HONDA RACING INFORMATION: HONDA’S WORLD SUPERBIKE MEN SPREAD THEIR WINGS OVER AMERICA

American World Superbike at Miller Motorsports Park
Wednesday 28 May, 2008  World Superbike preview


Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) and all of Honda’s supported World Superbike riders will start the sixth round of the 2008 World Superbike Championship on a truly level footing with their rivals, for the simple reason that none of the regular WSB competitors has ever raced at the 4.905km Miller Motorsports Park before.

Opened in 2006, the impressive Miller facility, near Salt Lake City in the State of Utah, features a vast array of corners, all with significant run-off. A higher than average overall lap speed is expected to be set there, with the WSB riders using the outer circuit layout at this versatile venue.

After the most recent race, at Monza, Checa now has some serious competition for status as top Honda rider, as his fellow 2008 SBK rookie Ryuichi Kiyonari (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) came within a few thousandths of his first ever WSB race win at the previous Monza round.

Kiyonari is a former double British Superbike Champion and also a Suzuka 8-Hour race winner, and now he appears to have made the transition to control tyres and the new Honda Fireblade in WSB, putting himself firmly into the top echelon in what is arguably one of the toughest ever years in the class.

After missing raceday at Monza due to a family bereavement, Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR Jr) returns to race at Miller.

Roberto Rolfo (Hannspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR) is also set to return to racing in America, having recovered from a broken collarbone he suffered in a mountain bike crash shortly before the Monza race. The talented rider from Italy is simply desperate to get back into the action, after missing out on racing at his favourite circuit three weeks ago.

Gregorio Lavilla (Vent Axia VK Honda CBR1000RR) lost his status as second best Honda rider in the championship to Kiyonari after Monza, but the Spaniard, who is also a former BSB champion, has impressed on his private machine, and is still inside the championship top ten.

Another Honda privateer, Karl Muggeridge (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR) took his second sixth place of the season at Monza, and gained two championship places in the process. His improvement is directly linked to the increase in his machine’s successful development programme, and Muggeridge’s understanding of the new 2008 Fireblade. Muggeridge’s team-mate Russell Holland (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR) hooked some useful points at Monza, while Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR riders Shuhei Aoyama and Luca Morelli were desperately unlucky not to score at least a point at Monza.

Checa stated: “I'm looking forward to the next round in the US and I hope we can make up for the loss of points we suffered at Monza. I think America is a good place for the Championship to be at and it needs to be part of the calendar. I have only raced at Laguna Seca in America, so Miller will be a completely new experience for me. I have heard it is a quick track and it will be a new one for all the riders.”

Kiyonari said: “It was great to get on the podium in Monza but I want to win. In this class of racing the team, mechanics the bike are all able to win. Just the rider has to step up. We go to a new track again this weekend but there are lots of new tracks and I have to learn them all quickly. It’s not so easy to win here in WSB, but I really want to.”

Rolfo stated: “I’m ready to race in Salt Lake City. I have been training a lot in the gym and my collarbone fracture has improved a great deal. I’m still feeling some pain but this will not prevent me from racing! The Miller track will be a completely new experience for me, I’ve heard it is a very fast track and this is the kind of circuit that I like. My team has been working hard on my bike and I hope to be more competitive, starting from Salt Lake City races.”

Lavilla said: “Now, in World Superbike, it seems the privateers are strong again. That puts you in a grid where you have one second covering up to 20 riders at times. We started the season with a 2007 bike then started again with the 2008 machine. We are catching up well but other people are also constantly developing their machines too.”

Muggeridge said: “Going to America is great, everybody missed not being there. Our engine guys will always be looking for a bit more for us but otherwise, what we now have on our bike is pretty much what we will be working with for the rest of the year. But we are concentrating more on electronics than any other single aspect. Overall, the new bike is so much better and it responds to set-up changes and rider input very well.”

After the US round, both the World Superbike and World Supersport championships head to Germany for the first WSB event at the Nürburgring since the 1999 season, with raceday on Sunday June 15.