Team Alstare Suzuki Corona
2006 Superbike World Championship
Round 3, Valencia, Spain
Circuit: 4.005 kms. Crowd: 42,000. Weather: Dry, sunny/cloudy
20-26 C.
TROY TAKES A PAIR OF SECONDS.
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Troy Corser had to
settle for a pair of second places at Valencia today. He led
Troy Bayliss (Ducati) for the best part of the two 23-lappers,
but had to give way to his fellow countryman in the closing
stages both times. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) took third spot
in both races, with Abe (Yamaha) and Haga (Yamaha) fourth
and fifth in both races. Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider
Yukio Kagayama had a weekend to forget. After his concussion
yesterday and badly bruised right hand, he was far from fit.
Nevertheless he battled superbly in the opening race and took
a well-deserved sixth place. The second race was following
a similar pattern, until he lost the front going into the
first hairpin and crashed out. Fortunately he didn’t
do any further damage to his right hand, but he did hurt his
right leg in the process. Alstare Engineering Corona Extra
rider Fabien Foret scored his first points of the season with
a fifteenth in race one and a thirteenth in race two.
TROY Race 1: 2nd, Race 2: 2nd
I’m happy, but also frustrated today. Happy because
I took two seconds and also because I know I couldn’t
have ridden any harder than I did. I tried my best, but I
couldn’t overtake Troy (Bayliss) after he had passed
me in both races. That was kind of frustrating, but I could
see his bike was working the tyres less than mine and in the
end, the difference between us was marginal. In race one I
got a pretty good start and managed to pull out a bit of a
gap, but in the later part of the race he caught me up when
my tyres started to go. When he passed me, I tried to get
back at him, but he could run a bit faster than me and I just
couldn’t do it. It was much of the same in the second
race. I built up a pretty good lead, but I got a false neutral
going into the first hairpin and was lucky not to crash. That
was enough for Troy to close the gap. I had to adjust the
clutch slip during the race and although it was only a tiny
problem that and tyre wear prevented me from catching and
passing him.
YUKIO Race 1: 6th, Race 2: DNF
The weekend was not so good for me and maybe it’s better
that I forget it. The crash yesterday meant that my right
hand was not strong and, because Valencia is a very physical
circuit, I couldn’t brake as hard as normal. Also it
made changing direction much more difficult. In the first
race, I had a good fight with a group of riders and I enjoyed
this battle. I could only use one finger to brake, so I could
not go in as deep and hard as normal. If I hadn’t had
the problem, I think I could’ve caught Haga and Abe
ahead. In the second race I crashed at the hairpin, but I
am not exactly sure why. I went into the turn, braked as usual
and suddenly I was down without any warning. I was using a
medium front tyre in race two (compared to a hard front in
race one), so maybe that was part of the problem.
FABIEN Race 1: 15th, Race 2: 13th
All in all, I’m pretty happy with the weekend because
it has been a good experience - my first ever Superpole yesterday
and then scoring some points today. In the first race, I made
a good start and the first five or six laps were not so bad.
But, I think the tyre choice was wrong and that together with
a small suspension problem didn’t allow me to lap as
fast as I had expected. So, I was not happy after race one.
My start in race two was OK and I was in a good group - Toseland,
Barros etc. I enjoyed the battle and was happy because my
lap times were consistent. This race weekend I feel I have
made another step forward and gained a lot of experience.
My next step is to qualify better and improve my finishing
positions.
Results
Race 1: 1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati), 2 TROY CORSER (Aus-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra), 3 Lanzi (I-Ducati), 4 Abe (J-Yamaha),
5 Haga (J-Yamaha), 6 YUKIO KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona
Extra), 7 Xaus (E-Ducati), 8 Laconi (I-Kawasaki), 9 Toseland
(GB-Honda), 10 Pitt (Aus-Yamaha), 15 FABIEN FORET (F-Alstare
Engineering Corona Extra),
Race 2: 1 Bayliss, 2 TROY CORSER (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona
Extra), 3 Lanzi, 4 Abe, 5 Haga, 6 Nieto (E-Kawasaki), 7 Walker
(GB-Kawasaki), 8 Laconi, 9 Pitt, 10 Fabrizio (I-Honda), 13
FABIEN FORET (F-Alstare Engineering Corona Extra), YUKIO KAGAYAMA
(J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) DNF,
Points
1 Bayliss 125, 2 TROY CORSER (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra),
103, 3 Toseland 86, 4 Haga 64, 5 Barros 62, 6 Pitt 58, 7 Lanzi
47, 8 Abe 40, 9 Fabrizio 34, 10 Xaus 33, 13 YUKIO KAGAYAMA
(J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 24, 21 FABIEN FORET (F-Alstare
Engineering Corona Extra) 4,
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