WSBK – Three men and fine blows! –

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Three men and fine blows !

WSBK - Three men and fine blows! -

Brand Hatch is one of the most anticipated events of the year in the World Superbike. The favorites are in excellent shape and the weather is particularly conducive to fighting! Ready, steady … GO !

The weather conditions were radiant throughout the weekend, allowing the riders to adapt their bikes as well as possible to the difficult layout of Brands Hatch (read).

At the end of qualifying, the favorites proved to be the fastest, Corser seizing the superpole in Superbike (1’26”672) and Charpentier from pole in Supersport who has been a hit since the start of the season. !

In Superbike, Karl Muggeridge (1’26”833) starts alongside his compatriot Troy Corser. James Toseland and Regis Laconi are respectively third and fourth, just under 1’27. At the head of the second row, Chris Walker managed to tame his ZX-10R (1’27”014), but Nori Haga is only 3 hundredths behind, followed by his teammate Pitt who confirms the good health of the R1 (1’27”192). Vermeulen is 4 thousandths behind, and undoubtedly accuses the blow of the 8 hours of Suzuka. Lanzi on his private Ducati started ninth (1’27”863), ahead of the two Petronas of Martin and McCoy (1’27”653 and 1’27”672). Yukio Kagayama is twelfth and will have to perform a good comeback if he wishes to regain his second place in the championship … Abe and Gimbert are respectively in 21st and 22nd position.

Supersport side, Sebastien Charpentier again crushed the competition by setting the best time on the handlebars of his CBR600RR. He announced, shortly before leaving for England, that he wants everything: "the poles, the victories, I want everything for this end of the season !". Second, Kevin Curtain is almost a second behind the French (1’29”196)! Gianluca Nannelli and his Ducati follow behind the Australian’s Yamaha, just 3 thousandths! Four Honda follow with Michel Fabrizio (1’29 ” 270), Katsuaki Fujiwara (1’29”408), and the French Foret and Chambon (respectively 1’29”499 and 1’29”709). Broc Parkes’ Yamaha closes the second row (1 ’29”723). Then the other pilots fell below 1’30 with in particular Matthieu Lagrive on GSX-R who started in 11th position (1’30”200). Julien Enjolras was 24th in 1’31’ ‘ 658.

The sun, which shines widely this Sunday, and the air temperature of 20 ° C offer optimal conditions for a superb show … And the Aces of the Guidon will not disappoint us. !

First Superbike race

Corser took the lead, followed closely by Muggeridge and a regular at the hot starts: Nitro Nori Haga! At the first corner, Walker overtook Laconi and thus gained fourth place. Toseland puts himself in the wheel of Regis but will not be able to follow him because of his choice of tire: "I should have chosen a 190 like the other guys"he will admit later…

Troy seems to want to apply his now famous "lead solo" technique but Haga does not hear it that way. The Japanese very quickly double Muggeridge then, at the cost of big slips, hangs up the Australian and will never leave him.

Behind, the battle rages on but neither manages to keep up with the frantic pace of the two leading men! Muggeridge fails to keep his third place and is successively passed by Walker, Laconi and Vermeulen…

The fight in which Haga and Corser engage is superb. The Suzuki seemed easier to drive and Haga called on all his tire-smoking balancing skills to stay in contact with Corser. Nori even manages to take command on several occasions !

Meanwhile, Regis takes back his third place from Chris Walker. The five leading riders ride five motorcycles of different brands! Unheard of on a circuit that was until now the preserve of Ducati and Honda (read).

Then it was Vermeulen’s turn to pass Walker. In the last laps, Corser is under Haga’s pots but does not attack him. Is he biding his time observing the trajectories of the Japanese ?

Behind, two duos are fighting furiously: Muggeridge and Pitt for 6th place, Kagayama and Lanzi for eighth. For tenth place, it is squarely five drivers – Neukirchner, Bostrom, Abe, Hobbs and Riba – who keep overtaking each other…

It’s finally in Clearways that Corser passes Haga. They enter the last corner almost neck and neck and Corser wins by less than 2 tenths … Phew !

