Motourage

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

Samsung Crescent Racing’s John Hopkins raced to fifth and seventh places today as a wild card entry in the World Superbike Championship round at Silverstone in the UK.

Following his victory in Superpole yesterday – where he set a new lap record – the Suzuki GSX-R1000-mounted British Superbike Championship contender started both of today’s races from pole position, going into the opening race full of fight and dicing for the lead in the early stages. But with a riding style that dictates use of the rear brake, disaster struck mid-way through race one for the American when he suffered a rear brake issue, effectively ending hopes of a podium finish. But he still finished the race in an impressive fifth place.

In race two, Hopkins was at the sharp end of the action, battling hard with WSBK title contenders Marco Melandri, Max Biaggi and Eugene Laverty.

For team mate Jon Kirkham, a pair of finishes in the points was a positive step forward after struggling in qualifying yesterday. Finishing race one in 14th and going on to set faster times in race two – some 15 seconds faster over race distance – to come home in 15th signified solid progress, when other British Championship riders crashed out of contention.

John Hopkins:
“Boy that was a lot of fun. The first race was a bit of a disappointment with the rear brake pad issues, but I managed to alter my corner-entry and keep my focus to bag that fifth place. Race two felt better, but to keep with those factory bikes you really need to make up time on the brakes and on the gas out of the turns. I knew that would kill my tyre, so it was no surprise in the closing stages of race two when we started losing the times. Overall, I’m really pumped about this weekend. It’s been huge fun and we’ve showed the World what the Samsung Crescent Suzuki team is really capable of. I’ve bagged my first-ever World Superbike pole position, mixed it up at the sharp end and enjoyed the racing immensely. A huge thanks to the whole team.”

Jon Kirkham:
“Not quite what I hoped for this weekend, but a pair of points-finishes in World Superbike is definitely something to be pleased with and you still can’t beat the feeling of dicing with your heroes like Troy Corser. Crucially we were a day behind really: After my struggles in practice and qualifying – and an attempt to alter my riding style a little after seeing Hopper’s times – I just reverted to my old self today and started to go much better. Anyway, the bonus to take away from this is that we’ve now got a lot of data for the Silverstone BSB round and I can go to Brands Hatch next weekend with plenty of confidence.”

Jack Valentine, Team Manager:
“What a weekend. First we’re fastest in practice, then on Pole position and then dicing for the lead, before rounding the weekend off with two great results and both riders in the points. This was always going to be a challenge, but thanks to the support from all of our sponsors, including Samsung and Fixi, we were able to show the World what we’re capable of and leave Silverstone with our heads held high.

“Hopper rode two great races, JK demonstrated his ability to bounce back despite set-backs and crucially, we leave here with a great deal of data for the BSB round later in the year. Now we head to Brands Hatch this weekend coming full of confidence: A great team effort and huge thanks to the entire team.”

RESULTS:

Race 1:
1 Carlos Checa 38m06.477s
2 Eugene Laverty +3.304s
3 Marco Melandri +4.782s
4 Leon Haslam +7.116s
5 John Hopkins +11.057s
6 Sylvain Guintoli +21.899s

Race 2:
1 Carlos Checa 38m03.361s
2 Eugene Laverty +2.274s
3 Marco Melandri +3.675s
4 Max Biaggi +3.960s
5 Leon Camier +4.405s
6 Sylvain Guintoli +10.958s
7 John Hopkins  + 11.387s

ParkinGO Yamaha’s Chaz Davies was protagonist of the World Supersport race today at his home round at Silverstone, powering his YZF- R6 to claim his fourth race win of the season. From a less than perfect eighth place on the grid, Davies shot into third place at the start and worked his way up to claim the leading position by just lap three. Determined to impress his numerous fans at his home race, the Welshman fought hard to hold off his adversaries. Briefly surrendering his lead to Foret mid race, Davies reclaimed the position by lap eleven, from where he proceeded to the finish line, snatching the chequered flag. Davies struggled throughout the weekend’s qualifying sessions and was unable to secure a front row start for today’s race. The Yamaha ParkinGO team made impressive improvements on his R6 set up allowing the Brit to perform to his potential and deliver yet another race victory.

