World SuperSport
2001 - Round 3 - Sugo - Preview
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Sugo hosts round three of the World Supersport championship with Honda hoping to maintain a 100 per cent record with its new CBR600F Sport machine. The supersport practice at Sugo begins at 9.30 on Friday morning with a
one-hour free practice followed by qualifying at 1.30pm, also for one hour. Following Saturday's morning free practice the exciting, final one-hour
qualifying session begins at 1.30pm. Sunday's World Supersport championship The G. Ten Kate team's Pere Riba took victory in the Spanish opening round in March and finished fifth at Phillip Island on Sunday. BKM Honda's Kevin Curtain followed fifth place in Spain with victory in Australia. The pair arrive in Japan with the joint lead of the championship, 14 points clear of Italian Yamaha rider Piergiorgio Bontempi. Curtain believes: "I've made a good start to the year but the Honda is really working well and making life that little bit easier for some of us. Providing we can get the CBR and Michelins dialed into the Sugo circuit I'm confident of winning again." Joint leader Riba comments: "I did some testing at Sugo with the new Honda last year so I know what the machine is capable of there and I'm hopeful of winning on Sunday and, as importantly, keeping the lead of the championship." The supersport competition will be fierce and Adam Fergusson, absent from the opening round due to injury, looked an instant title contender when he took his Alpha Technik team Honda to runner-up place in Sunday's Australian race to move into sixth place in the series. Castrol Honda's Chris Vermeulen will be happy with a points-scoring finish in Sunday's third round of the World Supersport championship at the Sugo circuit in Japan. The luckless Australian rider crashed out of Sunday's second round at Phillip Island after the visor on his helmet broke away, causing him to crash. Vermeulen, 18, arrives in Japan hoping to score his first points of the 2001 campaign. "Phillip Island was a big disappointment for me," he says. "I know I could have finished in the top three and maybe even won the race. But that's over now, I've got to look forward and concentrate on Sugo. It's a track I've never ridden at before but I'm pretty confident I can learn the circuit quickly and be in contention for a win on Sunday. I realise I have to get some points on the board but, with the new CBR600 Honda winning the first two rounds of the series, I'm sure I can win some races this year." Japanese Suzuki Alstare rider Katsuaki Fujiwara is looking forward to racing at home at the third round of the World Championship at the Sugo circuit in Japan. "I haven't raced a 600 at Sugo before, so it will be a new experience for me. I'm looking forward to Sugo in particular. I don't get much chance to race at home, so I am determined to do well there. It's not the easiest track for sure, but it will be good, because I know it well. I'm hoping for at least a podium, but of course I would love to win at Sugo and please all my family, friends and fans in Japan." Team-mate Karl Muggeridge is also ready to kick start his season in earnest with a good result at Sugo. He has proved he has the speed and consistency to be a title contender and is ready to visit the podium.
"Sugo is a different sort of a track and a race that's going to be a tough one for all of us. But as long as we can be consistent and score some good points we'll be in good shape when we come back to Europe and the season really starts to heat up. We're still all learning about the 2001 GSX-R600 Suzuki, but it's got good potential and as the season goes on, I'm sure the results are going to
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