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HANNspree Ten Kate >> Double podium delight for Ten Kate in USA

June 04 2009

Ten Kate Racing - Nieuwsbrief

The Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team enjoyed a podium result in both of today's seventh round World Superbike championship races at Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City USA.

In race one, Carlos Checa, climbed the rostrum for the first time this season with second place. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, he crashed out of a comfortable second place in race two.

In the second outing, it was Jonathan Rea who flew the Honda flag, with another impressive third place finish to follow up his WSBK podium debut last time out at Kyalami in South Africa. The 22-year-old from Northern Ireland had earlier finished in fifth place in the two-part race one, which had been stopped after a crash involving Karl Muggeridge.
Both 21-lap encounters were won by American Ben Spies, who has closed down his points deficit on series leader Noriyuke Haga. Rea’s results have leap-frogged him past fellow Honda-mounted Leon Haslam into fourth place, while Checa has moved up to eighth place at the halfway stage of the season.

Jonathan Rea – 5th and 3rd
I was just settling into a good rhythm in race one when it got red flagged, but the second part was OK and I just couldn’t maintain the gap I had over Fabrizio, so he beat me to the podium, even though I finished third on the road. In race two, I just had to ride as slowly as I could to keep the guys behind me. There was a big gap to the guys at the front, who were riding at a fantastic pace, but I had a problem with the front of the bike. Luckily I was able to use the power of the CBR1000RR on the straights to stay ahead. I think we’ve found some consistency now, so we can return to Europe with our heads held high and look forward to some more good results.

Carlos Checa – 2nd and DNF
Race one was nice – I got a good start in the second part. I pushed really hard behind Ben (Spies) but I was not able to catch him. It was great to be back on the podium in America. The crash in the second race was a real shame because I had a good pace and I was comfortable in third position. I entered the chicane maybe a little tighter than before to try and close the gap on Fabrizio, but I touched the kerb with my engine casing and that was the end of the race for me. But I think we have grown up a lot here and moved things forward in a good direction – it’s just a shame that the weekend had to finish like this.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager
All in all, it’s been a good weekend really. To have three riders in the top five in race one was really satisfying – and probably a unique WSBK result. The second race was looking even better until Carlos crashed out but it was still good to have Johnny bringing the CBR1000RR home in third place. I think we can conclude that we made another step forward this weekend and we will be helped by testing at Magny-Cours on our way down to the next race in Misano, where we hope to confirm and improve upon the current base settings. We are looking forward to bringing the good form we have found in South Africa and America back to Europe.

2009 World Superbike championship, round seven –
Miller Motorsports Park, Salt Lake City, USA (4.907km, 2 x 21 laps) results:
Race one:
1 Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha 38’30.945s
2 Carlos Checa (ESP) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +9.394s
3 Michel Fabrizio (ITA) Ducati +12.742s
4 Ryuichi Kiyonari (JPN) Ten Kate Honda Racing +14.276s
5 Jonathan Rea (GBR) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +14.915s
6 Max Biaggi (ITA) Aprilia +15.461s

Race two:
1 Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha 38’25.391s
2 Michel Fabrizio (ITA) Ducati +9.080s
3 Jonathan Rea (GBR) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +14.357s
4 Max Biaggi (ITA) Aprilia +15.461s
5 Ryuichi Kiyonari (JPN) Ten Kate Honda Racing +17.156s
6 Jakub Smrz (CZE) Ducati +17.546s

Championship points after seven of 14 rounds:
Noriyuki Haga (JPN) Ducati 265, Spies 212, Fabrizio 201, Rea 133, Biaggi 126, Leon Haslam (GBR) Honda 122, Tom Sykes (GBR) Yamaha 113, Kiyonari 96, Checa 93, Smrz 82.

Next round: Misano, San Marino – 21 June

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.