Johnny Rea Day – Ten Kate Honda takes one in Germany
- From: 'the Wire' | Published: September 6th, 2009 - 1:40 pm
In today’s 11th round World Superbike championship races at Nurburgring in Germany Jonathan Rea won the second race after placing fourth in the first outing. It was his and the team’s second World Superbike victory of the season and his fifth podium finish.
His Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Carlos Checa, also enjoyed a successful day with two third place finishes – the first behind new championship leader, Ben Spies, who was second in race two.
Rea’s first race was affected by technical difficulties after it was red flagged on the second lap. His CBR1000RR Fireblade had not been giving him the correct level of engine braking so he swapped to his number two machine for the restart.
In the second encounter, the 22-year-old Northern Irishman had to fight through to the lead on lap four after a sluggish start. Japan’s Noriyuki Haga fought back and the pair appeared to touch on the exit the first corner, the Ducati rider crashing out. Rea went on to hold off a late challenge from Spies and was even able to break the Nurburgring lap record on his final lap.
Checa meanwhile had to force his way past his team-mate in the opening 20-lapper after starting from eighth on the grid. The Spaniard also put moves on Fabrizio, Biaggi and Corser to grab his third podium of the season.
A delighted Checa enjoyed a better start to race two and even led briefly on lap three before settling for third behind Rea and Spies.
Jonathan Rea – 4th and 1st
Apart from the issues with my number one bike in the first part of race one, I had a real problem with turn three and messed up the race. I was a bit disappointed with fourth and was really motivated to ride better in race two. The guys sat me down in between races and gave me an instruction manual on how to win. We changed nothing on the bike and I tried to ride my own race and mind my own business. I got a really bad start and had to get a bit aggressive on pe! ople in turn one. Haga ran quite wide and I went on the inside and, although I didn’t see him I felt a big bang and only found out he crashed after the race. I’m sorry for that but don’t think it was my fault and I wouldn’t blame him. I gave it all I could in the race and the package was very strong today so I can’t thank the team enough. I knew I had to make no mistakes on the last lap because Ben was so close, so breaking the lap record then was great. But it’s really a testament to how strong the bike is now and hopefully we can take this momentum on to the next race.
Carlos Checa – 3rd and 3rd
We knew it would be tough going into turn one and in the first race I just tried to catch the top guys. I got up to Johnny and had a good fight with him but right up to the last turn I didn’t know what would happen. I made a really great start to race two – I couldn’t believe it. Got into another battle with Haga early on but I could see Johnny was strong when he passed me. I tried to stay with Ben Spies and lost a few meters in the middle of the race but it was very good to keep third for me and for the team. It’s been a really satisfying weekend.
Ronald ten Kate – team manager
All in all, we’ve had some good results this weekend. Jonathan had some problems to resolve after the race but, to his credit, he solved them himself – we didn’t change anything on the bike. Going back to his number one machine for race two would have helped and our congratulations to him on the win. Also to the whole staff who have worked so hard over the last couple of weeks to keep us where we are. Jonathan’s win in race two maybe overshadowed Carlos’s results, but fair play to him for two brilliant podiums. He has worked and ridden really well this weekend and we’ll now try to improve the bike even more for Imola.
Ryuichi Kiyonari took 14th and seventh place finishes in today’s two races of the 11th-round World Superbike championship race at Nurburgring in Germany.
The races were won by America’s Ben Spies and Kiyonari’s Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Jonathan Rea, as the Japanese rider continues his adaptation to new suspension components which he has been using since the last round at Brno in the Czech Republic.
After qualifying in 18th place yesterday, Kiyonari had sluggish starts to both races, but continued improvements to his Ohlins suspension allowed him to climb several places to seventh in race two
Ryuichi Kiyonari – 14th and 7th
Race two was a big improvement for me and I felt more comfortable on the bike. It had a better feeling and balance and I was able to push a little harder in the second race and pass quite a few riders. Of course, there is still a lot of work to do but I am looking forward to see how much more we can improve in the final three races of the season.
Ronald ten Kate – team manager
Unfortunately, Kiyonari-san was unable to make very much progress in the first race, even though we made some improvements to the bike overnight. The changes seemed to work better in race two and Kiyo was able to improve his lap time as well as passing some other riders for a solid top ten finish. We will continue working as a team to find some more improvements when we reach Imola, which is a circuit Kiyonari knows after our test there earlier in the summer.
