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HANNspree Ten Kate Honda >> Tough weekend for Hannspree Ten Kate Honda

July 02 2010

Ten Kate Racing - Nieuwsbrief

Round eight of the 2010 World Superbike championship proved to be one to forget for the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda squad following a hot and frustrating weekend at Misano in Italy. With difficult qualifying sessions leading to lower grid positions, today’s two 24-lap races were a true test for riders Jonathan Rea and Max Neukirchner.

Rea started both races well, catapulting his Honda CBR1000RR from 16th on the grid into positions that would allow him to challenge for top ten placings. However, the chatter that has plagued the 23-year-old from Northern Ireland all weekend, returned to force him back down the field in both races. Rea ended the day with 13th and 12th place finishes.

His team-mate Max Neukirchner also suffered again from chatter problems, but the German rider improved on his grid placing to finish 14th in both outings, which were won by local rider Max Biaggi.

Jonathan Rea – 13th and 12th
I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you how I’m feeling after this weekend, and most of what I’m feeling you wouldn’t be able to publish anyway. It’s unbelievably frustrating to be held back by this problem when it wasn’t that long ago that we were winning together. We just haven’t been able to sort things out this weekend and the results show that more clearly than anything else. We’ve got to get it together and I’m hoping that a two day test will allow us an opportunity to do that.

Max Neukirchner – 14th and 14th
It’s been the same problem for me this weekend. The start of the races were both OK but when the front tyre was new and gripping better, the chatter seemed to be worse. It meant that I nearly crashed a few times. It improved a little as the grip got less, but by then it was too late to do very much about it. It’s been a bad weekend for the whole team, so we’ve got lots of work to do at the test this week to try to improve things. The only good thing from the weekend is that the German football team got to the quarter finals in the World Cup.

Ronald ten Kate – team-manager
I can understand the frustrations of the riders since we couldn’t solve the issues we seem to have had on the bike this weekend. If I wasn’t able to remember the racecraft displayed by Jonathan at Assen, Monza, Kyalami, when rider and machine seemed to be in a perfect balance, I’d be at my wits' end. As it is, we have to find a solution to this and it’s really important that we find a step forward at the Imola test this week.

2010 World Superbike championship – round eight
Misano, Italy (4.226km – 24 laps) – results
Race one:
1. Max Biaggi (ITA) Aprilia
2. Carlos Checa (ESP) Ducati
3. Troy Corser (AUS) BMW
4. Michel Fabrizio (ITA) Ducati
13. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda
14. Max Neukirchner (GER) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda

Race two:
1. Max Biaggi (ITA) Aprilia
2. Leon Haslam (GBR) Suzuki
3. Michel Fabrizio (ITA) Ducati
4. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Yamaha
12. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda
14. Max Neukirchner (GER) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda

Championship points after eight of 13 rounds:
1 Biaggi 307, 2 Haslam 270, 3 Checa 172, 4 Rea 158, 5 Haga 151, 6 Corser 149.

Next round: Brno, Czech Republic – 9-11 July

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 market leader in Windscreens, Undertails, Huggers, Flush-Mount Signals, MGP and Megaphone Exhausts, and full-race Bodywork.  Hotbodies Racing supports the sport with sponsorships around the world, and encourages dealer and distributor inquiries.  For more information visit: www.hotbodiesracing.com