With the 2008 season kick-off in Qatar only a couple of days away, eyes are set on the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda’s five men strong squad to defend the World Supersport and Superbike titles. With 15 races spread out over 5 continents and a starting grid that’s boasting both quantity and quality, the 2008 Championship is set to become another spectacular one. The first round of the series will start this Saturday, 23rd at the 5.4km Losail International Circuit in Doha, on the outskirts of Qatar’s capital city.
It’s only a couple of weeks ago the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Superbike riders finished their one and only test on board the new CBR1000RR Fireblades in preparation for the new season. Due to the late arrival of the bikes in the Team’s headquarters in Nieuwleusen, the team was forced to miss out on the Philip Island test earlier this year. Hopes are high as the team now makes its final preparations before the race on Saturday. Having put in a tremendous amount of effort over the last couple of weeks to get the bikes ready, the team is confident and eager to face the competition in Qatar.
Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager: The late arrival of the new CBR1000RR Fireblade has left us little time for preparation but the overall feeling within the team is great and we are positive we can succeed. At the first test in Almeria the new bike has already proven to be quicker than its predecessor and the riders continued to get to grips with the Fireblade in each lap of testing they completed. Needless to say we still have a lot of development to do during the first races, but we are confident and ready to face the challenges that lie ahead of us this season.
Carlos Checa, Honda CBR1000RR: I am very excited to start the new season and face the new challenges ahead of me. I have already completed a succesful test here in Qatar on the old 2007 machines and know the track well from the MotoGP races I have done here. It will be different on the new CBR1000RR Superbike but I am happy with the perfromance of the bike and the progress we have made so far. There is still a lot of development to be done but I am confident we can be competitive.
Ryuichi Kyonari, CBR1000RRI am a little bit nervous because it will be my first time in the WSB championship. I know the track well as we did a test here last november on the old machines. My new team feels like a family to me which is helping me out a lot. I still have a long season ahead of me, but I am very much looking forward to startin on thursday. The qualifying practise on thursday afternoon will tell me were I stand within the whole field of competition.
Kenan Sofuoglu, CBR1000RRIt’s going to be an exciting weekend for me as it will be my first race in the Superbike competition. It’s a dream come true for me to participate in the World Superbike competition this year. As a child I used to watch the races on television and saw Bayliss, Haga and Biagi compete with eachother, now I will be riding with them. For sure the start will be difficult for me as I am still getting used to riding the new CBR1000RR, but I have set myself a big goal and am ready to achieve it.
Andrew Pitt, Honda CBR600RR:
I am very much looking forward to starting this weekend and ride a full season in the Supersport Championship. My new team mate Jonathan Rea has proven to be fast out of the box which will be helpful in achieving our goals. Hopefully I will be able to put in a good result this weekend before my home race in Australia next week.
Jonathan Rea, CBR600RRAm really excited about starting the new season with my new team. Obviously the testing has gone well but it’s not a valid gauge as not all our competition was present at the test. The qualifying practice on Thursday will tell us were I am at within the whole field. Hopefully we’ll find a good set-up for the bike straight away and will be competitive from the start.
The first free practice at the circuit of Losail will start on Thursday morning, followed by the first qualifying practice on Thursday afternoon.
