CORSER KNOCKED OUT OF SILVERSTONE
 Reigning
World Superbike World Champion Troy Corser and the Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra team suffered a disappointing day at the
Silverstone fifth round today as the Australian was knocked
off in race one then took sixth in race two.
Corser was hit from behind at the first turn on the opening
lap of race one and crashed, but fortunately the race was
red-flagged and he was able to take part in the restart. He
crashed in the final chicane on the second lap, but remounted
and got going again in last place, then, after a series of
lurid slides, he was forced to retire.
His team mate Yukio Kagayama was riding in severe discomfort
after crashing heavily yesterday, but grittily kept going
to finish 14th in race one and 13th in race two.
Team Alstare Engineering Corona Extra rider Fabien Foret
also had a day to forget: A DNF after a heavy fall in race
one when he hit his head hard detuned him for race two and,
because he could not keep his concentration, he retired after
15 laps.
After five rounds, Corser holds second place in the series
with Kagayama 16th and Foret 19th.
Troy Corser - Race 1: DNF, Race 2: 6th:
“By our standards, that was a day to forget. It didn’t
start well when I was hit from behind in the first turn on
the opening lap of the first race! I was lucky because the
race was red-flagged and I was able to get back to my garage
and jump onto the spare bike for the restart. But we had only
done about four laps in the dry on it and, although it should’ve
been the same, it felt very different. The front tyre was
too hard and I lost control in the final chicane after one
lap. I got back on and tried to carry on but it was no use.
“In race two I had problems with the throttle response
and that made the bike very difficult to ride. I just could
not get the power on when I wanted and every time I tried
to do what I do normally, I nearly crashed. We had a similar
problem last season, so now we’ll have to sit down and
work out how to solve it. I suppose the only good news is
that in my two falls today I never hurt myself.”
Yukio Kagayama -Race 1: 14th, Race 2: 13th:
“I am not so happy today, but my problems began when
I crashed yesterday. This morning my back and right hand didn’t
feel so good. In both races I found it hard moving around
on the bike and because my right hand was injured I could
not push hard exiting the fast turns. In race one, I lost
touch with the group in front of me and once that happened
I couldn’t catch them again. The second race was a little
better, but not that much and I would honestly prefer to forget
this weekend completely.”
Fabien Foret - Race 1: DNF, Race 2: DNF:
“It has been a very bad day - no, it has been a bad
weekend. We didn’t have enough time to get a good dry
set-up for the bike and we suffered as a result. Then I had
a heavy crash in the first race and hurt my head and body.
I wasn’t feeling too good and maybe I should not have
started the second race, but I wanted to try. I just couldn’t
concentrate and I didn’t want to do anything silly or
cause a crash, so I pulled into the pits and stopped.”
Race 1: 1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati), 2 Haga (J-Yamaha),
3 Toseland (GB-Honda), 4 Xaus (E-Ducati), 5 Pitt (Aus-Yamaha),
6 Walker (GB-Kawasaki), 7 Laconi (F-Kawasaki), 8 Muggeridge
(Aus-Honda), 9 Barros (Bra-Honda), 10 Abe (J-Yamaha). 14 Yukio
Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra). Troy Corser (Aus-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) DNF. Fabien Foret (F-Alstare Engineering
Corona Extra) DNF.
Race 2: 1 Bayliss, 2 Haga, 3 Toseland, 4 Pitt, 5 Barros, 6
Troy Corser (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 7 Xaus, 8 Walker,
9 Muggeridge, 10 Nieto (E-Kawasaki). 13 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra). Fabien Foret (F-Alstare Engineering
Corona Extra) DNF.
Championship Points: 1 Bayliss 200, 2 Troy
Corser 139, 3 Toseland 113, 4 Haga 113, 5 Barros 102, 6 Pitt
90, 7 Lanzi 62, 8 Xaus 47, 9 Abe 46, 10 Rolfo 46. 16 Yukio
Kagayama 26. 19 Fabien Foret 10.
EUROPEAN SUPERSTOCK 600:
Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Xavier Simeon lost out
on victory of the Silverstone Superstock 600 European Championship
by a whisker after the race was restarted.
Italian Nicola Canepa (Ducati) won after the race was red-flagged
after seven laps due to an accident and an oil spillage. Canepa
had crossed the line in first place ahead of series leader
Simeon and Davide Giugliano (Kawasaki).
In the second part, it was Simeon who crossed the line first
after breaking the lap record on the last lap, but when the
times from the two races were aggregated, Canepa was the winner
by 48,000ths of a second!
Xavier Simeon - 2nd:
“What a way to lose a race! I tried so hard in the
second part and rode as hard as I could. I couldn’t
believe it when I saw that I hadn’t won! In the first
race, I took it a bit steadily in the early stages and was
well-placed when the race was red-flagged. We changed a tyre
for the second part and then charged for victory. On the last
lap, I really opened the gas and went for it, so I was a bit
disappointed not to win, but at least my lead in the championship
is a healthy one. I’ll be going to the next round at
Misano determined to extend my lead and put the pressure on
my rivals.”
Superstock 600 Results: 1 Canepa, 2 Xavier
Simeon (B-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 3 Giugliano, 4 Colucci,
5 Antonelli, 6 Costantini.
Championship Points: 1 Simeon (B-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 70, 2 Giugliano 46, 3 Canepa 45, 4 Colucci
28, 5 Savary 23, 6 Costantini 21.
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