Triumph rider
Haslam and Checa share opening day victories
Source: WORLDSBK.COM | NEWS - Sunday, 28th February 2010, 6:29 GMTLeon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) and Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) took a win apiece at Phillip Island in what was a sensational start to the 2010 WSBK season in Australia. In dry conditions, in front of 65,500 fans, the action was intense in each 22-lap race, with the leading three riders within 0.769 seconds of each other in race one and the leading four within 0.837 seconds in race two. "Pirelli's opening race weekend saw spectacular racing with new faces on all accounts, starting from a Superpole led by Haslam, Fabrizio and Crutchlow on three different machines. Race 1 finished 7 seconds faster than previous year, a race so close between Suzuki and Ducati that it demanded a photo finish. New to Superbike, Sylvain Guintoli led Race 2 for many laps and set the Pirelli Best Lap on his first race on the Suzuki. Race time dropped by 4 seconds over 2009, and Checa impressively took his new bike and new team Althea straight to the top of the podium. The Supersport race, 5 seconds faster as well, Laverty lead a very precise race from start to finish on his Honda from Parkalgar. It's fantastic to see such diverse results from all the manufacturers, especially at the start of the season." Giorgio Barbier, Racing Director, Pirelli Moto. Race 1 It took a close look at the photo finish images to split Leon Haslam from his race long rival Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox), but by only 0.004 seconds the Alstare Suzuki rider was given the win. It was the closest ever finish in the WSBK class, as Leon took his first career win in the Superbike World Championship. Fabrizio was originally awarded the victory but before the slow down lap had been completed, Haslam was confirmed as the winner. Noriyuki Haga took his Ducati Xerox machine to third, being part of the leading battle throughout. Jonathan Rea, Max Biaggi, Sylvain Guintoli and Carlos Checa battled it out over fourth place, with Jakub Smrz, Troy Corser and Lorenzo Lanzi completing the first race top ten. Haslam: "It's not sunk in just yet, especially as it was such a close finish and not knowing if I had won for a while. That definitely added to the anticipation. I can't thank my team enough they have been solid since day one and to repay them with this is great. I'm a little speechless now. I changed my style towards the end and I rode as smoothly as possible. It worked, but it was close at the end." Michel Fabrizio: "I thought I had won the race. When I saw the big screen after the finish I saw my family and the crew chief celebrating, so I thought I had it." Noriyuki Haga: "I did not have any big injury after my crash in morning warm-up but some swelling in my right arm. My personal trainer made a good massage before the race and I took some painkilling injections. The race was tough and I had arm pump, so that made me make some mistakes under braking. But it was fun to race with them at the front." Race 2 Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) won a thrilling race two at Phillip Island, by only 0.307 from Leon Haslam, whom he passed on the final section of the track, in convincing style. Third went to Michel Fabrizio, but a great ride from new SBK rider Sylvain Guintoli put him fourth on his Suzuki Alstare machine in only his fourth ever SBK event. Noriyuki Haga was fifth, Jonathan Rea heading up a busy and exciting midfield battle in sixth, after losing ten seconds by running wide on lap one, and then fighting through the pack. Troy Corser took his BMW to seventh in race two. Carlos Checa: "The plan was to start the second race well and we chose a softer tyre. We changed the bike and we improved in the braking points, so I could overtake people. When you are close to four other riders it is not easy to overtake and make it permanent but I passed in the right time and at the right places. This was one of the best races in my life, so thanks to my new team." Leon Haslam: "I had a few laps behind Sylvain my team-mate and in some corners I could not stay with him given the grip he had out of the corners. But I got the lead again and it was all going to plan until Carlos managed to come along and nip up the inside to win." Michel Fabrizio: "We didn't make any changes to the bike between race one and race two. I think it would have been very difficult for me to win, but if Carlos had not been in the mix I may have been able to push in the last three or four laps. I was having some problems by that time so it was very difficult to try and win." World Supersport - Laverty wins by clear margin Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) won the opening race of the year by 4.359 seconds with a masterful display of front running, heading up the official Kawasaki of pole man Joan Lascorz and the Honda of Kenan Sofuoglu. Laverty also set the race fastest lap, 1'35.204, on lap six. The first attempt at the race was first stopped and finally abandoned due to oil being dropped on the track, and a complete-restart was called. The subsequent 21-lap race saw Laverty lead from the early stages again. Behind Laverty, Lascorz and Sofuoglu, Triumph rider David Salom was fourth, and the privateer Kawasaki of Fabien Foret made it onto the top five also. Pirelli Performance Awards: SBK Race 1 - Pirelli BEST LAPLeon Haslam (Team Suzuki Alstare) 1'32.193 (Lap 2) SBK Race 2 - Pirelli BEST LAPSylvain Guintoli (Team Suzuki Alstare) 1'32.236 (Lap 3) WSS - Pirelli BEST LAPEugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) 1'35.204 (Lap 6) Read article
