The British-based Beowulf Racing team frustratingly finished just outside of the points in 16th place at today’s opening round of the
2006 FIM Superstock 1000 Championship held at the Valencia circuit in Spain. Despite this, both Team Manager Andy Stone and rider Nick Henderson (Suzuki) declared themselves satisfied with the result. It was the likeable Australian's first race outside his homeland and the changeable weather conditions played a huge part in the outcome. The race was won by Italian Alessandro Polita (Suzuki) after a fierce 13-lap battle with Spaniard Ivan Silva (Kawasaki).

Completing four laps of the circuit during the early morning warm-up session, Henderson showed he had no problems carving his way through the traffic. Although the track was still damp from the overnight rain, Nick lapped at 2:06.765 to finish the session 19th, five places up on his grid position for the race. Whilst the team had worked all weekend to set his machine up for the dry, the new weather conditions meant that Friday’s handling problems had returned. At the end of the ten minutes it was eventual winner Polita who had scorched his way to the top of the leaderboard with a lap timed at 1:57.721.

Henderson had predicted he would make a “lightning start” to the race and that’s exactly what he did. The second the lights went out he shot straight past four other riders into 20th place. For the first few laps Nick ran with the pack and battled with the Yamaha-mounted Italian, Ilario Dionsi. Eventually Ilario moved ahead and then began to steadily pull a gap, leaving Henderson to eventually get to the flag in 16th place.

“In the morning warm up we ran with wet tyres and soft suspension. For the race we changed the tyres to dry but kept the suspension settings the same,” explained Henderson afterwards. “As the track dried out, I couldn’t push the front any harder and had to ease off a little to make it to the line.” He continued: “Overall though, I’m happy. I like the team, I like the bike and Monza’s next. That’s a fast track like back home – and I know how to ride fast tracks!”

Team Manager Andy Stony also declared himself happy and felt the outcome would have been different had the weather been a little more predictable. “Like a lot of teams here today we had to take a gamble on what the circuit conditions would be like in the race,” he said. “We thought it would stay damp, but the track dried out and that’s what put us out of the points. Nick’s riding superbly against some riders who’ve had factory experience. The team’s working together well, so a top-ten finish isn’t too far away.”

The next round of the 2006 FIM Superstock Cup will be held at the Italian circuit of Monza on the weekend of May 5th-7th. With one race now behind them, and a fast track to run on, expect to see Beowulf Racing towards the head of the field.

Race Results
1 A. Polita Suzuki ITA 22' 4.712
2 I. Silva Kawasaki ESP +0.303
3 A. Badovini MV Agusta ITA +3.751
4 E. Rocamora Yamaha ESP +5.418
5 L. Scassa MV Agusta ITA +5.729
6 D. Sacchetti Kawasaki ITA +9.290
7 S. Morais Suzuki RSA +9.409
8 C. Corti Yamaha ITA +10.143
9 A. Martinez Mas Kawasaki ESP +10.149
10 S. Saltarelli Kawasaki ITA +13.128
11 M. Baiocco Yamaha ITA +18.002
12 R. Cooper Honda GBR +25.076
13 D. Dell'omo Suzuki ITA +27.910
14 R. Chiarello Kawasaki ITA +29.890
15 I. Dionisi Yamaha ITA +29.983

Fastest Race Lap:
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 A. Polita Suzuki ITA 1' 39.789

FIM Superstock 1000 Cup championship standings
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 25
2 Ivan Silva Kawasaki ESP 20
3 Ayrton Badovini MV Agusta ITA 16
4 Enrique Rocamora Yamaha ESP 13
5 Luca Scassa MV Agusta ITA 11
6 Denis Sacchetti Kawasaki ITA 10
7 Sheridan Morais Suzuki RSA 9
8 Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 8
9 Alex Martinez Mas Kawasaki ESP 7
10 Simone Saltarelli Kawasaki ITA 6
11 Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 5
12 Richard Cooper Honda GBR 4
13 Danilo Dell'omo Suzuki ITA 3
14 Riccardo Chiarello Kawasaki ITA 2
15 Ilario Dionisi Yamaha ITA 1