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HANNspree Ten Kate Racing’s Fabien Foret took his fifth podium finish in six races on Sunday in round eight of the World Supersport Championship at Silverstone in the UK. The race was won by series leader Chaz Davies, with Spain’s David Salom finishing just ahead of Foret in second. Foret’s teammate, Florian Marino, was ninth.

Foret started from the second row of the grid, but the French ace dropped some places at the start and had to fight his way to the front of the field. He led for two laps before a false neutral on Silverstone’s back straight saw him drop to third.

Marino, conversely, began the 16-lap race around the 5.902km circuit from the front row and led for the opening two laps. However, tire problems forced the 18-year-old from Cannes in France to drop back through the field in the closing laps.

Fabien Foret, third:
Well it wasn’t the result we wanted, but the weekend has been quite difficult, so I’ll take it. I feel a bit sorry for the team though, because I didn’t really do the best race here and had the wrong tire. I wasn’t 100% happy with the setting either, but I made some mistakes too, so it wasn’t great. We didn’t really find what we wanted on the bike and I’m sorry I couldn’t get a better result for the team.

Florian Marino, ninth:
I’m really disappointed with the result here. I got a good start and when Chaz passed me I could go with him. Even when I dropped to fourth, I was able to match his times but after nine or ten laps the rear tire just went and I had no grip. After this I had to fight the bike so much just to get to the end. After a good qualifying I was confident for a nice result, but there are some positive things from the weekend so I can be confident going to Nurburgring.

Ronald ten Kate, team manager:
It was quite a hectic race today that saw both our riders leading. That was good for Florian in particular, because he’s had some problems finding a setting for the machine, and he showed his true speed on the bike. We’ve had some problems trying to sort the bike for Fabien this weekend, but we never really got it perfect. We’re happy with yet another podium although a win just before the summer holidays would have been nice. We’re in a good connection with the leading group now and all we can do now is fight for race wins and try to make a big step towards the lead at Nurburgring.

2011 World Supersport championship, round eight – Silverstone, UK (5.403km) – 16 laps:
1. Chaz Davies (GBR) Yamaha 34m55.198s
2. David Salom (ESP) Kawasaki +1.085s
3. Fabien Foret (FRA) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +2.449s
9. Florian Marino (FRA) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +14.906s

Championship points after eight of 12 rounds:
1. Davies 146, 2. Salom 104, 3. Foret 101, 4. Broc Parkes (AUS) Kawasaki 95, 11. Marino 44

Fabien Foret finished second in Sunday’s third round and crash-strewn World Supersport Championship race at Assen in the Netherlands. The Frenchman finished seven seconds behind race winner ParkinGO Yamaha’s Chaz Davies after tire problems forced him to ease off in the closing laps

The race was red flagged twice; initially after Parkalgar Honda rider Sam Lowes crashed out of contention on lap four. The restart was barely a lap old before two other riders crashed at the final chicane, bringing out another red flag.

In the second restart, Foret’s Hannspree Ten Kate Honda teammate, Florian Marino, was taken out of a podium position by Italian rider Luca Scassa, who careered into the rear of Marino’s Honda CBR600RR on lap seven of the revised 16-lap encounter around the 4.542km Assen circuit.

Foret had started the race from the outside of the front row and fell back to sixth place in the early stages before fighting his way through and then benefiting from the exit of Marino and Scassa.

However, tire problems similar to those which forced his exit from the opening round in Australia, meant the French rider was unable to push and, with a big gap behind him, he rolled off the throttle to ensure his first points of the season.

Fabien Foret – 2nd
It was a tough day but I’m happy with 20 points, but we had some pretty bad tire issues with about four or five laps to go. I had to try to save the tire and finish the race so I was lucky that there was a good gap to Broc Parkes in third. I had to ride really slowly just to finish the race but at the end of the day it turned into quite a good weekend. Between the tire issue and the fact that I am still not quite 100%, it’s good to get some points and I hope for Monza to be in really good shape to fight for a win.

Florian Marino – DNF
Of course I’m really disappointed. After all the work that we did as a team over this weekend, it’s a very tough way to finish a race. I know these things can happen in a race sometimes, but I’m not happy that it happened to me today. Everything was OK in the race and I was just waiting to see how Gino Rea was going in front of me. But I have shown that I can fight for podium positions and I’m looking forward to Monza to do that again.