Laverty wins by clear margin
Source: WORLDSBK.COM | NEWS - Sunday, 28th February 2010, 4:16 GMTEugene Laverty won the opening race of the year for Honda with a masterful display of front running, heading up the official Kawasaki of pole man Joan Lascorz and the Honda of Kenan Sofuoglu. Laverty also set the race's fastest lap, 1'35.204 on lap six. The Irish rider was leading the first race start, before that was red flagged due to oil being dropped on the track, and a complete-restart was called. The subsequent 21-lap race saw Laverty lead from the early stages again. Behind Laverty, Lascorz and Sofuoglu Triumph rider David Salom was fourth, and the privateer Kawasaki of Fabien Foret got into the top five also. Read article
Haslam takes his first ever Superpole win
Source: WORLDSBK.COM | NEWS - Saturday, 27th February 2010, 6:44 GMTIn a new look Superpole, with the top 20 riders trying to go through all three sectors of Superpole in sessions which last 14, 12 and 10 minutes respectively, Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) beat all the others to pole position with a best time of 1'31.229, securing his first ever WSBK Superpole win. Superpole 3 Eight riders fought it out for the first two grid places, with Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) just 0.016 seconds behind Haslam with a 1'31.245, Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda) and Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) slotting in behind Fabrizio. The second row will feature Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare), Jakub Smrz (Pata B&G Racing Ducati), Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda) after ten minutes of close final competition sorted out the leading riders. Superpole 2 The eight riders who missed final Superpole qualification were, in reverse order, Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) who was 16th overall, Ruben Xaus (BMW Motorrad Motorsport), Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki Racing Team), Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport), Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia), Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), and Lorenzo Lanzi (DFX Ducati). Superpole 1 At the very start of the Superpole sessions, Roland Resch missed out on participation on his BMW Reitwagen machine after a big crash in qualifying, but of the 19 riders who competed in Superpole one, only his team-mate Andrew Pitt, Shane Byrne (Althea Ducati) and Max Neukirchner (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) did not progress to Superpole 2. Byrne was still battered after his big crash yesterday but battled through Superpole. Times: 1. Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'31.229; 2. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'31.245; 3. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'31.642; 4. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'31.671; 5. Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'31.696; 6. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'31.757; 7. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'31.912; 8. Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'32.019; 9. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'32.205; 10. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'32.229; 11. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1'32.293; 12. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'32.398; 13. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.430; 14. Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'32.561; 15. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.842; 16. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1'32.895 Race date There will be two 22-lap Superbike races on Sunday 28th, the first at noon local time in Victoria, the second at 15.30. Leon Haslam: "You can get caught out quite easily in Superpole so we went out to go fast early in each session. We used a soft option race tyre for the first Superpole, didn't have any slides and felt really comfortable. When I put my first qualifier in I was sliding, so I was not sure which tyre to use in the final session, but we managed to go out there put a qualifier in and we put in a little bit of a quicker time. Sitting in the pit garage watching these guys go out to try and beat my time was probably more nerve-wracking than being out on the track. But it all ended up good and I got my first