World Superbikes go to Assen

Hot weather and a record crowd of more than 78,000 at the Assen track, including 30,000 fans from Britain saw a new lap record in race 1 by Fogarty with a time of 2'03.914" on lap 6.

Fogarty opted for the shorter 1st and 2nd gears and 16.5" rear tyre, while Corser went for the longer 1st and 2nd gear ratios and 17" rear with slightly harder compound.

"I pushed hard for these two wins" commented Carl Fogarty "even with the pain in my arm from racing on this track. I made the same tyre choice in race 2, as well as the same set-up which proved to be excellent. I managed to set a constant pace in the two races and tried not to wear out the tyres when coming out of the corners. I don't want to think about the title, sure it's close, but we still have four more races. I know what I have to do".

"I tried another choice of tyre in the morning warm-up" declared Troy Corser, "but for race 1, I opted for the tyre I tested on Saturday. Pity about my poor start which meant that I had to force the pace to get up to the leaders. The choice of tyre was the right one because I could push harder in the last few laps. I made the same choice in race 2 and got a better start. Carl passed me and set a constantly fast pace, maybe his choice was better for the second race".

BRITISH DAY AT ASSEN - Every race at Assen today was won by British riders - Fogarty, MacPherson, Harris (WSC, WSS and Superstock) and Webster and James in the sidecars.

Assen World Superbike Race 1 Results

1 Carl Fogarty Ducati
2 Troy Corser Ducati
3 Aaron Slight Honda
4 Pierfrancesco Chili Suzuki
5 Colin Edwards Honda
6 Akira Yanagawa Kawasaki
7 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha
8 Andy Meklau Ducati
9 Gregorio Lavilla Kawasaki
10 Chris Walker Kawasaki
17 Peter Goddard Aprilia

Assen World Superbike Race 2 Results

1 Carl Fogarty Ducati
2 Troy Corser Ducati
3 Aaron Slight Honda
4 Akira Yanagawa Kawasaki
5 Colin Edwards Honda
6 Pierfrancesco Chili Suzuki
7 Gregorio Lavilla Kawasaki
8 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha
9 Andy Meklau Ducati
10 Chris Walker Kawasaki

Championship Standings after Assen

1.   FOGARTY 413
2.   CORSER 342
3.   EDWARDS 323
4.   SLIGHT 284
5.   YANAGAWA 238
6.   CHILI 208
7.   HAGA 161
8.   LAVILLA 136
9.   FUJIWARA 104
10.GUARESCHI 89
11.MEKLAU 84
11.GODDARD 76
SUPERSPORT - Briton Iain MacPherson (Kawasaki) won the World Supersport Championship race by a comfortable margin after it was red-flagged with three laps to go. The stoppage was caused by oil on the track and it was decided to cut short the race after a rider went down on the spillage. Series leader Stephane Chambon finished fifth and is almost certain of the title after his nearest rival Piergiorgio Bontempi failed to score after crashing on the first lap. If Bontempi is unable to race next weekend, at Hockenheim, the title will be Chambon's before he starts the race.

SUPERSPORT RESULTS-
1. I. MacPHERSON Kawasaki 12 26'26.707 164,691
2. C. MIGLIORATI Suzuki 3.032
3. R. XAUS Yamaha 3.310
4. K. MUGGERIDGE Honda 3.587
5. S. CHAMBON Suzuki 5.542
6. P. RIBA Honda 6.416
7. J. TOSELAND Honda 6.813
8. J. TEUCHERT Yamaha 7.182
9. W. COSTES Honda 7.377
10. W. ZEELENBERG Yamaha

SUPERSPORT STANDINGS (after 10 rounds out of 11):
1. Chambon (FRA-Suzuki) 137;
2. Bontempi (ITA-Yamaha) 116;
3. MacPherson (GBR-Kawasaki) 105
4. Teuchert (GER-Yamaha) 97;
5. Kellner (GER-Yamaha) 88;
6. Xaus (ESP-Yamaha) 81;
7. Pirovano (ITA-Suzuki) 74;
8. Zeelemberg (HOL-Yamaha) 72.

