Weather: sunny R1 23 °C, R2 26 °C
Track: dry, R1 37°C, R2 dry, 47°C
Spectators: 93,000 (overall 3 days)

Race 1:
Karl Muggeridge recovered to sixth place in the fourth round of the World Superbike championship race at Monza dtoday after a start-line incident left him towards the back of the field on the opening lap.

Starting from the front row with eventual race winner, Troy Corser, Muggas was clipped by another rider which damaged his clutch lever. The Australian was able to work his way back through the field, however, to take his best result in his debut Superbike season.

Muggas comments: “My start was ok, not the fastest but also not the slowest, when I just got hit by another rider, knocked my left hand of the handle bar, the front tucked under and I was so lucky I didn’t crash. The incident also ripped the clutch lever off, which made it then obviously very hard to finish the start. So I found myself last into the first corner and 18th after the first lap. So I thought, well let’s just give it a go and I worked my way through up the field and got some points but I was certainly hoping for more.”

Race 2:
Karl Muggeridge, finished the second race of round four of the World Superbike Championship here in Monza in a solid fourth place behind Chris Vermeulen, Regis Laconi and Troy Corser. The 18 lapper around the historic 5.8km Monza circuit developed into a thrilling battle with the top four riders breaking away and swapping positions in each other’s slipstream.

Muggeridge got a better start in race two and got away with the top four in a very fast race and made it for a short time into 3rd position on lap 16 but wasn’t able to secure his first Superbike podium due to a small mistake on the final lap.

Muggas comments: “I’m pretty happy with the result, also I would have loved to be on that podium with Chris, I just couldn’t keep up with him, I tried to sleep stream him a few times on the straight but his bike just pulled away from me. So than I got into the battle with Troy and got up to third before I made a little mistake exiting the first chicane on the final lap and Troy managed to open a little gap. I should have beaten him but it wasn’t to be. But the bike is much better and it’s been a good weekend for us. There’s still heaps of work to do to improve it in some areas but we’ve got something now that can take us forward for the rest of the season.”

Ronald ten Kate – team manager: “I was very pleased for Karl’s fourth place as well, although I think maybe he deserved to get on the podium. His perseverance and determination after the problems of the first few rounds has really impressed me. –There are still 16 races left in this years’ championship so anything can still happen. We will hopefully carry this form on to Silverstone and look for even better results there.”