Troy Corser and BMW – Lesson 5, Monza | World SBK
- From: 'the Wire' | Published: May 11th, 2009 - 10:16 am
The Crocodile Chronicles – Building the Legend
Troy Corser – “I am happy that I survived two big crashes more or less OK, but sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don’t. I knew nothing about what started the crash on lap one of the first race. One minute I was going into the chicane and the next minute I was flying through the air. Then, while I was on my knees, I got hit by another bike. It banged into the top of my back, near my neck and the impact was strong enough to thump my helmet on to the floor. I managed to get off the track and fell down on the grass to rest while I got my breath back, but the marshals wanted me out of the way and tried to pull me on to a stretcher. I was lucky that I hadn’t damaged my neck, because they way they handled me would’ve caused further injury for sure. After I while, I got my breath back and walked back to the pits and prepared for the restart. The team didn’t put any pressure on me at all, in fact the opposite.”
“But, I felt OK and decided to give it a go. This time, I almost completed a lap! I got pulled along in a four or five rider draft and found myself going into the Parabolica a bit too quick. Muggeridge was alongside or came across a bit and I had to choose between hitting him or applying more pressure to the brakes. Of course, I put more pressure on the brakes and down I went. I slid feet first, then did a couple of flips and I was really lucky not to hurt myself any more. My left arm was sore and when I got back to the pits, we made the decision not to start race two. I was a bit dazed anyway, so it was the right choice. It’s a pity because I really felt that we’d get good results today and Ruben’s seventh in race one is proof of that. Now, I’ve got to recover and get fit for the next race, so wish me luck.”
The fifth round of this year’s Superbike World Championship takes place at the historic Autodromo di Monza and both BMW Motorrad Motorsport riders Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus are looking forward to tackling the 5.793 kilometre circuit. It is one of the few circuits in this year’s calendar where the team have tested already and so, for once, they will be not be starting at a big disadvantage. Monza is renowned for its high speed straights and close finishes and last year’s first race saw the top four separated by just 0.771 at the flag. Race two’s top three were covered by 0.051, with the winner taking the chequered flag by only 0.009 of a second!
Troy
“At least we have tested at Monza this year, so we will not be trying to play catch-up as much as we have to do normally. Monza has some fast straights and is a track where slipstreaming can play an important part. It’s possible to be in fourth place exiting the Ascari chicane on the last lap and still win if you can take advantage of the draft. But, before we even get to that stage, we have to be in a good qualifying situation. Superpole has not worked out well for us so far and considering that, I think we’ve done well to get the top tens we have. I hope that we can qualify better at Monza and get even better results.”
Ruben
“Each time out we learn something new about the bike and get ideas about what to do to make it better. The other teams have a big history compared to us and so I feel we have done very well so far. But that doesn’t mean that we all don’t want more, because of course we do. Our top tens are very good, but Troy and I are racers and we are always want to higher finishes. If we can get a good set-up early on (and I can get rid of my ‘black Fridays’), and do well in Superpole, then we might have a better chance of good results.”
Berti Hauser (Director BMW Motorrad Motorsport)
“Monza will be interesting for sure, but at least we have been there before. Even so, the experience we gained in our two day test is relatively small compared to our competitors and so we need to do well in practice and qualifying. Superpole has been a problem for us so far and we haven’t been able to get the bike to perform consistently well enough on qualifying tires in Q1 and Q2. It would be good to get into Q1 and not have to start from the back of the grid for a change. If we could do that, it would be very interesting to see what would happen.”
Friday:
Troy- “I think we may have got into a bit of a confusion today and for a while it seemed that whatever we did made no effect whatsoever. We found a pretty good base set-up when we were here a month ago and that’s what we started with today. I don’t know if it’s because the grip level was so different then to now, but my bike just didn’t work the way we expected. My crew and I looked at all the info and had a long talk about what to do, so now it’s a case of trying out our ideas tomorrow and making progress. But, I’m pretty confident that we know what to do and that we will improve.”
Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport riders Ruben Xaus and Troy Corser ended the first day of qualifying with the 14th and 15th fastest times, but are only a second or so away from the provisional pole setter. Ruben and Troy tested at Monza a month ago and began today by using the set-ups they found then, but their bikes did not work as well or in same way. So once again today was all about working with different set-ups, trying different ideas and finding the right direction for tomorrow. Italian Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) led the charge today, with a lap of 1:45.447, three tenths of a second ahead of Tom Sykes (Yamaha). Third is Noriyuki Haga (Ducati), with Jonathan Rea (Honda) fourth.