Teammate Luca Scassa had a less successful race day. The Italian encountered several issues throughout the weekend and had to settle for the third row on this afternoon’s grid. The Italian fought hard to push through the pack and climb up to ninth place. Struggling with the tyre issues, Scassa was unable to fight off his adversaries and was bumped down to 12th place by the end of the 16 lap race.

Chaz Davies remains at the top of the World Supersport championship on 146 points, 42 ahead of Salom in second place. Despite the less than perfect race, Luca Scassa managed to retain his fifth place and now has a total of 83 points, 12 points short of Parkes in fourth.

Chaz Davies, Yamaha ParkinGO Team, 1st:
“It was great to get a win at my home race. It was definitely one of the best races of the year. There were a good few passes back and forth so it wasn’t easy to get the win. I was eighth on the grid, we struggled all weekend as I couldn’t get that fast lap in to get on the front row. I got off to a good start and did my best to hold the pace. I wasn’t sure which tyres to use so I think we must have made the right choice and I’m relieved with that. It was a great battle with the guys and I had so much fun. Thanks so much to my team, they did a great job and I want to dedicate the win to my sister, who celebrates her birthday today.”

Luca Scassa, Yamaha ParkinGo Team, 12th:
“I thought I had resolved the issues I had in this weekend’s qualifying and I was sure I’d be able to fight for a podium. I got off to a good start and pushed hard to battle through the pack. I did my best to fight on but then I started to struggle with the tyres and began to lose positions. I’m disappointed but I’ll do my best at the next round in Nurburgring.”

Althea Racing’s Carlos Checa celebrated his 99th and 100th World Superbike races in style today by taking both wins at Silverstone.

Checa made a strong start to race one and was fourth at the end of lap one. He fought with Noriyuki Haga for third position through the first laps and passed both him and John Hopkins on the third. Giving chase to Laverty, he got past him on lap six to take the lead. By mid-race he had built up a two-second lead over the Yamaha rider but did not slow his pace for anyone, continuing to put in some extremely fast lap times all the way to the line, to win with a 3.3 second advantage. Carlos also made the fastest lap of the race, obtaining his sixth Pirelli prize of the season.

The second race was also significant for the fact that is was championship leader Checa’s 100th race in World Superbike. The Althea Racing rider was fifth at the first corner, but up to second by the end of the first lap. In the initial stages he battled hard to reach leader Laverty and was able to get by him on lap six, just as he had done in race one. From that point on, he worked hard to slowly increase his advantage, and he defended his position perfectly. He crossed the line 2.2 seconds ahead of Laverty, to take another 25 points for the championship.

Thanks to today’s fantastic double win, Checa has extended his championship advantage to 62 points. He holds a total of 343 points to second-place Biaggi’s 281. Ducati continues to lead the manufacturer’s championship with 355 points to 320 of Yamaha and Aprilia.

Carlos Checa:
“It was a wonderful day. I didn’t believe that it would be possible to win here, but we managed to do it twice over. To achieve the 300th win for Ducati is an important result and we are all very happy to have been able to repeat this in race two. I thank everyone involved, my team, Ducati and all the sponsors. I also heard that I have now completed 100 SBK races. I didn’t know this but the important thing is that I still feel young and am not yet 100 years old! We have a good advantage for now but as we all know, it is hard to build up points and easy to lose them. We now head to tracks where I have had some good results in the past but we are taking it one step at a time; nothing is a given. It’s been a fantastic weekend that I will remember forever. Now the team can go on holiday in a more relaxed state of mind.”

Genesio Bevilacqua, Althea Racing General Manager:
“A double win that gives us great satisfaction. We’ve achieved two wins at just the right time and they help increase our championship advantage. A true demonstration of strength by our rider who made the most of everything we have given him on a technical level. I would like to underline that it has been a difficult weekend from a media point of view; I think that our rivals should clarify their declarations as they continue to insist that they believe us to be at an advantage when the opposite is in fact true. What we bring to the floor is our strength as a team, a great rider and a bike that has less acceleration. We also lose at least 12km/h of top speed at every track. I would therefore like to see more respect being paid when it comes to the hard work of our team and our rider. We will continue to work to achieve our objectives and Ducati’s objective.”

Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki demonstrated its world-class pedigree today at round nine of the World Superbike Championship at Silverstone in the UK as a wild card John Hopkins blitzed WSBK regulars to win Superpole with a new lap record of 2.04.041.

