9 Migliorati Cristiano Lightspeed Kawasaki Kawasaki ZX 6RR
  10 Fujiwara Katsuaki Winston Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR 600RR

RACE PREVIEW:

SUZUKI

• Troy Corser: "I have good memories of Misano and taking the double there in 2000 was one of the highlights of my career, especially as it was done on Ducati's doorstep! It is quite a technical track and it can also be a handful in the wet partly because there is a change of surface about two-thirds the way round. Now that we are approaching the halfway mark, I am happy to have a healthy lead in the championship. That is due to all the hard work we all put in over the winter months and at the start of the season. That doesn't mean that our work is over - far from it - because we are striving all the time to make the best overall package this year even better. We knew our competitors would get stronger as the season progressed, but we are up to the task. I know what it's going to take to win the title and I am focussed on doing my best to make sure that happens."
• Yukio Kagayama: "Misano is unknown to me but it's not a big problem because I learn tracks pretty quickly. I was disappointed with my results at Silverstone and especially unhappy because I have many fans in England. But Silverstone is over for this year and I am ready for my next challenge - Misano. Troy-san tells me that it is quite technical so I hope I can learn something from him during practice. My Alstare Suzuki should be well-suited to the track and if I can learn the circuit quickly, there is no reason why I cannot take a podium or maybe two!"

HONDA

• Chris Vermeulen – championship position 3rd, 141 points: “I’ve spent the last few days in Florence with my leathers supplier so I’m getting acclimatised but I think it’ll be pretty hot this weekend. We’ve definitely made some improvements to the bike which I hope will help me fight for at least a couple of podiums this weekend. Last year’s Misano race was the fourth round of the season so we were still getting used to the new bike and the weather was a little more unpredictable. I like Misano but I’ve never had much luck here and never finished on the podium in Supersport, although I did qualify on the front row in 2003. As far as this year’s championship goes, I have to be looking at podium finishes and would like another win this weekend. Troy (Corser) is fast in Misano and the Ducatis will be strong here so I’ll be looking to get the most of the recent improvements we’ve made.”
• Karl Muggeridge – championship position 12th, 50 points: “The two days at Magny-Cours were really good for me – we got to test properly for the first time and tried a load of new things on the rear of the bike to improve grip and the driveability out of corners. We need as much grip as possible this weekend because when it’s hot in Misano, any problems you have seem to get exaggerated, so the test in France came at just the right time of the season for us. I think the new swingarm and linkage combination we’ve gone for should work well here. I really like the place because I had my first official World Supersport race here for Castrol Honda in 1998 and I won the race last year. But, after the test two weeks ago, I felt that I was really getting somewhere with the bike so I’m looking forward to putting that feeling to good use this weekend.”
• Pierfrancesco Chili: “It is my 250th race in the Superbike Championship and for me a ‘home’ game. I want to make a good race, and to be on the podium would be great. We will give our all but whatever the result on Sunday, after the race we will have a beer or two.”
• Ben Bostrom: “I’m excited about Misano but always a little nervous. I expect results and the biggest thing we made progress with at Magny Cours was the clutch. It’s now much better than it’s been all season. The bike’s going well now and the team is really gelling.”

YAMAHA

• Round six of the Superbike World Championship takes place at the Misano Adriatica circuit near Rimini in Italy.
• The Yamaha Motor Italia team goes into the event in high spirits after Noriyuki Haga took the team's first podium finish of the season at Silverstone last time out. Haga and team-mate Andrew Pitt recently completed a two-day test at Brno in the Czech Republic where they were able to test a new specification gearbox and revised chassis settings to further increase their confidence in the R1.
• Also testing since the last round was Yamaha Motor France rider Norick Abe, who spent two days at the Magny Cours circuit in France. Like his counterparts in the Yamaha Motor Italia team, the Japanese was able to try out a range of new parts and settings ahead of his debut at Misano circuit. The Japanese rider did test at the Adriatic circuit two weeks ago, but torrential rain meant he was unable to gather any meaningful data.
• Just eight points separate the three riders in the R1's first full year in the championship. Pitt is the leading Yamaha rider, with 70 points and seventh in the championship. Haga is two points adrift on 68 while Abe is tenth on 62.
• Rider's view - Andrew Pitt's guide to Misano "Misano is a circuit that I enjoy going to. It's normally very hot there, which along with the fact that you're on the left side of the tyre so long, means that it's a hard track on the tyres. It's also hard on the rider. I've only raced supersport there so this is my first time doing two races there in one day, but if you're not doing your training then you're going to be found out at Misano.
• "It's mostly left hand corners around here and you're on the side of the tyre for a big part of the lap. There are only one or two right handers and a couple of chicanes. The most critical part at Misano is the triple left hand corner leading into the back straight. You need to get that right to get a good run onto the back straight, because in the race that's really the only chance you get to overtake. The place to overtake is into the slow left at the end of the straight. You have to push hard here as you are braking from probably over 270kph on a superbike. Other than that it's pretty much a simple one line circuit.
• "We haven't had the R1 at Misano yet, so we'll have to work to find a good setting, but it is quite bumpy, so we'll be looking for a set-up that works well over the bumps, but the main thing is that it must be stable on the brakes, because as I said there is really only one good overtaking place here and you must make sure that you can pass here - and not be passed by other riders."
• Supersport World Championship
  Kevin Curtain goes to Misano as the leading R6 rider in this year's Supersport World Championship. The 39-year-old Australian has proved to be one of only two riders capable of taking the fight to series leader Sebastien Charpentier this year finished and is looking at the very least for another podium finish to go alongside the three he already collected this year. Curtain finished second at a wet Misano last year, after Broc Parkes crashed out while holding a commanding lead. This season Parkes is riding alongside his fellow countryman in the Yamaha Motor Germany squad and lies just two places behind in the race to the championship. While Parkes has yet to score a podium finish this season, the 23-year-old has proved to be ultra consistent as he adapts to the revvy characteristics of the R6. With a season's best finish of fifth last time out in Silverstone and two full days of testing at Brno, Parkes believes he is now ready for the podium on his Yamaha. Both riders were al
  so able to get in some additional track time at last weekend's Nurburgring round of the German superbike championship, where Curtain showed the regulars the way by winning both races on an R1.

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