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HANNspree Ten Kate Honda>> Imola races do not live up to Ten Kate expectations

October 01 2009

Ten Kate Racing - Nieuwsbrief

After a promising test in July and a strong qualifying performance, Jonathan Rea was unable to translate his recent form into podium results in today’s two 12th round World Superbike championship races at Imola in Italy.

The races were won by Ducati’s Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio, as Haga regained his championship points lead over Yamaha’s Ben Spies and the series heads into the final two rounds with just three points separating the leaders.

Rea got away well from third on the grid in race one but had to take avoiding action when Fabrizio sat up suddenly in a fast right-hander on lap three. Rea ran into the gravel at turn 11 and picked up his CBR1000RR to rejoin in last place. The Northern Irishman charged his way back to seventh at the flag with some impressive laps and passes.

In race two, a slower start left Rea in a fight for the leading positions and no fewer than three off-track excursions restricted his podium ambitions. He eventually finished in sixth position but was able to retain fourth place in the points standings.
His Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team mate, Carlos Checa, crashed out of the first 21-lapper on lap eight and struggled to find a rhythm in the second outing, coming home in tenth place.

Jonathan Rea – 7th and 6th
It’s been a disappointing day, as I felt we were in good shape for a win here. At the start of race one, the pace seemed quite slow and as I drew alongside Fabrizio to line him up for a pass he must have hit a curb or something. He sat up suddenly and pushed me wide, and I had to run straight into the gravel. Race two was not so good. I got a bad start and it turned into a bit of a dog fight, with people chopping me off and letting the brakes go again when I’d passed them. I made a few mistakes after that, but something also happened with the brakes, which had a bad vibration and the power was inconsistent. I had my heart set on a win but the results aren’t the end of the world – I’ve been fast here and the package was good.

Carlos Checa – DNF and 10th
Well the crash in race one came after a few problems on that corner, but we used a different front tyre and maybe that was the problem. Race two was better than the first, of course, but I struggled in the chicanes, the set up wasn’t quite right and I just struggled to find a way to go faster. My riding was not fluid and I couldn’t get on the pace. There were some positives from the weekend, however, and we will put these together with the good results from Brno and Nurburgring and take a better feeling to Magny-Cours next weekend.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager
Well, I guess it’s obvious that race day did not bring us what we might have expected, particularly from Jonathan’s good qualifying performance. However, racing goes like that sometimes but I still believe we can take some positives to the next round, which is only a week away. Jonathan has shown that the development of the CBR1000RR is continuing and we were able to try a few new things this weekend with good results. Carlos’s results have been strong recently and, without his crash in race one, I think he would have posted two more strong finishes. We’re looking forward to taking a few more steps forward next weekend.

2009 World Superbike championship, round 12 – Imola, Italy (4.93kmkm, 2 x 21 laps) results:
Race one:
1 Noriyuki Haga (JPN) Ducati 38’32.199s
2 Max Biaggi (ITA) Aprilia +2.074s
3 Michel Fabrizio (ITA) Ducati +2.190
4 Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha +5.438
5 Ryuichi Kiyonari (JPN) Ten Kate Honda Racing +14.470
6 Leon Haslam (GBR) Honda +14.685
7 Jonathan Rea (GBR) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +26.822

Race two:
1 Michel Fabrizio (ITA) Ducati 38’23.143s
2 Noriyuki Haga (JPN) Ducati +3.592s
3 Marco Simoncelli (ITA) Aprilia +6.510
4 Max Biaggi (ITA) Aprilia +7.445
5 Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha +14.678
6 Jonathan Rea (GBR) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +16.396
10 Carlos Checa (ESP) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +30.203

Championship points after 12 of 14 rounds:
Haga 391, Spies 388, Fabrizio 330, Rea 263, Biaggi 257, Haslam 219, Checa 183.

Next round: Magny-Cours, France – 2nd-4th October

HANNspree Ten Kate Honda is sponsored by Hotbodies Racing and uses our windscreens and bodywork on all of their bikes. Hotbodies Racing specializes in manufacturing high-performance parts for high-performance sportbikes, and is the North American distribution of KR Tuned performance parts. Hotbodies Racing is the market leader in Undertails, Huggers, Windscreens, Flush-Mount Signals, Megaphone Exhausts and full-race Bodywork. Hotbodies Racing supports the sport with sponsorship around the world and encourages dealer and distributor inquiries. For more information visit: www.HOTBODIESRACING.com.