Starting first practice fastest, Suzuki GSX-R1000-mounted Hopkins and the team decided to play it safe in the subsequent practice sessions, but by qualifying, they made it count to take the top spot, beating Irishman Eugene Laverty and Britain’s Leon Camier to pole position in the process.

In contrast to the Hopkins’ euphoria, on the other side of the garage, teammate Jon Kirkham has struggled to find his pace and will begin tomorrow from the back of the grid.

John Hopkins:
“The Samsung Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 felt real good from the off and after setting the fastest time in FP1 we started to believe that we could do something special here this weekend. As we’re running just the one bike, I settled a little to make sure nothing silly happened and then pulled the pin in Q2 and just got my head down in that and Superpole. The bike feels great and I can’t thank the team enough for giving me the package to do this on: Let’s just hope we can turn this into something even more special come tomorrow.”

Jon Kirkham:
“I’m just struggling to find my confidence and rhythm here this weekend. With Hopper going so well I know I can go faster, and in the second practice session it started to go the right way, but after that, just no more improvement. The races will be a different story altogether though and if I can find some rhythm I’m sure I can bag a decent result or two.”

Jack Valentine, Team Manager:
“What a result. We turned up here without any real data as Hopper’s only completed around 25 laps here in testing before, so to end FP1 quickest, we had a little smile and hoped this could be the start of something special. In truth, we turned the wick down a little after Qualifying 2 for damage limitation with just the one bike and then went all guns blazing for Superpole. It’s a great result and tomorrow’s another day, but let’s just say that for now; we’re feeling optimistic. A big thank you to the whole team.”

Silverstone WSBK front row:
1 John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 2m04.041s
2 Eugene Laverty (IRL) Yamaha 2m04.068s
3 Leon Camier (GBR) Aprilia 2m04.303s
4 Carlos Checa (ESP) Ducati 2m04.362s

The Yamaha ParkinGO World Supersport Team completed the second qualifying day on the British track at Silverstone, content with having successfully improved the R6 race set ups ahead of tomorrow’s race day.

Chaz Davies

Chaz Davies concluded the session in eighth place and faces his home race tomorrow determined to battle for victory in front of his British fans. The Welshman made the most of the second day at the British circuit to work through some chassis set ups and improve his race pace. Unfortunately Davies was unable to produce a fast lap towards the end of the session and settled for a second row position on tomorrow’s grid, but is confident to have made the progress necessary to be strong and consistent for the 16 lap race. Teammate Luca Scassa closed the day in 11th place overall and with a third row position on the race grid. Despite the result, the Italian is confident that he has made solid improvements on his R6 race set up today and will be in a position to fight for a podium tomorrow and climb back up the championship standings.

Chaz Davies, Yamaha ParkinGO Team, 8th, 2’09.405:
” We have worked hard and made progress. I have a better feeling with the front of my R6 than yesterday and I have improved the race pace also. I’ll start from the second row tomorrow but I’m sure I can be strong and push through to the front of the pack. At Silverstone there are plenty of opportune places to overtake, so I’ll do my best. It’s my home race and in front of my fans I just want to do my best to deliver good results for them.”

Luca Scassa, Yamaha ParkinGO Team, 11th, 2’09.700:
” Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get in a hot lap today and improve my qualifying times. I got caught up in traffic that slowed me down. We worked hard yesterday and were heading in the right direction. I could definitely see the results today and the track temperature was also hotter. The bike feels quite good and it adapts quite well to my riding style so I’m feeling quite confident. I’m not concerned that I’m on the third row, I’ll be doing my best to fight for a podium anyway.”

Having made consistent progress throughout today’s sessions, Davide Giugliano and the Althea Racing team worked hard to secure second position on the grid for the sixth race of the STK 1000 season, taking place tomorrow morning at Silverstone.

Althea Racing’s riders were out on track early this morning for the second STK 1000 free practice session. Giugliano and his technicians made good progress, even if times were slightly slower than yesterday afternoon’s. Davide was nevertheless the fastest rider on track and closed the 30-minute session in first place, with a best time of 2’09.6”, recorded in the final stages. His teammate, Lorenzo Baroni, suffered due to a gear problem and was able to make very few laps, closing in thirteenth position.

