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FIM SUPERBIKE / SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 09 SUNDAY JULY 22 BRNO, CZECH REPUBLIC PREVIEW

HONDA SUPERBIKE RIDERS READY FOR LATEST CHALLENGE AT BRNO

2012 FIM Superbike World Championship competitors Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) and Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) now face the challenge of the undulating Brno circuit in the Czech Republic for what will be the ninth round of the year.

The circuit is far from an unknown quantity for the Honda pairing, and after a successful test for both riders on their CBR1000RR machines immediately in Spain after the Motorland Aragon race last time out, they are ready to push for points once more at the modern classic circuit near the old closed road track which used to host Czech GPs.

Rea's two race wins in 2012 have taken his career total to 10 while his mid-season push has now placed him third in the rankings, 65.5 points behind championship leader Max Biaggi (Aprilia), but only 17.5 points behind Marco Melandri (BMW). Rea has won on a Honda Superbike before at Brno, taking race one in 2010, from a third place starting slot on the grid.

Aoyama has yet to race a Superbike at Brno, but as part of a successful GP career he took a podium on a 250cc machine at Brno.
Aoyama is heading back to Europe after conducting tests for the famous Suzuka 8-Hour race back in his native Japan after his outings at Aragon.

After Brno, Silverstone in the UK hosts the tenth round of the SBK championship, on August 5.

LOWES AND CLUZEL AIMING TO MOVE ON AGAIN

The eighth round of the 2012 FIM Supersport World Championship will take place at Brno this weekend as the championship fight begins to harden into what is appearing to be a four-way fight for supremacy.
Two Honda riders are in that leading four, Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR
Honda) in overall second and Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda) in third.

Points leader Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) looked like he was making a break prior to the revised final result of the previous round at Motorland Aragon, but he is now only 16 points ahead of Lowes, who won his second race of the year in Spain. Lowes is in turn 17 points ahead of Cluzel, who took victory at the Monza race earlier in the year. Pole positions have been fought out between Lowes and Cluzel with regularity this year, with Lowes taking four and Cluzel two.

The only other rider to score a pole in 2012 is Honda man Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Racing Products) at his home round of Phillip Island. That was also the venue for his only podium score so far, but Parkes is still overall fifth in the rankings, with designs on more top three finishes before season end.

Ronan Quarmby (PTR Honda) is another podium man for Honda in 2012, sitting in eighth place overall as the circus heads to Brno. The South African rider is keen to get back to posting another top three result after his early success at Imola.

Roberto Tamburini (Team Lorini Honda) has nearly been inside the top three on two occasions this year, but he is still inside the top ten in points. His team-mate Raffaele De Rosa (Team Lorini Honda) has not been present for the full season so far, but is still currently ranked 17th overall.

Massimo Roccoli (Kuja Racing Honda) is a substitute rider for Roberto Anastasia at this round, although Roccoli has been riding Yamaha machinery until this point, to put himself 15th in the points. Imre Toth (Racing Team Toth Honda) occupies 16th place in the rankings, but is confident that he and his team can get back into the top ten finishing places they targeted at the beginning of the year.

Balazs Nemeth (Racing Team Toth Honda) completes the current top 20 positions in the championship, with Valentin Debise (SMS Honda) 24th.

The PRORACE Honda team has tasted victory in 2012 already, with one-off rider Lorenzo Lanzi, at an almost waterlogged Assen back in April, but once more they return to the track with new regular rider, Gabor Talmacsi. Mathew Scholtz (Bogdanka PTR Honda) and Martin Jessopp (Riders PTR Honda) join Pawel Szkopek (Bogdanka Honda PTR) as more regular Honda riders keen to put in season best finishes at Brno.

Brno has been generally kind to Honda riders over the years, with the two most recent race winners each taking victories on CBR600RR machinery.

HONDA RIDER COMMENTS

Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team):
"I love the circuit at Brno and I had my first ever world championship race win there, on a Honda in 2008 in World Supersport.
It seems to be a track that I bond with pretty good. Although I missed the round there last year my pace there in 2010 was pretty OK.
Our bike is kind of progressing and I am really excited, even if Aragon was a tough round for us. We struggled there a little bit because we did not have any previous data. But for Brno we have a lot of previous information from there. We tested at Aragon after the race and we tried a lot of electronics bits and pieces, so it was a bit of a data gathering exercise for us. I love Brno and I am looking forward to going there."

Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team):
"I have raced this circuit before so I know the layout. In the summertime in Brno it can be very hot, so it can be tough. I know the track and I got a positive feeling at the last test, and I want to keep this positive feeling for the Brno race weekend. I want to start with a good feeling and a good lap time on Friday, and stay in the Superpole positions, as it is important to do that to get a good grid position."

Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda):
"We won the race at Aragon, but I know we need to continue working hard. Brno is a track that I like and I know I can do a good job there so I'm looking forward to the weekend and the rest of the season. Brno is a fast and flowing circuit with a lot of elevation changes and character. It's an enjoyable track to ride and produces some good racing. That's why so many fans and riders like it. It's a home race for Bogdanka with a lot of Polish fans in the stands so I'll try to do my best to put on a great performance. We need to get as many points as we can this weekend and keep closing on Kenan in the standings."

Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda):
"My main target for Brno is to finish the race. I'd like to challenge for the podium, but my first aim is to finish as I made a mistake at the last round and now need to score good points for the Championship. At Aragon I was very surprised by the crash and it was a combination of many things - temperature, hard tyre on the front, heavy fuel load, windy and too much lean angle. I lost the front and don't want to do that again. I will do my best, my target is to finish the race."

Ronan Quarmby (PTR Honda):
"I really enjoyed the last race at Aragon and feel that we made big steps with the set-up of my PTR Honda to suit my riding style. I am super-confident that we can get a good result at Brno; I can't wait to get racing again. I'm eighth in the Championship now and want to improve that as well."

Imre Toth (Racing Team Toth Honda):
"I have a big expectation for Brno because it is my home race. We have a lot of fans that come to see us. Also, we like the track and we scored some points there last year. Our bike should work well there. It is very important to get the right suspension settings for Brno, as it can be a little bit difficult for that there. But the work we have put in during previous times should help us to take a better final result."

Mathew Scholtz (Bogdanka PTR Honda):
"I know Brno and actually have a race win under my belt there so I'm feeling confident ahead of the weekend. We've been unlucky in the last few races so I'm looking to put everything together this weekend and score some solid points at Bogdanka's home round."

Martin Jessopp (Riders PTR Honda):
"My shoulder is as good as it will be until I have an operation at the end of the year - it is back to how it was before I broke my collarbone, so no issues. My back is still sore, but will be no problem on the bike. My foot is a lot better as well, and while I am not a long distance running it will be fine riding a bike. I rode at Brno nine years ago and loved it from what I can remember. I aim to get into the points this weekend. I will start strong and try to qualify better. I want to use qualifying to get as far up the grid as possible to give me a chance into the first corner."

Pawel Szkopek (Bogdanka Honda PTR)
"I'm feeling good and confident ahead of Brno. Having raced at Aragon after returning from injury, I now know that I can ride well, so I'm looking forward to getting back on my bike again. Brno is a home race both for myself and Bogdanka, so I'll do my best to give the Polish fans a good reason to celebrate. It's a fast and fun track, but it's also very demanding, so it will be a busy weekend, but I can't wait to get it started and go for a decent result on Sunday."

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FIM SUPERBIKE / SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 09 SUNDAY JULY 22 BRNO, CZECH REPUBLIC ROUND

Weather: Starting wet, drying quickly
Temperature: Ambient 17/19 degrees C / Track 24/26 degrees C

REA AND AOYAMA OUT OF LUCK AT BRNO

Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) had a tough day of competition in the 2012 FIM Superbike World Championship races at Brno in the Czech Republic, after a collision with another rider while in a podium position in race one and then fighting hard against traction issues to take a top twelve finish in race two. Marco Melandri (BMW) won both races at Brno, to close the gap to championship leader Max Biaggi (Aprilia) significantly.

Rea had been sixth in Superpole qualifying, a good result considering his recent lack of track data at Brno, and he looked set for a possible podium place until he fell while trying to pass race leader Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) at the apex of a corner when Sykes had started to drift wide, three laps from the end. The riders collided, Rea fell and Sykes carried on to score second. Rea was 12th in race two after he experienced a severe lack of edge grip and his combined Brno results dropped him to fifth overall in the championship standings.

Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) was taken out in race one when Leandro Mercado
(Kawasaki) fell under braking and both bike and rider pushed Aoyama wide, eventually causing him to fall. In race two a technical issue prevented Hiroshi from finishing the race. He is now 17th in the standings.

In the championship contest Biaggi has 271.5 points, Melandri 250.5 and Sykes 212.5. Carlos Checa (Ducati) has 204.5 and Rea 187.

