World Superbike 2004 - Round 1 - Valencia - Saturday Qualifying

Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR rider Chris Vermeulen secured a 12th place in the first 23 lap Superbike race, and a superb fifth in race two on what was a sometimes confusion and drama-filled first Superbike raceday of the year.

In race one, the damp weather hardened into real rainfall at mid-race distance but the event was not halted to allow those riders who had picked slick tyres to continue. Vermeulen, with a slick rear and wet front, struggled on the damp track, and experienced problems with the ignition system of his machine, later traced to the rider accidentally hitting he kill switch and resetting the engine computer settings.

He came into pitlane, stopped and restarted his machine, which cleared the problem, and carried on at high pace to finish 12th. In race two, which was held in fully dry conditions, Vermeulen got an atrocious start, but came back to finish a fine fifth place.

"I don't know what happened in race one but I was out of the seat and over the screen a couple of times and then the bike started to give me a strange engine response, burbling and not revving properly," said Chris. "I came into the pits, the bike restarted so I went back out. In the second race I got a terrible start, probably the worst ever, and that was a real nightmare. I really had to play catch up from then on but it worked out pretty well, as I got fifth place. Once I got there I didn't want to push too much any more. I'm pretty pleased with that ride on my Superbike debut."

Team Manager Ronald Ten Kate declared himself happy with the first race experience on the CBR1000RR. "Fifth place was a great finish for us, especially as Chris got such a bad start. He must have been in 20th place on the first lap! To make a fifth place was good for us and we are looking forward to the next race in Australia."

The combination of Vermeulen's points places him ninth in the championship, which is headed by James Toseland (Ducati) the winner of race one. Race two was taken by Ducati rider Noriyuki Haga.

The next round for the Ten Kate Honda Superbike squad is in Australia, at Phillip Island on 28 March.

The new USB Power Commander is already available for the ZX-10R, as is a powershifter