In the afternoon’s second qualifying session, Davide improved on yesterday’s qualifying performance, particularly towards the end of the session when he recorded an extremely fast time of 2’08.7”, three tenths of a second quicker than his best set yesterday. The Althea flagbearer was one of only two riders to lap in under 2m09 and he closed qualifying in second position overall, assuring himself of a front row start once again for tomorrow’s STK 1000 race. Unfortunately, Baroni continued to suffer this afternoon, although there was a slight improvement in his times. His best of the afternoon came mid-session (2’10.2”) and once the results of the two qualifying sessions were combined, this time placed him in seventh position overall. Lorenzo will thus line up on the second row of tomorrow’s grid.

Davide Giugliano:
“Everything went well today, actually we’ve been working well all weekend and I’m feeling prepared for tomorrow’s race. The work we carried out in practice bore fruit in qualifying and this afternoon, as soon as I had the chance to make a clean lap with no traffic, I was able to get under 2-9 and secure a front row position. I’m satisfied with our pace and am feeling very confident ahead of tomorrow’s race.”

Lorenzo Baroni:
“Today was not an easy day for us. We were unable to find the right set-up and I had some difficulty making quick lap times. We lost some time this morning with the gear problem but I thank my technicians who worked hard to resolve this in time for afternoon qualifying. Staying ahead in tomorrow’s race will be tough as there are many of us lapping with similar times but I hope to be able to pick up my pace during the race and take a good result.”

TIMES (QUALIFYING): Petrucci (Ducati) 2’08.5; 2. Giugliano (Ducati) 2’08.7; 3. Canepa (Ducati) 2’09.1; 4. Zanetti (BMW) 2’09.2; 5. Barrier (BMW) 2’09.7; 6. Mercado (Kawasaki) 2’10.0; 7. Baroni (Ducati) 2’10.2; 8. La Marra (Honda) 2’10.2

At the end of an extremely closely fought Superpole, Althea Racing’s Carlos Checa has secured a place on the front tow of tomorrow’s Superbike grid at Silverstone. Checa will line up in fourth place for the two 18-lap races.

Checa recorded some consistently fast times during this morning’s second qualifying session, which took place in temperate conditions, with a track temperature of 22˚C/76˚F. His best time set yesterday remained the overall fastest time until five minutes from the end of today’s session, when he himself beat it by registering a lap time of 2’05.1”. Unfortunately, a fast lap by Hopkins just two minutes from the session’s end prevented the Spaniard from closing in first, but he nevertheless qualified a close second for this afternoon’s Superpole, with the team aware of its impressive pace around the British circuit.

On a warmer track (34˚C/93˚F), Checa dominated the final practice session in the early afternoon, concluding in first position with a best time of 2’05.4”.

Superpole 1: after a first exit on race rubber, Checa made a second attempt in the final minutes of the session. The fast lap that he achieved placed him third and assured him of safe passage to the second Superpole phase.
Superpole 2: taking advantage of the first of two available qualifying tyres, Carlos immediately put ina 2’04.4” lap time, projecting himself to the top of the timesheets where he remained until the session’s end; no further laps were required and he passed to phase three in first position.
Superpole 3: on track with the second qualifier, the Spanish rider witnessed Haga’s unfortunate crash, but, despite this momentary distraction, was able to record a time of 2’04.3” that was enough to guarantee him a place on the front row of tomorrow’s grid.

Carlos Checa:
“I think it has been a positive day, after a solid weekend’s work. It’s actually going better than we expected, and I’m satisfied with the progress we’ve made, with our rhythm and with the tire performance. Superpole was going well, but I lost a couple of tenths when Haga crashed ahead of me, I lost concentration there for a minute. I knew it would be difficult to make a 2-4 flat today, but I’m nevertheless happy to be on the front row for tomorrow’s races. I believe we have strong race pace and can fight for the podium. I think we’ll be seeing some different front runners tomorrow, as we’ve seen for example that Laverty and Camier are really strong here, so I’m looking forward to two great, but tough races.”

