"THE VICAR" FOR WORLD ENDURANCE?

In spite of the lack of promised coverage of the World Endurance Championships by the FIM this year, interest is still high from riders from around the world to participate in the series. After hosting Italian female rider Samuela De Nardi, the Suzuka 8 Hours this year invited French female racing star Magali Langlois to participate. Riders from Australia, South Africa and America have expressed a keen interest in joining the tough world of Endurance, the latest of them being 23 year old Victor "The Vicar" Cox, former STP MV Agusta rider from the British Superbike Championship. Former World Champion Warwick Nowland was managing this team last year and has undoubtedly passed on a lot of knowledge of how the Endurance scene works - so "The Vicar" now wants to find a team on the world scene and has contacted Race Corporation to put himself "on the market", as it were.

"Last season I rode a Yamaha R1 in the National Superstocks run by myself finishing 9th in the championship with some good top 6 finishes and consistently in the top 10 through out the season. Also having a 1 off ride in the Henderson R1 Cup for Co-ordit racing finishing on the podium in 3rd beating Alaster Seeley who was 4th. This year I've been riding for STP/JHS racing on a MV Agusta and a couple of rounds on a stock FireBlade in the British Superbikes. At Donington we finished 16th and 17th in the British Superbikes on a Superstock Fireblade with slicks I hadn't seen before the race weekend just outside the points, but feel having more of a Superbike with more power could go a lot better getting inside the top 12 in BSB. I've always been very interested in endurance racing and always wanted to get involved. I've rode a few circuits in Europe from when I raced in the European Superstocks in 05 and really enjoy racing out there."

WORLD SUPERBIKE - ROUND 10 BRNO

RACE REPORT:
Max Biaggi (Aprilia) and Ben Spies (Yamaha) scored a win apiece in round 10 of the Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship at Brno in front of record 75,000 crowd. In race 1 the 25 points went to Biaggi after Spies had been wiped out by Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox), giving Aprilia its first win in its return season to WSB. The second race saw Spies take a deserved victory, after the American managed to hold off Biaggi in the final stages. Fabrizio finished third, while points leader Noriyuki Haga, still not in the best of physical condition, limited the damage and managed to hold on to his championship lead by seven points.

Race 1
Biaggi scored his first win of the season and his first win since Vallelunga 2007 in the opening race at Brno in the Czech Republic. It was also Aprilia’s first win in the category since Régis Laconi’s victory at Imola in 2001. Second and third went to the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda duo of Carlos Checa and Jonathan Rea. Biaggi actually had a lonely run to the chequered flag after the other two favourites Spies and Fabrizio were eliminated when the Italian crashed in a fast left-hander, taking down his American rival with him. It was a great day also for the other new manufacturer to the series, BMW, who had the satisfaction of seeing Troy Corser lead the opening two laps, the Australian eventually finishing fifth to score the team’s best result this season. Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati) got another good result for the Italian team in sixth. It wasn’t all good news for BMW however as Ruben Xaus crashed out on the opening lap, fracturing the femur bone in his right leg in the process. Sixth place went to Czech rider Jakub Smrz (Guandakini Ducati), who recovered well to score a good result in front of his home crowd. Seventh was Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda) and eighth Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), who ran a defensive race to try and score as many points as possible. Makoto Tamada took home a good result for Kawasaki, the Japanese rider finishing in tenth place.

Max Biaggi: “It’s great! What can I say! When I crossed the start-finish I was so happy to be winning this race and I had so many flashbacks of Brno, I can feel that it is one of my favourite circuits. Of course I don’t want to take anything away from Spies and Fabrizio, they were both very fast, but I remember Barry Sheene used to say ‘To finish first, first you have to finish’ and this is a part of the deal. I put my head down and did not make any mistake, so a big thanks to all my crew, Aprilia and in particular Gigi Dall’Igna, the ‘papa’ of our bike!.”

Carlos Checa: “It’s a good result for the team to get two riders on the podium and I think we did a very good job. At a certain point I thought maybe I could catch Max, but in the end I had to preserve my tyres as the right side in particular was not so good, and I could see there was no way. I settled for second as I could see that Johnny was 4 seconds behind.”

