Race 1: Winston Ten Kate Honda’s Karl Muggeridge had to take avoiding action on lap one when fellow-Honda rider, Max Neukirchner, crashed in front of him, forcing the Australian onto the gravel. Pushing hard to salvage some points, Muggeridge eventually crashed out of 20th place on lap 20 at the third round of the World Superbike Championship here in Valencia.

Muggas comments: “I couldn’t believe it when Neukirchner’s bike went up in the air in front of me. I’ve got a big black mark from one of his tyres down the back of my shoulder and had to duck to get out of its way. I guess I was lucky not to go off then but managed to get all the way through the gravel and then slid off right at the end. When I eventually got going again my lap times would have had me battling for fourth I think, and warm-up this morning told me I had a pretty good race set-up. I need some luck and hope I can find it in race two this afternoon.”

Ronald ten Kate – team manager: “I feel so sorry for Karl who has had some pretty bad luck at the beginning of the season. Neukirchner crashed right in front of him and in his efforts to salvage something from the race, Karl slipped off close to the end of the race. We’ll see what race two brings but I hope his luck changes now.”

Race 2: Karl Muggeridge, finished a disappointing weekend by crashing out on lap 15 of the second outing whilst sitting comfortably in a strong seventh place. After a reasonable start Muggeridge decided to stay at the back of the pack to keep out of trouble and see how the race unfolds. However the luck didn’t mean to be on his side this weekend and without pushing hard he lost the front and slitt off his CBR 1000.

Muggas team mate Vermeulen finished second in both races and moves up to third position in the Championship which is still lead by Troy Corser ho took another double victory this weekend.

Muggas comments: “I got a good start, didn’t push too hard to pass anybody in the first few laps. I decided to stay with Nori Haga and Abe just to do the right thing and also to conserve the tiers for the end of the race. I felt really comfortable at the beginning and everything pointed into good finish with some points which I definitely needed. On lap 16th I suddenly lost the front, I tried to save it with my knee but just couldn’t keep it up. Then my feet got tangled in the bike and if wasn’t a very pleasant feeling. I really hope my unlucky strike will have an end with this weekend and we get on top of everything.”

Ronald ten Kate – team manager: “I’m disappointed for Karl again as his weekend has been even harder. We’ll have to try and find out what caused his crash but it’s a shame that he wasn’t able to bring his bike home for some valuable and well-deserved points. We’ll regroup and study all the data to make sure that we’re fighting for more podium positions at Monza.”