TIMES (Superpole): 1. Hopkins (Suzuki) 2’04.0; 2. Laverty (Yamaha) 2’04.0; 3. Camier (Aprilia) 2’04.3; 4. Checa (Ducati) 2’04.3; 5. Guintoli (Ducati) 2’05.4; 6. Melandri (Yamaha) 2’05.6; 7. Fabrizio (Suzuki) 2’05.9; 8. Haga (Aprilia) 2’05.7

Yamaha ParkinGO riders Luca Scassa and Chaz Davies got straight down to business today at Silverstone and completed the first qualifying session in third and tenth places respectively. Both riders made the most of the first day at the long British track to work through various set-ups in search of a good feeling on their R6s ahead of Sunday’s race day.

Luca Scassa was back on top form today, following less-than-perfect results in the previous two consecutive rounds. The Italian impressed on the fast-flowing track, finishing up the first qualifying session in third place, just four tenths of a second behind the Gino Rea at the top of the time sheets and with a provisional front row position on Sunday’s grid. Teammate Chaz Davies spent the first day at Silverstone trying to find a good feeling on his machine and making adjustments to his chassis set up. The British rider is confident that he made improvements in the right direction, ahead of tomorrow’s second qualifying session.

Luca Scassa, Yamaha ParkinGO Team, 3rd, 2’09.804:
“We worked hard on my bike and made some major changes before coming to Silverstone. We took all the data from the beginning of the season in Australia and tried to analyze several aspects; the set-up, my input, the tires etc., in order to discover what the problem was in the last few rounds. We were strong in colder conditions but struggled in the heat. We obviously succeeded in making progress as the bike is going very well. We still need to do some minor changes especially to the front, but I’m confident for tomorrow. Finally, I feel like I’m riding my bike again and it feels good.”

Chaz Davies, Yamaha ParkinGO Team, 10th, 2’11.217:
“It wasn’t exactly a very successful session today. I didn’t get the times I would have hoped for but I’m not too concerned. We tried a few different set-ups to get the feel of them, but nothing was quite right. We have some adjustments to do before tomorrow but I’m pretty confident that we know what to do. I also tried the soft tires towards the end of the session, and I expected to improve on my lap times but that wasn’t the case. Tomorrow is another day, and I’m sure things will go much better.”

Motourage World Superbike man-crush, Team Alstare Suzuki’s Michel Fabrizio, finished the opening day of WSBK practice and qualifying at Silverstone with the sixth-fastest lap of the day, as the top-12 riders were separated by less than a second.

Like many times this year, Silverstone is a new track for Fabrizio and his Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000; and he and the team spent most of the time working on finding a good set-up for the bike. By the end of the day, he and the team were happy enough with what it had achieved, but will spend tomorrow looking for further improvements ahead of Sunday’s pair of 18-lap races.

Series leader Carlos Checa (Ducati) led the charge today, posting a lap of 2:05.477. Second quickest was Maxime Berger (Ducati) with Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) third and Leon Camier (Aprilia) fourth.

Michel Fabrizio – 6th, 2:06.023:
“I am not happy, but I am not unhappy about how things worked out today. As usual we spent most of the time trying to find a good set-up for the bike, so we tried many things and made many adjustments. We also tried to find a good grip-level and, at the end, we felt that we had gone in the right direction and hopefully we will continue to improve tomorrow.

“This is my first time here on a four-cylinder bike, so I took things pretty steadily in the morning and just tried to get comfortable with the bike. My right foot is a bit of a problem. I think that the discomfort I am feeling, between the smallest toe and the one next to it is a relic of my crash in America. I am really not sure if there is a small fracture there or maybe a cyst has formed, but it does get a bit uncomfortable on the bike sometimes. To make things easier for me, the team made the right footrest shorter and that has taken some of the pressure off the outside of my foot. I certainly felt more comfortable with the shorter footrest and once I am racing, it is not a problem anyway.

“Hopefully the conditions will stay dry and I will improve tomorrow, both in practice and Superpole qualifying. It would be good to be on the front-row of the grid, but my first aim is to be in final Superpole. After that, we shall have to see.”

Friday qualifying: 1. Carlos Checa (ESP-Ducati) 2:05.477, 2. Maxime Berger (FRA-Ducati) 2:05.870, 3. Tom Sykes (GBR-Kawasaki) 2:05.899, 4. Leon Camier (GBR-Aprilia) 2:05.937, 5. John Hopkins (USA-Suzuki) 2:05.974, 6. Michel Fabrizio (ITA-Alstare Suzuki) 2:06.023.