Jonathan Rea: “Well, in Superpole we had to ride through the problems and get a good result and we did the same here in the race, so I feel quite fortunate to get a podium. We didn’t quite have the pace of Max , but my team have done a really good job. I really love this place, but I can’t understand why I had a slow start to the weekend.”

Results 1. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 40'18.306 (160,863 kph); 2. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 3.631; 3. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 9.948; 4. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 12.952; 5. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 14.599; 6. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 19.359; 7. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 19.680;8. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 20.731; 9. Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 21.923; 10. Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 27.807; 11. Nieto F. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 35.263; 12. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 36.535; 13. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 38.586; 14. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 40.061; 15. Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 40.280; 16. Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 40.641

Race 2
Spies powered into the lead shortly after the start to head towards his eleventh win of the season. It wasn’t easy however as the Texan had to keep Biaggi at bay, and the Italian took second at the end. Third went to Fabrizio, who lost contact with the leading pair in the last few laps. Despite his win, Spies was unable to overtake Haga at the top of the table. The Japanese rider ran a heroic second race to finish in sixth place, holding off a trio of Tom Sykes (Yamaha), Byrne and Smrz in the final stages. Just off the podium were the Ten Kate pairing of Jonathan Rea and Carlos Checa, their positions inverted from race 1. Once again Corser was up at the front in the early stages, but this time the Australian finished in tenth.

Ben Spies: “It was a tough race, Fabrizio was there and I had to push and make good lap times. When I saw Max was there, he arrived quite quick and I had to start braking very late and stopping almost in the middle of the corner to get good drive so he couldn’t come by me. The first race obviously wasn’t so good but we rallied together for the second race. That pass attempt was not the best move in the world, but that’s how racing goes sometimes. A big thanks also to the Clinica Mobile guys because I wasn’t feeling so good this weekend.”

Max Biaggi: “It’s a great result, I’m quite pleased, it’s not a victory but we proved that we have a lot of muscle and could fight with Fabrizio and Spies all the time. I stopped behind Fabrizio for quite a time, while Spies managed to pull away. In the end I passed him and went to catch Spies. I tried to brake very late, but I didn’t want to take him out like it was in the first race. We got a good result and it was a very good weekend here for Aprilia.”

Michel Fabrizio: “It was really difficult to fight against Aprilia and Yamaha today. The only problem we had was coming out of the turns where I never quite managed to stay behind first Ben and then Max, but we should be happy with this third place and now we must look ahead.”

Results 1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 40'15.420 (161,055 kph); 2. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 0.213; 3. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 0.657; 4. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 8.311; 5. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 8.915; 6. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 21.175; 7. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 21.384; 8. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 21.599; 9. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 21.726; 10. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 25.180; 11. Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 25.612; 12. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 25.622; 13. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 26.246; 14. Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 31.098; 15. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 32.706; 16. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 33.173

Points (after 10 of 14 rounds): 1. Haga 326; 2. Spies 319; 3. Fabrizio 273; 4. Rea 206; 5. Biaggi 200; 6. Haslam 180; 7. Sykes 150; 8. Checa 145; 9. Byrne 134; 10. Smrz 132. Manufacturers: 1. Ducati 412; 2. Yamaha 362; 3. Honda 306; 4. Aprilia 207; 5. Suzuki 133; 6. BMW 87; 7. Kawasaki 53

World Supersport
There was a sensational end to the Supersport race as Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) had to retire with a mechanical problem two laps from the flag as he was heading for another dominant victory, thus re-opening the title battle. His closest rival Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) had been struggling all weekend and could only finish fifth. The win, after the four-way battle for second turned into the fight for first, went to his team-mate Fabien Foret, who returned to the top slot for the first time since last year, the Frenchman thus wiping out all memories of his nasty crash here on this track twelve months ago. In the sprint finish, the runner-up slot went to Anthony West (Stiggy Racing Honda), who managed to get the better of the two increasingly competitive Kawasakis of Joan Lascorz and Katsuaki Fujiwara. South African Sheridan Morais put in a good run for sixth place, ahead of Italian Massimo Roccoli (Intermoto Honda) and Garry Mc Coy (ParkinGo Triumph), while the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team again had a disappointing day, their two champions Kenan Sofuoglu and Andrew Pitt only finishing ninth and tenth respectively.