Next round is at the evocative circuit of Silverstone on Sunday 5 August.

PARKES ON THE PODIUM AS LOWES SCORES WELL

Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Racing Products Honda) put in a podium performance at the eighth round of the FIM Supersport World Championship, taking third place in the Czech Republic to boost his confidence for the final few races of the season and his overall points total.

Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda) was one place behind Parkes in fourth in a dramatic race at Brno, but Lowes is still the closest challenger to championship leader and second place rider today, Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki).

The race was started then red flagged because of a start line incident and in the restart eventual race winner Fabien Foret (Kawasaki) put in a front running performance until the 14th lap, when Sofuoglu passed him, with Parkes right behind. At that point sixth place rider Ronan Quarmby suffered a big highside, and with his machine stranded on the track and almost on the racing line, the race was red flagged. With results going back to the 13th lap, Foret was declared the winner, Sofuoglu second and Parkes third. It was Broc’s second podium finish of the season.

Lowes worked hard to get to a top four place at what is not one of his favourite circuits and he is now 23 points behind Sofuoglu in the current rankings, 137 to 114. Foret is third on 108 and Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda), who was fifth today at Brno, sits fourth on 95. Parkes is fifth on 82.

Quarmby was credited with sixth in the
classification today because of the count back of one lap rule in a red flagged race and that score puts him eighth in the points.

Gabor Talmacsi (PRORACE Honda) treated the Brno race as a home round and was 19 seconds from the winning time, in 12th place. The only remaining Honda points scorer was Valentin Debise (SMS Racing Honda) in 14th place today.

Raffaele de Rosa (Lorini Honda) was 16th, Balazs Nemeth (Racing Team Toth Honda) went 17th, and Imre Toth (Racing Team Toth Honda) 19th. Despite starting behind the pace car for the second start of the WSS race, Martin Jessopp (Riders PTR
Honda) finished two places from last, in what was a lonely race for the most part.

Roberto Tamburini (Lorini Honda) and Pawel Szkopek (Bogdanka Honda PTR) crashed out of the race, while Massimo Roccoli (Kuja Racing Honda) and Mathew Scholtz (Bogdanka PTR Honda) each had to retire, Scholtz with a clutch issue.

HONDA RIDER COMMENTS:

Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team):
Race result: DNF / 12th Championship position: 5th “It’s been a really frustrating weekend because this is one of my favourite circuits and the feeling was not like in previous years – it felt completely different. We worked hard all weekend and got quite close in race one. The conditions were unpredictable at the start, but I found a rhythm and some pace and was battling for the lead. Tom Sykes ran wide and I was on the inside when he cut back and I got ejected, which was unfortunate because we were in a good podium position. In race two I felt something wrong with the bike from the very start. I just had no grip from the rear, but we’ll have to look at the data to confirm that it was just the tyre. I suffered a massive loss of grip on the edge, under acceleration, and tried a lot of different styles to see if anything worked, but it was all I could do to hang on to 12th place. The results are not what I want to go racing for and I’m really disappointed about the weekend. The last few races I’ve felt like I’m on a race winning package, but this weekend was definitely below average.”

Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team):
Race result: DNF / DNF Championship position: 17th “Not such a nice Sunday. In the first race, another rider crashed into me so I crashed, too, and that was not so good. In the second race the conditions were better so we wanted to try some things on the bike to get a better position, but after the fourth lap the bike stopped in turn one, so finally we could not do anything. It was not really a happy end to the weekend, but we had more of a positive feeling yesterday so I hope that this is a good direction for us to follow.
Now I go to race at the Suzuka 8-hour, but when I come back at Silverstone I hope we can be stronger again.”

Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Racing Products Honda):
Race result: 3rd Championship position: 5th “I am really happy and first of all I would like to thank the guys in the team for working over the past couple of weeks to give me a bike to allow me to be at the front and in the battle for the win. That is where I want to be. We were a little bit unfortunate for the red flag, because I felt that I was saving my attack for the end.
The tyres were still really good, but I am happy for the confidence to be with there again and it is important for me to be on the podium and fighting for wins again and we can look now to the end of the year and see what we can do.”

Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda):
Race result: 4th Championship position: 2nd “I knew that this track was not good for me. It was my worst track last year, but to be fair I had quite good pace on Friday and good pace yesterday, even if we lost a lot of momentum with a few technical problems. Because of the less than perfect qualifying I had to pass some people and got in a battle with Cluzel, which frustrated me because he was my team-mate. By the time I got past him I was three and a half seconds behind, but in the next ten laps I only lost 0.5 seconds more. I had the pace to stick in there if not to beat them, but if you are there, who knows? Kenan actually got dropped to second after the red flag so it could have been a lot worse. Fourth is my joint worst finish of the year so it is not that bad really.”

Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda):
Race result: 5th Championship position: 4th “I do not know what was wrong, but I never rode before with this lap time here in the race.
Yesterday with the race tyre we did a really good practice. I did 11 laps in 2’04 low and for the race I could only do one lap on 2’04.7 and was in fifth place.”

Ronan Quarmby (PTR Honda):
Race result: 6th Championship position: 8th “I was enjoying the race and fighting in the top six with my teammates. I do not know what happened with the crash but I have hurt my back and I am very sore. As a precaution I am having it checked by medics now.”

Roberto Tamburini (Team Lorini Honda)
Race result: DNF Championship position: 10th “I had a highside crash because I touched the green part on the outside of one corner a little.
I did not know when I opened the throttle and I went straight off. We will come back looking for a better result at Silverstone.”

Martin Jessopp (Riders PTR Honda):
Race result: 23rd Championship position: 38th “I have had better meetings and I just struggled with it all weekend. This is was a track that I have really not gelled with. My clutch went after the first start and I came in and the boys managed to get one changed quickly but I just sort of missed the re-start of the race and had to go out behind the pace car. The rest of them were gone to turn two or three by the time I got out. It was a lonely race for me so I am looking forward to the next weekend.”

Mathew Scholtz (Bogdanka PTR Honda):
Race result: DNF Championship position: 36th “I am very disappointed to retire out of a points scoring finish. I got away OK and was building my pace and effort and moving up through the race. I did not want to crash. My clutch then had a problem and I had to pull in. We have shown we can challenge for points and will be ready for Silverstone in two weeks time.”

Pawel Szkopek (Bogdanka Honda PTR):
Race result: DNF Championship position: Not classified "I am frustrated to have crashed out early on as I think today I could have scored points. We have shown potential and I will do my best at the next round. Thank you for all the Polish support here at Brno, I only wish I could have scored a good result and I promise I will keep trying."

RESULTS

SUPERSPORT
RACE : Laps 13 = 70,239 Km)
POS / RIDER / NAT. / TEAM / MOTORCYCLE / GAP
1 / F. FORET / FRA / Kawasaki Intermoto Step / Kawasaki ZX-6R / 27'02.236
2 / K. SOFUOGLU / TUR / Kawasaki Lorenzini / Kawasaki ZX-6R / 0.128
3 / B. PARKES / AUS / Ten Kate Racing Products / Honda CBR600RR / 0.434
4 / S. LOWES / GBR / Bogdanka PTR Honda / Honda CBR600RR / 4.65
5 / J. CLUZEL / FRA / PTR Honda / Honda CBR600RR / 7.725
6 / R. QUARMBY / RSA / PTR Honda / Honda CBR600RR / 11.384
7 / S. MORAIS / RSA / Kawasaki Lorenzini / Kawasaki ZX-6R / 11.934
8 / S. CRUCIANI / ITA / Puccetti Racing Kawasaki Itali / Kawasaki ZX-6R / 12.253
9 / V. IANNUZZO / ITA / Power Team by Suriano / Triumph Daytona 675 / 15.111
10 / V. LEONOV / RUS / Yakhnich Motorsport / Yamaha YZF R6 / 18.549
11 / R. LANUSSE / FRA / Kawasaki Intermoto Step / Kawasaki ZX-6R / 18.84
12 / G. TALMACSI / HUN / PRORACE / Honda CBR600RR / 19.037
13 / F. MARINO / FRA / MSD R-N Racing Team India / Kawasaki ZX-6R / 24.88
14 / V. DEBISE / FRA / SMS Racing / Honda CBR600RR / 24.905
15 / L. MARCONI / ITA / VFT Racing / Yamaha YZF R6 / 32.134

Fastest Lap: 13° 7° Broc Parkes 2'04.011 156,847 Km/h Lap Record: 2009 C. Crutchlow 2'02.708 158,510 Km/h Best Lap: 2009 C. Crutchlow 2'02.060 159,350 Km/h

CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS TO DATE:
1 SOFUOGLU 137, 2 LOWES 114, 3 FORET 108, 4 CLUZEL 95, 5 PARKES 82, 6 MORAIS 62,
7 BALDOLINI 54, 8 QUARMBY 54, 9 IANNUZZO 48, 10 TAMBURINI 39,
11 LEONOV 32, 12 ANTONELLI 31, 13 METCHER 31, 14 LANZI 25, 15 CRUCIANI 19.