Regis Laconi placed his Ducati on the podium, Chris Vermeulen (Honda) finished fourth and Chris Walker (Kawa) fifth. Karl Muggeridge (Honda) is ahead of Andrew Pitt (Yam) by just 17 hundredths. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) blows eighth place for 43 thousandths from Yukio Kagayama (Suz) handicapped by the highside of the day before. The next five furious cross the line in this order: Max Neukirchner (Honda), Norick Abe (Yam), Ben Bostrom (Honda), Dennis Hobbs (Yam) and Pere Riba (Kawa). Steve Martin takes the last point of the first race from Sebastien Gimbert for a tenth…

Supersport Race

Charpentier took the lead, along with Fabrizio and the two Honda riders quickly escaped the rest of the peloton, with Curtain taking the lead over the first laps, despite a bad start. In the seventh lap, he was ahead of Chambon, Foret, Jones, Fujiwara, Corradi and Parkes. Matthieu Lagrive is fourteenth !

In the eighth lap, Fujiwara passed Jones while Nannelli retired when he was tenth. Curtain takes 3 tenths per lap from the leaders. Meanwhile, tenth place is contested by no less than six drivers: Crutchlow (Honda), Harms (Honda), Lagrive (Suzuki), Fores (Suzuki), Lauslehto (Honda) and Tunstall (Honda)…

Halfway through the race, Fabrizio still follows Charpentier like his shadow! The gap between the leading duo and Curtain stabilized at 1.5 seconds. Foret is alone in fourth position, as is Chambon who is fifth. Then follow Fujiwara, Corradi (first and almost only Ducati), Jones, Parkes and Lagrive who now lead the group of six enraged.

In the 16th lap, Fabrizio takes matters into his own hands and overtakes General Lee, who turns to appreciate his lead over the third. Behind, Chambon redoubles his efforts and gains ground on his compatriot Foret…

On the next lap, Sebastien Charpentier took the lead again. But this fight primarily benefits Kevin Curtain and his Yam, who are now less than a second! Parkes was forced to retire and gave up his ninth place to an impressive Matthieu Lagrive. The GSX-R that he handles even though he is inferior to the Honda, he holds four of them to respect as well as the official Suz ‘of Fores … !

Five laps from the end, in the pit lane, Stephane Chambon is up to Fabien Foret. In front, Charpentier and Fabrizio scramble and let Curtain pick up. A lap later, Chambon takes fourth place while the battle for tenth place continues without Lagrive, who is in ninth position.

Three laps from the finish, the leading group stretches out slightly. Charpentier raised his voice and Curtain struggled to follow him. Fabrizio resists a little better … With two laps from the end, Sebastien offered himself 0.6 seconds ahead of the young Italian. The wildcard Crutchlow is in tenth place and seems to be able to keep it, but nothing is yet decided for eleventh place !

At the start of the last lap, Charpentier has 0.75 seconds in advance and seems untouchable! He literally flies away halfway through and wins brilliantly over Fabrizio who has not been unworthy. The "old" Curtain (39 years old) and Chambon (40 years old) finished in third and fourth place. Foret is fifth, Fujiwara sixth and Corradi seventh.

Jones finished his solo race eleven seconds after General Lee and Lagrive ahead of Crutchlow by more than half a second. It was finally Fores who took the long-fought eleventh place, ahead of Tunstall, Harms and Lauslehto. Stigefelt scores the last point.

In the Championship, Charpentier takes off again (190 pts) and is only one point away from the title! Suffice to say that the race in Assen, with his team manager Ronald Ten Kate, may be full of emotion! The Frenchman’s teammate, Fujiwara, totaled 116 points and saw Curtain approaching dangerously (109 pts). Foret, fourth with 85 points is also threatened by Fabrizio (82 pts) while Chambon takes advantage of the fall of Parkes to seize sixth place.

Among manufacturers, Honda is assured of the title with 200 points out of 200. Yam is in second place thanks to Curtain’s 109 points. Ducati leads Suzuki (76 against 65) and Kawa brings up the rear with 21 points.

