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HANNspree Ten Kate Honda >> >> Hannspree riders prepare for German challenge

September 01 2010

Ten Kate Racing - Nieuwsbrief

After a month away from the World Superbike championship, Hannspree Ten Kate Honda riders Jonathan Rea and Max Neukirchner have been preparing themselves for this weekend’s (3-5 September) 11th round of the series at Nurburgring in Germany. The Dutch-based squad completed a day’s testing of suspension and electronics components at their local circuit of Assen yesterday, allowing both riders to get back to speed following a period of more than four weeks away from the team’s Honda CBR1000RR Fireblades.

Jonathan Rea, 23, currently lies in third place in the world championship standings but returns to the historic 5.137km Nurburgring as a previous race winner, having emerged on the top step of the podium in race two last year, after placing fourth in race one. The Northern Irishman beat 2009 champion Ben Spies to the race victory, breaking the Nurburgring lap record on the final lap. Rea enjoyed his return to track act ion during the Assen test and, despite rain interruptions, was quickly back up to speed and close to the race pace that netted him a double victory at the Dutch circuit back in April.

Max Neukirchner hasn’t had quite as much time away from the track as his Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, having competed in the IDM German Superbike championship round at Assen two weeks ago. Neukirchner won the opening race and finished third in the second outing on a Honda CBR1000RR prepared by Ten Kate Racing Products.
The 27-year-old German left the last WSBK round at Silverstone in the UK in a positive frame of mind, despite a difficult return to the 2010 championship after missing most of last season through injury. For Silverstone raceday, Neukirchner returned to a setting that had served him well earlier in the season, allowing him a greater degree of comfort and control on the bike and giving him an ability to challenge more positively during the races, which he firmly intends on carrying through to Nurburgring this weekend.

Jonathan Rea
It’s been good to have some time off, but I couldn’t wait to get back on the bike. The test at Assen couldn’t have come at a better time because it gave us a chance to shake off some cobwebs before Nurburgring and to try a whole load of new stuff for the bike. The development has carried on during the break and the team is continuing to make a big effort right through to the end of the season. It’s good to get my head back up to 180-190mph in preparation for Nurburgring, which I’m really looking forward to. I like riding there and managed to get a win last year. However, I’m under no illusions that everyone else will also be coming back strong after the break, so it’s definitely not going to be an easy weekend. We’ll have to work hard to optimise the bike’s setting to give me something to challenge up front with, but I’m sure the guys can give me that.

Max Neukirchner
All is good, and it was very interesting going back to Assen so soon after the IDM race on a completely different bike! Everything went pretty well yesterday and we were concentrating mostly on engine and electronics to get a good level of smooth power which is what we’ll need for this weekend in Nurburgring. I’m really looking forward to the races and the IDM results have given me a big boost and a motivation to do well. It’s a home race, of course, but there won’t be quite so many of my own fans as there were at Brno because it’s a bit further away for them. However, we’ll start with something close to where we left Silverstone and I’ll try to give the German race fans something to cheer about!

Ronald ten Kate
Despite a couple of showers of rain, we got a lo t of track time at our Assen test and we were able to test some new electronics and suspension settings. It was also a good opportunity for Jonathan and Max to get up to speed again and boost their confidence for Nurburgring this weekend. Jonathan managed to match his race pace from earlier in the season, despite track conditions being much worse than they were in April. We had a good couple of races before the break, too, at Brno and Silverstone, and we hope that Max can benefit from a home race advantage in Germany. His IDM championship race at Assen gave him a taste for podium champagne again and certainly lifted his spirits, so we’re ready to go!

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