Ronald ten Kate, Team manager
We had quite a difficult weekend here until Sunday morning. On Saturday night we found a breakthrough with setup which needed a lot of extra hours working from everyone involved with the team. So a big thanks must go to them for today’s results. Florian was riding at his best ever for us and was very unfortunate to be taken out. But things like that happen when there’s an intense battle up front and, for sure, being as young as he is, there will be more days for him. Fabien also had troubles this weekend. Injuries have not been holding him back so much and the Sunday morning set-up really allowed him to propel himself forward in the race. However, he encountered a similar tire problem to Phillip Island, and he had to close down the throttle towards the end of the race. We need to work on his starts, which are not so good, but apart from that I must give him big compliments for staying calm all weekend. When the bike was good, he was really fast so we’re really looking forward to Monza and carrying this momentum forward. We’re not so far behind in the championship so we’ll take it race-by-race and get the maximum we can from each weekend.

2011 World Supersport championship, round three – Assen, Netherlands
Results (16 laps):
1. Chaz Davies (GBR) Yamaha 26m37.029s
2. Fabien Foret (FRA) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +7.236s
3. Broc Parkes (AUS) Kawasaki +8.084s
4. Robbin Harms (DEN) Honda +8.191s
DNF. Florian Marino (FRA) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda

Championship points after three of 12 rounds:
1. Luca Scassa (ITA) Yamaha 50, 2. Parkes 47, 3. Davies 45, 4. Harms 37, 5. Salom 34, 6. Foret 20, 9. Marino 17

Next round: Monza, Italy – May 6-8.

Hannspree Ten Kate Honda’s Fabien Foret suffered a high-speed crash at Donington Park in the UK at the end of the yesterday’s opening qualifying session for Sunday’s second round World Supersport championship race.

The French rider fell from his Honda CBR600RR at the fast left-hander going down through Donington’s famous Craner Curves. While the bike was badly damaged in the crash, Foret sustained a fracture to the ring finger of his right hand – the same hand he injured badly in a warm-up crash in the opening round at Phillip Island in Australia last month.

Foret, who eventually qualified in 10th place, underwent an operation to pin the finger under local anesthetic at Derby Royal Hospital last night.

His Hannspree Ten Kate Honda teammate, Florian Marino, was 11th fastest today as the 18-year-old from Cannes in the south of France continues his debut season in the World Supersport championship.

Florian Marino – P11
The session was not so good this afternoon. It started OK and I was able to improve my time from this morning but, when I put in a new tire, I hit some traffic and began to make some mistakes. I came in, but I was still making errors when I went out again and had problems with concentration. I think I can go much faster and we need to do a bit more work with the bike, so tomorrow we can try again.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager
Of course, Fabien wants to ride and after what we saw in Australia, you would not want to bet against it. However, we will let him rest tonight after his operation and have a discussion with him and the medical staff when we find out how he is tomorrow. Florian continues his progress but I am sure there is a bit more to come from both him and the bike tomorrow.

2011 World Supersport championship, round two – Donington Park, UK
First qualifying results:
1 Luca Scassa (ITA) Yamaha 1m31.232s
2 Sam Lowes (GBR) Honda 1m31.368s
3 Broc Parkes (AUS) Kawasaki 1m31.823s
4 David Salom (ESP) Kawasaki 1m31.963s
10 Fabien Foret (FRA) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 1m32.707s
11 Florian Marino (FRA) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 1m33.007s

Spies takes another race victory in drama-filled Magny Cours

It was yet another tough race weekend for Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies at Magny Cours. The penultimate round of the 2009 championship saw Spies take one race victory, and then hang on desperately for points with a front tire that struggled to perform in race two.

The American rider took the lead from the start of the first race, hotly pursued by championship rival Noriyuki Haga. Spies held onto the lead until the last lap, where Haga managed to pass. His lead was short lived however as Spies retook the front position a few seconds later to cross the line and claim his 13th win of the season. Race two saw him off the line into third chasing Biaggi and Haga into the first corner. It soon became apparent that Spies was finding it hard to lay down power in the corners, as his front tire hampered his attack. Rea made a pass at the end of the first lap dropping Ben to fourth, a position he managed to hold until the line, despite dropping nearly a second a lap from the front group over the last few laps of the race.

Tom Sykes endured a disastrous race day; the second lap of the first race saw the rider over brake slightly, causing a huge crash sending his bike catapulting down the track, narrowly missing him. Sykes was uninjured barring a small break to his right little finger, so rejoined for race two. Unfortunately on the second lap of the second race, a yellow flag caused rider Carlos Checa a moment of indecision, resulting in him running too hot into Sykes at the hairpin and taking him out. Fortunately he has just a bruised shoulder but will be fit for the Portimao races.

