Preview - HRC

As the final two races of the World Supersport season dawn on consecutive weekends there is still everything to play for in the case of 2005 World Champion Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR). Having spent much of the most recent part of the season recuperating from pelvic and collarbone injuries suffered in testing, yet still racing on to pick up points, his previous runaway domination of the championship was first negated and then overturned by fate. He now sits 27 points behind current leader Kevin Curtain, but with 50-points up for grabs for the winner of the last two races, and after a very positive team test at Magny-Cours last week, the reigning champion is still in position to fight for the ultimate Supersport prize.

The brightest talent to emerge into the spotlight this season is Charpentier’s team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) who has now scored two race wins in succession - in vastly different track conditions - despite some early season inconsistencies in form. Sofuoglu now sits fourth, and has designs on improving that position before the end of the year, especially as his confidence is at an all-time high after his crushing wins at Assen and Lausitz.

Having won a race at Monza in this his rookie WSS season, Yoann Tiberio (Team Megabike Honda CBR600RR) has seen the middle section of his season blighted by three retirements in total, and two in the most recent races.
He still sits seventh overall, but knows a good result at Imola is important to him and his Italian-based team.

Katsuaki Fujiwara (Team Megabike Honda CBR600RR) has found the healing of his frequently injured hand more of problem than he had hoped, and scored no points at the last two rounds. His injury has blighted his season almost throughout, and he sits an unaccustomedly lowly 16th overall, with a single podium finish to his credit.

Charpentier looks to his increasing fitness and his highly encouraging tests at Magny-Cours as inspiration for his final push in the last two rounds.

“I am really happy on how the Magny-Cours test went,” said Charpentier in the run-up to Imola. “I obtained really encouraging results, and I also beat the circuit lap record. I am more than sure that in Imola I will be competitive again. The situation for the championship has got a bit complicated but I never give up. Unless the maths prove impossible, I will try my best to win.”

Sofuoglu is keeping his feet on the ground, despite obvious pleasure after his meteoric recent performances. He knows that advancement up the championship table is his main goal.

“These last few races have been incredible for me,” said Sofuoglu. “I am really happy about how things are going at the moment and I hope it will continue this way. Me and the team understand each other really well and it is thanks to this that we are achieving some great results. I hope to continue on the same track in the last two races of the season.”

Tiberio, who suffered a mid-race crisis of confidence at Lausitz, is determined to make amends at Imola.

"The Lausitz weekend was not a happy one for me,” stated Tiberio. “Maybe I had some problems concentrating and could not show my best. My race set-up was not perfect and I was not aggressive enough. But I like Imola a lot and I am out to run a good race for my team and me. It will be an important race for my championship standings."

His own recent reversals have done little for Fujiwara’s championship position, but with two full weekends of healing and building strength, he hopes for the best in Italy.

"I really hope that the Imola round will be better for me than Lausitz,”
said Fujiwara. “My hand was not OK yet and Lausitz demonstrated that fact.
With two weeks more rest and relaxation I hope my hand will be better during the Imola race. The track is difficult there, with lots of different types of corners, but I want to finish my season on a high note, starting at Imola."

World Superbike Round 11 of 12

IMOLA OFFERS OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL HONDA SUPERBIKE RIDERS

Imola has been the scene of victory for Honda in Superbike in the recent past and despite a minor change to the Variante Alta chicane since the last visit of the winged SBK hordes, the always-popular city centre venue should offer James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) and all his fellow Honda riders a weekend of opportunities. Currently third in the championship fight, Toseland is some 93 points behind current championship leader Troy Bayliss, yet only six down on second place rider Noriyuki Haga, with four individual points scoring races still to go. In his first season with Honda in World Superbike, Toseland has scored two races wins, plus seven further podium places. His most recent race victory was in the most recent race in Germany, a fact which boosts his pre-Imola confidence still further.

Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) is looking to Imola as a possible best option for his first win in World Superbike, having raced for Honda at the classic Italian venue during his 500cc GP career, and finishing second there in 1999. Barros is now sixth overall, but has designs on finishing in the top four, being only 25 points away from that placing at present.

Home tarmac should be a mighty spur for Michel Fabrizio (DFX Honda
CBR1000RR) to show his increasingly well-rewarded talents, having finished on the podium three times in his rookie SBK season already. Just outside the top ten at present, he is fully intent on running back into the upper echelons at this race, on a track he can expect great support at.

Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) enjoyed his best race weekend of the season so far in the previous round at Eurospeedway Lausitz, putting together two good races - sixth and then fifth - at a circuit few believed would be an ideal venue for any of the Honda riders.

Imola will be an emotional final farewell in World Superbike rider guise for Pierfrancesco Chili (DFX Honda CBR1000RR). The 42-year-old rider, already holder of the record number of SBK race starts at 274, and 17-times a race winner in the class, will retire at the end of the year, in large part due to the 2006-season injuries which are currently preventing him from riding in his usual place at the sharp end of the action.

With the title now seemingly impossible to wrest from the grasp of Bayliss, Toseland only has race wins, and an eventual second place in the championship itself, on his mind as he approaches Imola.

“I’m ready for Imola,” said Toseland. “The test in Magny-Cours has helped to set the bike up for the last race of the season, to be held on that very same track, and it also helped us to try some new parts for the bike. The victory at Lausitz lifted the team’s morale and I know all of us want to win again in these last four individual races. The fight for second place is still open and I will be doing my best to win it.”

Barros is banking on several points which he knows will help his championship placing, and his chance of individual race victories at Imola.

“It is quite a long time since I rode my last race in Imola, actually it was back in 1999,” affirmed Barros, “I finished second in the 500cc Grand Prix. The Imola track is beautiful and the layout suits my riding style. As the bike is more competitive since the Eurospeedway event, I think that I can challenge for a race victory. Ramon Forcada will be back as my crew chief for the final two meetings. I will take it race-by-race and I want to score a race win, as the gap in the championship is now too big to make up.”

With prospects of last year’s deluge at Imola, which cancelled race two, seemingly not about to be a factor this year Fabrizio is out for the best possible showing at home.

“Last year the rain was the main protagonist at Imola,” stated Fabrizio, “But I hope to be the most important man for Honda this year. Lausitz did not turn out the way I wanted so I hope to make up for it in Imola.”

Muggeridge now feels that his physical condition matches his ambitions for results, after suffering a serious back injury earlier in the year.

“We’re getting close to the end of the season and I really want to step on the podium at least once,” said Honda’s Australian rider. “It hasn’t been a lucky racing year for me, due the injury right at the beginning of the season, which held me back for a while. It was hard to recover from it, but in the last few races I’ve felt good again. In Imola I will give all I have to get on the podium. The weather forecast promises sunshine and warm temperatures, and this should help us to reach our goal.”

Chili is expecting an emotional rollercoaster at Imola, but knows he needs to overcome his debilitated physical condition before he can have a realistic chance of going out with high-scoring Imola race results.

“For me Imola will be very difficult because I have many wonderful memories of this circuit,” said Chili, “I know that ‘Frankie’ is now old but my passion for racing is the same as it was 20 years ago. My body is still suffering after the last big crash and I’m not sure if my staying power will be OK. I’m sure I will be in tears on Sunday evening but that’s life.”

The final round of both Supersport and Superbike Championships take place one week after Imola, at Magny-Cours, between 6 and 8 October.