Manufacturers :
1. Yamaha 215 ;
2. Suzuki 175 ;
3. Kawasaki 112 ;
4. Honda 104 ;
5. Ducati 60 ; 6. Bimota 15

AXO- Superstock European Championship - Briton Karl Harris (Suzuki) notched up his fourth Superstock European Championship win of the year at Assen today, with Jefferies (Yamaha R1) second and Oliver (Aprilia) third. Harris now leads Oliver by nine points, with Tosolini (Yamaha R1) third.

SUPERSTOCK RESULTS:
1. K. HARRIS Suzuki GSX 750 9 20'10.522 161,903
2. D. JEFFERIES Yamaha YZF R1 3.576
3. D. OLIVER Aprilia RSV 1000 11.586
4. S. BROGAN Honda CBR 900 R 24.052
5. R. READ Yamaha YZF R1 27.154
6. D. TOSOLINI Yamaha YZF R1 27.261

SUPERSTOCK STANDINGS(after 8 rounds out of 9):
1. Harris (GBR-Suzuki GSX-R750) 165;
2. Oliver (ESP-Aprilia RSV Mille) 154;
3. Tosolini (ITA-Yamaha R1) 87 ;
4. Fissette (BEL-Suzuki GSX-R750) 79;
5. Notman (GBR-Yamaha R1) 78;

SIDECAR WORLD CUP - Britons Webster and James (Suzuki) easily won the Sidecar World Cup race at Assen today and slipped back into the series lead, just two points ahead of Klaffenbock and Hanni (Honda) who finished third. Second were Abbot and Biggs (Honda), who had a thrilling dice with Klaffenbock and Hanni for most of the sixteen-lap race.

SIDECAR RESULTS:
1. J. WEBSTER Suzuki 1200 16 35'38.484 162,929
2. B. ABBOTT Windle Honda 16.414
3. H. KLAFFENBOCK Lcr Hrm Honda 17.400
4. W. MULDOON Lcr Adm Honda 1'08.611
5. V. VAN GILS Lcr Suzuki 1200 1'47.092

SIDECAR WORLD CUP STANDINGS (after 9 rounds out of 10):
1. Webster-James (GBR-Suzuki 1200) 165;
2. Klaffenbock-Hanni (AUT-Lcr Brm Honda 500) 163;
3. Abbott-Biggs (GBR-Windle Honda 500) 119;
4. Schlosser-Hauser (SVI-Lcr Brm Swissauto 500) 81;
5. Soutar-Hopkinson (AUS-Lcr Adm Honda 500)63.

 

 

Assen World Superbike Saturday Superpole

1.  Troy Corser 2'03.119
2.  Carl Fogarty 2'03.781
3.  Colin Edwards 2'04.344
4.  Aaron Slight 2'04.375
5.  Pierfrancesco Chili 2'04.512
6.  Chris Walker 2'04.576
7.  Akira Yanagawa 2'04.612
8.  Gregorio Lavilla 2'05.103
9.  Andy Meklau 2'05.366
10.Igor Jerman 2'05.369
11.Peter Goddard 2'05.537
12.Noriyuki Haga 2'05.573

Friday Qualifying from Assen

Troy Corser fastest in Friday's first qualifying session with 2'03.910", slightly slower than last year's lap record set by Aaron Slight (Honda) in 2'03.708". Carl Fogarty, with second-fastest time of the day, is just 6/10ths of a second slower.

First qualifying was spent choosing the right set-up for Sunday's races; temperatures are much higher than in 1998, creating problems for tyre wear.
Tomorrow will also see the Ducati riders trying out the shorter-ratio gearbox, which produced excellent results last year. Today's ratios however enabled both Ducati riders to set the top speeds of the day, but the bikes were not perfect in some corners of the circuit.

"I used qualifying tyres in the final part of the session" commented Troy Corser. "But the race tyres felt good as well. In the afternoon we made a few changes to the set-up and the results were good: both the balance and the front end felt much better. I still have to work on the rear which could be improved. On my fast laps I didn't have a clear track and I think we can still get the times down even further. I also tried different rear tyres, 16.5" and 17", now I just have to do more laps to chose the most suitable race tyre".

"The feeling with the bike is good and I'm working to improve tyre and suspension set-up" declared Carl Fogarty. "I didn't do many laps with the same tyre and so I still need to do more laps before making a final decision".