Superpole win." Michel Fabrizio: "The second qualifying tyre we used worked the best of all the ones we had been trying and that was the one I scored the best time with. I am fairly happy in the hot conditions if that is the way things turn out on raceday." Cal Crutchlow: "We made a good final lap but we made a small mistake in the second session, which made me run off the track. I had to use the two qualifying tyres we are given, which we could have used in the finals session. I then had to use a soft race tyre and we made it work, but I was pushing, no doubt about that. I hope I can maintain that position in the race and a front row start always helps." World Supersport - Lascorz the top man after qualifying Spanish rider Joan Lascorz started his and his Provec Motocard.com team's season off in perfect style with a pole position performance at Phillip Island, scorching round the 4.445km circuit in a new best lap of 1'33.847. He left his best effort for last, and put his fastest lap down to making the best use of a good machine set-up. Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was second fastest with a 1'34.116, while Sofuoglu's team-mate Michele Pirro slotted into third. Eugene Laverty will complete the front row for the 21-lap race on Sunday 28th, after qualifying fourth on his Parkalgar Honda. Katsuaki Fujiwara sent his official Kawasaki machine to the head of the second row and David Salom (despite losing the first day of track action) was top Triumph rider in sixth, on a ParkinGO BE1 Daytona 675 triple. Times: 1. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'33.847; 2. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1'34.116; 3. Pirro M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1'34.156; 4. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 1'34.300; 5. Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'34.494; 6. Salom D. (ESP) Triumph Daytona 675 1'34.873; 7. Davies C. (GBR) Triumph Daytona 675 1'34.939; 8. Harms R. (DEN) Honda CBR600RR 1'34.999 Read article
Lascorz the top man after qualifying
Source: WORLDSBK.COM | NEWS - Saturday, 27th February 2010, 6:11 GMTSpanish rider Joan Lascorz started his and his Provec Motocard.com team’s season off in perfect style with a pole position performance at Phillip Island, scorching round the 4.445km circuit in a new best lap of 1’33.847. Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was second with a 1’34.116, while Sofuoglu’s team-mate Michele Pirro slotted into third. Eugene Laverty will complete the front row for the 21-lap race on Sunday 28th, after qualifying fourth on his Parkalgar Honda. Katsuaki Fujiwara sent his official Kawasaki machine to the head of the second row and David Salom (despite losing the first day of track action) was top Triumph rider in sixth, on a ParkinGO BE1 triple. Read article
Fabrizio leaves with top SBK time
Source: WorldSBK.com - Monday, 22nd February 2010, 7:48 GMTAfter four tests sessions over two days, Michel Fabrizio posted the quickest time of all at the official pre-season tests at Phillip Island, a 1'31.650, set on the final morning on his Ducati Xerox machine. Shane Byrne (Althea Ducati) was second quickest, on a 1'31.662, while Jakub Smrz (Pata B&G Ducati) was one of the riders to improve in the final session, taking his Ducati to third best time, only 0.030 seconds from Fabrizio. Fastest rider on day one, Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) was fourth overall, while the first of the four-cylinder riders, Jonathan Rea, was fifth in the combined rankings, having set his personal best time this afternoon on his Hannspree Ten Kate Honda. The top ten on combined times was rounded out by Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare), Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia Racing), Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia Racing) and Max Neukirchner (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda). Ruben Xaus was top BMW rider, 11th, and the fastest Yamaha man was James Toseland, 12th. Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) proved quickest of the local riders on show, one place ahead of Lorenzo Lanzi (DFX Corse Ducati) who set 14th best time. Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare) was 15th in a field of 24, and top Kawasaki rider was local man Chris Vermeulen, who took his machine to 16th place. The top 20 riders were within just over two seconds of each other. Michel Fabrizio "I'm satisfied with the lap times because we were consistently fast. I found good race pace with one of the tyre compounds in particular and this bodes well for the weekend, but the result will very much depend on the weather. There are several fast guys here, so it will undoubtedly be a tough race weekend, as well as a hard-fought championship. It's a difficult challenge but I'm ready to face it." Shane Byrne: "We had a bit of a problem in the afternoon session but it was good to make a fast time this morning. It was a little bit disappointing to get pipped this afternoon. But it is only a test so it is not the end of the world. It's very positive for the team to have both riders high in the rankings going into next weekend. We can't be too upset to finish second today by only a small margin." Times: 1. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'31.650; 2. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'31.662; 3. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'31.680; 4. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'31.959; 5. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'32.175; 6. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'32.247; 7. Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'32.279; 8. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F 1'32.474; 9. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1'32.621; 10. Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 1'32.691; 11. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.714; 12. Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'32.781; 13. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.819; 14. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'32.830; 15. Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'32.869; 16. Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'32.870 Lascorz tops Supersport times Spanish rider Joan Lascorz (Provec Motocard.com Kawasaki) headed the field in the middleweight division at Phillip Island, securing the fastest lap of the tests in this morning's session, with a 1'34.374. Only one rider improved his best time in the afternoon sector, as track conditions deteriorated due to high winds and a drop in temperature right at the end of the day. Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was second in the rankings, 2009 Championship runner-up Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) was third and Sofuoglu's team-mate Michele Pirro fourth. Sebastien Charpentier (Triumph BE-1) proved to be in fine form in his championship return, going eighth from 17 riders after two days of testing. He was the fastest Triumph rider at the tests. Times: 1. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'34.374; 2. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1'34.691; 3. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 1'34.753; 4. Pirro M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1'34.793; 5. Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'34.994; 6. Foret F. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'35.060; 7. Roccoli M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1'35.379; 8. Charpentier S. (FRA) Triumph Daytona 675 1'35.735 Read article
Lascorz tops Supersport times
Source: WorldSBK.com - Monday, 22nd February 2010, 7:19 GMTSpanish rider Joan Lascorz (Provec Motocard.com Kawasaki) headed the field in the middleweight division at Phillip Island, securing the fastest lap of the tests in this morning’s session, with a 1’34.374. Only one rider improved his best time in the afternoon sector, as track conditions deteriorated due to high winds and a drop in temperature right at the end of the day. Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was second in the rankings, 2009 Championship runner-up Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) was third and Sofuoglu’s team-mate Michele Pirro fourth. Sebastien Charpentier (Triumph BE-1) proved to be in fine form in his championship return, going eighth from 17 riders after two days of testing. He was the fastest Triumph rider at the tests. Read article
Lascorz sets second day early pace
Source: WorldSBK.com - Monday, 22nd February 2010, 2:24 GMTJoan Lascorz (Kawasaki) led the first Supersport World Championship session of day two with a lap of 1'34.374, a time very close to the track best of 1'34.320. Lascorz was followed home, in the first of two Monday sessions for the Supersport riders, by Eugene Laverty (Honda), Michele Pirro (Honda) and Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda). Katsuaki Fujiwara made it five riders inside the 1'34 bracket on his Kawasaki. The top Triumph rider in this session was Spain's David Salom, ninth. Read article
Kenan leads them off
Source: WorldSBK.com - Sunday, 21st February 2010, 0:41 GMTThe first session of testing at Phillip Island got underway in fine conditions at the 4.445km circuit, with the name at the top of the early rankings being Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda). He set a class-leading 1'34.691 - very close to his own track best lap of 1'34.320 from the 2009 race - despite missing the previous tests at Portimao with an ankle injury. Just behind Sofuoglu came the Kawasaki Provec Motoacard.com machine of Katsuaki Fujiwara, then Sofuoglu's team-mate Michele Pirro and fourth fastest was the Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki of 2002 World Champion, Fabien Foret. 2009 championship runner-up Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) was fifth, almost a second from Sofuoglu, while 2005 and 2006 champion Sebastien Charpentier (Triumph ParkinGO BE-1) was top Triumph rider, sixth fastest. Read article
