Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra
2006 Superbike World Championship
Round 4, Monza, Italy
Sunday 7th May
Circuit: 5.793m. Crowd: 96,000 (3-day) Weather: Dry, sunny
22-24C.
FANTASTIC TROY.
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Troy Corser rode his
heart out at Monza today, taking two podiums, but not the
top spot he wanted. It was a fantastic pair of races for the
reigning world champion, who showed his ‘never give
up’ spirit in both of today’s 18-lap races. He
had front brake problems in race one, and nearly crashed twice,
but despite that he still managed to take third place behind
Troy Bayliss (Ducati) and Alex Barros (Honda). In race two,
he and Bayliss traded the lead for most of the 18-lapper,
but his Suzuki could not quite match the Ducatis’ acceleration
out of the turns and when Bayliss pulled out a small advantage
Troy could not push any harder and catch up. Bayliss crossed
the line to take his second win of the day, with Troy second
and Noriyuki Haga third.
It was an unlucky day for Troy’s team mate Yukio Kagayama.
In the first race, he got taken out when James Toseland highsided
next to him and crashed. In race two, he was forced to retire
with clutch problems. Team Alstare Engineering Corona Extra
rider Fabien Foret finished thirteenth in both races and scooped
six points.
TROY - Race 1: 3rd, Race 2: 2nd
Today, like at Valencia, I rode as hard as I could and when
you do that and don’t win you just have to reach out
and shake the hand of the winner. In race one, I had some
front brake problems. The lever was inconsistent and sometimes
it’d be Ok and sometimes it would come nearly all the
way back to the bar! That made it a bit entertaining, I can
tell you! I nearly crashed a couple of times, so in the end
I was happy to get on the podium. There were no real problems
in race two and there was just no way I could’ve ridden
any harder. The Ducati can accelerate out of the turns like
no other bike - especially the four cylinder ones -and their
traction control allows Bayliss to get on the gas hard when
the bike is still leant over. We cannot do that, and that
is where we lose ground and time. It’s a little frustrating
to ride so hard and not win, so we’ll have to figure
out what to do and try and get our own back in Silverstone.
YUKIO - Race 1: DNF, Race 2: DNF
Today I am not a lucky man. Really, it’s not that I
had no luck, I did have luck, but it was all bad luck! In
the first race I was next to Toseland when he highsided and
we touched. I went down and crashed but the impact of my bike
helped to stay on his bike and recover, so he was a lucky
man. In race two, I had clutch problems and it was impossible
to continue so I had to pull in. I hope for better luck next
time.
FABIEN - Race 1: 13th Race 2: 13th
I was not so happy with my result in the first race because
we had some small problems, I made a good start but then a
little problem with my front tyre meant I couldn’t push
hard and so I didn’t enjoy the race. I was much happier
with race two because I was involved in a good battle with
Lanzi, Nakatomi and Fabrizio. We used the same bike as race
one, but just changed the settings a little and it felt much
better. Also, my lap times were much more consistent. I am
a little disappointed overall because before this weekend
I wanted to get into the top ten, so now I will try and do
it in the next round in Silverstone.
Results
Race 1: 1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati), 2 Barros (Bra-Honda),
3 TROY CORSER (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 4 Haga (J-Yamaha),
5 Pitt (Aus-Yamaha), 6 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda), 7 Laconi (F-Kawasaki),
8 Rolfo (I-Ducati), 9 Lanzi (I-Ducati), 10 Nakatomi (J-Yamaha),
13 FABIEN FORET (F-Alstare Engineering Corona Extra), YUKIO
KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) DNF,
Race 2: 1 Bayliss, 2 TROY CORSER (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona
Extra), 3 Haga, 4 Barros, 5 Toseland (GB-Honda), 6 Pitt, 7
Muggeridge, 8 Nieto (E-Kawasaki), 9 Walker (GB-Kawasaki),
10 Rolfo, 13 FABIEN FORET (F-Alstare Engineering Corona Extra),
YUKIO KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) DNF,
Points: 1 Bayliss 175, 2 TROY CORSER (Aus-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 139, 3 Toseland 97, 4 Barros 95, 5 Haga
93, 6 Pitt 79, 7 Lanzi 59, 8 Rolfo 46, 9 Abe 40, 10 Nieto
37, 16 YUKIO KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 24,
19 FABIEN FORET (F-Alstare Engineering Corona Extra),
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