Akira Yanagawa (Kawasaki) was a superb fourth despite his nasty crashes last weekend in Austria.  Fifth quickest today is Edwards (Honda), ahead of Haga (Yamaha).
NEW BRIT - Chris Walker (Kawasaki) qualified a tremendous ninth today on his first foreign World Superbike race of the year. Walker is a rider tipped for future stardom by his countrymen and will have the hopes of the British motorcycling public right behind him.


Australia's Peter Goddard is 15th on the Aprilia but will be hoping to make up some ground on Saturday.

1.  Troy Corser 2.03.910
2.  Carl Fogarty 2'04.520
3.  Aaron Slight 2'04.727
4.  Akira Yanagawa 2'05.011
5.  Colin Edwards 2'05.057
6.  Noriyuki Haga 2'05.161
7.  Gregorio Lavilla 2'05.440
8.  Pierfrancesco Chili 2'05.522
9.  Chris Walker 2'06.232
10.V Guareschi 2'06.599
11.Andy Meklau 2'06.621
12.Igor Jerman 2'06.682
13.Fred Protat 2'07.148
14.M Lucciari 2'07.503
15.Peter Goddard 2'07.767
Supersport: 1° MacPherson (GBR-Kawasaki) 2'10.118 - 2° Chambon (FRA-Suzuki) 2'10.567 - 3° Bontempi (ITA-Yamaha) 2'10.764 - 4° Migliorati (ITA-Suzuki) 2'10.838 - 5° Toseland (GBR-Honda) 2'11.231 - 6° Muggeridge (AUS-Honda) 2'11.314 - 7° Costes (FRA-Honda) 2'11.380 - 8° Teuchert (GER-Yamaha) 2'11.421 - 9° Zeelember (HOL-Yamaha) 2'11.595 - 10° Xaus (ESP-Yamaha) 2'11.628 ------  21° Pegram (USA-Ducati Performance) 2'13.448.

SUPERSPORT : GREAT SCOT - Iain MacPherson put his ZXR600 Kawasaki on provisional pole for the tenth round of the World Supersport Championship today with a time of 2:10.118, nearly half a second quicker then series leader Stephane Chambon (Suzuki).
Third quickest today is Piergiorgio Bontempi (Yamaha). PIRO NO GO - Italian Fabrizio Pirovano (Suzuki) is a notable non-started this weekend. The shoulder he injured last weekend, plus a broken rib caused him to withdraw.
HARRIS DOUBLES UP - Briton Karl Harris is riding in both the World Supersport   Championship and European Superstock Championship races this weekend.

The World Superbikes head to Assen.

Another track that seems to be suited to both the Honda and the Ducati.  Pierfrancesco Chili holds the lap record, race record and fastest superpole time from last year on his Ducati, but the fastest ever lap of Assen by a World Superbike was by Aaron Slight on his RC45 last year with a qualifying lap of  2'03.708.  The 500s were doing 2'01 in qualifying this year so it will be interesting to see if the World Superbikes have gained any ground on the GP bikes in regard to lap times.

Fogarty has quite a lead in the championship going into Assen, Corser and Edwards will be chasing hard to try and peg back some points in the race home for the title.  Slight is a little too far back to be vying for the number 1 plate but any mishap by Carl could see Troy or Colin right in the hunt with two rounds to go.

A mechanical failure for any one of the top three would be disastrous.

Here are the current standings heading to Assen.

1.   FOGARTY 363
2.   CORSER 302
3.   EDWARDS 301
4.   SLIGHT 252
5.   YANAGAWA 215
6.   CHILI 185
7.   HAGA 144
8.   LAVILLA 120
9.   FUJIWARA 96
10.GUARESCHI 86
11.GODDARD 76

After this weekend end the championship heads to another fast circuit, Hockenheim, then there is a long break before the championship decider in Sugo on October 10.

SUPERSPORT STANDINGS HEADING INTO ASSEN (after 9 rounds ): 1. Chambon (FRA-Suzuki) 126; 2. Bontempi (ITA-Yamaha) 116; 3. Teuchert (GER-Yamaha) 89; 4. Kellner (GER-Yamaha) 88; 5. MacPherson (GBR-Kawasaki) 80; 6. Pirovano (ITA- Suzuki) 74; Manufacturers: 1. Yamaha 199; 2. Suzuki 155; 3. Honda 91; 4. Kawasaki 87; 5. Ducati 56; 6. Bimota 15.

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