Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Brief'Y··· Continued from page 25 him to be judged only on Phillip Island. Who can form an honest opinion in this time?" Noriyuki Haga (41) was on the ground in race one but on the podium in race two ta secure third in the championship. Here, he engages in a racelong paint-swapping battle with Yukio Kagayama. Vermeulen, laying big, black lines, had Lanzi right with him, until the Italian made a mistake on the entry to turn one, losing a few meters. A fairly static battle for the podium places was livened up by the personal Japanese feud between Kagayama and Haga, each taking a turn riding in third, and each taking turns to smoke their rear tires. "The first race was disappointing, especially because the crash was not my fault and I lost my run of podiums," Haga said. "The second was fun, and I enjoyed making big fighting with Yukio. Almost every lap, we touched each other - I think both of us are crazy! I am happy to finish third in the championship in the RI 's first year in World Superbikes. We have been strong in the second half of the season, and we know what is needed to improve the bike so that it can be fighting for wins at every race next year." After seven laps, they were sliding under power on corner exits almost every tu rn, with Kagayama havi ng the more effective results over an entire lap. Toseland, Walker and Corser made a small train of talent behind, with Neukirchner, Abe and Pitt concluding the early top IO. The highlight of the race was the Japanese fight, however, as Haga and Kagayama took a variety of lines that seemed to defy convention. Haga, holding an impossibly tight line into the Chateau de Eau corner, made up five bikelengths in one move, when all other riders ran out wide on the exit. It was like an exhibition race from the two Japanese pals, but out front it was a tad more cagey and serious. Corser had started his push forward, as Toseland dropped Walker from fifth. Drama occurred on the 18th lap, as Vermeulen lost forward drive out of the last corner and pulled into the pits, leaving Lanzi out in front, with a nine-second gap back to Kagayama and Haga. Corser, who had passed Toseland easily enough, went to fourth with three laps to go, leaving Toseland and Walker to fight it out. "Obviously I was always going to have my work cut out, starting from 16th on the grid, as it is very tricky to pass on this track unless you have a perfect setup," Corser said. "I made a few mistakes in the first race, which meant I was always trying to make up places again. I had a good start in the second race, but then, at the restart, I got boxed in but had some great dicing along the way to fight my way up to fourth. It's not what I wanted, but I feel I did as much as I could. I have to thank Yukio for all the good work he did, particularly in testing, and the whole team for making it a fantastic year." That was the focus of the last few laps, as Kagayama had beaten Haga by then. Walker scooped past and held Toseland on the line to record second place. Crossing the line triumphantly, Lanzi took his second win of the year and pulled over to celebrate with his team on pit wall via a burn-out. And thus the season was ended, with Lanzi the new kid, Vermeulen a possibly exiting kid, and everyone else lost in their wakes. The new champ, Corser, did not get to play at the front, but he gave it his best in the early laps. Corser finished 54 points ahead, but the lesson was learned by all: Be ready for the start of the 2006 season, or no matter what you do, the sorted-out Suzuki and Corser will make you pay in the end. WORLD SUPERSPORT Yamaha Motor Germany's Broc Parkes took his first race win of the season, the first in his career, and became the sixth different winner this year. "Finally! It's a big relief to win one at last," Parkes said. "It's been a tough season for me, adapting to the R6, and there was times at the middle of the season that I thought I was going to have to go home and get a proper job, because it just wasn't happening for me. This result is a great reward for the team; they've worked so hard to get the bike working as good as possible, and it's a great way to end the year. The race itself was quite tough. My The ultimate 2006 aims of the Winston Honda team seem to be not identical to those of Honda Europe, especially regarding the key question of where to put Michel Fabrizio. Honda Europe wants to put him in the Superbike Wing of Ten Kate right away, but Ten Kate wants him in the Supersport team, alongside 2005 champion Charpentier. "For a start, he hardly speaks a word of English, which does not help for communication in the team, and he is a young rider," said Ten Kate. "He is very fast on a Supersport bike, and he has a lot of talent. I think we are a good team to help train riders, but he must work in the correct way in the box as well as on the track. For us, he would be better in Supersport to start." The Winston money for the team comes to the team via Honda Europe, but according to Ronald, there is no question of this being used as a strong-arm measure to force them into doing something they