2006 World Superbike Championship

Photo Courtesy Suzuki Racing

Circuit: EuroSpeedway Lausitz Country: Germany Track length: 4265m Opened: 2000 Lap record: 1:39.679 (Ruben Xaus, Ducati) Last year's winners: Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) and Chris Vermeulen (Honda)

EuroSpeedway, Lausitz, Germany.  Courtesy Yamaha Racing

2006 World Superbike - Germany

Text and Photos Courtesy MotoGP, Kawasaki, Yamaha Racing, Team Suzuki and World Superbike.  Edited by webBikeWorld.

Race Results
September 10, 2006 (Yamaha) - Two second place finishes at today's German round of the Superbike World Championship saw Yamaha Motor Italia's Noriyuki Haga move back into second place in the series.

Despite suffering a wrist injury in Saturday's free practice session, the Japanese star was able to lead both races and scored more points than any other rider at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz circuit.

In the day's first race Haga made a good start and followed championship leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati) in the opening laps.  When the Australian made an error, the Yamaha rider led a four-way battle for the lead with Yamaha Motor Italia team-mate Andrew Pitt and the Suzukis of Troy Corser and Yukio Kagayama.  Pitt eventually slipped back to fourth as a result of an incorrect tire choice, while Kagayama was able to pass the Yamaha as Haga's front tire grip deteriorated in the closing stages.

Race two saw the same protagonists at the front but Pitt, now running the same specification tyres as the other front men, was an early casualty when he crashed on lap four.  The Australian had been sitting comfortably with the leading pack, only to be pitched off in a lowside crash when his bike's footpeg touched the raised kerbing.

That left James Toseland (Honda) in the lead with Haga breathing down his neck for the entire duration of the race.  Despite his best efforts, the Yamaha rider could not find a way through and took the checkered flag two-tenths of a second behind the Briton.

The penultimate round of the championship takes place at the Imola circuit in Italy on 1 October.

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia):  "I am happy with the result because yesterday I hurt my wrist and was in a lot of pain.  The doctors gave me some painkillers and I actually enjoyed both races, because there were some good fights. In the first race I was able to lead but in the last five laps my front tire was gone and I could not do anything when Yuki passed me.  We made some changes for the second and I was able to fight with James, although he rode very well and I could not pass him.  Still, I am satisfied and I would like to thank all the medical staff who helped me get such good results today."

Suzuki
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Yukio Kagayama took a superb victory in the first race at the Eurospeedway Lausitz World Superbike Championship 10th round in Germany with team mate Troy Corser joining him on the podium.

Kagayama had been in third place for most of the 24-lapper, but then charged past Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) and Corser with just two laps to go.  From then on in, he was determined to stay in front and took the flag just over a second ahead of Haga with Corser close behind.

Kagayama was ready to go all-out for victory in race two, but tire problems prevented him from staying with the leading group of three.  In the end, James Toseland (Honda) took a hard-fought for win with Haga again second and series leader Bayliss third.

It was not a good race for reigning World Champion Corser: The starter held the lights for longer than usual and many riders were moving slightly when the lights went out.  Corser was judged to have jumped the start and had to pull into the pits for a ride -through penalty.  The ride-though caused him to drop from fourth to 23rd place and although he stormed his way through the field, he could only manage 14th.

Yukio Kagayama - Race 1: 1st, Race 2: 4th:  “I was very, very happy after my win in race one because it was such a hard race.  My bike worked very well, except for a little braking problem.  For the first 15 laps or so, Nori made very good lap times and I was at my maximum just staying in third place! It was hard to overtake.  In the last five laps of the race, his lap times started to come down and I saw that I had a chance.  I went past my team mate Troy and Nori and was able to finish first. It was very enjoyable having a big battle like that.

“We used the same tire for the second race but it did not behave the same way and that is a bit strange.  For the first few laps, the front had very little grip and my lap times were not so good and I lost touch with the leaders.  Then, later on, the front tire felt better and I began to catch up the leaders, but it was too late.  The bike and the setting was the same for both races, so I don’t know why tire behaved differently.”
 

