2006 World Superbike - Magny Cours
Text and Photos Courtesy MotoGP, Kawasaki, Yamaha
Racing, Team Suzuki and World Superbike.
Edited by webBikeWorld.
Race Results
Troy Corser finished the 2006 World
Superbike Championship season in style
with two very hard-fought-for podiums on
his Suzuki GSX-R1000 at Magny-Cours in
France today to secure fourth place in
the series.
The Australian was involved in a
terrific dogfight for both of the
23-lappers but, although he didn’t get
the win he wanted so badly, his third
place in race one and second in race two
was enough to move him up two places in
the championship.
His team mate Yukio Kagayama suffered
rear grip problems in both races,
finishing fifth in the first race and
ninth in the second to take seventh in
the Championship.
Team Alstare Engineering Corona Extra
rider Max Neukirchner put away his
disappointment of the last round in
Imola with two solid finishes.
Despite lack of rear grip and a lot of
wheelspin in both races, he kept the
bike upright to finish 12th in race one
and 14th in race two.
James Toseland (Honda) won the first
race with Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) second
and Corser third after a battle that had
the 61,000-strong crowd jumping up and
down with excitement. Race two was yet
another titanic battle, but this time
newly-crowned champion Troy Bayliss
(Ducati) took the win from Corser after
fighting off Toseland in the closing
stages.
Troy Corser - Race 1: 3rd,
Race 2: 2nd: “Today was a fantastic
advert for Superbike racing and both
races were awesome. It was great to be
involved in both races and I’m sure the
fans and TV audiences enjoyed them. The
bike worked really well today and I
always felt that I could get a couple of
podiums or maybe even a win. The boys
worked their socks off - just like
they’ve done all year.”
Magny Cours Race Results
Race 1: 1 Toseland (GB-Honda), 2 Haga
(J-Yamaha), 3 Troy Corser (Aus-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra), 4 Bayliss
(Aus-Ducati), 5 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra), 6 Walker
(GB-Kawasaki), 12 Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare
Engineering Corona Extra).
Race 2: 1 Bayliss, 2 Troy Corser
(Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 3
Toseland, 4 Haga, 5 Pitt (Aus-Yamaha), 6
Muggeridge (Aus-Honda), 9 Yukio Kagayama
(J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 14 Max
Neukirchner (D-Alstare Engineering
Corona Extra).
Final Points Standings: 1 Bayliss
431, 2 Toseland 336, 3 Haga 326, 4 Troy
Corser (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)
254, 5 Pitt 250, 6 Barros 246, 7 Yukio
Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)
211, 18 Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare
Engineering Corona Extra) 28.
Qualifying
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra
rider Troy Corser put in a virtually
perfect lap to take Superpole at
Magny-Cours today. His time of
1:39.147 was over one and a half seconds
inside the lap record and
two-10ths-of-a-second ahead of his
nearest rival James Toseland (Honda).
Corser’s team mate Yukio Kagayama
suffered from wheelspin in the final
part of his Superpole lap and ended
eighth quickest and will start from the
second row of the grid behind Alstare
Engineering’s Max Neukirchner. But, like
Corser, he feels that he has got a good
set-up for the race and is confident of
challenging for the podium.
Third quickest today was Lorenzo
Lanzi (Ducati), with Karl Muggeridge
(Honda) completing the front row of the
grid.
Troy Corser - 1st, 1:39.147:
“The Superpole lap felt more or less
perfect and I’m really happy to have
taken it here - in the last race of the
year. We’ve been in pretty good shape
all weekend really and have just been
fine-tuning the bike over the past
couple of days."
"It’s always good to win Superpole
and I am particularly pleased today for
myself, for my mechanics and the entire
Alstare crew. Last year I had to start
from the fourth row of the grid here so
I’m in much better shape this year! It’s
going to be a long, hard day tomorrow
and I’m sure that the races are going to
be tough, but I want to end the season
with a couple of podiums for sure - and
maybe a win.”
Final WSB Qualifying: 1 Troy
Corser (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)
1:39.147, 2 Toseland (GB-Honda)
1:39.355, 3 Lanzi ((I-Ducati) 1:39.773,
4 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda) 1:39.911, 5
Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:39.914, 6 Bayliss
(Aus-Ducati) 1:39.944, 7 Max Neukirchner
(D-Alstare Engineering Corona Extra)
1:39.961, 8 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:40.079, 9 Pitt
(Aus-Yamaha) 1:40.090, 10 Nieto
(E-Kawasaki) 1:40.270.
Yamaha Racing Team Report
Yamaha Motor Italia riders Noriyuki
Haga and Andrew Pitt will start
tomorrow's final round of the 2006
Superbike World Championship from fifth
and ninth places respectively.
Both men made small mistakes on their
Superpole lap to slip down the order
from their positions in regular
qualifying and, despite not qualifying
as well as hoped, the Yamaha Motor
Italia riders are primed for action in
tomorrow's 22-lap showdown.
A damp circuit, caused by overnight
rain, meant that Superpole positions
were decided by Friday's times. Only a
few riders ventured out onto the circuit
during the session, with the best time
some six seconds from the ultimate dry
weather performance.
After ending yesterday fourth on the
timesheets, Pitt was the fourth to last
rider to take to his Superpole lap.
Despite clocking his best lap time of
the weekend, a 1:40.090, the Australian
rider was unable to make as big an
improvement as many of his rivals on the
soft qualifying rubber. His time saw him
take the ninth slot on the grid for
tomorrow's races, on the outside of the
third row.
Haga was last to depart for his
Superpole lap after holding the
provisional pole position but made a
small mistake on the opening part of the
lap. An improved performance in the
latter part of the lap saw Haga post a
lap time of 1:39.914, to end the
Superpole session directly in front of
Pitt, in fifth.
Rain has meant that set-up time has
been at a premium at Magny Cours this
weekend, although Haga and Toseland gave
fans a sneak preview of tomorrow's
action in the afternoon practice
session, when they spent 10 laps trading
positions and never separated by a few
bike lengths. The speedy R1 has proved
rapid around the French circuit, with
Yamaha riders recording the top three
speeds in the superpole session. At
285.7kph through the speed trap,
Sebastien Gimbert was the fastest on his
Yamaha Motor France machine, followed by
Haga (284.2kph) and Pitt (283.5kph).