Results 1. Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 37'14.367 (156,695 kph); 2. West A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 0.148; 3. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 0.289; 4. Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 0.400; 5. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 6.823; 6. Morais S. (RSA) Yamaha YZF R6 14.896; 7. Roccoli M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 15.092; 8. McCoy G. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675 15.634

Points (after 10 of 14 rounds): 1. Crutchlow 185; 2. Laverty 168; 3. Sofuoglu 128; 4. Lascorz 122; 5. West 95; 6. Foret 88; 7. Pitt 85; 8. Mccoy 63; 9. Aitchison 61; 10. Fujiwara 52. Manufacturers: 1. Honda 211 2. Yamaha 210 3. Kawasaki 133; 4. Triumph 77; 5. Suzuki 30

BRNO FIRST QUALIFYING:
Two Italians, Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) powered to the top two slots on the opening day of World Superbike qualifying at Brno in the Czech Republic. The multiple world champion was the only rider to dip under the two minute mark, when he set the quickest time of 1 minute 59.982 seconds right at the very end of the session. Less than one-tenth behind was Fabrizio, with both riders confirming their exceptional feeling with the Czech circuit. Third place went to another man with considerable experience of the Brno track, Spain’s Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), while Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike), who has never seen the place before, was fourth quickest. Italian colours were also held high by Lorenzo Lanzi, in fifth place for the private DFX Ducati team, while BMW confirmed its recent Imola testing progress as Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus set sixth and eighth quickest time respectively for the German manufacturer. One illustrious top 10 outsider at the moment is the returning Japanese rider Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), the points leader, who was injured at Donington, preferring to ease back into the pace without taking any risks and guarantee himself a position in Superpole. Haga currently lies in 15th.

Kawasaki also showed some progress in the first session, with Broc Parkes placing ninth and Makoto Tamada 17th, but the Japanese rider’s fourth quickest time at the end was annulled because he had started his quick lap after the chequered flag had been shown. While some way down the field for the moment can be found Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and home favourite Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati) in 13th and 14th place respectively.

Michel Fabrizio 2m00.0s
“I’ve made a good start. Max just beat me to the fastest time in the last minute but we expected him to be going well having testing here recently. I’m feeling fairly confident with the set-up of the bike and the tyres for Sunday will be the same that we used here last year I think so we’re sorted there. It should be a good race day as we’ve seen a variety of riders going strong in today’s two sessions; the more, the merrier I say!”

Noriyuki Haga 2m01.0s
“I have been gritting my teeth today to be honest. It’s the first time I’ve fractured my scapula and I hope to never do it again. It’s very painful, mainly when braking and so I’m losing time through every corner as it’s hard work changing direction. Having said that, this is without any painkillers so maybe I’ll think about taking some for the races. There are no real problems with the bike, just with the rider. Tomorrow we’ll see what we can do to modify the bike in order to facilitate braking.”

Troy Corser - 6th, 2:00.603
"Today I think the bike has probably been the best it has been all season and that’s very encouraging and positive. Today I can feel the track easily and because there are no real hairpins - which kill us normally - we can use the flow of the track to our advantage. The bike feels more consistent now and that’s because of the ongoing development and the step up we made in the recent tests. The bike is now easier to ride and I can push it hard, but when I do push hard, I am not getting the problems I had before. Ruben and I have been waiting for the bike to be like this and we both hope that the improvement will continue so that we can end this weekend with some really positive results."

Ruben Xaus - 8th, 2:00.731
"The bike is definitely easier to ride today and that’s because of the step forward we made during the recent tests and all the hard work the team have put in since the season began. I had to swap to my spare bike (because of a clutch problem) towards the end of today’s qualifying and although the tyres were different and set-up was not the same, I was able to put in quick laps straightaway. If I had been able to use my normal bike, I feel pretty sure that I could’ve gone two or three tenths of a second quicker and that would’ve put me in about fourth place. It’s good to have a bike that’s more rideable and this gives me more time to do what I want. We shouldn’t get too carried away though, because this track suits our bike better than lots of other tracks, and the important thing is that we continue to improve tomorrow, so that we can push hard for good results on Sunday."

