World Superbike / Supersport 2005 - Round Seven - Brno

Winston Ten Kate Honda’s Chris Vermeulen and Karl Muggeridge head to the Czech Republic this weekend for round seven of this year’s World Superbike championship in search of further points. The Brno event marks the return of the series to the Czech venue for the first time since 1996.

With one victory to his name already and two second place finishes last time out at Misano leaving him second in the championship standings, Vermeulen will be looking to make further inroads into the points lead of his fellow Australian, Troy Corser. Muggeridge, meanwhile, will be hoping to build on the qualifying form that put him on the front row in Italy.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager:
“It’s our first time at Brno as a team and, although some of our competitors have tested there this season, we’ll be looking for a similar performance to last year’s at Laguna Seca in America. Chris had never seen the circuit before and took a double victory there, so we know from experience that anything is possible. Of course, testing at a new circuit is always an advantage but I certainly don’t think it rules us out of contention. We’re hoping to test one or two new chassis components in Brno to help us build on the base setting that saw us perform well in Misano and I know that both Chris and Karl are growing in confidence on the bike with each outing.”

Chris Vermeulen – championship position 2nd, 181 points:
“I’m looking forward to the new challenge that Brno brings and excited about going to a new track. I’ve spoken to a few other guys who have raced there in MotoGP and it seems to be one of their favourites because it’s fast and flowing. It’s a shame we haven’t been able to test there but with only two test tracks allowed, there’s always going to be a compromise. It’s certainly going to be difficult going out on the first day but we’ll hopefully get up to speed quickly enough because the bike’s been getting better and better over the last few rounds. I’ve spoken to the guys back at the workshop and they’ve got a couple of new things for us to try. I reckon Brno should suit the Fireblade so we’re ready to go. I’m pretty relaxed because I managed to grab a few days back home in Australia between a couple of Suzuka 8-hour tests and, since I got back to Europe last week, I’ve been playing around with my new Ford Coupe, which is fantastic.”

Karl Muggeridge – championship position 10th, 65 points:
“I’ve heard Brno is pretty quick but pretty bumpy, too, so that could throw up one or two problems. I’ll make sure I get lots of laps in on a scooter as soon as I arrive to get myself properly familiar with it. We’ll be playing a bit of catch up with those who have already tested and one or two ex-GP riders who I’m sure will remember which way it goes. We certainly found a better way forward at Misano and everything was going well through qualifying and Superpole. I just felt so rough on race day that I wasn’t able to convert that good set-up into a couple of decent finishes but we’re making progress each time we go out so I’m looking forward to the weekend. I’m also looking forward to some more of our own testing at Lausitzring in Germany straight after Brno. The championship hasn’t been there for a few years either so hopefully that might give us a bit of an advantage.”

Supersport

World Superpsort championship leader, Sébastien Charpentier, will have a new team-mate for this weekend’s seventh round event at Brno in the Czech Republic. The Winston Honda rider will be joined by Britain’s Craig Jones, who replaces the injured Katsuaki Fujiwara.

While Charpentier seeks his fifth win of the season and an extension of his series points lead over Fujiwara, Jones heads for the 5.4km Brno circuit direct from last Sunday’s British Supersport race at Snetterton, following which he holds second place in the UK domestic championship.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager:
“We’re sorry that Kats (Fujiwara) won’t be with us in Brno but wish him a speedy recovery from his back injury. Gerrit (ten Kate) has been following Craig Jones’s career in the British championship for the last couple of years and, of course, we saw his performance as a wild-card at the recent World Supersport event at Silverstone. As one of the brightest young prospects in British racing, Craig was a natural choice for us to replace Kats at Brno. It’s always difficult riding as a replacement, though, so we won’t be putting any pressure on him. We just want him to enjoy the experience and to get a taste for life in a world championship team. Of course, it’s our first visit to Brno as a team so we’ll be working hard to give Sébastien a good race set-up that will allow him to continue his domination of the series.”

Sébastien Charpentier – championship position 1st, 140 points:
“I was very sorry when I heard about Kats crashing in Japan and look forward to welcoming him back to the team at the Brands Hatch round. He has given me the strongest challenge this season and has taken two race wins to show how strong he is. But I’m looking forward to welcoming Craig to the team and giving him whatever help I can. It’ll be good to know that he’s on our side for this race because he was certainly impressive at Silverstone in May. I’ve heard a lot about the Brno circuit and think that it will suit both my style and the CBR’s characteristics. I know our main challengers from both Honda and Yamaha have tested there already so we will need to get up to speed very quickly to help the championship, which is our overall priority.”

Craig Jones:
“I feel very sorry for Kats and hope he recovers quickly but, as you can imagine, I am very excited to have been given this opportunity. I’d like to thank Gerrit and Ronald of course, but also my team manager in the UK, Gary Ekerold, who has been kind enough to release me for this ride. I really enjoyed the Silverstone event and managed to qualify on the front row, even though I had a mechanical failure in the race. I’ve wanted to ride for Gerrit for a long time and I can’t wait to get on one of the famous Ten Kate Hondas. I hope the fact that most of the other riders haven’t been to Brno either will give me a level playing field to start with, but I understand the team won’t put any pressure on me. I’m just really looking forward to the whole experience.”