Race Preview - Yamaha
World Superbike takes its annual trip to Germany this weekend as the impressive EuroSpeedway Lausitz plays host to round ten of the 12 that make up this year's championship.

Last weekend the rain gods wreaked havoc at Assen, with each of the top four riders in the championship going into the weekend crashing at least once in the races.

For Yamaha Motor Italia the Dutch races were bittersweet: on one hand Noriyuki Haga missed a golden chance to pull back points on the championship leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati), while Andrew Pitt was the man of the day, taking a second place in each outing to catapult him two places in the championship, up to fourth.

Situated in the former East Germany, EuroSpeedway was opened in 2000 and first played host to the series the following year.  The venue comprises of a high-speed oval circuit with an inner road course which is used for the Superbikes. 

The circuit itself consists of several slow speed corners linked by long straights.  Previous experiences of the circuit suggest that qualifying will be important as overtaking is difficult due to the layout and 'single-line' nature of the track.

The venue hosted a test for the Pirelli development teams in July, including Yamaha Motor Italia, with Haga fastest and Pitt just one tenth of a second behind.  Haga will look to bounce back from his Assen disappointment in the only way he knows, by fighting for the win at a track where he finished on the podium twice last year.

The Japanese rider's failure to score in the Netherlands saw him slip back to 102 points behind Bayliss with just 150 points at stake in the final three rounds, making winning the title a tough task for the ever popular Yamaha star.

For team-mate Pitt, the German race gives him an opportunity to continue his impressive form.  The top scorer in Assen is now just one place and 33 points behind his more experienced team-mate, with the Australian hoping to add to his tally of five podiums so far this year.

"When your confidence is high you look forward to every race and that's how it is with me just now," explains Pitt.  "I'm really enjoying racing just now because our bike is working so well everywhere we go, but it's not just about me as the team has worked so hard to get us to this point.  The R1 is not only one of the best bikes on the grid, it is also very consistent and we can now pretty much take it out of the truck and go racing without having to make big changes.

"Assen was a really tough weekend but to get a couple of second places in such differing conditions shows how well the bike is working.  Getting ahead of Barros and Corser in the championship was the main thing and now we have to make sure we keep challenging for podiums and wins so that we're ahead of them at the end of the season.  We had a really good test at Lausitz about a month ago so the whole team is looking forward to racing here."

EuroSpeedway, Lausitz, Germany.  Courtesy Yamaha Racing

Race Preview - Suzuki
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra riders Troy Corser and Yukio Kagayama are looking for a change in fortune at this weekend’s World Superbike Championship 10th round at Eurospeedway Lausitz in Germany.

Both riders left Assen last week with little to show for all their efforts, but are looking forward to this weekend’s races at Lausitz

The circuit is a relatively new facility and originally built for ‘NASCAR’ style car races. It is tri-oval in design but with an infield section for bikes and conventional car racing.

Troy Corser:  “Last year in Lausitz was a bit mixed - one podium and one crash, but at least I was able to pick up the bike after the crash and get into the points, not like last weekend in Assen!  It is a strange feeling to have two DNF’s in a weekend and it’s something I certainly don’t want in Lausitz.  It’s not a particularly difficult track to learn and I hope we don’t have any rain because it is very slippery when it’s wet.  The water doesn’t drain away quickly and standing water is a big problem - as we found out last week!  I will be aiming for two podiums in Lausitz - anything less will feel like a failure.”

Yukio Kagayama:  “Last year I took a fifth and a fourth in Lausitz so my plan is to improve on those results.  Assen was very difficult for all of us so I am hoping that Lausitz will be dry.  It is a not a good place to race in the wet because the grip is not good.  My success in Brno now seems a long memory and I want to repeat those good results with more podiums.  If all goes well in qualifying, I think it will be possible at Lausitz. “