Second Superbike race

Corser repeats his excellent start while Muggeridge misses his. Despite this, Karl managed to pass the first corner in second position thanks to particularly strong braking. Haga is third, Toseland follows closely behind him as well as Pitt, Laconi, Vermeulen, Walker and Kagayama. Abe, who started from 21st place, makes a promising start !

In a bend, Haga successively becomes 3rd, 2nd then first, before returning to third: the Japanese is excited! In Dingle dell, Nitro Nori surprises Karl Muggeridge under braking. Stung to the quick, the Australian wrings the handle and falls … He hits the asphalt with his fists with rage, this race will not be his !

Haga and Corser rub their fairings several times and the Japanese finally took the lead in the third lap. The official Ducatis of Toseland and Laconi are 3 and 4 but mark time … Pitt, Vermeulen and Walker are slowly coming back on them. Regis Laconi tries to react and tries to pass James Toseland, but he goes too wide of his turn, leaving his fourth position to Pitt.

Corser scotche Haga so that in the image, the Australian literally disappears behind the Japanese! Toseland is caught by Pitt while Walker climbs back up to Vermeulen, in a style that is still as disjointed but effective. Lanzi is seventh on his private Ducati, several lengths behind the British and his Kawa.

Haga does not spare his R1 who points it out to him by unseating him a few times! Vermeulen passes Laconi and Pitt almost in quick succession. Regis took the opportunity to overtake Andrew Pitt, feeling behind him a very threatening Walker. Besides, the Briton makes short work of Andrew !

Vermeulen continued his climb towards the leading duo but was 5.6 seconds behind at halfway … Haga did not weaken and led in front of a Corser who seemed slightly more at ease. It is in the first half of the course that Nitro Nori is the best, while Corser invariably puts him back in the second section..

Walker overtook Toseland in the 15th round. Once again, the first five motorcycles are from different brands! Troy and Noriyuki are two metronomes set to 1’27”7, less than a second slower than the superpole! Walker is already on Laconi and points the nose of his Kawa under Regis’ eyes during braking. We’ll have to count on him until the end of the race…

In the eighteenth lap, Abe loses the front and drags Martin into his fall … The following lap Walker gets the better of Laconi, who is immediately threatened by an Andrew Pitt who benefits from a second wind. The Australian tries everything for everything and feels the vibrator (or even the earth) at each exit of a curve !

The last three laps are incredible … Haga and Corser are wheel to wheel, and very smart who can say which of the two will win! The Yam moves more than the Suz, Haga being more generous under acceleration. In the descent of Derek minter, the front of the GSX-R is ten centimeters from the ground – at over 200 km / h – but nothing helps, the R1 stays ahead. In the last lap, the Suzuki devours the Yamaha in this same Derek Minter Straight but Haga achieves perfect braking. On the contrary, Corser is a victim of his enthusiasm and momentarily leaves the track, giving free rein to Nitro Nori who wins his second round of the year !

Vermeulen completed the podium while Walker finished in fourth place. Laconi is 14 hundredths ahead of Australian Andrew Pitt. James Toseland finished in seventh place, ahead of Lanzi, Kagayama and Ben Bostrom tenth. The young German Max Neukirchner is eleventh ahead of Riba, Chili, Gimbert and Hobbs.

In the championship, it goes without saying that it is once again Troy Corser who performs the best operation since he increases his lead by 16 points over his runner-up Vermeulen (344 against 234 pts!). Laconi remains third with 214 points while Kagayama, who is only a shadow of what he was at the start of the season, is caught up by a very fit Nitro Nori (172 to 167)! Toseland therefore loses a place, he is sixth with 161 points. Walker (130 pts) doubles Chili (111 pts) and Pitt passes in front of Abe (95 against 88).

In the constructors’ championship, Suzuki continues its rider alone (353 pts) while Yamaha (208 pts) still grabs a few points from Ducati and Honda (257 and 250 pts respectively). Kawasaki is fifth with 143 points, Petronas brings up the rear with 18 points.

The next stop is Assen, with Ronald Ten Kate’s Team who hope to see Vermeulen and Muggeridge improve their performances even further, and especially count on his Supersport driver Seb "General Lee" Charpentier to win the championship, four races before the end of the race. season! See you without fail on September 2-3-4 in the Netherlands !

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