Ruben – 14th, 1:46.545
“I have raced here many times and on many different bikes and I can tell you that this track has secrets. It is a track where you have to be good on the brakes and the bike has to be stable on braking as well. If you have that, then you can get a good drive exiting the turns and that can means you can make good lap times. At the moment, we haven’t got the bike working the best way and so to finish just a second slower then the fastest rider is pretty good I think.”
It wasn’t the easiest day for Troy on the first day of qualifying at Monza, but he and the team have looked at all the data and telemetry and have a good idea of what to change for tomorrow. Troy started with the set-up he and the team found when they tested at Monza a month ago, but the bike did not work the same way. Because of that, the team struggled a little to find the right direction and will now have to hope that their solutions for tomorrow will be the correct ones. Italian Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) posted the fastest time today, with a lap of 1:45.447, three tenths of a second ahead of Tom Sykes (Yamaha). Third is Noriyuki Haga (Ducati), with Jonathan Rea (Honda) fourth.
Troy – 15th, 1:46.565
“Maybe we got a little confused today because we started with the same set-up we found when we here a month or so ago, and the bike felt completely different. We made some fairly big changes to the bike from the first to the second sessions today, but the bike felt the same. For me, the track feels as if it has more grip then when we tested here. After qualifying, I sat with the team and we analysed all the data and I feel sure we know what we have to do for tomorrow and that we will definitely improve.”
Berti Hauser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director)
“This was a tough day for Ruben and Troy and it seems that we couldn’t work with the set-up we found in the tests. Both riders experienced some problems, but both have given the team a lot of feedback and information to improve the bike tomorrow. I am hopeful that the ideas will work out to be in the right direction and Ruben and Troy can end the day ready for the race on Sunday.”
Saturday:
Troy- “I’m happy because it is our best result so far this year, but I’m not happy because of what happened at the end of Superpole Q2. I feel sure I was on course for qualifying for Q1 and was up on my lap time when I saw yellow flags and oil flags being waved up at the Parabolica. So, I had to ease off the gas a bit and was a bit surprised, to say the least, when I saw some marshals on the kerb stones. Obviously I wasn’t able to go as fast as I wanted and the time I lost meant that I didn’t get into
Q1. That was a shame, but we’re all a bit happy because the third row is our best performance in Superpole this year so far and that shows that we are improving. We are still working on quite a few things at the moment and one of them is to improve the consistency of the braking feel. Also this track is a bit bumpy in places and our bike is skipping about a bit, so we’ll make a few adjustments in the warm-up tomorrow and see if can make the bike a bit better. Third row is our best so far and I’ve already showed what I can do from even further back, so I am hoping to get two good starts and fight with the front group.”
BMW Motorrad Motorsport rider Troy Corser recorded his best Superpole qualifying of the year by taking the eleventh quickest time in Q2, to end up on row three. And it might have been even better, but for yellow flags and marshals on the kerbs when Troy was on a fast lap towards the end of the session. Troy’s team mate Ruben Xaus ended with the fourteenth fastest lap and will start from row four but was happy that he too had improved in Superpole. American Ben Spies (Yamaha) continued his perfect run of Superpole wins this season, with Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) second, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) third and Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) fourth.
In Superpole qualifying at Monza today, Troy posted his best result of the season and will start tomorrow’s pair of 18-lap races from the third row of the grid. But it could have been even better. The second row of the grid was beckoning on Troy’s hot lap at the end of the session but then yellow flags came out. An earlier crash caused the flags to come out and Troy had no option but to roll off the gas a bit and that was enough to lose a fraction of a second when it mattered. Had it not been for the flags, Troy may well have qualified for Superpole 3 and a start from the second row at the very least. American Ben Spies (Yamaha) made it five out five Superpole wins this season, with Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) second, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) third and Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) fourth.
Troy – 11th, 1:45.543
“Well that is our best result in Superpole this year, but I really think it could’ve been even better. I was on a fast lap towards the end of the session and as I approached the Parabolica I saw yellow flags and oil flags being waved. I had to roll off the throttle a little and when I got to the turn there were some marshals standing on the kerbs! Obviously there had been a crash or something, but it was a real shame because I knew I was going to beat my previous lap time. I feel pretty sure that I
would’ve qualified for Superpole 3 and that would have meant a start from at least row two. We solved some of yesterday’s problems, but I think we still need a more consistent braking feeling. There are quite a few bumps here and that makes our bike move and skip about a bit. We’re working on a lot on the electronics side of things and it’s an area which we have to sort out completely and then we’ll be able to lap faster and be more competitive. But I’m happy with out best Superpole result so far and if I can get two good starts, then I’ll be in with a chance of some good results.”
