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Honda Racing information

Posted by Staff
Wednesday, 27 February 2008
Australian World Superbike at Phillip Island, Wednesday 27 February 2008World Superbike and World Supersport preview SECOND ROUND BECKONS FOR HONDA CBR1000RR RIDERS The dust from the Qatar World Superbike round had not settled before Honda's nine World Superbike riders were on the move again, heading to Phillip Island Australia for the second round of the 2008 Championship season on Sunday March 2. Honda's CBR1000RR riders, some on the 2008 model and some still riding the 2007 version until they can spend more development time with their new machines, had mixed fortunes at Qatar, but all learned much from their first races of the year. As a group they will be aiming to turn these lessons into improved results come the second round of the season on Sunday 2 March. Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) was the highest aggregate scorer in Honda colours at Losail, earning 15 points and an overall eighth position on the all-new 2008 CBR1000RR, in what was his first ever World Superbike event. All three of the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda riders this year, including Checa's direct team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) and talented Junior Team rider Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR Jr) are full season rookies in WSB racing; making last weekend a tough test for the trio in one of the most competitive WSB grids for years. The experience Sofuoglu now has of the World Superbike circuits, gained on his way to becoming 2007 World Supersport Champion for Hannspree Ten Kate Honda, played some part in his impressive race two top ten at Losail last week. He sits 10th equal in the standings, with 10 points. For double British Champion Kiyonari, the first weekend was particularly difficult, but the Japanese star now the perfect opportunity to prove that first day nerves have been washed away, and that he will be in a position to score points in both Australian races. With limited testing time available to him on his 2008 Fireblade before the Qatar season opener, Roberto Rolfo (Hannspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR) almost had to treat qualifying as final test session. Despite some misfortune in race two, he got on the scoreboard twice, in a field of 28 riders, last weekend. Gregorio Lavilla (Vent Axia VK Honda CBR1000RR) is the only other Honda rider on the scoreboard thus far, the former WSB regular and2005 British Superbike Champion posting a strong return to WSB action at Qatar, despite having a machine set-up and tyre choice mismatch in both 18-lap races. He obtained results of 13th and 14th in Qatar, and thus enters Phillip Island - a circuit he loves - 15th in the standings, with five points. Shuhei Aoyama (Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR) and his team-mate Luca Morelli (Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR), are hoping Phillip Island will see a change in their early season fortunes. Aoyama is an absolute class rookie and as such had a steady weekend on the 2007 machine in Losail qualifying and racing, while Morelli was unable to finish either race. Australians Karl Muggeridge (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR) and Russell Holland (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR) approach their home round from vastly different standpoints in terms of WSB experience. Holland had his first two WSB races last weekend, while Muggeridge, 2004 World Supersport Champion for Honda, completed his 68th SBK race at Qatar. After the Phillip Island race the championship contenders move on to Valencia in Spain, firstly for an official FGSport test between 13 and 14 March, and then for round three of the championship on April 6. Carlos Checa said: "It will be the first time for our Superbikes at Phillip Island, as we missed out on the test earlier this year. It will be important for us to work with the right tyres and not just do one fast lap in qualifying. We need to find a tyre that is consistent throughout the whole race so we can close the gap to the riders at the front. The new bike is handling a lot better then last year's bike already; I am happy with the chassis and confident that we can succeed." Ryuichi Kiyonari commented: "Now I must try hard for Phillip Island. I have raced there before but it was a long time ago and I don't remember it so much. Hopefully it will be OK and better for the new machine." Kenan Sofuoglu said: "For sure Phillip Island will be another hard weekend because every track I go to I have start again from zero. I think every weekend will be difficult for me but as we showed in Qatar I will improve throughout the three days. I think the Phillip Island track will be even more physical but at least I have some experience now with the Superbike. I am too tense at the moment, not riding easily and I am still using too much of a Supersport style with high corner speeds, which uses the front tyre up too much. I think Friday will be hard at Phillip Island but I think that by Sunday we should be able to get around the top ten again." Roberto Rolfo said: "Qatar was our first race with the new bike and we learned a lot about it. We'll use that knowledge when we get to Australia. I could fight with other riders in Qatar and the technical staff have already done a great job with the bike. That gives me confidence that we can improve even more this weekend." World Supersport Championship Honda's supported riders in the 2008 World Supersport Championship are looking to the forthcoming race at Phillip Island with great expectations after a somewhat disrupted opening round for some at the Losail circuit in Qatar last week. The Honda CBR600RR is expected to be as competitive at the 4.445km circuit in the state of Victoria as it has been at circuits all over the world since its introduction, and Honda's seven-rider official line-up features several potential winner and podium placers. Last weekend official rider Craig Jones (Parkalgar Honda CBR600RR) was on the podium in third place, and the 23-year-old Briton is well-placed to be in contention for another top three in his second year of full WSS competition for Honda. Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) and Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) failed to score points at Qatar after Rea fell and Pitt could not avoid his team-mate's bike. Being one of the few teams to have tested at Phillip Island in the off-season, however, they hope to start the coming weekend with some degree of advantage - and hold onto it through raceday on Sunday March 2. Pitt is a proven winner at his home circuit, while Rea is a complete rookie to WSS racing, albeit one with great riding talent and proven BSB Superbike success behind him. Gianluca Nannelli (Hannspree Althea Honda CBR600RR) and his temporary team-mate Andrea Antonelli (Hannspree Althea Honda CBR600RR) are looking to turn their recent Losail bad luck around in Australia. Although without points so far, Nannelli is a proven WSS force, with a great determination to succeed in his new team. Josh Brookes (Hannspree Stiggy Motorsports Honda CBR600RR) is a former wildcard WSS race winner for Honda in Australia, and this year is well placed to make return to top form after a difficult qualifying in Losail. His charge to fourth place in the Qatar race showed Brookes's battling qualities and a seventh place finish for Robbin Harms (Hannspree Stiggy Motorsports Honda CBR600RR) demonstrated that he I making a genuine recovery from serious injury in 2007. Andrew Pitt said: "I have to win this race, it's starting to get harder when you're missing out on points in the first race so now we'll have to make every round count. We have the package to do it, if we can get the set up right straight away and qualify a bit further up front. I am pretty confident we can put in a good performance." Jonathan Rea said: "I don't feel as good as I should. Our start of the season didn't get off too well. I started the series with a DNF, which wasn't a good way. But we have a already tested here in Australia and set up a good race setting, so we should be able to be on the pace straight away. I have a small hand injury from my crash in Qatar but it should be OK for the weekend and am looking forward to riding again and getting some points on the board. We still have some work to do as a team but I am confident and eager to go out there." Craig Jones said: "We will still have the same engine spec for the Phillip Island race as we did at Qatar but as we showed, it was enough for a podium when some of the other riders failed to finish. The confidence of everyone in the team is very good after the podium finish, and we are looking forward to getting to Phillip Island. It's such a great track to ride." Josh Brookes said: "We got better and better in every single session at Qatar and we didn't even test there. We have got a bit of testing behind us at Phillip Island, so we'll work from that. I think a top five is a possibility next weekend. It is my home track so hopefully we'll have a good one." Robbin Harms said: "Qatar was hard in qualifying but we got a reward so we can hope for the same next weekend. I tested in the winter with Josh at Phillip Island but it was too early in my recovery from injury to make good times. But it will help us when we start practice in Australia. I think we are getting better and better." Gianluca Nannelli: "We didn't really get started in the race at Qatar, and that makes me feel sorry for the team who worked so hard. Now more than ever my goal is to obtain excellent results in Australia. We know we can be fast so we just have to go out and show that we can do and get some good points scores." from Honda Racing press

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