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HONDA RACING INFORMATION
ZitatAlles anzeigen2014 FIM SUPERBIKE / SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 12, LOSAIL, QATAR SUNDAY, 2 NOVEMBER 2014 PREVIEW
POSSIBILITIES ABOUND FOR REA AND HASLAM AT SEASON FINALE
The final round of the FIM Superbike World Championship will take place at the 5.380km long Losail International Circuit in Qatar this weekend with Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) and Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) both motivated to end the 12-round season in the best possible way.
One time championship leader Rea, who has taken four wins through the 2014 season and 15 over his career so far, is currently fourth in the overall rankings and is aiming to close the 11 point gap to third placed rider Marco Melandri (Aprilia). Rea has competed on a Superbike at the desert circuit in the past, finishing 12th and 8th way back in his rookie season of 2009.
However, like many of the riders, will experience racing under the vast Qatar floodlight array for the first time.Like Rea, his fellow CBR1000RRSP rider Haslam has ridden at Losail, also during the 2009 Superbike World Championship season, when he was on a privateer Honda. Leon ended his recent podium drought with a third place finish at the previous round in Magny Cours and is keen to ensure he can fight for more success at the season finale.
Honda has enjoyed two previous race wins at the Losail International Circuit, both taken by James Toseland, the first in 2006 and the second one season later.
This will be the first time in the history of the FIM Superbike World Championship that a race weekend will be conducted under full floodlights, although the MotoGP classes have run in night conditions at Losail for several years.
With the circuit unused by the Superbike class since the 2009 season there will be two main unique challenges to meet for most riders – acclimatising to the floodlights and learning or relearning the fast and sweeping curves of the long and flat Losail track layout.
The championship winner will be decided in Qatar, with current leader Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) only 12 points ahead of his only remaining challenger, Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia).
WORLD SUPERSPORT RETURNS TO QATAR FOR UNIQUE END OF SEASON EVENT
Recently crowned FIM Supersport World Champion Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport
Team) will take part in his last race under the Supersport wing of his team at the final round of the championship this weekend in Qatar, with the aim of posting another win to add to his current 2014 season tally of five.At the 11th and final round of the championship van der Mark will join most of his peers in riding under the floodlights at Qatar for the first time. As an experienced double race winner at the Suzuka 8-Hour race in Japan, racing at night will not be a new experience as such for the 21-year-old rider from the Netherlands.
Michael won the championship at Jerez, Spain with two rounds to spare and is currently 73 points clear of the second place rider, having already breached the 200 points barrier with his current total of 205.
Lorenzo Zanetti (Pata Honda World Supersport
Team) has had a largely consistent and fast second WSS season and he is keen to get back onto the podium to add to his race win at Imola in May. At Qatar he will try to bridge the 17-point gap to the rider in front, Florian Marino (Kawasaki), which would enable him to finish inside the top three in the final rankings.There have been changes in the overall Honda line up for the final round, Raffaele de Rosa is now riding for the Lorini Honda team. Raffaele is currently ninth, with a realistic goal of holding onto that position if he performs well at Losail on Sunday evening.
Jack Kennedy (CIA Insurance Honda) is the next closest Honda CBR600RR rider to the leaders, in 11th position, after finding more bad luck barring his podium ambitions at the previous round in France. Four no-scores have held back his overall push, with second place at Portimao his personal best so far this year.
Ratthapark Wilairot (Core PTR Honda) has been extremely busy of late, combining Moto2 commitments with his WSS rides. He hopes for a strong finish to the season at Losail, a circuit he knows well from previous experiences under the floodlights in Moto2. Ratthapark is 12th in the rankings, with a personal best of sixth at the Sepang round in June.
Luca Marconi (Team Lorini Honda) returns for the last race of 2014 with his Italian based team and current lies in 25th place in the overall standings. Valentin Debise (Com Plus SMS Racing
Honda) from France is currently 27th and Nacho Calero (CIA Insurance Honda) 29th.The last time the WSS riders competed at Losail was in 2009 and Honda has an enviable record at the fast and flowing circuit. In the five previous races held at the track, Honda riders have taken four wins.
The FIM prize-giving for the Superbike and Supersport championships will take place in Qatar the day after the final race of the year.
HONDA RIDER COMMENTS:
Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) “I am as excited as I have ever been to go racing. To be honest the last round is always a mixture of excitement and frustration because it means there are no more races left in the year and I have been riding strongly at the end of the season. Losail is a track I really enjoy and I am looking forward to be riding under lights for the first time. I have ridden in the dark before at the Suzuka 8 Hour and that was something I really enjoyed. At the previous round in Magny Cours we were very strong in both wet and dry conditions but I doubt we are going to have to battle with wet conditions this weekend. Overall I am satisfied with the job we have done this year. At the start we were behind because we rewrote the electronics software over the winter and it took some time to get up to speed, but we have won races and I have enjoyed riding the bike. It’s the last round of the championship but the plan is still quite straightforward. The CBR has been quite competitive at the last few rounds so we’ll try to get a good base setting again on Friday and aim to finish the season on a high.”
Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) “It’s been another strange month off between the last two races of the season. After a couple of bad years of results it was great to get a podium at Magny Cours last time and now I want to finish with another good result with the team. I have only raced at Losail once, back in 2009, and it was OK. I found it a tough weekend getting used to the track but I ended up as one of the fastest guys coming through the field. There is a very long straight but the rest of track should be good for us. I have ridden in the dark recently at the Suzuka 8-Hour although it is not quite like Losail will be with floodlights all around.
My ambition is the same as any other weekend; we will be working on getting the bike to run as well as it possibly can and if we do we can try for the best results.”Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) "The long time between recent races is really not ideal but I am looking forward to riding at Losail. Riding at night will not be completely new for me after racing at Suzuka in the 8-Hour but of course it will be different in the floodlights. I think Losail is an amazing track and it will be the last race for me in the Supersport category before I go to Superbike in 2015. It has been a great season and I want to finish it off in the best way we can. We have been fast everywhere, even on new tracks for us like Sepang in Malaysia, so I am really keen to get to Qatar. Losail has big, fast corners and this is what I really like.”
Lorenzo Zanetti (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) “I am all good and ready for Qatar. I like the track and I have raced there during the night on a 125cc GP bike. It is a different condition to normal but I like it. Finally we are at the last race of the season. One part of me is happy because we have had a good season and won a race and now all I want to do is fight hard for the last race of the year and push 100%. I have a good relationship with my mechanics and my team and I want to finish the year in a good place.”
Jack Kennedy (CIA Insurance Honda)
"It looks like Qatar might suit me because it is fast and flowing and I am really looking forward to getting out there and getting going. I will be riding at night time as well which is something I have never done but under the floodlights is going to be an awesome way to finish the 2014 race season. I can’t wait because I want to go all out and put on a show. I generally adapt to things pretty quickly so I do not see the night race as a problem. We have really good pace right now, so I’ll be looking to get on the podium again as a big thank you to my whole CIA Insurance team for a year that’s been getting better and better.”Ratthapark Wilairot (Core PTR Honda)
“I am very busy racing now but I am looking forward to Qatar and racing at a track I know well. I must get to know my Core PTR Honda again after racing in Moto2, but I hope I can do that quickly and then I might get a good result in my last WSS race.”