World Superbike Championships: Suzuki Dominates again

A seemingly sure third place, and a possible second, for Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France IPONE) in the opener ended in the gravel as the Japanese rider slid off his machine into the first right hand corner on the 19th lap. He would end race two in fifth place, despite losing adhesion on the hotter track, to move up one championship place: fifth overall and the leading R1 rider. Andrew Pitt also fell in race one, while holding fourth position on lap six.

So with Abe, Pitt, Neukirchner and Muggeridge watching, Kagayama’s final result was a lot better than his race pace deserved, and fourth place in the first contest went to Kawasaki-mounted Chris Walker, ahead of Yamaha Motor Italia rider Noriyuki Haga and Yamaha Motor France IPONE rider Sebastien Gimbert.

With track temperatures increasing from 22°C in race one to 40°C in race two, grip altered considerably from race to race, complicating matters for everybody and making Corser work a bit harder in race two.

Andrew Pitt’s Yamaha R1 got the holeshot and led the first lap. On lap two, the Suzuki rider made his move and from then on the result was never in doubt. The Australian held a podium position for much of race two, but slipped back due to a misfire and eventually finished eighth.

This time the margin of victory was less - just over five seconds - but the demoralising effect on his rivals was just the same. Vermeulen took runner-up spot after a terrific battle with Kawasaki’s Chris Walker who finished third.

Troy Corser, Alstare Suzuki Corona Team, Double race winner and Championship Points leader: ”It’s been a perfect weekend and I want to thank the whole Alstare team for making it all possible. Conditions were very variable today - due to the change in track temperature - but we had done all the groundwork in qualifying and were ready for anything. I used the same rear tyre for both races but it didn’t work as well in race two because the temperature was higher. The first race was pretty comfortable for me and I just controlled things right from the start and left the rest to sort themselves out. In race two, I was a bit surprised to see Andrew Pitt get off the line ahead of me and lead into turn one. I wanted to pass him as soon as possible because I wanted to run my own race, so I overtook him on lap two. I then pushed quite hard for about eight laps and made a bit of a break, but in doing that, I think I must have worn the rear tyre out a bit. So I eased the pace, conserved the tyres and kept and eye on my pit-board. The wind in race two was a bit of a problem because it was different in different parts of the circuit. But it was great to do another double and extend my lead in the championship to 31 points.”

Yukio Kagayama, Alstare Suzuki Corona Team, Race 1 - third, Race 2 - seventh: ”Today I am a lucky man or maybe double lucky. In the first race, I had moved up to fourth with Norick Abe in third but too far away. Then he crashed two laps from the end and suddenly I was third and on the podium! I was also lucky in the second race because I didn’t crash! I had very little feeling in my tyres - maybe because of the high track temperature - and I overshot one turn because I had no grip. I recovered OK, but the leading group was too far to catch. After that I had to go more slowly because I knew I would crash if I went faster. I am happy for Troy-san and our team and I am still second in the championship so I think I am lucky.”

Chris Vermeulen, Winston Ten Kate Honda, second place both races: "That was really hard work. The conditions were very slippery compared to last year’s race which was held earlier in the year. I think the higher temperatures here mean that the tyres are having to work much harder, so grip is a problem for everyone. Race two was as hard as race one but at least I was able to stay relatively close to Troy. But I’m happy with two podiums and to have collected a whole load of points.”

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