World Superbike / Supersport 2005 - Round Six - Misano

Australian star Troy Corser (Alstare Corona Suzuki GSX-R1000) will have extra motivation heading into round five of the 2005 Superbike World Championship at Misano, San Marino, this weekend.

The 33-year-old, who has dominated this year’s championship with six wins in the opening 10 races, will be shooting for Suzuki’s first World Superbike win at the legendary 4.060km circuit, which is situated near the idyllic Adriatic Coast.

Since World Superbike began its Misano tenure in 1991, Ducati has been the dominant manufacturer, winning 22 of 28 races, well in front of Honda (three), Aprilia (two) and Kawasaki (one).

Although Corser was responsible for the two Aprilia victories in 2001, he now wants to inflict the same damage on his all-conquering GSX-R1000, which has already helped him open a 78pt (222 to 144) championship lead over Japanese teammate Yukio Kagayama.

“I like the layout of Misano, and I have always gone well there before,” said Corser, the 1996 World Superbike champion. “ We know it’s going to be real hot this weekend, which won’t affect my bike - but the tyres could struggle. They’ll get slippery with the high temperature.

“I’m looking forward to riding the bike, it has slightly improved since last time we rode it. My main competition with be Regis…and Frankie (Chili) of course. It is Misano!

It won’t all be hard yakka for Corser at Misano though, as he’ll be setting aside some precious time on Friday afternoon to eat frogs-in-a-pond and play party games.

“I am looking forward to a weekend long party. We are holding my son Kalani’s second birthday party in the Suzuki hospitality unit after practice is all through,” said Corser. “He’ll enjoy partying with his play friends in the paddock - the little Curtains, Goddards, Kagayamas, Hagas, Fujiwaras and Pirovanos of this world.”

Another double victory for the irrepressible Corser (he already has two this year) would not only move him to equal second on the all-time World Superbike winners’ list, but he would also become the most successful rider at Misano – eclipsing, among others, countryman Troy Bayliss, who won three races between 2000 and 2002.

Corser, from Wollongong (NSW), currently sits on 29 World Superbike wins, behind American Colin Edwards (31) and Britain’s Carl Fogarty (59).

Four Misano World Superbike winners will be in action this Sunday, including last year’s two successful combatants: Regis Laconi and local hero Pierfrancesco Chili.

Laconi (Xerox Ducati 999F05), who is currently fourth in the standings on 112pts, behind Australian Chris Vermeulen (Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR, 141pts), is in ominous form after winning his first race for the year in round four at Silverstone.

After a three-week break, the Frenchman will be out to continue his great form at Misano, which features some of the most tortuous twists, turns and chicanes imaginable. Moreover, it’s normally very hot and dry at Misano – notwithstanding last year’s big wet.

Meanwhile, Vermeulen and his Ten Kate Honda teammate, fellow Australian Karl Muggeridge, will want to exert some authority of their own, encouraged by some recent gains with the rear-end set-up on their CBR1000RRs.

“The two days testing at Magny-Cours (France) were really good for me – we got to test properly for the first time and tried a load of new things on the rear of the bike to improve grip and the driveability out of corners,” said Muggeridge. “We need as much grip as possible this weekend because when it’s hot in Misano, any problems you have seem to get exaggerated, so the test in France came at just the right time of the season for us. I think the new swingarm and linkage combination we’ve gone for should work well here.”

The recently married Muggeridge won last year’s World Supersport race at Misano en route to title glory – the third Aussie world champion behind Andrew Pitt (2001) and Vermeulen (2003). Muggeridge is currently in 12th position on 50pts after a slew of bad luck, and he could easily move into the top 10 this weekend, while Vermeulen looks to make his way past Kagayama into second.

“We’ve definitely made some improvements to the bike which I hope will help me fight for at least a couple of podiums this weekend,” said the 23-year-old Vermeulen. “Last year’s Misano race was the fourth round of the season so we were still getting used to the new bike and the weather was a little more unpredictable. I like Misano but I’ve never had much luck here and never finished on the podium in Supersport, although I did qualify on the front row in 2003.

“As far as this year’s championship goes, I have to be looking at podium finishes and would like another win this weekend. Troy (Corser) is fast in Misano and the Ducatis will be strong here so I’ll be looking to get the most of the recent improvements we’ve made.”

Vermeulen has one win to his name in 2005, from four appearances on the podium.

Another three Australians will contest the two, 25-lap Misano races: Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia YZF-R1) and the Foggy Petronas Racing (FPR) pairing of Steve Martin and Garry McCoy.

Pitt, 29, has repeatedly shown he has the speed to trouble the championship front-runners, but a fourth place in round one still remains his best result.

“Silverstone was a bit of a disaster, so I’m happy to be heading to Misano, which is a circuit that I enjoy going to,” said Pitt. It’s normally very hot there, which along with the fact that you’re on the left side of the tyre so long, means that it’s a hard track on the tyres. We had a good test at Brno last week and we were able to make some more improvements in the chassis area.”

Yamaha’s progress in its first year of official world Superbike competition since 2000 has been piecemeal, but it proved it was on the right track when Pitt’s teammate Noriyuki Haga finished third in race two at Silverstone.

That alone should provide encouragement to Pitt, who’s in seventh on 70pts, four behind Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki ZX-10R) and two in front of Haga.

As for Martin and McCoy, the duo is desperate to land a few punches on their beefed-up FPR triples after what has hitherto been a demoralising season.

FPR, for one, will be hoping that history repeats itself, because previous incumbent, Corser, finished second in race one last year behind Laconi.

Martin’s also proven to be something of a Misano specialist, after starting from pole position in 2004 on his customer-spec Ducati 999RS.

“I feel good about this weekend. We made a change to the bike for the second race at Silverstone which reduced the chatter I had been experiencing and allowed me to get on the pace until a problem with the frame caused problems,” said Martin. “Misano is a place where I have never had any problems finding speed. It’s also got one the fastest and ballsy corners on the calendar – coming onto the back straight. I’ve raced there four times now so I’ve got a pretty good idea of how we’re going to want to get the bike set up.”

McCoy first competed at Misano in 1993 on a 125cc GP bike, and is definitely looking for top 10 results this Sunday – something he was heading towards in race one at Silverstone before crashing.

Other riders to watch out in round five will include the wily Chili (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR), who always lifts in front of a vociferous home crowd, reigning world champion James Toseland (Xerox Ducati 999F05), who won race two at Silverstone; and Japanese ace Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France IPONE YZF-R1).

In the corresponding World Supersport race, Aussie Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Deutschland YZF-R6) still remains the best bet to upset the Honda juggernaut, led by Sebastien Charpentier. The Frenchman (Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) has scored 115pts out of a possible 125, to lead the way from teammate Katsuaki Fujiwara (90) and Curtain (80). Curtain’s Aussie teammate, Broc Parkes, is fifth on 49pts.