FIM World Superbike Championship Series
Round 13: Magny-Cours, France
October 5, 2008

Despite setting a new lap record in race one, HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR rider Carlos Checa ended the Magny-Cours weekend with a seventh- and a fourth-place finish in the penultimate 2008 World Superbike championship event. Checa now runs fifth in the season’s championship standings.

Checa’s choice of soft tires in the opener held him back in Race One, and he fought hard in the latter stages to get seventh. In Race Two, on a different tire choice, he finished just seven seconds behind the winner. Several riders had difficulty working out a good set-up and tire choice this weekend, as practice and qualifying were held in changeable conditions, from nearly dry to fully wet. Superpole was run under normal “dry” rules.

Checa’s teammate and last season’s World Supersport champion, Kenan Sofuoglu, battled hard in Race One for ninth place. It was Sofuoglu’s best finish in the World Superbike class (this is his first year), but the after-effects of his high-speed tumble at Vallelunga two weeks ago took their toll in Race Two as the young Turkish rider struggled home in nineteenth place.

Despite a limited amount of dry time on the HANNspree Ten Kate team’s Honda CBR1000RR, Martin Bauer, who was standing in for the injured Ryuichi Kiyonari, took a laudable 17th in Race One but crashed out of contention in Race Two. Two encouraging races for Roberto Rolfo (HANNspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR) ended in an eventual technical retirement in Race One, after being knocked off track early on, and a tenth place in Race Two. The Italian rider was an impressive fifth in Superpole.

Gregorio Lavilla (Ventaxia VK Honda CBR1000RR) was the last rider in Superpole, 16th, and rode hard in each 23-lap race to maintain his status as top privateer. He took tenth and then 12th place finishes. He is now 12th overall, on 117 points.

Carlos Checa: “It’s quite strange that we had a different feeling from the test here last week, and I felt quite comfortable in warm-up this morning. In Race One we made a risky tire choice and it didn’t work out the way we wanted. The second race was a little better, although we had a rear stability problem exiting the tighter corners. It was costing me about three-tenths of a second per lap and, towards the end of the race, I knew I couldn’t fight for the podium any more.”

Kenan Sofuoglu: “The way I was feeling before the weekend, I wasn’t even sure I would be able to compete here with the amount of bruising I had after Vallelunga. After the first race, it was not so much the pain, but I was so tired, and that left me without any energy for Race Two. I have a month to recover now, and I want to finish the season on a high level in Portugal.”

Ronald ten Kate – team manager:

“Yes, it’s disappointing after the good test we had here and we were at least hoping to challenge for the podium. In the first race we gambled wrongly on tires, but the second race should certainly have been better. Kenan showed a lot of determination with his battered body, but he only had enough energy for one race. I’m sorry that Martin crashed out because I believe he could have battled for some points today.”

FIM World Superbike Round 13: Magny-Cours, France – Race 1  

1. Noriyuki Haga (Yam)
2. Fonsi Nieto (Suz)
3. Troy Bayliss (Duc)
4. Max Biaggi (Duc)
5. Max Neukirchner (Suz)
6. Troy Corser (Yam)
7. Carlos Checa (Honda)
8. Yukio Kagayama (Suz)
9. Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda)
10. Gregorio Lavilla (Honda)

FIM World Superbike Round 13: Magny-Cours, France – Race 2

1. Troy Bayliss (Duc)
2. Noriyuki Haga (Yam)
3. Troy Corser (Yam)
4. Carlos Checa (Honda)
5. Ruben Xaus (Duc)
6. Max Biaggi (Duc)
7. Yukio Kagayama (Suz)
8. Fonsi Nieto (Suz)
9. Max Neukirchner (Suz)
10. Roberto Rolfo (Honda)

FIM World Superbike Championship Standings  

1. Troy Bayliss (Duc) 410
2. Noriyuki Haga (Yam) 325
3. Troy Corser (Yam) 316
4. Max Neukirchner (Suz) 298
5. Carlos Checa (Honda) 284
6. Max Biaggi (Duc) 235
7. Fonsi Nieto (Suz) 234
8. Michel Fabrizio (Duc) 203
9. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 193
10. Ruben Xaus (Duc) 171