Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128395
World Superbike Championship Fabien Faret (99) took the Supersport win but Sebastien Charpentier (16) took the title. manager and close friend Roger Burnett and to the family of young rider Chris Jones, who tragically got killed at Cadwell Park recently." Haga and Pitt gave Yamaha a dreamteam start, going one-two, but after a bit of barging and bumping, the riders behind were Kagayama, Toseland, Corser and race-one winner Vermeulen. Toseland, fighting for his ride in the factory Ducati team, and alone due to the absence of his teammate, was third at the end of lap one, with Kagayama in fourth. Toseland's favorite overtaking spot, the last right before the final chicane, was where he eased by Pitt on lap two. On lap two, his preparation to pass Haga at the same spot ended up with Toseland barging past him up the inside; they appeared to touch, and Haga had to give way to the determined Englishman, operating in front of thousands of traveling British fans who pack the North Sea Ferries to Holland each season. Kagayama had been in third place before a missed gear or some other mishap had seen him run wide at the first right, and he was dropped to sixth place, and then seventh by Muggeridge. With a quarter of the race gone, Haga retook the lead, with Toseland in second, Vermeulen third, Pitt fourth and Corser fifth. Vermeulen's tight line exiting De Strubben, saw his tire unhook and bounce across the tarmac, causing him to momentarily roll off. One could tell it was his day when, despite this, it proved to be his fastest lap of the race up to that point, a remarkable 2:04.944. Toseland led again at the start of lap six, with Vermeulen now on the tail of Haga and the 2004 champ, Toseland. He was tweaking the tail a short time afterward, setting consistent 2:04s when all others in the top echelon were doing 2:05s. At the end of lap seven, Haga went flying up the inside of Toseland into the lead at Ramshoek. Toseland replied into the final right, but after making a mistake in the middle of the following chicane, Haga and Vermeulen both went by him, with Vermeulen soon passing into the lead for 36 the first time. At half-distance, Vermeulen was in the lead and gone, his mid-2:05 pace in passing the warring Yamaha/Ducati battle immediately replaced by a low 2:05 with a clear track ahead of him. It was Haga's turn to make progress with a relatively clear track in front of him, setting his best lap of the race on the 10th circuit, a 2:05.107, as he closed in slightly on Vermeulen, by a tenth of a second per lap. Pitt and Corser were having a great fight, with Pitt the leader of their little battle at midrace before slowing and looking back on lap 12. He stuck with Corser immediately after, with no external problems evident. Behind the fight for the top five, Lanzi was flourishing once more on his Ducati factory-supplied engine, with his sixth place, 13 seconds from the leader, disputed by Neukirchner and Muggeridge, who was suffering with a lack of rear traction. Haga made real use of his increasing relative pace over Vermeulen to lead lap 13, going past on the run along the pit straight - bringing forth the suspicion that he was allowed to pass. Vermeulen went back into to the lead for the final part of the race, but with nothing between them on the last lap, it was Vermeulen with Haga's moves covered, winning by only .085 seconds, but unchallenged by Haga. "We made great races with James and Chris," Haga said. "I was a little bit disappointed with the final result of both races, because if I had lasted one more lap, I would have tried something more to push. It was hot, and sweat was already affecting my eyes after three laps. In the last two or three laps, I felt like I was going to give up, but I didn't and the result I know is not so bad." Toseland was third, 3.3 seconds down, with Corser and Pitt fourth and fifth. With Vermeulen's first double win of 2005 in the bag, Corser's championship lead has been cut to 86 points, 370 to Vermeulen's 284. Regis Laconi's nonattendance due to his practice injury sees him static in third place on 214. Haga SEPTEMBER 14, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS moves to 203 points, with Toseland on 197, one weekend before the next round at Lausitzring in Germany. Assen was a bumper of a weekend, especially if one spoke Dutch. SUPERSPORT Winston Ten Kate Honda's Sebastien Charpentier had to give best in the race to the last French rider to win the World Supersport Championship - but in finishing second in the 16-lap race, Charpentier took his first World title, with three races to spare. The race winner was Fabien Foret, the champ in 2002, while his teammate Michel Fabrizio ran out third, despite his foot injury from training. "It is difficult for me to realize the situation right now," Charpentier said. "The race was great, very hard, and Katsuaki [Fujiwara] passed me, as I thought he would. I think he maybe had a problem changing gears, as he had many rearwheel slides. It was a tough race with Fabien [Foret], great fun, and it was a perfect day for me. It was also sometimes difficult for me to change gear today, but I was happy to finish second on the final lap. I had realized that Katsuaki was behind, and it was not necessary to push right at the end." At Assen in 2005, Charpentier may have been the easy winner - three races early - but some of the riders didn't have the right package for most of the season to allow them to challenge him - such as Yamaha Motor Germany rider Kevin Curtain, who was fourth at Assen after a dogged ride on his R6. But Charpentier's main pre-race championship threat - his own teammate Katsuaki Fujiwara - finished only fifth. Gianluca Nannelli missed the race, dislocating bones in his foot during warmup. With the probability of running in place of Laconi at Lausitz now gone for Nannelli, maybe Lanzi is the next-best choice for Ducati - if they can resolve it with the suddenly riderless NCR squad. At the start of the race, it could have been the eve of greatness or a renaming for the Ten Kate WinWin Lounge to the Not-Quite-Yet Lounge. A good one-two for the Winston team off the line made it look like domination was imminent, but, despite his sore foot from an injury, Michel Fabrizio tried to ruin the other Honda riders' party in the early laps. He shot past Fujiwara under braking, but it was too late, even after only a couple of laps, for much to be done about the early pace of champion-elect Charpentier. It took until lap four, and a repass by Fujiwara on Fabrizio, plus the fastest lap of the race on the fifth outing from Fujiwara, to put the Japanese rider back into Charpentier's slipstream. Alessio Corradi as out at this stage, his bike stricken and leaning on a straw bale out on the track. With Fabrizio doggedly digging in third, Foret, Curtain and the once more impressive Robbin Harms filled out the top six, with Broc Parkes some three seconds behind them - with a third of the race gone. Behind Parkes - four seconds behind, to be precise - a six-rider fight for eighth offered some compelling viewing, until lap eight, when Fujiwara passed Charpentier on the front straight and a small mistake from Fujiwara saw him run wide, allowing Charpentier to take the lead and the two Megabike Honda riders to take second and third. Curtain also found some speed, having dropped Harms somewhat, making it a fight for the top five. Foret, the last Frenchman to win a World Championship in Supersport, was in a mood to battle with Charpentier, taking the lead for a corner until Charpentier got him back. He kept on trying to pass Charpentier, and on lap I I he and his fellow Frenchman rode around the Northloop section side by side, too close for comfort or safety but close enough for gasps all the way. Foret popped by him again at the final right-hander of the 12th lap, but by the time they had reached the distant Haarbocht, the first significant corner, Charpentier was in the lead again. Foret once more slipped by on lap 13, and this was a less temporary stage of affairs, although the expansive riding displayed by Charpentier put him in the lead again as the line was approached for the 13th time. There even appeared to be contact between them as Charpentier moved up the inside at the Ramshoek corner. With three laps remaining, there were still five riders in the hunt for at least a podium finish, as only .8 seconds covered their fascinating and tension-laden battle. There was, of course, a World Championship win riding on the outcome