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WSBK Nuerburgring mega-update

Posted by Staff
Monday, 16 June 2008
Page 2 of 6 From Honda WSBK Press CHECA TAKES TWO FIFTH PLACES TO CONTINUE TITLE CHALLENGE After a double race win in America last time out Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) posted two fifth place finishes in the Nürburgring races this weekend, and he remains second in the championship fight. Noriyuki Haga won both the German races, from Troy Bayliss in race one and Troy Corser in a second race. Leg two was shortened by a sudden fall of light rain that saw the result called after 14 laps only. A delay in the first race start, as rain suddenly appeared as the warm-up lap was about to be concluded, put the event back until 12.20, but it took place over a full 20 lap distance when it did commence. First Honda rider home in race one was Checa, who had started from the front row but dropped back in the startline drag race and had to push hard throughout to get back into the top five, fighting a lack of traction all the way. Karl Muggeridge (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR) was a strong top ten runner, battling the official Kawasaki of Makoto Tamada in race one and finishing tenth, then he took 12th place in the second race. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) went 12th in the opener, and Roberto Rolfo (Hannspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR) 16th. In race two Kiyonari was 11th, Rolfo 17th. Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR Jr) had qualified 20th and finished race one in the pits after retiring, posting 21st in the second race. Gregorio Lavilla (Ventaxia VK Honda CBR1000RR)was taken out in race one before a lap had been completed, but recovered from a poor first corner exit in race two to finish 14th and score two points. Neither Alto Evolution Honda rider finished the first race as Jason Pridmore crashed out and Shuhei Aoyama had to retire in the pits due to an electrical problem. In race two Pridmore went 23rd, Aoyama fell and had to enter the pits for repairs, being classified one lap behind the leaders at the early conclusion of the race. Russell Holland (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR) was 19th in each race. In the overall championship, Bayliss leads with 227 points, Checa has 188, and Neukirchner 176. Kiyonari is tenth on 89, Lavilla 12th on 65. Checa said: "We didn't find the right grip here this weekend. We have been working on the setup of the bike to improve this, especially in the rear, but didn't manage it. We were on a good pace with the qualifier, but on the race tyre we used here this weekend we couldn't find enough. We made some rather big changes to the set-up for the second race. I started well and chased the front group, but wasn't able to keep up with their speed. I had to get off the gas a couple of times to prevent the bike from high-siding. We have done our best. We just didn't find the same level of grip as our competitors." Kiyonari said: "My feeling with the bike was a lot better in the second race, but I am disappointed with the results. We used the base setting for both races. Yesterday we worked on the balance of the bike, but we made the wrong choice and didn't improve. I wasn't able to any faster. It was just a mistake that we changed the setup, but we have learned a lot. I would like to forget this weekend." Rolfo said: "I'm satisfied with the second race because my bike performed much better compared to the first race. We modified some things on the bike during the morning warm up and this improved the suspension and the engine performance. Consequently, I had more grip on the rear tyre. I'm only a little disappointed about race two because the race was red flagged while I was overtaking!" Lavilla said: "I was knocked off by another rider in the first race and some riders obviously think that the race is finished after two corners. In race two I got stuck inside in the first corner and I could not pass any riders there, only as the race went on. We are getting some positives because the bike was good in warm-up and I felt I was riding better than I have been in the recent past. I just think things are going to take longer than we thought to get to where we all want them to be." Muggeridge said: "Race one was OK but we made some changes to the bike to improve things and we went too far. That made problems for us in the opposite direction for race two. But we're getting there and it was good to have real race with some factory bikes today." Aoyama said: "I had some problem in race one, I think something with the electronics, and we had to pull in. In race two I had a bad start and had to come through from the very back. I pushed hard and passed some people but then I made a mistake under braking, ran wide and crashed." The World Superbike series now heads to Misano, Italy, for round eight, on June 29. << Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next > End >>

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