Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AUGUST 16, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S 36 Briefly... for the start of his Brands weekend. In a con- voluted paper trail of administrative require- ments, the AMA had released Roberts to ride in the Brands event, but the necessary insur- ance paperwork could not be found in time and thus he was prevented from riding right away. He was licensed for the afternoon timed session, finally, via an amalgam of the ACU and the FIM, with his one-event insur- ance covered by a British company. Davide Checa, from team GMT94, under- went a spectacular fall in qualifying on day one, but he nonetheless was able to compete well enough in qualifying on Saturday to finish 19th, despite his hard hit to the head. Ducati and Pirelli celebrated a new track record for their qualifying rubber when Troy Bayliss lit the Superpole firework with a 1:25.449. This beat the previous track Super- bike best (Gregorio Lavilla in race conditions in the British Championship in 2005, with a 1:25.728 on Dunlops; the British Superbike Series has yet to visit the full GP Circuit layout at Brands in 2006) and, of course, beat the previous World Superbike best of Shane Byrne, on a Ducati 998 machine on Dunlops in 2003, with a 1:26.248. The best race-tire time, before the Pirelli qualifiers were broken out for final untimed qualifying and Superpole, was 1:26.262, set by Bayliss. The Sterilgarda Berik Ducati team is mak- ing a push to be the satellite factory Ducati squad in 2007, with a likely riding lineup of Ruben Xaus and Steve Martin, should the lat- ter not either have a Foggy team in 2007, or not have a place in it. The Foggy team has been ready to heap praise on Martin since he joined the team, but sponsorship considera- tions have always played a part in rider choice for teams without independent budget to just choose any rider they like. The Sterilgarda Berik team is to be managed by current rider Marco Borciani. Vittorio Iannuzzo, currently a World Super- bike rider with the Celani Suzuki Team Italia setup, will leave the team at season's end to ride an Aprilia in the 250 GPs in 2007. His spot in the Celani team is expected to be taken by current Superstock 1000 FIM Cup Championship leader Alessandro Polita, who rides for that wing of the Celani squad. Riccardo Chiarello and his Lightspeed Kawasaki team have severed their relation- ship, and from Assen onward the ride will be taken by Fabrizio Perotti, 22, from Brescia, in Lombardy. He is currently fourth in the Yama- ha R6 trophy series in Italy. The futures of Pier-Francesco Chili and Michel Fabrizio are becoming inextricably linked, with Chili proving to be Fabrizio's manager as well as his probable team manag- er in World Superbike in 2007. Chili is still seeking a big-name sponsor for his own team, but the more likely scenario is his forming a partnership in the DFX squad, which may also mean that Honda's support for the team will sway them into taking another younger rider, rather than go the conventional route of sign- ing an established name. Alex Barros had a unique take on his first experience of Brands Hatch, having never even seen the track until this race weekend. "Nice track, Brands," he said. "Old style, and I like this kind of track very much. It's like Laguna [Seca]. It's the only kind of track I can compare it with. Imola maybe, but Imola is... softer. I am an old guy, so I like the old-style tracks. The first time I went down Paddock Hill bend, it was like a roller coaster. I opened the throttle as I went down the hill, and at the bottom the g-forces pushed me down flat, and it was really like a roller coast- er on the way back up to Druids. The first time I went along the back straight, under the bridge, I had to duck my head, because it's so low, you think you could really hit it. The bridge just sits in front of you at eye level for a long time - and then the road suddenly drops away, but you really feel you still have to duck your head." Troy Corser ran on at the bottom of Graham Hill Bend in morning warmup, falling as he slowed on the uphill runoff. He limped back to the pits and went out on his second bike to complete the session. Corser had also crashed in the pre-race cycle race, organized for the cameras. Pulling up behind tandem- mounted Craig Jones, he went to nudge the English rider in playful fashion - just as Jones pulled away, leaving Corser prostrate on the track, suffering grazes and bruising after the impact. A high-speed crash on the entry to Paddock Hill Bend saw Gregory Le Blanc enter the trackside air fence at high speed on his Yama- ha. He required medical attention, and the session was halted to allow an ambulance access to this particular section of the track. He failed to make the start of the race. Javier Fores was reportedly refused treat- ment in the Clinica Mobile after a crash dam- aged his back; the reason given was that his team had reportedly not paid their dues to the traveling medical service. Fores' physio- therapist claims that Fores had indeed paid his own dues, whomever else had paid or not paid anything else. In what the FIM and the sport's other administrators claimed was merely a mix-up, Fores went to the track medical center instead, got an X-ray, and then went to a local hospital to get X-rayed on more precise equipment. His injury