2009 World Superbike championship, round 11 – Nurburgr! ing, Ger many (5.13km, 2 x 20 laps) results:
Race one:
1 Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha 39’04.818s
2 Noriyuki Haga (JPN) Ducati +3.850s
3 Carlos Checa (ESP) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +6.990
4 Jonathan Rea (GBR) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +7.109
5 Max Biaggi (ITA) Aprilia +12.825
6 Leon Haslam (GBR) Honda +13.243
14 Ryuichi Kiyonari (JPN) Ten Kate Honda Racing +31.188
Race two:
1 Jonathan Rea (GBR) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 39’01.561
2 Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha +0.786s
3 Carlos Checa (ESP) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +4.993
4 Max Biaggi (ITA) Aprilia +8.191
5 Leon Haslam (GBR) Honda +10.907
6 Troy Corser (AUS) BMW +17.152
7 Ryuichi Kiyonari (JPN) Ten Kate Honda Racing +19.743
Championship points after 11 of 14 rounds:
Spies 364, Haga 346, Fabrizio 289, Rea 244, Biaggi 224, Haslam 201, Checa 177, Tom Sykes (GBR) Yamaha 165, Shane Byrne (GBR) Ducati 134, Kiyonari 130.
WSS
Kenan Sofuoglu crashed out of a comfortable second place in today’s 11th-round World Supersport championship race at Nurburgring in Germany – a race won by series leader Cal Crutchlow. Sofuoglu’s Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Andrew Pitt, was seventh.
Starting from second place on the grid, Sofuoglu challenged Crutchlow on the opening laps, breaking the lap record on lap two. However, as drizzle began to fall on the 5.13km Nurburgring circuit, the Turkish rider slid off at the tight first corner.
He lost his right footpeg in the crash but was able to remount in eighteenth place and move up to 10th place before a small bolt that he was resting his right foot on worked itself loose, leaving a bitterly disappointed Sofuoglu unable to continue.
Pitt, meanwhile, got a good start from his 10th place on the grid but was affected by the rain in the early stages, when his lap times dropped. The Australian rallied in the second part of the race, however, and climbed as high as sixth before dropping back to seventh at the flag.
Andrew Pitt – 7th
I was basically just too cautious when it was wet and lost too much time. I saw a couple of other riders go down and just took it steady for a couple of laps but came back strong at the end, when my lap times were better and I was able to get into a rhythm. We still need to do some work on improving the way the bike turns – I’m just having to wait too long to get on the gas. But we’re going in the right direction and making small steps forward. We’ll have a good base to start with at Imola and know what we have to do.
Kenan Sofuoglu – DNF
I am so disappointed because I was in a good position when I crashed. I felt I had to push to stay with Crutchlow, but I just pushed too hard. I lost the footpeg but the rest of the bike was OK and I was able to do some good lap times before the bolt ! fell off and I had no alternative but to pull in. I’m sorry for the team who worked so hard to give me a good bike this weekend and I will try to make up for it at Imola.
Ronald ten Kate – team manager
It’s a shame of course, but second position seemed secured until Kenan’s little off. The positive is that we had made a big step forward this weekend and in our small tests during the break. Andrew’s first half was slow, but in the second part of his race he seemed to be quick enough for maybe fourth place. However, we are moving in the right direction and look forward to continuing at Imola.
2009 World Supersport championship, round 11 – Nurburging, Germany (5.13km, 19 laps) results:
1 Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Yamaha 37’56.481s
2 Eugene Laverty (IRL) Honda +10.109s
3 Joan Lascorz (ESP) Kawasaki +10.250
4 Massimo Roccoli (ITA) Honda +31.980
5 Fabien Foret (FRA) Yamaha +34.575
6 Mark Aitchison (AUS) Honda +34.724
7 Andrew Pitt (AUS) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +36.632
Championship points after 11 of 14 rounds: Crutchlow 210, Laverty 188, Lascorz 138, Kenan Sofuoglu (TUR) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 128, Foret 99, Anthony West 96, Pitt 94
Next round: Imola, Italy – 25-27 September
