Category: Superbikes

1. Own Lorenzo's bike

   Posted on 12:00am Thursday 6th Oct 2011

   Viva Valencia! is the name given to the charity motorcycle ride being undertaken by Danny John-Jules (Red Dwarf's The Cat), Matt Roberts (BBC MotoGP presenter) and Steve Keys (owner of the first UK Yamaha dealership) in order to raise money for Riders for Health, an organisation that provides and maintains reliable motorcycles so that health workers can reach people in remote parts of Africa to treat diseases that needlessly kill millions.

   Clad in pink helmets and leathers to match the pink Yamaha R1 bikes, the distinctive Viva Valencia! team will be present at various events, shows and races throughout the year to help raise awareness for the charity and for their 1200 mile trip, leaving on October 30 from the Ace Cafe, London, to Valencia, Spain, for the final round of the MotoGP championship.

   The entire team will also be present at the final British Superbike round this Sunday (October 9, 2011) at Brands Hatch, where they will conduct a parade lap of the circuit and be part of the Pit Lane Walk.

2. Stunning victory for Foret at Imola

   Posted on 12:00am Monday 26th Sep 2011

   Fabien Foret won today’s tenth round World Supersport championship race after a typically gutsy and flamboyant ride took him from 12th place on the grid to victory at Imola in italy.

   Problems during qualifying yesterday left the French Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider starting from the outside of the third row, as his team-mate, Florian Marino started the race in second place trying to chase down series and race leader Chaz Davies.

   Davies led for the first 14 of 19 laps around the 4.936km Imola circuit, but the engine on his Yamaha expired on lap fifteen leaving Honda-mounted Sam Lowes in charge and Marino well-place in second place.

   As Marino’s podium challenge began to fade, however, his Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate continued his charge through the field and, by lap 15, Foret was in second place behind Lowes.

   Foret timed his move to the front to perfection with three laps to go and finished just 0.166s ah ead of Lowes, with Marino crossing just off the podium in fourth place for his best result of the season.

   Fabien Foret – 1st

   We made a big change for the race and I couldn’t push hard at the beginning because I didn’t really have the feeling. It felt like a new bike, but as soon as I got used to the new feeling I pushed and pushed and managed to catch the leading group. I was feeling pretty strong but I was pushing very hard, so I am very happy to win again today. I want to say a special thanks to the team because it’s been a strange weekend. Everything was good on Friday but yesterday was a tough day. They stayed with me though and gave me the bike I could win on today.

   Florian Marino – 4th

   I am very happy because I pushed as hard as I could on the limit throughout the whole race – I could not do any more. So many times I nearly ran off the track an d I knew that after Fabien came past me I could not go with him. But I stayed near the front for the whole race so thanks to the team for giving me back a good feeling with the bike. I have two more chances to get on to the podium this season and we will try as hard as we can to achieve this goal.

   Ronald ten Kate – team-manager

   That was certainly a dramatic Supersport race, and one that I think will hit the history books. We changed the setting quite a bit for Fabien so, apparently, for the first laps he was trying to get used to the bike. Then, all of a sudden, he was the quickest man on the track – the quickest man ever, in fact, as he set a new record on lap 11. He propelled himself forward and brought the win for us. There was a big battle going on for the final podium slot, which unfortunately did not go Florian’s way. However, this was his best result for us and he’s really beginning to understand how to push the bike to its limit over the full race distance. I’ve already been asked about the championship, but Davies still has quite a big lead with two races left. For sure there is still some pressure on him because he and his team cannot afford any mistakes.

   2011 World Supersport championship, round ten – Imola, Italy (4.936km) - 19 laps:
   1 Fabien Foret (FRA) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 35m56.214s
   2 Sam Lowes (GBR) Honda +0.166s
   3 Broc Parkes (AUS) Kawasaki +2.499
   4 Florian Marino (FRA) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +3.833

   Championship points after nine of 12 rounds:
   1 Chaz Davies (GBR) Yamaha 171, 2 Foret 136, 3 David Salom (ESP) Kawasaki 123, 4 Parkes 120, 8 Marino 71

   Next round: Magny-Cours, France – 30 September – 2 October

3. Busy but successful weekend for McBride

   Posted on 12:00am Saturday 24th Sep 2011

   James McBride from Kettering had productive weekend (15th-18th September) of testing and then racing with TANC Racing Endurance team, finishing in third place at Oulton Park Hottrax Endurance race.
    
   The on track action started in Almeria where he tested the PB Racing BMW in readiness for the Macau GP, which will take place on the 19th November on the Guia street circuit.
    
   He racked up 47 laps in five sessions on Friday getting used to the Michelin slicks which worked extremely well. He gradually reduced his lap time to 1min 44secs, a personal best for the well-known road racer.
    
   McBride made a mad dash back to the UK to compete in the Hottrax Endurance event on the ex-Riba MSS ZX600R. As well as finishing with a podium position the fast Kettering man also took the fastest 600 lap of the race in the soaking wet conditions, fending off others on larger machinery.
    
   Team-mate Chris Mason is now in a comfortable second place in the National 1000 Championship with the help of James with just one event to go at the end of October at Snetterton 300. McBride needs to borrow a bike again for this as the BMW will be en-route to Hong Kong, and the 600 would be punished at the uber-fast two-mile race circuit.
    