Times: 1. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'59.982; 2. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2'00.066; 3. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 2'00.205; 4. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 2'00.558; 5. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2'00.581; 6. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 2'00.603; 7. Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2'00.648; 8. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 2'00.731; 9. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'00.887; 10. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2'00.958; 11. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 2'01.017; 12. Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 2'01.021; 13. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 2'01.023; 14. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 2'01.031; 15. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 2'01.062; 16. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 2'01.070

World Supersport:
Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) got right down to business in today’s opening free practice session, the championship leader powering to an impressive time of 2 minutes 02.334 seconds around the Brno circuit. Crutchlow’s time was nine-tenths quicker than the previous best lap set by Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) twelve months ago. Second behind Crutchlow, but an abyss of almost 1.5 seconds behind, was team-mate Fabien Foret, while third and fourth quickest were Crutchlow’s title rivals Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda), two and three tenths further down. Katsuaki Fujiwara this time went better than his team-mate Joan Lascorz with fifth time, with the Spaniard two places further back and behind Stiggy Racing Honda’s Anthony West in sixth. Garry McCoy took the ParkinGo Triumph to a positive eighth place, with Gianluca Vizziello (Stiggy racing Honda) and Miguel Praia (Parkalgar Honda) making up the top 10.

Eugene Laverty: “Brno is a different track to Imola and our starting position with the bike following the Imola test has proved not to suit. I really didn’t expect it to be so far away. It means we are a session down on the riders that tested here but I worked and pushed hard and we now know exactly the direction we want to go in. I had a similar crash to what happened at Donington on my third lap out. The rear slid out on me – basically the shock is not using its entire stroke and is quite rigid, so we have fixed that. I am fine; I picked my Parkalgar Honda up and only lost about 20-seconds of track time. My target remains the win and if we have two dry sessions tomorrow then we will catch Cal up.”

Times: 1. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 2'02.334; 2. Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 2'03.777; 3. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 2'03.997; 4. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 2'04.089; 5. Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2'04.256; 6. West A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 2'04.332; 7. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2'04.359; 8. McCoy G. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675 2'04.394

Superstock 1000:
The opening Superstock 1000 free practice session was dominated by Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda), the young Frenchman however only able to lap half a second slower than his own record set last year. His rivals were all well down, the closest being Davide Giugliano, making his debut with the Celani Suzuki machine, while points leader Xavier Simeon (Ducati Xerox) was in third, a second off Berger’s pace. Czech rider Ondrej Jezek (MS Racing Honda) took the final ‘virtual’ front row slot ahead of Andrea Antonelli (Yamaha Trasimeno). The third title contender Claudio Corti (Alstare Suzuki) was in difficulty, the Italian struggling with handling problems and unable to go any higher than tenth place, over 2” slower than Berger.

Times: 1. Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 2'04.214; 2. Giugliano D. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2'05.152; 3. Simeon X. (BEL) Ducati 1098R 2'05.341; 4. Jezek O. (CZE) Honda CBR1000RR 2'05.367; 5. Antonelli A. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R1 2'05.814; 6. Barrier S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 2'06.091; 7. Fores J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'06.115; 8. Barragan S. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 2'06.241

Superstock 600:
Quickest time of the day in the opening free practice session went to Danilo Petrucci (Yamaha Trasimeno). The Italian, the only rider under the 2m08s mark, for the moment has the advantage over his two title rivals, Gino Rea (Ten Kate Honda) in third and Marco Bussolotti (Yamaha Trasimeno) in fifth, respectively three and five tenths behind. Second place went to Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Yamaha) with two more Italians Eddi La Marra in fourth and Nico Morelli (both Honda Lorini) in sixth.

