With the opening two flyaway rounds behind them, competitors in the 2008 HANNspree Superbike World Championship are now on European soil for the third round of the series at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit, Valencia, Spain.
The form guide after two events shows Ducati Xerox Team’s Troy Bayliss at the top of the standings with 88 points and three wins to his name in four races, but other riders and teams are now emerging as powerful threats to the Australian, in particular Suzuki Alstare’s Fonsi Nieto and Carlos Checa of HANNspree Honda Ten Kate. “Valencia is one of those tracks where I expect everyone to go better and I think those teams that have perhaps been a little behind us with getting ready for the championship will now start to show results,” said Bayliss.
At Valencia the 38-year-old points leader will be coming under attack above all from a trio of Spanish riders, all aiming to make a mark at their home circuit. Nieto leads the charge in second place with 61 points and the 29-year-old from Madrid will be looking to add another win to his Qatar victory. “Racing at home is always a bit special and I want to put on a good show for all my fans this weekend - especially after my pair of DNF’s last year!” declared Nieto. “There are quite a few Spanish riders in the championship this year and I am hoping that we get a good crowd for the race and can give them something to shout about.”
Ruben Xaus is just a couple of points behind on the Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati 1098R, but the 30-year-old Catalan scored an outstanding win here last year on the team’s 999 and will be particularly keen on doing the same again. “Valencia is my home round. I feel sure there will be a lot of people coming to see me especially after last year’s win and the recent test. I’d like to repeat last year’s result but I know it’s not going to be easy”, said Ruben.
The third Spanish rider in the top 5, HANNspree Ten Kate Honda’s Carlos Checa, is rapidly getting the hang of Superbike in his rookie year and a maiden win in the category is surely not far away. After the tests a couple of weeks ago, Checa is sure that the bike has made some improvements. “We made some good progress here during the last test and definitely come better prepared than the first two races. This will be my first Superbike race on my home soil and my target is to stay in front and get a good result.”
Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) has so far failed to transform his scintillating form in Superpole, where he leads the special Alfa 159 Superpole Award classification, into good race results, but the Australian is fifth in the table, as team-mate Noriyuki Haga struggles down in ninth place. Germany’s Max Neukirchner has stood out on occasions on a second Suzuki Alstare, while another Spanish rider Gregorio Lavilla will be on a 2008 Honda for the first time this year at his home race.
Max Biaggi was the unluckiest rider at Phillip Island, the 36-year-old from Rome twice taking a tumble and coming home with a broken bone in his left wrist. Biaggi has recovered from that spill but sore ligaments may mean he won’t be at 100% for the race. “Australia gives me bad memories!” declared Biaggi. “I need time, tomorrow I will try but my main issue is that I still feel pain. I hope to do the races”. Michel Fabrizio benefitted from Ducati Xerox’s absence from the Valencia tests to fully recover from his start-line crash at Phillip Island and should shine on a track where Ducati have always gone well, while Karl Muggeridge (DF Racing Honda) could spring a surprise after topping the timesheets in the two-day SBK test two weeks ago at the Valencia track.
Supersport World ChampionshipAfter two rounds the Supersport World Championship boys are already hard at it in their quest for the title, with the top five riders separated by eight points. This season’s two race winners Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport) and Andrew Pitt (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) are only in third and fourth place respectively after a crash apiece in Australia and Qatar, and the two Aussies are headed by compatriot Joshua Brookes (HANNspree Stiggy Motorsport Honda) and the promising 23-year-old from Barcelona Joan Lascorz (Glaner Motocard.com Honda), while Brookes’s team-mate Robbin Harms from Denmark completes the top five.
The Valencia tests threw up a number of surprises in the hard-fought Supersport category, as Italians Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni) and Gianluca Nannelli (HANNspree Honda Althea) finished ahead of Craig Jones (Parkalgar Honda), Jonathan Rea (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) and Katsuaki Fujiwara (Gil Motorsport Kawasaki).
Superstock 1000 FIM Cup & European 600 Superstock Championship
The 2008 Superstock 1000 FIM Cup, together with the European 600 Superstock Championship, gets underway this weekend at the first European round of the season in Valencia. In the top class, which many consider to be a true launch-pad towards Superbike, there are a number of potential winners in the 38-strong field, which this year sees the arrival of the 1198cc twin-cylinder Ducati 1098 and the brand-new KTM RC8. Six manufacturers are present: Suzuki (with 11 bikes), Yamaha (8), Honda (7), Ducati and Kawasaki (5 each) and KTM (2). As for nationalities, Italy makes up the lion’s share with 13 riders on the grid. The favourites for the title can probably be counted on both hands, with at least ten riders in with a chance of winning.
These include last year’s runner-up Claudio Corti, who will race for the new Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team, Alstare Suzuki’s Xavier Simeon from Belgium, Ducati Xerox Junior Team’s Australian rider Brendan Roberts and Alessandro Polita of Marco Borciani’s team, who won the title two years ago. Other riders in with a chance are Davide Giugliano, Domenico Colucci, Yoann Tiberio, Superstock 600 champion Maxime Berger, Matteo Baiocco, Michele Pirro and Michele Magnoni, without forgetting the fact that the category always throws up a few surprises…
Pre-Event Media ActivityThe pre-event media activity for the Spanish Round took place on the Thursday morning in the circuit. The traditional pre-race press conference saw the presence of points leader Troy Bayliss, Max Biaggi, and the five top Spanish riders, Nieto, Xaus, Lavilla and the two Checas. Carlos Checa made a parachute drop from a Cessna light aircraft directly into the circuit just before the press conference.
About the Valencia CircuitSince its inauguration seven years ago, the Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo Circuit has become an emblem for international motorsport. This 'Circuit within a Stadium' as it is known, offers the possibility for spectators to see the entire race-track and is, together with Assen (Netherlands), Phillip Island (Australia), Donington (UK) and Losail (Qatar), one of the few circuits to host both World Superbike and MotoGP. The 4.005 km layout contains 13 twisty slow and medium-fast corners leading onto the 846 m long pit-straight.
Lap records:
Race: Neil Hodgson (Ducati) 1’35.007 (2003)
Superpole: Troy Bayliss (Ducati) 1’34.814 (2007)
Best lap: Troy Bayliss (Ducati) 1’34.599 (2007).
The Spanish Round of the HANNspree Superbike World Championship takes place from Friday 4th to Sunday 6th April. The action starts with World Supersport and World Superbike free practice and qualifying the first two days, followed by WSBK Superpole on Saturday at 16.00. The two 23-lap Superbike races are scheduled to run on Sunday at 12.00 and 15.30, with the 23-lap Superbike race in between at 13.20 local time.
