World Superbike Championships: Suzuki Dominates again

Kevin Curtain (Yamaha) took third spot from long-term podium hopeful Michel Fabrizio (Team Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR) who had to settle for fourth, some five seconds ahead of his team-mate Foret.

Charpentier, who extended his championship lead to 12 points over Fujiwara - 70 to 58 - acknowledged that his last lap toughness was all-important. “A good weekend with my third pole position, my second race win and the fastest lap of the race, but it was certainly not easy. After I got into an early lead I just tried to put in consistently fast laps. Before half race distance I was pushing plus zero on my pit board and I knew that Kats was there. For sure he pushed me very hard towards the end – especially on that final lap.”

Fujiwara, nine points clear of third placed championship contender Curtain, gave his all, and recognised the race-long speed of his team-mate. “Conditions changed very much from this morning, when it was cooler. All weekend the temperature has risen in the afternoon, and this has made the track very slippery. I was pushing as hard as I could and trying to keep a very tight line as I caught up to Sebastien. As soon as I got off the racing line the grip was gone and that made it very difficult to pass. I got quite close to him on that final lap – maybe a bit too close – but he was riding so well there was very little I could do to catch him.”

Kevin Curtain, Yamaha Motor Germany, third: “That was a really tough race. As always around here, tyre choice was something of a gamble, simply because the temperature and grip levels are always changing. I was happy to bring it home and finish on the podium because my back tyre was totally gone at the end, although I think it was the same for all the guys. But we’re leaving here third in the championship, hopefully we can now find that little bit extra to close the gap on Charpentier and Fujiwara.” Michel Fabrizio, Team Italia Megabike, fourth: “In the end I had to think about the championship. I put in a lot of effort trying to keep Curtain behind me and it worked for a long time. By my suspension was not set-up perfectly and when he went past he could go faster. We have a racing test at Monza next week so we will see what progress we can make with the suspension there." Fabien Foret, Team Italia Megabike Honda fifth: “At the beginning I tried very hard to stay with Charpentier but even after a couple of laps I realised that my suspension set-up was too far off and he was gone. So I could only go at a certain pace and I had to settle for what I had."

Broc Parkes, Yamaha Motor Germany, sixth: “I got hit real hard on the first corner and there was such a big bang that was sure the back tyre was flat. I took it easy for a few laps until I was sure everything was ok but once I got going the bike was actually really good and I was able to work my way up. By the end I caught Foret but this is a tough place to overtake and I just didn’t have enough time to make a pass.”

SUPERSPORT RACE: Pos /Rider /Nat. /Team / Time /Gap 1 / S. CHARPENTIER / FRA / Winston Ten Kate Honda / 38'27.276 / 2 / K. FUJIWARA / JPN / Winston Ten Kate Honda / 38'28.120 / 0.844 3 / K. CURTAIN / AUS / Yamaha Motor Germany / 38'48.658 / 21.382 4 / M.FABRIZIO / ITA / Italia Megabike / 38'52.878 / 25.602 5 / F. FORET / FRA / Team Megabike / 38'58.754 / 31.478 6 / B. PARKES / AUS / Yamaha Motor Germany / 39'00.113 / 32.837 7 / B. VENEMAN / NED / Suzuki Netherland / 39'03.410 / 36.134 8 / G.NANNELLI / ITA / Ducati SC Caracchi / 39'05.352 / 38.076 9 / S. CHAMBON / FRA / Gil Motor Sport / 39'05.573 / 38.297 10 / J. STIGEFELT / SWE / Stiggy Motorsports / 39'06.026 / 38.750 11 / J. FORES / ESP / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 39'11.783 / 44.507 12 / W.DAEMEN / BEL / Van Zon Honda / 39'12.904 / 45.628 13 / S. LE GRELLE / BEL / Le Grelle Dholda in Action / 39'19.666 / 52.390 14 / A. TIZON / ESP / Promoracing / 39'19.739 / 52.463 15 / T. LAUSLEHTO / FIN / Klaffi Honda / 39'20.385 / 53.109 Fastest Lap 3 Sébastien Charpentier 1'38.976 145.672 Km/h

Riders Championship Standings: 1 Charpentier 70, 2 Fujiwara 58, 3 Curtain 49, 4 Foret 38, 5 Fabrizio 29, 6 Parkes 29, 7 Chambon 24, 8 Fores 18, 9 Stigefelt 16, 10 Nannelli 15