Times: 1. Petrucci D. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 2'07.915; 2. Guarnoni J. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 2'08.254; 3. Rea G. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 2'08.306; 4. La Marra E. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 2'08.392; 5. Bussolotti M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 2'08.430; 6. Morelli N. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 2'08.734; 7. Kerschbaumer S. (AUT) Yamaha YZF R6 2'08.887; 8. Lonbois V. (BEL) Yamaha YZF R6 2'09.493

BRNO PREVIEW:
The Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship heads to the Automotodrom Brno in the Czech Republic this coming weekend for the tenth round of this year’s series. The Czech Round is the last event before the summer break, which will be a well-deserved opportunity for teams and riders to get some rest in view of the final four-round rush to the finish starting in September. The 5.403 km Brno track is a particularly challenging circuit, with constant uphill and downhill sections that provide a severe test-bed for both man and machine. World Superbike has raced at Brno six times in the past: first sporadically in 1993 and 1996, and then a constant fixture since 2005. Three of the four recent editions have been dominated by four-cylinder machines, especially Suzuki who have won four races since 2005 thanks to Yukio Kagayama (2), Troy Corser and Max Biaggi, with the score completed by wins for James Toseland (Honda) and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha). Last season the trend was inverted and Ducati, who had suffered in previous years, this time dominated the two races, placing five riders in the top 6 and giving a double win to Troy Bayliss.

HAGA GRITS HIS TEETH – In 2008 Noriyuki Haga failed to shine at Brno, and even this time things don’t look too promising for the championship leader. Haga comes to the Czech circuit in not the best of physical condition following his crash at Donington, and most probably will be playing a defensive game. But the Japanese rider, who is rapidly recovering from a broken wrist and scapula, has often accustomed the WSB world to miraculous recoveries and he will certainly be doing everything within his powers to defend his points lead. His closest rivals for the title, Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) will be looking to take advantage of the situation; the Texan is getting closer and closer to the top of the championship and his minimum aim is to reduce the 14-point gap at the top, and continue the run of 10 wins in 18 races this season. Fabrizio will have a dual role at Brno. On the one hand he will have to take points away from Spies to help his team-mate Haga, while on the other he will have to go on the attack because the world title is still a possibility seeing as he is just 51 points behind Haga, with 250 still up for grabs. Brno is a track that has always brought the best out of the young Italian, and now he is constantly up amongst the front-runners he is one of the favourites together with Spies.

OUTSIDERS – The formidable trio at the top are coming under attack from a series of rivals, including the increasingly competitive Hondas of Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate) and Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing). In the recent test at Imola, the Northern Ireland youngster - and Misano winner - showed himself to be back on the ball again after the disappointment of Donington, and the ups and downs of Brno, where he won last year on a Supersport Honda, have the right characteristics to bring out the best in him. As for Haslam, the British rider is having an outstanding season and will surely be one of the protagonists in the Czech Round. As will Jakub Smrz (Ducati Guandalini), who will be aiming for a podium at his home circuit. The list of outsiders also includes Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati), Tom Sykes (Yamaha World Superbike) and Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda).

BMW UP, APRILIA STABLE – The official Imola tests highlighted the progress made by BMW, despite a few problems for Troy Corser. The new spec engine gave a positive response and Ruben Xaus was able to set the seventh best time overall. It will be used at Brno and the two riders are confident they can get closer to the podium zone. At Imola on the other hand the Aprilias were in some difficulty, and neither Max Biaggi nor Shinya Nakano were on the pace. The Italian squad comes to Brno after a positive pre-Donington test and can in any case count on Biaggi, who is always quick at this track where he won in 2007.

NEUKIRCHNER OUT AGAIN – It has been a decidedly unfortunate season for Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Alstare BRUX). The German, who was back on the bike for the first time at Imola following his crash at Monza, was the victim of a bad crash again, in which he suffered a fractured vertebra. Neukirchner will have to wear a torso cast for at least 40 days, after which a check will be made on his condition. At Brno for the moment the Suzuki Alstare team line up only includes Yukio Kagayama.

SUPERSPORT – Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) starts the Brno weekend as the man to beat. In the recent tests the points leader confirmed himself to be the rider most in form and he will be aiming for his third win in a row, which would take him ever closer to the world title. The other two men still in with a chance are Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda), 28 points behind, and Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who has to win if he wants to continue to go for the title. Team-mate and reigning champion Andrew Pitt is still looking for his first decent result this year, while Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport) and young Spaniard Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Provec) will also be up at the front. One team that is on the up is ParkinGo Triumph Be1 Racing, who scored the marque’s first podium in Supersport at Donington and who will be hoping for a repeat performance from Garry McCoy and Gianluca Nannelli at Brno. Italian Massimo Roccoli races for a Czech team, so will also be looking for a good result in front of Intermoto Honda’s home crowd.

