Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) roared to his third race win of the 2005 season after another of the front running displays he has specialised in since the start of the year. His team-mate, Katsuaki Fujiwara (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) was not his closest challenger this time around, fighting off the pain of injury in practice and gearchange issues to finish ninth, but retain his second place in the championship table nevertheless. Honda CBR600RR riders have now taken five wins from five starts, thanks to two victories for Fujiwara to add to Charpentier’s triple crowns. Charpentier also scored the fastest lap of the race on the new circuit, and thus the new lap record, with a 1’29.027.

Charpentier was joined on the podium by his French compatriot Fabien Foret (Team Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR) who finished third, some 20.4 seconds from the lead. Kevin Curtain (Yamaha) was second, pushing Charpentier until near the end. More Honda happiness came with a season best fourth place for former World Champion Stephane Chambon (Gil Motorsport Honda CBR600RR).

Tatu Lauslehto (Klaffi Honda CBR600RR) proved to be a late race problem for Fujiwara to overcome, as the Finnish rookie rider pushed him all the way, leading out of the last chicane but allowing Fujiwara to pass when he almost highsided trying to get the power on early. He finished tenth.

Talented Italian rider, Michel Fabrizio, experienced clutch problems on his Team Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR, and had to withdraw on lap 23.

In the championship table the latest thrust of Charpentier extends his championship lead to 25 points, with his total of 115 comparing favourably with Fujiwara’s 90. Foret is fourth on 54 points, with Lauslehto ninth, on 30. Fabrizio’s no-score drops him to seventh place, with an unchanged total of 42.

Charpentier was once more at his absolute zenith all weekend, dominating qualifying for long periods before a close fight with Curtain – replicated somewhat on raceday – saw him take his fifth straight pole. He was effusive in his post race comments.

“What can I say except that everything was fantastic for me. It was the best weekend possible, with pole position, fastest lap and also another win. Kevin rode very well but I always felt comfortable and in control.
Although it was a long, hard race, I am in good physical condition and the bike was also great. I am so happy with the atmosphere in the pit garage – the whole team makes me laugh and I never feel any pressure from my team manager Ronald Ten Kate. On top of that the CBR is just perfect, so I really think this is the best situation I have ever raced in.”

Foret, third despite a scare when he was excluded then re-instated in the post-race results for an underweight machine, knew a podium was a valuable finish for him and his team.

“I’m happy today. I have taken the second podium of the season and I liked it so much when I arrived in front of my group. I tried to stay with Sebastien and Kevin but today they were fastest and so I made sure of the podium by defending against Fabrizio and Chambon with a good last few laps. We must work so hard from here to the Misano round, because we can arrive at the level of Winston Ten Kate. We are not so far but I hope that during the Italian round the situation will be better.”

Fujiwara had a tough day at the short 3.561km International circuit at Silverstone; it’s busy nature and changes of direction not helping his cause when he experienced gearshifting problems.

“I am very disappointed with that result, of course. I hurt my shoulder in the crash yesterday but after a good massage this morning it didn’t feel too bad until after the race. My start wasn’t so good from sixth on the grid, but I had a gear shifting problem and found it difficult to select the right gear – which made it very hard.”

Lauslehto’s latest top ten finish was another positive step on the ladder for the European Champion, despite a last corner hitch.

“I had been having some difficulty exiting that corner all the race, and on the last lap I had to try hard to keep Fujiwara behind me. But I finished with some good points again, after yet another hard race.”

Fabrizio’s disappointment was clear to see, as he trudged away from yet another possible podium finish in his full rookie WSS season.

“This is an unlucky period for me. After the mistake of Monza the clutch broke four laps from the end. I tried to make adjustments during the race but on the finish line I could not continue. I hope to make a better result in Misano, without problems. I like Misano very much and know it very well.”

Chris Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) was the top finishing Honda rider on two occasions at Silverstone’s International circuit, taking fourth places after two tough and eventful races for all the Honda protagonists. Pierfrancesco Chili (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) was the next best Fireblade rider, securing a fine brace of fighting fifths.

In the first race Regis Laconi took his first race win of the year on his Ducati, with Suzuki rider Troy Corser second and Laconi’s team-mate James Toseland third. In the second 28-lap outing the finishing order was Toseland from Corser, with Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) third.

Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) slugged out two tenth places, on a day of symmetrical results for the highest placed Honda riders. Chili’s team-mate Max Neukirchner (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) had a day of contrasts, overcoming the pain of his recently broken wrist to secure seventh in race one, but knocked off his machine temporarily to finish 18th in the second leg.

Ben Bostrom (Renegade Honda Koji CBR1000RR) had a new style seat sub frame break in race one, forcing him out, but ground out some points for 14th in race two.

Vermeulen, the 2003 World Supersport Champion, could not get into a position to get away with the leaders in either race, and sits third in the championship.

"I was behind James Toseland in the early parts of the race but it just seemed to take me longer to get past the other riders than it did for him. I got hit by someone in the infield section in the first lap of race two and then Laconi crashed right in front of me on the second lap, Both those incidents cost me time and let the others get away. I was pushing very hard though, right to the end of the race, but every time I put in a quick lap I didn’t seem to close the gap at all.”

Chili was pleased with the progress of his bike, knowing that he could not seriously challenge for podiums in either race. “I think we were OK, we improved our positions and maybe the guys in front had different rear tyres. When I tested this tyre maybe I did not have the right suspension. It was not 100% but I was starting to have much more feeling for the bike and in the second race I pushed as much as I could to get the best result possible. I had cramp in my leg in the middle of the race, so I had to relax and breath. My battle was a personal one.”

Muggeridge could not regain his Monza pace, but kept his concentration for two points scoring finishes.

“We made some changes after race one and the bike definitely felt better. But around ten laps from the end the grip just seemed to drop off – especially at the hairpin and again at the exit of the chicane. It made changing direction pretty difficult but the bike was holding a better line through the faster sections.”

Neukirchner, who rode all weekend with his right wrist in a lightweight plastic cast, qualified tenth in Superpole, fifth after the regular session, and had to take painkillers to allow him to race to the level he did on Sunday.

“For the races I only had a tablet from the doctor for the pain and yesterday I had a painkilling injection. Laconi crashed in front of me in race one, and also Cardoso. I went into Cardoso’s machine; my engine was still running so my bike was pushing his bike forward before I crashed. Then my engine died, so I had to bump start it. My position in race one was good, the second – well, that’s racing!”

Bostrom was disappointed at his luck, explaining his plight. “We did change the settings to take weight off the front in race two but it was worse. In the last laps I was waiting for the race to finish because the front just seemed to be tucking under all the time.”

The sixth rounds of the WSS and SBK championships take place at Misano Adriatico, on 26th June.