Ruben – 14th, 1:6.571
“Everything is coming better and although there’s still lots to do, we are all working together well and the bike is improving and improving. Maybe here today we had too much grip and that affected the feel of the bike. Also the bike didn’t feel as fast today as when we tested here a month ago and that might be to do with grip and it might be to do with electronics.Today we tried to set the bike up for consistent lap times and maybe lost a little power as a result. I had a little crash today, but I think five other riders crashed using the same tire, so I think it was because of the soft tire all of us had used. Tomorrow morning we’ll make some adjustments in the warm-up and hopefully we’ll improve some more.”
Berti Hauser (Director BMW Motorrad Motorsport)
“Congratulations to Troy for giving us our best Superpole result so far and I’m only sorry because it seems like it could’ve been even better. But that’s the way things are sometimes and we have to be happy that we are getting better every time we go out. Ruben also made an improvement and I think we are showing that we are going in the right direction. Troy and Ruben have both proved that they can fight from way down the grid and I’m sure we’ll see more of that from them tomorrow.”
Sunday:
Ruben Xaus gave Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport their best result so far with a superb seventh in the first race at Monza today. He then followed it up with a solid ninth in the second race to make it his best weekend in five rounds and shows that he and the bike are making progress every time out.
His team mate Troy Corser was involved in a horrific crash on the opening lap of race one, when he was hit in the neck and back of head by another rider’s fallen bike. Troy was winded and was stretchered off, but fortunately he was able to get back to the pits under his own steam. Despite being bruised and battered, Troy decided to take part in the restarted race, but suffered another crash on the approach to the Parabolica on lap one. Luckily he was not injured seriously but he and the team decided to err on the side of safety and therefore not take part in race two.
Italian Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) won the first race, much to the delight of the home fans, with team mate Noriyuki Haga second and Ryuichi Kiyonari third. American Ben Spies (Yamaha) won race two, to make up for the disappointment of running out of fuel in race one whilst contending the lead. Second was Michel Fabrizio , with Kiyonari third again.
Ruben – Race 1: 7th, Race 2: 9th
“I am happy to give the team our best result of the season so far and happy that I managed another top ten finish in he second race. My seventh place result is also for Troy and the whole team because everybody has worked so hard for this. My race two result could’ve been better, but I made a really bad start and then got nudged by somebody in the chicane. I recovered and was happy fighting for eighth with Smrz, Parkes and Laconi but I just couldn’t get past Smrz for eighth. But generally, my race pace was good today and I think our result is also very good considering how little time we have in practice and qualifying. If we continue to make this good progress, we will be fighting for places even further up.”
Troy – Race 1: DNF, Race 2: DNS
“I got hit by another bike on the first lap of the first race and was lucky not to get hurt. I was on my knees and a bike caught the back of my head and forced my helmet down on to the tarmac and gave it a big thump. I managed to get off the track and on to the grass, but I was winded so I just laid down on the grass. I could see that some straw bales were protecting some other riders and I thought that there would be a red flag. I just wanted to get my breath back, but the marshals insisted on putting me on a stretcher and taking me to the ambulance. As soon as I had got my breath back, I got up and walked back to the pits for the restart of the race. The team didn’t put any pressure on me to start the race, but I felt OK and decided to try. Unfortunately, I got sucked into a four or five rider draft going into the Parabolica and found myself going in a bit too hot. I tried to brake as normal and drift a bit wide but Muggeridge came across and I had to choose between hitting him or braking harder than normal and possibly crashing. I put more pressure on the brakes and I guess you know what happened then! Yep, a crash. I went along the tarmac and then the gravel feet first, flipped a couple of times and was very lucky not to hurt myself any more. I felt pretty bruised and battered and we decided not to risk anything by starting the second race. It was all a big shame because I thought we’d get some good results today. But anyway, congratulations to Ruben for getting seventh and showing everybody that we are improving all the time.”
Berti Hauser (Director BMW Motorrad Motorsport)
“This weekend was one of both shadows and sunshine, but I am happy that Troy survived the horror crash in race one and was able to take part in the restart. I’m also happy that he didn’t hurt himself when he had the second crash and the decision not to start race two was definitely the right one. He has been riding with an injured hand all weekend (a crack in the bone of his left hand) and there was no point risking any further injury. The sunshine was Ruben’s seventh in race one and a ninth in race two. He’s improving for sure and it shows that we are pushing hard, going forward and getting more and more competitive. I want to take this opportunity to send my best wishes to Max Neukirchner and hope he has a speedy recovery after that terrible crash.”
