Ten Kate – Preview, Brno | World SBK
- From: 'the Wire' | Published: July 20th, 2009 - 12:24 pm
The Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team heads for round 10 of the World Superbike championship at Brno in the Czech Republic this weekend (24-26 July) in buoyant mood following a successful test at the Italian circuit of Imola last week.
Jonathan Rea, who sits fourth in the current points table, was fastest at the Imola test as the team continued to test new suspension and other components following the switch to Ohlins last month.
The 22-year-old from Northern Ireland won last year’s World Supersport race at the 5.4km Brno circuit – a debut world championship victory that sparked a late-season charge to second place in the series.
Rea’s Spanish team-mate, Carlos Checa, was also satisfied with the progress made during the two-day Imola test, concentrating on finding a strong base setting to take to the Brno event, where he took eighth in last season’s first race. A technical issue forced Checa’s early retirement from the second outing.
Jonathan Rea – championship position, 4th
Imola was good for us – not just the result and the progress that we were able to make, but because of the way we went about it. It showed how well everyone is working as a team now and how motivated we all are to get the kind of results that we know we can achieve. Brno was good on the Supersport bike last year and I think the track should suit the Superbike even better. We’ve got a good setting with the new package now and we’ll be pushing on as hard as we can to get some more good results this weekend.
Carlos Checa – championship position, 9th
I am looking forward to the Brno race, even though we had some problems during qualifying and the races last year, which meant that the results weren’t so good. We made some good progress during the two days at Imola last week and, even though we have some more work to do to get some more stability in! the rea r, I think we have a good base to start from to find a better performance.
Ronald ten Kate – team manager
Although last year was not so good, we have enjoyed good results at Brno before and the circuit’s fast and flowing nature should suit the characteristics of the bike. However, in spite of our good performance at the Imola test last week, we know that it will represent a new set of challenges. We gathered a lot of data from the test and I know that we can improve further, so we are really looking forward to the weekend and the challenges it will bring.
Ryuichi Kiyonari of the Ten Kate Honda Racing team is confident of improved results heading into this weekend’s (24-26 July) 10th round World Superbike championship event at Brno in the Czech Republic.
The Japanese rider has had an inconsistent string of results thus far in 2009, in spite of two podium finishes in round five at Monza in Italy, and is seeking improvement on his fifth and sixth place finishes at the 5.4km Brno circuit last year.
Kiyonari completed a successful two-day test at Imola in Italy last week, when he was able to test fully the Ohlins suspension that the rest of his Ten Kate team switched to last month.
Ryuichi Kiyonari – championship position 10th
I tried the new suspension at Donington Park but a race weekend is not the best time to be testing things like this. After the two days at Imola last week, there was definitely a better feeling coming. It’s still not perfect but, for me, new things are sometimes difficult. We were testing new suspension at a new circuit, so it was not so bad! Brno is not new for me, and it is also not my favourite circuit, but I am confident that we can get better results than last year, and this is what I will try my best to achieve this weekend.
Ronald ten Kate – team manager
We tested fully with Ohlins last week and now Kiyo-san has made the switch. His riding style is very sensitive to the smallest changes, so the two days we had at Imola were very important. We didn’t quite achieve the perfect setting for Kiyo, but we did make some really good progress and that should give us a good starting point for this weekend’s races at Brno.
The Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team heads to Brno this weekend (24-26 July) for round 10 of this season’s World Supersport championship looking to extend its 100% record at the Czech circuit.
The team has won the Brno race each year since 2005 – the first season that the 5.4km circuit hosted a World Supersport event – and scored an impressive one-two last season, with Jonathan Rea taking his first world championship race win.
Kenan Sofuoglu, who won the 2007 race, is in good form as he journeys to Brno after topping the timing sheets at a two-day test at Imola in Italy last week. The Turkish rider sits third in this year’s championship, with two wins to his credit.
His team-mate, Andrew Pitt, finished second last year at Brno, just two hundredths of a second behind Rea, but went on to clinch the World Supersport title four rounds later. The Australian is fifth in this season’s title chase and looking for Brno to provide his first win of the year.
Kenan Sofuoglu – championship position 3rd
I am really looking forward to the race at Brno because we completed a really satisfying test at Imola last week which left me feeling really happy and confident. The first couple of races with the new suspension have been a little bit difficult because it is such a big change to make halfway through a season. We had two good days at Imola with perfect weather, which gave us the chance to test many things, including the new Ohlins forks. I like Brno and won there two years ago, so I want to do it again this weekend.
Andrew Pitt – championship position 5th
Although the Imola test was generally good, I’m still looking for something at the front of the bike where I need to have a bit more confidence. We spent the two days concentrating on the rear but got through a whole heap of work, which was very positive. I like Brno, but last year was my first ! visit to the podium there. I’ll be looking for another one this time around, but the work starts all over again on Friday and we need to find a good setting early on for a decent qualifying lap.
Ronald ten Kate – team manager
It’s no secret that we’ve experienced a few very difficult races this season. After changing our suspension before Misano, we had to wait until the Imola test last week to receive the new Ohlins front forks. Now we’ve had the chance to test for two days, I don’t think there should be any excuses for us not being competitive at Brno this weekend.