Spies now heads into the final two races at the Portimao circuit with 426 points, trailing championship leader Haga on 436 by ten points. A double win in Portugal will secure the title for the all-time greatest rookie in the series. Teammate Tom Sykes remains in eighth position heading to the last round, on 176 points and trailing seventh placed rider Checa by 24 points.

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (1st, 4th)
“The whole first race had some good parts and bad ones. We made some small mistakes, costing us a tenth here and a tenth there letting the riders come back and not really taking advantage of the lead. I made a mistake on the last lap and let Nori through, so I had to get on the outside and get back past. Honestly I’m just super disappointed with the second race. We made a rear tire choice which was neither better nor worse, but the front tyre we had on in the second race was hard to go at a pace with. I was consistently half a second off what we were doing in practice. I’m honestly surprised we didn’t finish in tenth with the way the bike felt. Even if we had won today we would still go to Portimao having to win both races so it doesn’t really change too much.”

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (DNF, DNF)
“Race one I made a bit of a mistake, I went for the brake lever and it was just a touch further out than I normally have it so my initial brake pressure was really strong and I knew that, but I had a split second and I lost the front and couldn’t save it. It was a massive crash and I was lucky to get away with it. For race two we changed the rear tire, which I wasn’t convinced was the right one but we went with anyway, unfortunately I was proved right and was struggling with it. Before I could do anything, going into the hairpin Carlos Checa made a big mistake and I got caught up in that and landed badly, pulling the muscles in my shoulder. Luckily nothing broken – so a weekend to forget, and I’m looking forward to something better in Portimao.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
“We won the first race, and we were thinking we would catch up some more points to Nori in the second. Something went wrong, unfortunately outside of our control, and there was nothing Ben could do to ride round it. We are going to Portimao with just one target, to win both races, which I think is possible. Tom had a really bad weekend with three crashes, I’m sorry for him as he was trying really hard to get results and unfortunately for him everything went wrong. We will see what happens in Portugal.”

Circuit Length: 4411
Temp: 19
Crowd: 81000
Weather: Cloudy
Lap Record: 1’40.601 (Lorenzo Lanzi, 01/01/2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1’37.709 (Ben Spies, 04/10/2009)
Last Year’s Winner: Troy Bayliss

Yamaha Race Report, Supersport – Magny Cours

Crutchlow takes a big step towards the championship title at Magny Cours

Yamaha World Supersport rider Cal Crutchlow stepped closer to taking the 2009 World Supersport championship title today, increasing his lead over rival Eugene Laverty in another Supersport race marred by incident. Crutchlow started well from his pole position on the grid, momentarily taking first going into the second lap before dropping to second again behind Lascorz with a comfortable pace below his proven race pace. Rival Laverty came past on the second lap before going wide a lap later allowing Crutchlow back through along with his team mate Foret. Laverty then came back through, but low sided on lap 12, rejoining in 15th position. Crutchlow then began to close in on Lascorz, and was gaining ground for a pass when the race was red flagged with another rider dropping oil, giving the win to Lascorz. Crutchlow’s team mate Fabien Foret had a frustrating race day. Having shown excellent race pace all weekend Foret started well in the race, moving up from his sixth position start he quickly moved through the field, capitalizing on a mistake from Laverty to reach as high as third before crashing out on lap five after losing the front end going into a tight right hander.

Crutchlow goes to Portimao for the final race on 230 points, leading rival Laverty by 19. Team mate Foret heads to the final round in sixth place on 115 points, just two points behind fifth placed rider Anthony West with 117.

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team (2nd)
“It was a good enough race in the end, I felt like I could have won it, and it was about time we had some more luck. Eugene crashed but he was no real problem during the race, the pace was really slow and I knew I could go to low 1:41s towards the end of the race if I needed to. We did what we needed to do, and we got a good second place which was nice. The team has worked really hard, so we’re all looking to keep it going for the next one at Portimao.”

Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team, (DNF)
“I’m obviously very disappointed because I think I had a good pace to do a good race, unfortunately I had an issue going into the corner and unfortunately crashed out. I think I could definitely have got to a good podium finish so it’s a real shame. I’m going to look forward to the final round in Portimao and see if I can get up to fifth in the championship.”

Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager
“What a race, it was unbelievable. A really exciting one to watch, the guys were really riding for the championship the first few laps. Cal was very tight and relaxed, and we saw Eugene crashed after losing the front when pushing on. I think Cal was quite relieved after that as he immediately went half a second faster and continued to be consistent. Lascorz was very fast, and although Cal was catching him I was really happy when the red flag came out and the race was stopped, two or three guys crashed out which brought Eugene up to 12th from 15th. We have to stay very sharp, a 19-point lead is great but it’s not done yet. I feel really sorry for Fabien, he did a really good job in the first couple of laps, he’s definitely back in his old shape, unfortunately as he shifted to second going into the corner the gearbox jumped out of second and he lost the front. It wasn’t his fault so we have to see if he touched the lever or something. He deserved to get a better result today but I think he can be proud of what he did.”