SUPERSTOCK – The Superstock 1000 FIM Cup is gearing up for the sixth round of an exciting series, with three riders - Xavier Simeon (Ducati Xerox), Claudio Corti (Suzuki Alstare) and Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda) – all fighting hard for the title. All three are separated by 23 points and the race should be a hard-fought one, with the Belgian and the Frenchman having already won here. Corti on the other hand comes to Brno after setting the quickest time at Imola. Possible outsiders include Javi Fores (Kawasaki Pedercini), Sylvain Barrier (Garnier Junior Yamaha) and above all Davide Giugliano, who makes his debut for the Celani Suzuki team. In the European Superstock 600 Championship, Danilo Petrucci (Yamaha Trasimeno) will be the rider to beat, with Gino Rea (Ten Kate Honda) and Marco Bussolotti (Yamaha Trasimeno) his main rivals, and as always Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Yamaha) and Eddi La Marra (Honda Lorini) the outsiders.

WORLD SUPERBIKES IMOLA TEST

The modified Autodromo Enzo & Dino Ferrari circuit at Imola will echo to the sound of top-class motorbikes next week for the first time since 2006 as the World Superbike, Supersport and Superstock teams and riders take part in a three-day official test session in preparation for the race there on the weekend of September 27th. The tests, organized by Infront Motor Sports, will take place from Tuesday 14th thru Thursday 16th July, with the two Superstock categories taking to the track on the first day and the other two days reserved for Superbike and Supersport. Almost twelve hours of track time has been set aside for Superbike, while Supersport has six hours of testing scheduled.

The Imola circuit, which last hosted a World Superbike race in 2006, has since then undergone a series of changes, including the addition of a new chicane on the main straight. The chicane has been approved by Claude Danis, the FIM delegate for circuit homologation, and it will help to slow down the bikes in the former Variante Bassa area shortly before the finish line. Teams and media will also find a completely modernized circuit, with new pit garages and an international standard media centre.

A total of 22 Superbike riders will be present for the tests, with the major focus being on the return of Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Alstare BRUX) and Makoto Tamada (Kawasaki World Superbike Racing Team), both injured in the first corner crash at Monza. The Ducati Xerox Team will be present with just one rider, Michel Fabrizio, as the injured Noriyuki Haga is set to return at Brno. Other teams present include Yamaha World Superbike (Ben Spies and Tom Sykes), Ten Kate Honda (Carlos Checa, Jonathan Rea and Ryuichi Kiyonari), BMW Motorrad (Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus), Aprilia Racing (Max Biaggi and Shinya Nakano) and Stiggy Racing Honda (Leon Haslam and John Hopkins), the latter three teams also having benefitted from further recent private testing.

Seventeen Supersport riders are on the entry list, with all the major contenders present for their first taste of action at the revised Santerno circuit. These include Yamaha World Supersport’s points leader Cal Crutchlow and his close rivals Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) and Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), while Joan Lascorz misses the test for Kawasaki Provec. Australian Jason O’Halloran gets a run for the Honda Althea team, with Sheridan Morais wild-carding a third Triumph 675 for the ParkinGo squad alongside Garry McCoy and Gianluca Nannelli. Thirty Superstock riders share the track on Tuesday, with all the leading contenders present in both the 1000 and the 600 category.

TUESDAY:
The top three Superstock 1000 championship challengers dominated the day’s action in a one-day test at the revised Imola circuit today. After almost seven hours of track time, the quickest was Suzuki Alstare Brux rider Claudio Corti, but he was knocked off the top slot with twenty minutes to go by Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda). The Italian then went out again to take the new track record in 1 minute 52.672 seconds. Third place went to the other title contender Xavier Simeon (Ducati Xerox), the Belgian not being in the best of physical condition. Fourth place went to Michele Magnoni (Bevilacqua Yamaha) ahead of another Italian, Davide Giugliano (Suzuki Celani), the ex-MV Agusta man finally getting to grips with a fully competitive machine. Ayrton Badovini was brought into the Aprilia Junior team to help speed up the development of the RSV4, and the former SBK rider did the job well, ending the tests in seventh place.