SUPERBIKE
RACE1: (Laps 20 = 108,060 Km)
POS / RIDER / NAT. / TEAM / MOTORCYCLE / GAP
1 / M. MELANDRI / ITA / BMW S1000 RR / BMW S1000 RR / 41'59.808
2 / T. SYKES / GBR / Kawasaki ZX-10R / Kawasaki ZX-10R / 1.36
3 / L. BAZ / FRA / Kawasaki ZX-10R / Kawasaki ZX-10R / 1.948
4 / C. CHECA / ESP / Ducati 1098R / Ducati 1098R / 2.494
5 / E. LAVERTY / IRL / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / 3.832
6 / M. BIAGGI / ITA / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / 7.139
7 / L. HASLAM / GBR / BMW S1000 RR / BMW S1000 RR / 11.293
8 / M. FABRIZIO / ITA / BMW S1000 RR / BMW S1000 RR / 11.945
9 / M. BERGER / FRA / Ducati 1098R / Ducati 1098R / 18.988
10 / J. SMRZ / CZE / Ducati 1098R / Ducati 1098R / 19.117
11 / C. DAVIES / GBR / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / 22.938
12 / A. POLITA / ITA / Ducati 1098R / Ducati 1098R / 1'05.646
13 / N. BRIGNOLA / ITA / BMW S1000 RR / BMW S1000 RR / 1'05.733
14 / L. CAMIER / GBR / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / 1'08.248
15 / J. HOPKINS / USA / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / 1'12.120

Fastest Lap: 20° Carlos Checa 2'00.741 161,095 Km/h
Lap Record: 2010 C. Crutchlow 1'59.291 163,050 Km/h
Best Lap: 2012 T. Sykes 1'58.010 164,820 Km/h

RACE2: (Laps 20 = 108,060 Km)
POS / RIDER / NAT. / TEAM / MOTORCYCLE / GAP
1 / M. MELANDRI / ITA / BMW Motorrad Motorsport / BMW S1000 RR / 40'12.837
2 / T. SYKES / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team / Kawasaki ZX-10R / 0.14
3 / C. CHECA / ESP / Althea Racing / Ducati 1098R / 6.801
4 / M. BIAGGI / ITA / Aprilia Racing Team / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / 9.84
5 / E. LAVERTY / IRL / Aprilia Racing Team / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / 11.775
6 / C. DAVIES / GBR / ParkinGO MTC Racing / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / 11.95
7 / L. HASLAM / GBR / BMW Motorrad Motorsport / BMW S1000 RR / 12.547
8 / L. BAZ / FRA / Kawasaki Racing Team / Kawasaki ZX-10R / 13.088
9 / L. CAMIER / GBR / FIXI Crescent Suzuki / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / 18.141
10 / M. FABRIZIO / ITA / BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet / BMW S1000 RR / 25.332
11 / D. GIUGLIANO / ITA / Althea Racing / Ducati 1098R / 28.458
12 / J. REA / GBR / Honda World Superbike Team / Honda CBR1000RR / 29.254
13 / J. SMRZ / CZE / Liberty Racing Team Effenbert / Ducati 1098R / 29.513
14 / J. HOPKINS / USA / FIXI Crescent Suzuki / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / 34.875
15 / M. BERGER / FRA / Team Effenbert Liberty Racing / Ducati 1098R / 41.861

Fastest Lap: 2° Tom Sykes 1'59.728 162,458 Km/h
Lap Record: 2010 C. Crutchlow 1'59.291 163,050 Km/h
Best Lap: 2012 T. Sykes 1'58.010 164,820 Km/h

CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS TO DATE:
1 BIAGGI 271.5, 2 MELANDRI 250.5, 3 SYKES 212.5, 4 CHECA 204.5, 5 REA 187,
6 HASLAM 160, 7 LAVERTY 148, 8 GUINTOLI 110, 9 GIUGLIANO 99, 10 DAVIES 93,
11 FABRIZIO 87, 12 SMRZ 84.5, 13 CAMIER 65.5, 14 BADOVINI 57, 15 BERGER 56.5.

NEXT EVENT: ROUND10 AUGUST 05 SILVERSTONE, UNITED KINGDOM

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