Scant reward for FPR at Valencia
 Foggy
PETRONAS Racing finished the third round of the Superbike
World Championship at Valencia, Spain, with scant reward for
their continued efforts.
After the joy of qualifying on the front row, Steve Martin
again had to battle hard for the team’s only point of
the weekend when he finished 15th in the second race.
Team-mate Craig Jones was able to gain encouragement from
two race finishes, in which he showed further promise for
the remainder of the season.
Both race wins went to championship leader Troy Bayliss,
who tracked his compatriot Troy Corser before pulling away
in the final stages.
The day began in disappointing fashion for FPR as Steve was
forced to pull in during the first race, after experiencing
deteriorating grip from the rear. In race two he was closing
in on Alex Barros in 14th during the final stages.
Craig completed the first race in 22nd, despite suffering
an oil leak in the opening laps, and was challenging Giovanni
Bussei, standing in for the injured Karl Muggeridge, on the
Winston Ten Kate Honda for 20th in race two when he ran off
into the gravel at the end of the start-finish straight.
Craig said: “I had a good second race
and felt that I made a lot of progress. I was doing consistent
lap times throughout the race after a good start, when I got
my elbows out for the first couple of corners to make up some
places. When Bussei passed me I thought he would pull away
but I found that little bit extra that I have been looking
for and he was holding me up eventually. But, whether it was
down to me or the bike, I experienced two or three false neutrals
going into turn one and, when I couldn’t get it back
into gear, I ran off into the gravel. I didn’t get the
best of starts in the first race as I was beaten up in the
first corner when Barros sat up, forcing me to sit up too.
But then I managed to get past a few before, after about five
laps, I had oil on my boots from a leak and my feet kept slipping
off the pegs. If I had had a better feeling and better stopping
power at the front I could have finished higher. Monza is
a new track for me but I am looking forward to learning it
and hopefully we can make more progress.”
Steve said: “The bike is a million
times better than at this time last year but we still need
to find more horsepower in order to be race competitive throughout
the year. I made an excellent start to the second race but,
once again, was chewed up going into the first corner. You
cannot afford to give away anything in such a competitive
championship or you are going to go backwards, no matter how
well the bike is handling. And although I didn’t finish
the first race, I did feel as though we were racing until,
on lap 12, I lost the rear a couple of times. I felt I had
to come in to check there wasn’t a major problem, which
there wasn’t, so maybe I was a little over-cautious.
Once again, though, the effort of everyone involved has been
faultless.”
Race two results, Superbike World Championship round
three, Valencia, Spain: 1 Bayliss; 2 Corser +0.790;
3 Lanzi +15.133; 4 Abe +16.004; 5 Haga +16.929; 6 Nieto +17.056;
7 Walker +19.967; 8 Laconi +21.395; 9 Pitt +21.801; 10 Fabrizio
+32.166; 11 Toseland +32.259; 12 Nakatomi +32.355; 13 Foret
+32.648; 14 Barros +33.875; 15 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing)
+38.052; 25 Jones (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) +1:25.553
Race one results: 1 Bayliss (Ducati Xerox);
2 Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) +2.765; 3 Lanzi (Ducati
Xerox) +14.225; 4 Abe (Yamaha France) +17.126; 5 Haga (Yamaha
Italia) +18.225; 6 Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)
+18.495; 7 Xaus (Sterilgarda Berik) +22.693; 8 Laconi (PSG-1
Kawsaki) +24.233; 9 Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) +28.799;
10 Pitt (Yamaha Italia) +28.946; 11 Barros (Klaffi Honda)
+34.558; 12 Nakatomi (Yamaha France) +37.151; 13 Fabrizio
(DFX-Treme) +43.368; 14 De Gea (Honda BQR) +45.753; 15 Foret
(Alstare Eng Corona Extra) +46.586; 22 Jones (Foggy PETRONAS
Racing) +1:15.123
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