Circuit Length: 4411
Crowd: 81000
Weather: Cloudy
Lap Record: 1’44.071 (Michel Fabrizio, 01/01/2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1’40.980 (Cal Crutchlow, 04/10/2009)
Last Year’s Winner: Andrew Pitt

Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies was back on form today, working up speed through the Superpole sessions to end the final heat with an incredible lap, smashing last year’s record by nearly seven tenths and leaving the other qualifying riders nearly five tenths of a second behind. The ten poles by Spies mean he has now equaled Doug Polen’s 1991 record for the number of pole position starts in a season. Spies also enjoyed a productive earlier qualifying session, continuing to fine tune the set up for tomorrow’s two races, he ended in second behind Michel Fabrizio.

Tom Sykes had worked solidly through qualifying, hitting ninth position by midway. As the session drew to a close he ended with a provisional 13th on the grid in advance of qualifying. An unfortunate crash in free practice in the afternoon session deprived him of his number one bike, throwing the British rider off balance for the Superpole heats. Despite the setback Sykes still made it through to the second Superpole session and will start tomorrow’s two races from 14th position on the grid.

Ben Spies

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (1st, 1’37.709)
“The Superpole lap was a great lap, we’ve spent the weekend and the qualifying sessions working more on race tyres and fuel loads and really looking to make sure the bike is ready come Sunday. Superpole was the first time we really got down to banging out a lap and it was a good one. It’s good to see Johnny is up there again, it’s pretty much the same four guys as last time so it should be a good race. I don’t think anybody is going to be getting away and I think it will be settled in the last few laps. I’m pretty confident with the bike so I’m happy going into Sunday.”

Tom Sykes

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (14th, 1’39.361)
“It was a tough day today. We were making good progress in the qualifying session, and were finding improvements to the bike. Unfortunately in the free practice I had a very strange crash, I’m not sure why it happened at all. When we came out on the second bike the set up was completely different and so it was a struggle to get back on the pace. We don’t have an ideal start position from the grid but if we can get off the line well, we can get in there and fight for the front.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
“After yesterday we found some good improvements with the bike and Ben managed a really incredible lap, but most importantly we’ve found a really good set up for the race and our tyre choices are ready as well. Tomorrow will be a really tough race but we will be part of the front group and fighting for the win. Unfortunately Tom crashed during the free practice session and his second bike had a very different set up, so he didn’t have as much confidence as with the first bike. He did his best and did manage to achieve the second qualifying session. It will be a tough race for him tomorrow but we know he will give it 100%.”

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Imola, Bologna, Italy

Yamaha Race Report – Superbikes

Spies fights hard in Imola to keep championship title in sight

It was never going to be easy for Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies at Imola. Race one saw Spies in fifth off the start line, chasing Haga, Fabrizio, Rea and Biaggi. As the second lap drew to a close Rea over shot the corner, narrowly missing Haga as he headed off into the gravel. As the Italian bikes continued to fight for the lead, Spies was left with a two second gap to close. He managed to close down to 1.4 seconds, but was unable to stay with the front runners, holding on to fourth for the checkered flag. Changes in the set up to the bike saw Spies hit race two with a faster pace and a consistent speed to challenge the leaders. Rea again ran wide on a couple of occasions, causing Spies to pull up for safety, however he was soon back on the pace. He caught and took Byrne on lap 10 for fifth and started closing down on Simoncelli and Biaggi. Unfortunately as he caught them on the last chicane before the start line, Simoncelli took Biaggi, forcing him wide and into the path of Spies, taking him off track. He rejoined but was again forced wide to avoid an early braking Byrne and had to settle for fifth at the flag.

Race one was a mixed one for Sykes, having had a good start he continued to struggle for grip, but still managed to fight through the pack from his 16th position grid start to take ninth at the checkered flag, holding off Australian riders Parkes and Corser for his top ten finish. Race two saw some changes to the bike which provided more grip and consistency however as a number of riders cut the chicane at the end of the lap, they pushed Sykes wide, losing him valuable time. By the end of the race he had made up four places to take 12th at the flag.

Spies now heads to Magny Cours next weekend again in second place chasing the championship lead, separated from Haga at the top by a mere three points, with four races and hundred possible points still on the table. Team mate Tom Sykes remains in eighth position with two rounds to go, sitting just behind Checa with a seven point difference.

