World Superbike 2006 - Round Two

James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) suffered a crash in the opening race, after fighting for a top five finish, and despite running low on fuel on the last lap he scored fifth in race two, to keep his third place in the overall championship chase. Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) made an assured comeback from his recent spinal injury to score a sixth and seventh, only losing out places as the final laps unfolded and his energy levels dipped.

In the first race Toseland saw an opportunity to make his race long high pace count after losing touch with the leaders in the first stages of the 18-laps. After a big wobble had disrupted his braking power, he fell after entering the Parabolica corner too quickly, when trying to make up ground and find the slipstream of the group in front. He ran off, lost the front on the grass and landed on his head and neck as he tumbled through the gravel. His team-mate Karl Muggeridge almost led the race at one point, but dropped back slowly to score a top six on his return from injury.

In the second 18-laps race Toseland, despite the discomfort of his sore neck, was battling for fourth with fellow Honda rider Alex Barros, but ran out of fuel and had to concede the points to his closest championship rival. Muggeridge had his second good race of the day, but had to give ground to his countryman Andrew Pitt, and did well to hold off Fonsi Nieto over the line, ending his second race seventh.

Toseland sits third overall, on 97 points (two ahead of Barros) with Muggeridge 15th, on 30.

Ronald Ten Kate – Team Manager

“To be honest the weekend didn’t really bring us what we were hoping for. We worked hard all the weekend to make the bike better and better. The crash for James in the first heat didn’t help him, in terms of confidence for the second and his number one bike was destroyed, so we also had to move to his number two bike, which was just a little bit different. For Karl I am just glad that he brought in two solid results, good strong top tens. It shows he is recovering and the result is something we can build on for the future.”

James Toseland – SBK Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(Race 1: DNF – Race 2: 5th – Championship Position: 3rd with 97 points)
“I’m not happy with the crash in race one, and not happy with the conclusion of the race in race two. We ran out of fuel and that allowed Barros to come by. Enough said about that. But we’ve got some work to do, to try and get the power down. This circuit was better for us for sure but we have a lot more work to do. But I am prepared, and the team is prepared, to do the work required. So we can only move onwards and upwards from here. It’s not over yet and we will battle to the end. I’ve got confidence that we can improve.”

Karl Muggeridge – SBK Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(Race 1: 6th – Race 2: 7th – Championship Position: 15th with 30 points)
“We had a pretty good weekend, all things considered. I’m just a bit disappointed that I am not a bit fitter and I had quite low energy. I had good speed, so that was a positive thing after being out for a while. We have a good break to Silverstone.”

Supersport

Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) lost his perfect record of 2006 season race wins after 18 laps at Monza, but in finishing third he arguably had his most impressive performance of the year. His team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda) survived a first lap incident and a last lap clash with another rider to finish fifth, scoring valuable championship points.

Charpentier’s race saw him penalised for a jump start from pole position, meaning that he had to return from a clear lead to enter pits to take a ride-through penalty, losing some 11 places on the way. He took his already brilliant level of riding to a new plateau of excellence on lap eight, with a 1’51.403. Once again drama unfolded as Sebastien ran on at the chicane, but despite losing more places again, he battled back to finish an incredible third. In doing so he extended his championship advantage to 31 points, as his main championship rival Kevin Curtain failed to finish.

Sofuoglu was not part of the early leading group as he was held back in 20th place after a controversial first lap. His progress through the field was equally impressive to his team-mate’s and he would have taken fourth but for a contact with another rider on the final time around the Parabolica. His finish puts him ninth overall.

Ronald Ten Kate - Team manager
“That was probably the most exciting race for a couple of years in the Supersport category. Sebastien clearly jumped the start so I don’t even want to discuss it. He had to take his ride through and we made an organisation in pit lane to tell him when to go again. Immediately afterwards he broke the lap record twice with an amazing 1.2 seconds over the old record. I am sorry that he again lost time at the chicane when he ran on, and as the timesheets tell us, it was a further five seconds. He could even have won the race if it was not for that. I am very happy for Seb because he is now 31 points ahead, and it was good to see Tiberio winning. When we cannot win it is good to see another Honda win. Kenan also had a difficult race, and he almost had to start the first lap from last position after the big crash at the first chicane. He almost finished fourth but he shifted one too many back before the last corner, so he ended up fifth. I am happy with him, he showed himself to be a very good racer. Despite the lack of a win this race will live in my memory for a very long time.”

Sébastien Charpentier – WSS Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(3rd – Championship Position: 1st with 91 points)
“It was a very long story today. An incredible 16 laps. After taking the jump start penalty it was necessary to try very hard to come back to the front. After some very hard braking I ran on at the chicane so it was more difficult again. A very tough race. But I am very happy to finish third after all that and my package was fantastic today. My Honda was incredible and the Pirellis were so good. A blown engine for Kevin Curtain was a very good development for me in the championship. I am also very happy for Tiberio, who had a difficult start to the championship.”

Kenan Sofuoglu – WSS Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(5th – Championship Position: 9th with 27 points)
“The comeback was not so bad, but at the start I made a mistake. The real problem was in the first chicane, when a rider crashed and took some others out. I completely lost my exit there again and I was, 24th, and then 20th at the end of the first lap. I thought maybe I could get some points after that happened. Lap by lap I overtook many riders and then I realised that I could overtake a few more. I could have had fourth but another rider bumped me and took me out of my line on the last corner. Fifth was good but it should have been better.”