VALENCIA – 3rd ROUND - 4th, 5th and 6th APRIL
PREVIEW
BAYLISS FACES SPANISH ATTACK AT VALENCIA
With the opening two flyaway rounds behind them, competitors
in the 2008 HANNspree Superbike World Championship are now
on European soil for the third round of the series at the
Ricardo Tormo Circuit, Valencia, Spain.
The form guide after two events shows Ducati Xerox Team’s
Troy Bayliss at the top of the standings with 88 points and
three wins to his name in four races, but other riders and
teams are now emerging as powerful threats to the Australian,
in particular Suzuki Alstare’s Fonsi Nieto and Carlos
Checa of HANNspree Honda Ten Kate. “Valencia is one
of those tracks where I expect everyone to go better and I
think those teams that have perhaps been a little behind us
with getting ready for the championship will now start to
show results,” said Bayliss.
At Valencia the 38-year-old points leader will be coming
under attack above all from a trio of Spanish riders, all
aiming to make a mark at their home circuit. Nieto leads the
charge in second place with 61 points and the 29-year-old
from Madrid will be looking to add another win to his Qatar
victory. “Racing at home is always a bit special and
I want to put on a good show for all my fans this weekend
- especially after my pair of DNF’s last year!”
declared Nieto. “There are quite a few Spanish riders
in the championship this year and I am hoping that we get
a good crowd for the race and can give them something to shout
about.”
Ruben Xaus is just a couple of points behind on the Sterilgarda
Go Eleven Ducati 1098R, but the 30-year-old Catalan scored
an outstanding win here last year on the team’s 999
and will be particularly keen on doing the same again. “Valencia
is my home round. I feel sure there will be a lot of people
coming to see me especially after last year’s win and
the recent test. I’d like to repeat last year’s
result but I know it’s not going to be easy”,
said Ruben.
The third Spanish rider in the top 5, HANNspree Ten Kate
Honda’s Carlos Checa, is rapidly getting the hang of
Superbike in his rookie year and a maiden win in the category
is surely not far away. After the tests a couple of weeks
ago, Checa is sure that the bike has made some improvements.
“We made some good progress here during the last test
and definitely come better prepared than the first two races.
This will be my first Superbike race on my home soil and my
target is to stay in front and get a good result.”
Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) has so far failed to
transform his scintillating form in Superpole, where he leads
the special Alfa 159 Superpole Award classification, into
good race results, but the Australian is fifth in the table,
as team-mate Noriyuki Haga struggles down in ninth place.
Germany’s Max Neukirchner has stood out on occasions
on a second Suzuki Alstare, while another Spanish rider Gregorio
Lavilla will be on a 2008 Honda for the first time this year
at his home race.
Max Biaggi was the unluckiest rider at Phillip Island, the
36-year-old from Rome twice taking a tumble and coming home
with a broken bone in his left wrist. Biaggi has recovered
from that spill but sore ligaments may mean he won’t
be at 100% for the race. “Australia gives me bad memories!”
declared Biaggi. “I need time, tomorrow I will try but
my main issue is that I still feel pain. I hope to do the
races”. Michel Fabrizio benefitted from Ducati Xerox’s
absence from the Valencia tests to fully recover from his
start-line crash at Phillip Island and should shine on a track
where Ducati have always gone well, while Karl Muggeridge
(DF Racing Honda) could spring a surprise after topping the
timesheets in the two-day SBK test two weeks ago at the Valencia
track.
Supersport World Championship
After two rounds the Supersport World Championship boys are
already hard at it in their quest for the title, with the
top five riders separated by eight points. This season’s
two race winners Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport) and
Andrew Pitt (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) are only in third and
fourth place respectively after a crash apiece in Australia
and Qatar, and the two Aussies are headed by compatriot Joshua
Brookes (HANNspree Stiggy Motorsport Honda) and the promising
23-year-old from Barcelona Joan Lascorz (Glaner Motocard.com
Honda), while Brookes’s team-mate Robbin Harms from
Denmark completes the top five. The Valencia tests threw up
a number of surprises in the hard-fought Supersport category,
as Italians Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni) and
Gianluca Nannelli (HANNspree Honda Althea) finished ahead
of Craig Jones (Parkalgar Honda), Jonathan Rea (HANNspree
Ten Kate Honda) and Katsuaki Fujiwara (Gil Motorsport Kawasaki).
Superstock 1000 FIM Cup + European 600 Superstock
Championship
The 2008 Superstock 1000 FIM Cup, together with the European
600 Superstock Championship, gets underway this weekend at
the first European round of the season in Valencia. In the
top class, which many consider to be a true launch-pad towards
Superbike, there are a number of potential winners in the
38-strong field, which this year sees the arrival of the 1198cc
twin-cylinder Ducati 1098 and the brand-new KTM RC8. Six manufacturers
are present: Suzuki (with 11 bikes), Yamaha (8), Honda (7),
Ducati and Kawasaki (5 each) and KTM (2). As for nationalities,
Italy makes up the lion’s share with 13 riders on the
grid. The favourites for the title can probably be counted
on both hands, with at least ten riders in with a chance of
winning. These include last year’s runner-up Claudio
Corti, who will race for the new Yamaha Motor Italia Junior
Team, Alstare Suzuki’s Xavier Simeon from Belgium, Ducati
Xerox Junior Team’s Australian rider Brendan Roberts
and Alessandro Polita of Marco Borciani’s team, who
won the title two years ago. Other riders in with a chance
are Davide Giugliano, Domenico Colucci, Yoann Tiberio, Superstock
600 champion Maxime Berger, Matteo Baiocco, Michele Pirro
and Michele Magnoni, without forgetting the fact that the
category always throws up a few surprises…
About the Valencia Circuit
Since its inauguration seven years ago, the Comunitat Valenciana
Ricardo Tormo Circuit has become an emblem for international
motorsport. This 'Circuit within a Stadium' as it is known,
offers the possibility for spectators to see the entire race-track
and is, together with Assen (Netherlands), Phillip Island
(Australia), Donington (UK) and Losail (Qatar), one of the
few circuits to host both World Superbike and MotoGP. The
4.005 km layout contains 13 twisty slow and medium-fast corners
leading onto the 846 m long pit-straight.
Lap records: Race – Neil Hodgson (Ducati)
1’35.007 (2003); Superpole – Troy Bayliss (Ducati)
1’34.814 (2007); Best lap – Troy Bayliss (Ducati)
1’34.599 (2007).
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