A day of rapid progress was brought to an abrupt end for Beowulf Racing’s Nick Henderson (Suzuki) at Monza today when his bike ran out of petrol towards the end of the final qualifying period for tomorrow’s second-round race in the 2006 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup. Confusion over the amount of time remaining after the session was red-flagged at the midway point led to the machine being run slightly too lean and robbed Henderson of two vital remaining laps. Despite this, the Australian ace has knocked over three seconds from his Friday qualifying time and will line up for tomorrow’s race in 21st position on the grid.

After the damp and dismal conditions the riders the riders had to endure yesterday, the famous Italian sunshine finally arrived today.
With it came a change of luck for Henderson. Completing 10 laps in the morning free practice session, Nick shaved 1.7 seconds from his time yesterday with a best lap of 1:55.527. Although still in 27th place on the scoresheet, Nick took heart from the fact that he had hauled the Beowulf Suzuki up to being the third fastest bike on the track, clocked at 182.4mph through the speed trap. Things were beginning to look promising for the British team, based at Shepton Mallet in Somerset.

True to form, Nick beat his Friday time with his first flying lap of the afternoon qualifying period. Making steady progress, the session was temporarily halted to allow the track to be cleared of the crashed machines of Luca Scassa (MV Augusta) and Matej Smrz (Honda). Both riders were reported to be without serious injury. Expecting the stoppage time to be deducted from the remainder of the session, and knowing that Henderson could still make further headway up the grid, the team elected not to refuel his machine. It was only when the session recommenced that they saw it would be run for the full time allowed. Frantically signaling Henderson to pit again and refuel, the Australian made the choice to stay out and make the best he could from his final few laps. Yesterday Nick had mentioned that he wanted to be two seconds faster today. His final full lap of 1:54.062 was over three seconds quicker than his Friday time and propelled him into 21st on the grid. Retiring at the Variante Interna chicane with 3 minutes still to be run, Henderson had also upped the pace of his machine. The Beowulf Suzuki was now the fourth quickest bike on the track, timed at a top speed of 187mph. At the end of the 30 minutes it was Italian Allessandro Polita (Suzuki) who headed the field with a time of 1:51.454.

Afterwards, both Henderson and Beowulf Team Manager Andy Stone were relaxed about their predicament. “I don’t think those last couple of laps Nick missed would have made a lot of difference, to be honest”
Stone said later. “The main thing is we can battle for a points-scoring position tomorrow and I’m very happy to be in that position.”

Henderson continued: “We learnt a lot in that last session and can make alterations to the bike overnight which will make it faster tomorrow even without me riding it harder, which I obviously will be. That said, I won’t be happy until I’m finishing inside the top ten.”

Sunday’s race will be run over 11 laps of the historic Italian 3.6-mile circuit. With Beowulf Racing now in the thick of the action, and Henderson in determined mood, it promises to be an explosive affair.


FIM SUPERSTOCK 1000 CUP, RD 2 MONZA
Final Combined Qualifying Times
1. Allessandro Polita (Ita) Suzuki 1:51.454
2. Alex Martinez (Esp) Kawasaki 1:51.580
3. Luca Scassa (Ita) MV Augusta 1:51.634
21. Nick Henderson (Aus) Suzuki 1.54.062