is not as bad as the first X-ray may have indicated, and he should be back to normal in two or three weeks. Fores' physiotherapist and family were understandably distressed by the hassle they encountered, whatever the reasons for it, with the physiotherapist saying they would not be back. Continued from page 35 SuperBayliss Ducati Xerox's Troy Bayliss boomed his factory machine to Superpole victory at Brands Hatch, scoring a new track-best time of 1:25.449. Having posted the fastest pre-Super- pole qualifying lap, he was last away and made up time from the very start against even- tual second-place rider Noriyuki Haga and his Yamaha. "I went a little bit wide on the first corner and just missed the line by a foot, so the first split wasn't great, and I was maybe a little bit nervous, but I put the lap together and it all came good in the end, so I'm pretty happy to be starting on pole position tomor- row," Bayliss said. "Brands Hatch is a funny place; it's got lots of dips and bumps, and you have to set the bike different to every other place, and as a result your lap looks quite physical, but it does make for good racing, and it should be a good day tomorrow. It's nice to be fastest, and that's what everyone aims for, but a front-row start here at Brands is always great. I took my second-ever World Superbike win here in 2000, but that was a long time ago, and I'd like to score a couple more tomorrow!" Haga was close, but a mistake kept him behind Bayliss. "The front row was our target, so I am very happy with second, because I made a mistake on my Superpole lap when I grabbed too much brake and came out of the sad- dle," Haga said. "We have a very good setting and have been able to do two long race settings yesterday and today, so we know what tires to use and how they are likely to work late in the race. Troy [Bayliss] is very fast, but I think that tomorrow we will have the opportunity to go for the win. I am second in the championship but have not won a race yet, so I hope to fix this at Brands Hatch." Winston Ten Kate Honda teammates Karl Muggeridge and James Toseland rode to pre-race front-row positions, after finishing third- and fourth-fastest, respectively. "It's been a bit of a rocky road coming back from when I busted my back," Mug- geridge said. "I didn't think it would take so long, but we seem to be finding some strength now, and I'm happy to be up there. It's nice to know that when it all goes the way we want it to, we can set competitive times like this." Toseland was also on row one after playing catch-up with the settings on his CBR1000RR. "We were way down yesterday after starting with new settings from Brno, and it proved not to be the way to go," Toseland said. "But we did well today, and in Super- pole, and saw Karl's time and thought, 'Well done for that.' I knew I would have to set a 1:25 to stay on the front row. We did it, and it's important to start off the front row here." Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki's Troy Corser had set a new track-best time earlier in the day, but he could only finish fifth overall in Superpole, earning a second-row start on his GSX-R. The 1996 and 2005 World Champion had been fast all weekend, and he was heavily favored to feature in the leading groups in Sunday's races. Another 2006 season race winner, Andrew Pitt, continued his good form with the sixth-fastest time in Super- pole on his Yamaha. PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse's Regis Laconi pushed himself to the top Kawasaki spot, with his teammate Chris Walker just one place behind at his local circuit. Corser's Suzuki teammate Yukio Kagayama could not hide his disappointment at fin- ishing Superpole in only ninth place, despite just beating his previous best qualifying time. He nonetheless fended off the Silverstone Superpole winner, Tommy Hill, who took a still-impressive top-10 finish in his second wild-card ride of the year on his Virgin Mobile Yamaha. Ducati Xerox's Lorenzo Lanzi and PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse's Fonsi Nieto, who is not a fan of the Brands layout, rounded out the third row. Multiple-time World Superbike race winner Ruben Xaus and his Sterilgarda Berik Ducati qualified on the fourth row, ahead of Brno sensation Michel Fabrizio and his DFX Treme Honda, series regular Sebastien Gimbert, and former Brands Hatch race winner Pier-Francesco Chili. Despite his instant admiration for the classic Brands Hatch circuit on his first visit, Alex Barros couldn't get his suspension sorted on his Klaffi Honda enough in practice to make Superpole, mistiming his final run for a qualifying time by just enough to stop him from posting one final fast lap. He ended up 18th, one place behind Petronas FP-1's Steve Martin, with Martin experiencing machinery issues that hampered his attempts at qualifying. Pedercini Ducati's Kurtis Roberts crashed at Dingle Dell and ended up 27th and last in qualifying for his first World Superbike race in Pedercini colors. The Brands Hatch rookies had differing experiences. Kawasaki Bertocchi's Josh Brookes scored an encouraging 22nd, while a heavy crash held back the progress of Robby Rolfo, who was only 25th in his first outing at Brands. Brands Hatch Circuit Kent, England Round 8 August 6, 2006 World Superbike Championship

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