   McBride said: “It has been busy but very worthwhile. The BMW is working well and I can’t wait to take it to Macau and try for another top ten finish. As for the endurance event, it was great fun and once again we took the fight to the big boys! I’ve got to thank Jez Murray for the use of the ZX6R at Oulton, it performed brilliantly. I also need to thank Pete Bleackley for the BMW for Macau, it’s going to be a great event and I now can’t wait to get out there.”
    
   Thanks also to Michelin tyres, Spidi UK, GB Racing, Jez Murray and PBMotorsport.
    
   The 58th Macau Grand Prix will take place on the 17th-20th November for further information visit.
    
   If anyone can help McBride with a bike for the Snetterton 300 Endurance please contact him on 07917 175963.

4. Castrol Honda riders happy after two-day Misano test

   Posted on 12:00am Thursday 15th Sep 2011

   The Castrol Honda team has completed a two-day test at the Misano circuit in Italy with riders Jonathan Rea and Ruben Xaus declaring themselves happy with progress. The test was Rea’s first visit to the circuit where he crashed in June, sustaining a wrist injury that kept him out of action until two weeks ago.
   
   With three rounds still remaining in the 2011 World Superbike season, the team has been working on developments for the current CBR1000RR. However, Rea and Xaus were also joined by Japanese rider Makoto Tamada at the Misano test and tried some development parts for next year’s racing machine.
   
   In spite of a brief rain shower this afternoon, the test was conducted in temperatures of more than 30 degrees ahead of next week’s 11th round of the series at Imola, just an hour up the road from Misano.
   
   Jonathan Rea
   
   It’s been a real proper test, this, and we had a lot of stu ff to work through. On top of that, Pirelli also brought some new rubber to try so, in the end, we actually ran out of time. We probably needed the rest of this week to get through everything, but we can definitely see the potential of the fly-by-wire system that I tested for the first time today. Also, I’m able to ride a lot more in my comfort zone with this new package and it helped with engine braking, too. Going back to Misano was no problem for me and, in fact, I was going through the corner where I crashed faster than I did during the race weekend in June. Pirelli brought a lot of soft rubber and we could have used a qualifier to try for a time, but we had to keep our heads down and keep focused on the work we had to get through. The lap time is probably about where we are at the moment, but we know that the next step forward will push us back to the front.
   
   Ruben Xaus
   
   Well it felt good to be back on a bike again properly f or the first time since the Brno crash in July. Of course, after two days of testing, I was tired, but it felt like a naturally tiredness. We’ve been testing some different electronics and the bike is much easier to control. The feeling is much better and the bike definitely feels stronger and faster. It’s been a good two days for motivation and to give me confidence heading into Imola next week – I’m feeling like I can really go for it when we get there.

5. Double podium for Simpson at Donington Park

   Posted on 12:00am Tuesday 13th Sep 2011

   Antrim’s John Simpson took two second place finishes at Donington Park for round ten of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Cup Championship to further consolidate his Championship lead.

   Simpson placed his T3 Racing Triumph in second place during qualifying for the Cup race and 16^th overall. He had a race long battle with David Paton who is his main title rival. They swapped places a number of times between first and second with Simpson having to settle for second place and take home as many points as possible. He also finished in 12^th place in the overall race.

   The second race of the weekend was action packed with a red flag due to rain and a red flag due to fluid on the track. On the initial start Simpson jumped straight into the lead and held it for six laps. He was relegated to second for three laps and that is when the rain came on stopping the race.

   On the re-start Simpson opted to use a different tyre which unfortunately wasn’t up to temperature when the race started. He didn’t make such a good start and found himself in third place. This part of the race was halted after just four laps thanks to Paton’s machine dropping fluid on track. This gifted second place to Simpson in the Cup race and 13^th place overall.

   Simpson said: “We were having a problem with over-heating this weekend. At the start of the race I was pulling away and then the warning light came on and I could feel a drop in power. All through the turns the bike was fine as it has plenty of torque, but as soon as I hit the straight I was losing out on power. I decided to make sure I finished and took it easy. On the re-start I went for a zero tyre which just wasn’t up to temperature and didn’t work for me. Either way I’ve still got the lead by 80 points so I’m happy enough.”

   Jimmy Dye had a difficult first outing at Donington Park in the Oulton Park Metzeler National Superstock 600 race re-run, aboard his T3 Racing Triumph.

   He started from 20^th on the grid and had progressed through to sixteenth place in just two laps. He was pushed back to 18^th but was on the move again when another rider wiped him out at the Esses on lap seven of the ten lap race.

   The second race of the weekend saw Dye start from 28^th but worked his way up to 17^th place picking off eleven riders. Unfortunately for Dye he had a big moment and almost high sided which lost him a number of places. He finally came over the line in 20^th position.

   Dye said: “During qualifying I couldn’t get the bike to turn so we made some big changes which worked but I lost out in qualifying as we were having this problem. The changes worked and in the Oulton Park re-run I felt good and was going well until I got wiped out. We ran the same settings in the second race and it was working great. Then I got out of the seat and started having problems with rear grip and turning the bike again. I had an excursion across the gravel which lost me a few places. It’s been a difficult one but I’m off to Silverstone for a test so we should be in good shape for the next round."