The 600 category, whose riders shared the track with the Superstock 1000 competitors, was totally dominated by Yamaha Trasimeno. Best time of 1 minute 55.982 seconds went to Danilo Petrucci in 1’55”982, more than a second and a half quicker than team-mate Marco Bussolotti. Eddy La Marra (Honda Lorini) was third.

Tomorrow and Thursday will see the Superbike and Supersport riders out on track for nine and six hours of testing respectively over the next two days.

WEDNESDAY MORNING:
Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) set the quickest time in this morning's opening Superbike test session at Imola, which sees the return of WSB action for the first time in three years. The Spaniard, always one of the frontrunners throughout the 125 minute session, put in his quick lap of 1 minute 50.342 seconds right at the very end to claim the top slot. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) was three-tenths of a second down on Checa, and Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati) a further two-tenths, and these three were the only riders to dip under the 1'51" mark. Fourth quickest time went to Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike), immediately at home on the Santerno track, followed by Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare) of Japan and Britain's Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda). Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad) was ninth quickest, while Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Alstare ) made a satisfactory return to action after his Monza injury, lapping 1.7" down on the frontrunners. Aprilia placed Max Biaggi and Shinya Nakano in thirteenth and fifteenth respectively, while Fonsi Nieto made his debut for the Ducati DFX team with twentieth time.

In Supersport, Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) soon got to grips with the Imola track, lapping quickest in 1 minute 53.364 seconds. The points leader was just a couple of tenths ahead of Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and three ahead of Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport). Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) was in sixth place, over one second off the pace of Crutchlow.

WEDNESDAY OVERALL:
Michale Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) stormed to the top slot in the first day of official Superbike group testing at the Autodromo di Imola today. After 265 minutes of heat-sapping track action at the revised Santerno circuit, the young Italian slammed in an impressive time of 1 minute 49.164 seconds in the final seconds to edge Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) off the top slot. Fabrizio is running singleton for the Ducati factory squad at Imola as points leader Noriyuki Haga is scheduled to return at Brno following his recent Donington crash.

“On the last lap I put on a new tyre to set my time, one of the development tyres that Pirelli brought along for this extreme heat” declared Fabrizio. “We worked a lot on the set-up, something we’ve never managed to do really well during the championship, and we worked on the traction control to try and get the best out of the engine in view of Brno. I really wanted to prove to Ben that I’m right there with him. There are still five rounds left and I think he realizes that by now!”

Right throughout the day the battle had been between Spies and Fabrizio, but they were joined at the end by a group of riders who also set impressive times. Next up was Britain’s Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), just five-tenths down on the front man, while Ruben Xaus (BMW Motorrad) showed great progress for the German squad by powering through into an impressive fourth slot with his quickest time of the day in the closing stages. Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), fastest in the morning, maintained his good form in the afternoon, improving his time to end up fifth. Three Brits took the next three positions, but all were over the 1m50s mark, Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati) coming in ahead of Tom Sykes (Yamaha World Superbike) and Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda), while Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati DFX) and Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare BRUX) completed the top ten runners. Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Alstare BRUX) eased himself back into the WSB scene with an encouraging 14th position, but there was little joy today for Aprilia Racing, as Shinya Nakano and Max Biaggi could only take their RSV4 machines to 12th and 17th respectively.

In the Supersport sessions, Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) proved to be too strong for the opposition on the first day, the Coventry man posting a time that was six-tenths quicker than Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda). Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) hauled himself up to third place, one tenth behind, Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport) also lapped within a second of the leader to finish fourth, just ahead of Mark Aitchison (Honda Althea) in fifth.

Wednesday times: 1. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'49.164; 2. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'49.262; 3. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'49.684; 4. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'49.823; 5. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'49.842; 6. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'50.305; 7. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'50.402; 8. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'50.586; 9. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'50.797; 10. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'50.861; 11. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'50.868; 12. Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'51.055; 13. Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'51.270; 14. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'51.276; 15. Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'51.339; 16. Polita A. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'51.683; 17. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'51.738; 18. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'51.746; 19. Nieto F. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'51.909; 20. Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'52.008; 21. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'52.482; 22. Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'53.535.

