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HONDA RACING INFORMATION
ZitatAlles anzeigen2013 FIM SUPERBIKE / SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 10, NÜRBURGRING, GERMANY SUNDAY 1 SEPTEMBER 2013 PREVIEW
REA AND HASLAM RARING TO GO AGAIN AFTER SUMMER BREAK
The famous Nürburgring circuit in Germany hosts the tenth round of the FIM Superbike World Championship this coming weekend and for Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) it will offer up an opportunity to add another race victory to his very recent Silverstone success.
Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) is still looking for his first podium finish of 2013, after suffering a serious left leg injury at the third round of the season at Assen. Since then Haslam has made constant improvement, to the level of winning the Suzuka 8-Hour endurance race in Japan in July, and now his desire is to turn his recovery into measurable success in the FIM Superbike World Championship, starting this weekend.
Rea is currently seventh in the championship, only four points adrift of the two riders who are tied on points ahead of him. Two strong races, around a Nürburgring layout he is clearly a fan of, could improve his championship placing in a significant fashion.
Injury and recovery have taken a toll on Haslam’s expected points tally but in Germany he is determined to get what is effectively his second start to the season underway in a positive manner.
Action will soon get underway after a long summer break in competition, but from now on the rounds come thick and fast, with races in Germany, Turkey, the USA and France all packed into the next few weeks. After the cancellation of the planned season finale in India, the final round of the series will take place at Jerez in Spain on October 20, making the championship 14 rounds long, not 15.
VAN DER MARK AND ZANETTI AIMING HIGH AGAIN AS SEASON RESTARTS
The tenth round of the 2013 FIM Supersport World Championship is about to offer Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) and Lorenzo Zanetti (Pata Honda World Supersport
Team) another opportunity to secure podium finishes, in what has been a tough but sometime rewarding season for both lead Honda riders.Van der Mark started his first full year in WSS with two podiums, while Zanetti placed third at the Monza round and has flirted with top three finishes at some subsequent races. After disappointing points scores at the previous round at Silverstone, at the beginning of August, the Pata Honda pairing want to get back to full competitiveness at a crucial time of the year.
Currently Van der Mark is fourth in the overall rankings, Zanetti fifth, with Lorenzo only seven points behind his team-mate. Lorenzo is still recovering from hand and leg injuries but he is very close to full fitness as the championship restarts after a three-week break.
Jack Kennedy (Rivamoto Honda) has made use of his track action downtime to work on his general training regime and strengthen his injured right knee, hurt but not fractured, after hitting a trackside rumble strip during practice at Portimao in June. Another fast and focused rookie, Irishman Kennedy will meet yet another circuit he only knows from video footage when he starts free practice at the Nürburgring on Friday.
Luca Marconi (PTR Honda) has had time to recover from a nasty right arm fracture during the summer break and he now heads to Germany ready to fight for his best individual performance of the year, which would mean taking a ninth place finish or better this coming race weekend.
Raffaele De Rosa (Team Lorini Honda) heads to Germany keen to consolidate his top 20 championship placing while Roberto Tamburini (Team Lorini Honda) will try to gain more points after finishing a strong 12th at Silverstone.
South African Ronan Quarmby (PRORACE Honda) will once more substitute for the injured Hungarian star Gabor Talmacsi, confident he can fight for a place well inside the points if practice and qualifying goes to plan.
Former Moto3 rider Danny Webb (PTR Honda) is a new addition to his British team and he will replace Sheridan Morais, who has recently been released from his contract.
Imre Toth (Racing Team Toth Honda) and his team-mate Alex Schacht continue the Honda challenge for points in 2013 as does David Linortner (Team Honda PTR) and Matt Davies (Team Honda PTR). Eduard Blokhin (Rivamoto Honda) is also looking for his first points of 2013 in Germany. Balasz Nemeth (Complus SMS Racing Honda) and Nacho Calero Perez (Honda PTR) are in a similar position in what is a heavily subscribed season in WSS racing.
After the Nürburgring round has been completed Istanbul Park in Turkey will host its first ever Superbike and Supersport race meeting, on Sunday September 15.
HONDA RIDER COMMENTS:
Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) "I’m feeling good, with recharged batteries after the summer break, and I’m really excited at the prospect of riding my bike again this weekend. I really like going to the Nürburgring and it’s a nice circuit to come back to after a few weeks off. It’s both technical and fast flowing, which I really enjoy. Hopefully, the guys back at the workshop have had some good downtime, too, because now it’s time to go back to work. I’m looking forward to free practice on Friday and hopefully we can carry on our recent form.”
Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) "The summer break has gone quickly. My wife had a little boy early on in the break and it is all good there. I did not manage to get an operation to remove the screws in my left leg but we have been working hard to get the muscles back to where they should be. It is ten times better than it was so it is all looking good for this one.
Our pace was not so far off at Silverstone but after so many back-to-back races before then my leg was feeling a little bit over-used. I am looking forward to Germany because, in a way, I need to start my season. I have never had a year where I was not on the podium and I feel in some ways that I have not had a race this year. Now I need to get back to where I should be, and hopefully we can do that this weekend in Germany.”Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) "I feel good and I think that we should meet some tracks I really like soon, and try to fight for the podium again. It was too long ago that I was last there. We started with two and then did not have any more since then. I think my biggest target now is to gather more top three finishes.
It is my first year in this class so I am focused more on top threes than the championship position. I know that is important too, and we are in a good place in fourth, but I am looking race-by-race now. Things feel good on the bike and we have a good base, so now we can just work on the set-up at each track.”Lorenzo Zanetti (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) “I had a good summer break but there was a lot of hard training to help my recovery and my overall conditioning. Every day I did real training. My injured hand is not 100% but it is much better and I feel that for the last part of the season I should be in good condition. Nürburgring is a nice track to be racing at next and for that I am happy. I finished a Superbike race there last year in eighth place so it is one of my favourite circuits."
Jack Kennedy (Rivamoto Honda)
"My knee is not perfect but I am training away at 100% even though it still gives me a bit of bother. I have used the summer break to get even fitter, if that is possible. The guys have been working on the bike round-by-round and in Silverstone it was the best the bike has been, so I hope we can keep moving in that direction. In Germany it will be another learning weekend but I want to be as quick as I can, as soon as I can."Luca Marconi (PTR Honda)
"Now my right arm is working OK after my big crash earlier in the year so I hope to get back inside the top ten in Germany. My arm is not 100% still but much better than at Silverstone because I have had three weeks of training and recovery since then. I have also tested two times in Italy, on a small track on a standard bike, and we went very fast. I cannot wait for the Nürburgring weekend."Ronan Quarmby (PRORACE Honda)
“It has been great to get back racing again and the team is absolutely fantastic. They run one bike in the team and that means they can concentrate all their efforts on the rider and set-up. I think I showed the potential I had on Friday and Saturday at Silverstone and now my fitness is there. We have new parts on the bike; I am definitely looking at a top ten placing.
That would be nice points for the team and myself and if we can do any better than that I would be really happy.”Danny Webb (PTR Honda)
“I have never ridden a Supersport machine before so it will be a steep learning curve. I haven't ridden at the Nürburgring before either, but I can learn fast. I am super motivated, more than ever, to show what I can do. PTR is a title challenging race team and I want to show what I can do on what is clearly a very competitive bike. Having an English team around me will help as well, I am absolutely sure. I am excited and can't wait to get racing."