Ben Spies now trails Ducati's Noriyuki Haga by three points heading into round 13

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (4th, 5th)
“In race one, we ruined our chances with the electronic side of the bike, we didn’t have enough power coming out of the bike and we struggled with grip a bit as well, it was a rough race. The second race we had the pace for sure to battle for the lead but a combination of things held us up. Rea got pretty greedy early in the race, passing me in the gravel trap three different times. I felt bad for him as I knew he had the pace to run up front but you’ve got to know when to calm down and when to take it easy for a couple of laps and let the race come in, you can’t push on every corner. I had a couple of laps where I wasn’t riding well at all then I got myself together and caught up to Simoncelli and Biaggi. They bumped and Biaggi ran off the track, when he came back on it was either hit him or go off into the gravel. I got back on and caught up to Byrne and then almost ran into the back of him and had to run off the track again. It was a messy race. There were a lot of mistakes, a couple from me and some from others. If you would have told me after the first race that we would only be losing the championship by three points I’d be happy because there were a lot of guys who could beat me this weekend.”

Tom Sykes is battling Carlos Checa for the seventh spot in the championship

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (9th, 12th)
“I had a good start in race one but still struggled for grip as we have been all weekend with the rear of the bike. We improved it a bit for warm up this morning but in the race I still struggled. We made a change for race two but I got a bad start. The bike felt faster and more consistent though but unfortunately I kept getting caught up by a few riders cutting the chicane and I ended up losing a second here and there. Towards the end I had one lap where I was having huge slides so I was looking back at the tyre to see if there was anything on it and lost maybe two and a half seconds.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
“it’s been a very tough day for the team. We definitely came here with a different goal, but racing doesn’t always go as you plan it. During the second race, despite a bad start Ben was really pushing, but unfortunately he was in the wrong place at the wrong time which cost him a podium finish. We didn’t give up when the championship gap was 88 points, for sure we will be trying just as hard now to take back the three we lost today. Our bike has always worked well at Magny Cours so we are going there confident that we can have success. After Tom’s big crash on Friday we lost a whole day so the bike set up was not perfect for today’s races. Starting from 16th, especially here where it’s not easy to pass, it was a good achievement to get into the top ten with a ninth place finish.”

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YAMAHA FREE PRACTICE REPORT

Challenging start to Imola for the Yamaha World Superbike Team riders.

The first day of free practice did not go according to plan at Imola today. The first scheduled Superbike free practice session lasted for just two laps, with less than perfect conditions resulting in a huge high side crash for rider Tom Sykes. Luckily he walked away uninjured. Touring Car racing the weekend previously had resulted in a dirty track with minimal grip and spilt oil in places. The track was re-cleaned and practice got underway after several hours delay. Spies was quick from the word go, dropping into second position two tenths behind leader Byrne as soon as he started. He went on to take the lead until the closing moments, dropping to third as the free practice session ended.

Team mate Tom Sykes was working hard lower down the board, starting in 21st, the British rider improved his times to take 18th spot at the end. Sykes was still suffering from his huge high side crash which brought the first session to a premature end.

As a result of the closures and delays there will be just one qualifying session for the Superbike riders this weekend on the Saturday.

Ben Spies

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (3rd, 1’50.213)
“we got straight down to it this afternoon when we could finally get on track. Since we lost a lot of time today we’ve been focusing on the race set-up. There’s a tyre that I think most people where on today which we haven’t tried yet so we’ll throw that in there tomorrow. We’ve got some time still to find, but we’re on it. The cleaning made a big difference to the track, and felt a lot better, although still slower than the test. I think it will get better tomorrow.”

Tom Sykes

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (18th, 1’51.922)
“It was a very strange day today, the first time I can remember most of the day being cancelled that’s for sure. It was a big crash for me this morning, I thought I was feeling ok from it but in the afternoon session I felt a bit sick so the knock was a bit more than I first thought. I’m going to have a nice sleep tonight and I’ll come out tomorrow swinging. I’m a bit disappointed in my times as I was doing good 1.50s and 1.49s in the test and am a bit off that so far today. We’ve got different settings on the bike to try so we’ll go back to basics and see what we can do tomorrow.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team
“Today was definitely a strange day, we lost a complete session. Fortunately they found a way to clean the circuit so we had at least one practice today. In the end we are lucky to have already tested here so although we’ll miss the practice, we still have a good set up to work from. Tom had a big crash today but we’re happy that he’s fine and ok. We will have some work to do tomorrow, the bike needs some improvement as the temperature is very different from the test, so we are looking forward to getting started in the morning.”
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