BROTHERS DAMIAN AND ALEX CUDLIN IN SPAIN

Damian Cudlin and the Phase One Yamaha Team took their first points of the 2009 WEC season, with a spirited 5^th place in Albacete, Spain. Desperate to shrug off the bad luck that has plagued the squad so far this season, Cudlin showed serious race pace during practice and qualifying, however after contracting a severe dose of the flu, Cudlin was forced to skip night practice and faced a race against time to be fit for Saturday’s 8 Hour race. Cudlin’s team mates Pedro Valcaneras, and younger brother Alex stepped up in readiness to fill the pending void in the race, however the Aussie would remain in the line up in the hottest race of the season.

Electing the local Spaniard to start the race, Valcaneras made a fantastic burst from 7^th on the grid and sliced his way into the lead by the end of the first lap. Leading the race for the second time in as many races, the Phase One Yamaha looked strong at the front of field in the opening laps as the British team’s hopes of a return to the podium grew stronger. However, in what’s become all too familiar this season, a crash would damage their aspirations and lose valuable time in their race against the clock. Valcaneras continued onward without pitting, and began his climb back through the field. Circulating back at a leading race pace, Valcaneras steadily rose up the order before eventually handing the reigns to Damian. In an inspiring charge in the searing heat, Damo set a cracking pace and pulled the team back into the top 10 for the first time. With 5 laps to go of his hour long stint, his times began to slow as the sickness took its toll. Battling on in tremendous discomfort, he brought the bike in on schedule and was helped to the box by members of his crew. As he tried to catch his breathe, Damo momentarily collapsed causing obvious concern for his health and safety. Frantic action by the Phase One crew quickly saw Damian back to a healthy and hydrated self, as he watched the team’s continual rise up the order. Alex and Pedro assumed the extended workload as Damian geared up for another attempt on track. The pair rode faultless stints, creeping to 7^th as nightfall hit the Spanish circuit.

Feeling as good as could be expected, Damian set after the teams ahead and put in another quality display aboard the Phase One R1, chasing down Folch’s David Checa in the process and gaining another position on the leader board. As the clock wound down, the final order looked set before Maco Moto suffered a mechanical issue with just 40 minutes remaining, gifting the Phase One Team another position and the first top 5 of the season. “In terms of my experience in Endurance races, this one wasn’t meant to be as hard as it was” Cudlin explained after the race “but we had some serious hurdles to overcome and with all things considered, 5^th is a pretty good result. I’ve never been so crook on a bike before and at one point I didn’t know if I could continue in the race. Thankfully my team mates stepped up and lightened the load, and my crew, especially my mate Ray, looked after me off the bike. I want to thank those guys a lot.”

ALEX: “Today was a tough race. The temperature was in the 40c mark and when you’re racing at 110%, it can be pretty tiring, but we all pushed hard throughout the whole race. Obviously, with the problem we had at the start of the race, we needed to keep our heads down and just try and climb back to the front of the field. To finish 5th was a good result considering the set back. Obviously we wanted to finish on the podium this time, so it was a little disappointing to not get there, especially since we were on the pace, but compared to the results we have had at the previous 2 rounds, I’ll will gladly take a 5th place position. At least now we have some points in the championship and we can reapply ourselves and build on that for the final 3 races of the year” said Alex.

Alex has now returned to Australia to work on his fitness in preparation for the remaining 3 races of the year.

The championship heads to Japan for the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hour race in 3 weeks time, however financial constraints are threatening the Phase One Team’s participation in this year’s event. For more information follow the team’s website www.phaseone.co.uk or contact Damian at www.damiancudlin.com

GIZZA JOB!

It's not only riders who are looking for more work in these lean times - spare a though for the poor, much-abused Grid Girl, cast out into the cruel, cruel world without even so much as a decent set of clothes to wear! Surely you can find room in your heart to help out these lost waifs of the economic downturn in motorcycle sport? Surely there must be someone out there with a heart? As usual, contact me and I will put you in touch!