Brno Preview
DUCATI XEROX TEAM LINE UP FOR CRUCIAL BRNO BATTLE
The Ducati Xerox Team arrive at the Automotodrom Brno for
this weekend's ninth round of the World Superbike Championship
at the spectacular and notoriously difficult Czech Republic
circuit in the forests around the town of Brno. Not only is
the Automotodrom one of the most fearsome circuits on the
calendar, but it also has a reputation of not being a particularly
happy hunting-ground for the Ducati Xerox Team, which aims
to set the record straight this weekend.
The last round at Misano saw Bayliss step up his title defence
with a double triumph that takes the 38-year-old Australian
rider's mid-season winning streak to three races. After zero
points scored at Donington due to his nasty crash, Troy is
now back within striking distance of championship leader James
Toseland (Honda), who is just 21 points in front.
Troy Bayliss, 2nd in championship (239 points)
Testing one month ago saw Troy Bayliss just a fraction away
from nailing a 2 minute dead time on a qualifying tyre in
cool conditions, but he knows that conditions will now be
a lot hotter now and that the fickle Brno track could easily
play tricks on the twin-cylinder Italian machines. A DNF and
an eighth place were the best results Troy could put together
in a disappointing weekend in 2006 on his first Superbike
visit to the circuit.
"I have a feeling Brno will be difficult for us"
declared Troy. "The reason is the track layout, the conditions,
a bit of everything really. It's going to be hot, we do struggle
in those conditions and we don't really know why. If we did,
then we'd sort it but it's not easy. We're going there and
we would like to win but honestly I think it's going to be
more difficult than that and we just want to keep the points
as close as we can. Testing went pretty well three weeks ago,
we were quick on a qualifying tyre, and we did a couple of
race simulations but we didn't exactly get what we wanted
from the tests so we'll just have to wait and see what conditions
are like when we get to Brno. I remember last year Kagayama
did a couple of great races so I'm hoping he does some more
this year!"
Lorenzo Lanzi, 6th in championship (133 points)
The 25 year-old Italian has four races to his name at the
Brno circuit, but his best result so far has been sixth place,
which he scored twice in 2005. Lorenzo showed some signs of
a mid-season revival at Misano but he now finds himself having
to defend sixth place in the table from a fast-approaching
Ruben Xaus.
"Brno is a track that I like a lot" declared Lorenzo.
"In testing we didn't go bad, especially with the qualifying
tyres, but on race tyres we were a bit further down the order.
It's a strange circuit for us because the track conditions
change all the time and we seem to have more problems here
than the others. Every day is different, but we hope to go
there and have a more normal Sunday than what we have had
in past years. We know that Brno is a track that creates problems
for us, but judging by the results of the tests, I'm optimistic
for this weekend even though conditions will be different".
Championship Points (after 8 of 13 rounds):
Riders - 1. Toseland (Honda) 260; 2. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox)
239; 3. Haga (Yamaha) 234; 4. Biaggi (Suzuki) 217; 5. Corser
(Yamaha) 182; 6. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 133; etc. Manufacturers:
1. Ducati 234; 2. Yamaha 277; 3. Honda 274; 4. Suzuki 233;
5. Kawasaki 102; 6. MV Agusta 1.
The Circuit
Name: Automotodrom Brno
Length: 5.403 km
Pole Position: left
Corners Left/Right: 6/8
Finish line length: 636 m
Race distance: 2 x 20 laps / 108.060 km
Statistics : Best lap: Haga (Yamaha) 2m00.457s
(2006). Lap record: Haga (Yamaha) 2m02.594s (2006). Superpole:
Haga (Yamaha) 2m00.457s (2006).
2006 Results : Race 1: 1. Kagayama (Suzuki);
2. Toseland (Honda); 3. Fabrizio (Honda). Race 2: 1. Kagayama;
2. Fabrizio; 3. Haga (Yamaha).
Race 2:
TV Coverage (Europe): Eurosport 2 - Saturday
1715 Superpole (live); Eurosport - Sunday 1200 Race 1 (live).
Eurosport 2 - Sunday 1530 Race 2 (live). TV Coverage (Italy):
La7 - Saturday 1550 Superpole (live); Sunday 1145 Race 1 (live),
1520 Race 2 (live). RaiDue - Sunday 1730 Races 1 & 2 (highlights).
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