Superbike Race 1

Winston Ten Kate Honda riders, Chris Vermeulen and Karl Muggeridge, struggled with set-up and front end problems in the first seventh round World Superbike championship race at Brno this afternoon. The race was won by championship leader, Troy Corser.

In cooler temperatures than yesterday’s qualifying sessions that saw them start from fourth and fifth places respectively on the grid, Vermeulen could manage only an eighth place finish after 20 laps of the 5.4km Czech circuit, with Muggeridge crossing the line in thirteenth.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager: “Karl was quickest in morning warm-up after a long run on his race tyres but got some strange front tyre wear in the race. It seemed to start quite early on so we’ll have to look at the chassis and suspension data to see if anything has changed from warm-up to race. We could all see that Chris was struggling too so we may have to consider changing something quite dramatically for the second race this afternoon.”

Chris Vermeulen - eighth: “I’ve just been struggling with set-up all weekend, really. The bike feels fine when the tyres are fresh but the set-up we have seems to push them quite hard. Towards the end of the race I just had no grip left so we may have to look at everything to see what needs changing for race two. I’ll definitely think about changing the front tyre because it felt like I was using it all up just to make the corners. I’m sure we can find some improvement this afternoon.”

Karl Muggeridge - thirteenth: “Even from the first lap I had a couple of front end scares and after three laps I just didn’t have any grip there. We knew the front end would cause us some problems here because of the nature of the circuit but we haven’t been here before so we’ve been trying to find our way since Friday. We made some changes to the front forks this morning in warm-up and I was quickest so it’s a little mysterious what happened out there.”  

Superbike Race 2

Winston Ten Kate Honda rider, Chris Vermeulen, made up for a disappointing race one result at Brno with his seventh podium of the 2005 World Superbike campaign in race two. The Australian fought back from a difficult start to take third place after 20 laps of the 5.4km circuit in the Czech Republic.

The race was won by Japan’s Noriyuki Haga with series leader Troy Corser second. Vermeulen’s team-mate, Karl Muggeridge, slipped back from second place in the early laps to take ninth place at the flag.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager: “After our disappointing results in the first race here I’m very happy with that podium from Chris and, particularly, the way he took it. He had to come back from eleventh place after the first lap and really put his head down and seemed to get better as the race went on. We managed to get the front end of Karl’s bike working a little better than in race one but we sacrificed a serious amount of rear end grip, meaning he couldn’t hold on to his good start. We’re heading from here and going straight to the Eurospeedway at Lausitzring to do some testing where we have a lot of new things to try.”

Chris Vermeulen - “I didn’t get off the line too badly but the front wheel started to lift and I had to roll off a bit. I came together with Nori (Haga) in the first turn and got a big wobble on and then found myself with a lot of fast riders who were difficult to pass. A couple of incidents cost me places that I’d worked hard to get but eventually I got into a good rhythm and put in some good laps towards the end of the race. We’d lifted the front a little between the races and that helped me to hold lines a lot better. But we also had a bit of a voltage problem and I was getting some weird signals from the dash. I’m happy with the podium though, considering this was our first time here – it’s a good reward for all the team’s hard work.”

Karl Muggeridge - “Well, we got the front working better after race one but suddenly found I had no grip at the rear. I could brake and run into corners with everyone in the fast group I was with but just lost out when we accelerated away. The bike was definitely better overall so it’s a little frustrating that we found another problem, which got worse as the race went on. We’re off testing at Lausitzring this week and it’s something that we really need. It was uphill a bit for us here in Brno because none of us has been here before and you could tell the teams that had. The test should put us in good shape for Brands Hatch and the races after that.”

Supersport Race

Winston rider Sébastien Charpentier took his fifth win of the season in this afternoon’s seventh round World Supersport championship race at Brno, Czech Republic. His closest challenger, Kevin Curtain, crashed out of the race unhurt with just three laps to go.

Curtain’s failure to score leaves Charpentier’s regular Winston Ten Kate Honda team-mate Katsuaki Fujiwara in second place in the championship standings. The Japanese rider, however, was injured this weekend and replaced by Britain’s Craig Jones, who rode to an impressive sixth place finish.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager: “That was just another great job from Sebastien. He had another good fight with Kevin (Curtain) just like during the qualifying sessions but it’s clear that Seb is really the man of World Supersport this year. Of course, it’s not nice to see anyone crashing out but Kevin’s non-score is good for Kats’s championship position as well. Kats is still in second place in the points but his substitute for this weekend did a great job standing in for him. Everyone agrees that Craig put in a very solid debut with a brand new team and an unfamiliar bike. It was a top six finish but a podium was certainly within reach.”

Sébastien Charpentier – first: “It was a difficult race and a good battle with Kevin from the start but it wasn’t so good for me when he crashed out. I prefer a fight but this result has given me a really good lead in the championship. With my pole position qualifying time and the fastest lap of the race, it’s been a complete weekend for me. The grip went off towards the end of the race today but it’s our first visit here so it feels good to beat the other teams that have tested here already. Brno is a great riders’ circuit because it’s got a great mix of everything but I think it’s probably one of my favourite circuits after this great weekend.”

Craig Jones – sixth: “I actually enjoyed the race more than the whole weekend which, itself, has been a fantastic experience. It’s difficult coming into a new team and trying to make the bike feel like my own but the team has been great and the bike felt really good in the race. At the start of the race, I was running with Sébastien just in front of me and could have gone round the outside of him in one corner. But I thought ‘No, that’s the boss man, just ease off a little!’ About five laps from the end I was getting some front end slides and on the last lap I made a little mistake and nearly ran into the guy in front of me. I thought then I’d just settle for a good result.”