do not need to do. Other riders in line for the Winston ride are headed by James Toseland, currently out of favor with Ducati. "We have had meeting and discussions, and although James is still quite young, he is like a veteran in this paddock." When it was put to him that a smart move may be to sign Toseland now, so that if Vermeulen leaves he would still have a top-four rider on his books (and if Vermeulen stayed, he would then have two), Ronald replied, "If James came to the team, then there is no way he could be considered to be a number two. We would not work like that." When asked about a link to Laconi, he replied, "Laconi is not the most likely person to ride for us next year." Another new "signing" the Ten Kate team wants for 2006 is HRC. "That is up to HRC, but of course we would like to run our bike in our independent way, with access to special parts from HRC. HRC must make an evaluation of their strategy for 2006, and if they decide to help us, then it would suit us very well. When you see what Suzuki did with their bike this year... it is a factory machine, was right from the very beginning. Everyone in their squad admits this now." Honda's other favored squad. the KJafli Honda team, is in line for a cash bonus in 2006. Run on a shoestring this year, with no help for Neukirchner from Honda Germany. team principle Klaus Klaffenbock has now resigned himself to the fact that his team may have to be split into two parts, away from the racetrack at least. "We were not sure up until now if Chili wanted to do a full season, three races, none at all, but now it seems he has made his mind up to continue," said Klaffenbock. "The problem for us this year is that because of family commitments. his crew chief, Domenico Brigaglia, could not move to Austria between the races, and as he has a workshop on Bologna, we may split the effort away from races next year: Chili and Brigaglia in Bologna, and us in Austria. They can prepare the bikes for Chili, and we would prepare them for Max." It appears Neukirchner is most likely to stay for 2006, and Klaffenbock knows what he needs from his young star next year. "I think even Max was surprised how fast he was early in the season, but I think things went a little too quick for him from then on, and he found it hard to find his place again. I think the main thing for him now is to get this season finished and prepare himself for next year. For sure, we were too late in getting everything this year, but this will be much improved next season." It seems Chili will have a decent level of sponsorship for next year, and for the first time Klaffi has employed an agency to garner sponsorship for 2006. "I don't say anything until the money is in our pockets, but we have an agency working on getting us a German sponsor, but a company that operates around the globe." It seems Honda Europe will also pitch in with more financial support for 2006 as well. The Ducati signing saga looks like it will have some life in it for a while, but Ducati is convinced that Troy Bayliss' injured arm will recover well enough to let him join their Superbike team in 2006, and indeed for testing at Valencia in mid-November. Lorenzo Lanzi is also seen as a shoo-in for the second factory Superbike ride. Noriyuki Haga is playing his usual game of wait-and-see in Superbike, but it is known that his increased wage demand is one stumbling block in current negotiations with Yamaha. Otherwise, all parties seem satisfied, but as of yet Andrew Pitt has not been signed by the team, either. Fonsl Nleto's chances of riding in the PSGI Kawasaki squad next year appear to hinge on a decision from Kawasaki race bosses, regarding whether they will attempt to take a rider like Laconi or Toseland, rather than the (thus far) disappointing former 250cc GP star Nieto. He could come sugar-coated with sponsorship money. but at MagnyCours he was seen on numerous occasions in final qualifying waiting for a tow from faster riders such as Corser and Toseland. He still failed to qualify for Superpole. Pirelli brought more new tires to MagnyCours, and their qualifier proved particularly effective in the hands of the top few riders. The construction of the tire is very similar to the current race tire, just with softer rubber applied. "It is a new way for us to go with the qualifying tire, making for less changes in setup for the teams between race and qualifying settings. It's a new philosophy," said Pirelli racing manager Giorgio Barbier. The newest qualifying tires allowed a host of riders to break the old track best, and for Vermeulen to put in a special lap to obliterate it by almost a second. Despite the progress, Troy Corser maintains that he has had some inconsistent tires recently, and the top Honda team concurred with this appraisal of the current race rubber. Corser, acknowl· edging that tire development in Superbike is hard under a single-tire rule, stated on Saturday night, "I'm still using the same front and rear as we started the season with, same code numbers and everything." Continued on poge 28 CYCLE NEWS • OaOBER 19,2005 27

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