1999 SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP A1 RING, AUSTRIA
(From WSC)
THE SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IS BACK ON THE TRACK
Rome, 24th August 1999 -
After the summer break the superbike world championship returns to the track. On Sunday at Zeltweg in Austria, there is the first of three legs which will also take the aces of Superbike riding to Assen (Holland, 5 September) and Hockenheim (Germany, 12 September). These are a series of meetings on very fast and demanding tracks which could change the shape of the present standings, once more opening up the fight for the conquest of the title before the grand final foreseen for 10 October on the Japanese circuit of Sugo.
A DISAPPOINTING ENGLISH WEEKEND FOR FOGARTY - At Brands Hatch there were 120, 911 urging on their idol, Carl Fogarty, towards the conquest of the 1999 Superbike world championship. However, in what was expected to be the race in which he sealed the title, the British Ducati star had the tables turned on him.
"Foggy", roaring off from pole position, experienced serious problems with the holding of his tyres: in race-1 he was even forced into a pit stop in order to change the rear cover, thus missing out on the points, while in the second race he could do no better than fourth place. Never before this year had "King Carl" come away with so little: at the previous eight meetings (16 races) he had won eight times and been on the podium on 13 occasions!
HONDA FIGHT BACK - The European round at Brands Hatch did not go very well for the other Ducati rider either, the Australian Troy Corser, who only pulled back a single point on Fogarty, staying 48 points off the lead. The opportunity was instead exploited by the Texan Colin Edwards: the 25 year-old Honda rider pulled off a one-two (four victories in 1999, seven in his career), thus surprisingly returning to contention for the final victory.
Edwards now has 62 points fewer than Fogarty, a significant margin but one that is not impossible to make up, especially since at least three of the four remaining circuits (Zelweg, Hockenheim and Sugo) could prove themselves to be very favourable to the Honda RC45.
Last year in Austria the Japanese make gained maximum points through the New Zealander Aaron Slight. If the technical supremacy to the detriment of Ducati were to be found in the form of Colin Edwards, he could have the opportunity to recover more points over the standings leader. Then, consideration must also be given to the rain factor, which could further penalise Fogarty, who does not like wet tracks, to the advantage of his rival. The 1999 championship is therefore still up for grabs.
THE ROLE OF THE OUTSIDERS - The two races on the A1 Ring will not be enlivened only by the three riders who are still in the running for the final victory. There are numerous riders who started out with great hopes and instead, so far, have not achieved the results they hoped for. These go from Aaron Slight (Honda), who was runner-up in 1998 and who still has not won this year, to the acrobatic Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) who has not won since last May, too long a time for an attacking rider like him. The rides by Francesco Chili (Suzuki) and Akira Yanagawa (Kawasaki) are clearly getting better and better: both of them went well in the most recent outings and both seem capable of aiming for success.
PREVIOUS PERFORMANCES AT ZELTWEG - Austria is one of the most traditional meetings on the Superbike calendar. There were races on the old track at Zeltweg from 1988 to 1994 and then, at the same time as work to modernise this track was being carried out, in 1995 Superbike moved to Salzburg. The SBK returned to the A1 Ring in 1997: on that occasion Fogarty (Ducati) and Yanagawa (Kawasaki) won. Last year instead, Honda gained maximum points with Slight.
THE SBK RECORDS AT ZELTWEG - The A1 Ring is 4,318 metres long and it is to be found near the town of Zeltweg, between the mountains and the magnificent woods of Styria. Graz is 70 kilometres away, Vienna 250 and the Italian border at Tarvisio just 150. Here are all the records. Official lap record (set during race): Troy Corser (AUS-Ducati) in 1'30"276 at an average speed of 172,191 k.p.h. ('98). Race: Aaron Slight (NZL-Honda) 25 laps for a total of 107,950 kilometres in 38'03"213 at an average speed of 170, 208 k.p.h. ('98). Unofficial lap record (set during practice): Aaron Slight (NZL-Honda) in 1'30"476 at an average speed of 171, 960 k.p.h. ('98). Superpole: Aaron Slight (NZL-Honda) in 1'30"340 at an average speed of 172,069 k.p.h. ('98).
SBK STANDINGS: RIDERS - 1. Fogarty (GBR-Ducati) 330; 2. Corser(AUS-Ducati) 282; 3. Edwards (USA-Honda) 268; 4. Slight (NZL-Honda) 236; 5. Yanagawa (JPN-Kawasaki) 215; 6. Chili (ITA-Suzuki) 160; 7. Haga (JPN-Yamaha) 144; 8. Lavilla (JPN-Kawasaki) 109; 9. Fujiwara (JPN-Kawasaki) 96; 10. Guareschi (ITA-Yamaha) 70. MANUFACTURERS: 1. Ducati 403; 2. Honda 329; 3. Kawasaki 234; 4. Suzuki 188; 5. Yamaha 179; 6. Aprilia 76.
A TWO HORSE RACE IN THE SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - The cadet championship is also reaching the moment of truth. This seems to be a two-way duel between the Frenchman Stephane Chambon (Suzuki), who is first with 126 points and the Italian Piergiorgio Bontempi. (Yamaha) who is 21 points behind. Three meetings remain: Austria, Holland and Germany, for a total of 75 points still to be won. Chambon has built up his current advantage by winning at the previous two races at Laguna Seca and Brands Hatch, but it is too early to talk of him having one hand on the title. In fact, the Yamaha R6 could have a small advantage on the faster tracks and this could permit Bontempi to regain ground. Starting from Zeltweg the importance of teamwork will become fundamental: Chambon will be supported by Fabrizio Pirovano, the 1998 champion who is however now too far off, 52 points from the lead, to harbour hopes of his own chances. Bontempi, instead, will be expecting help from Massimo Meregalli, who has now fully recovered from his injury at the start of the season. Many others, who are now out of the reckoning for the championship, will be on the track aiming for a stage success: MacPherson (Kawasaki), Migliorati (Suzuki), Costes (Honda) and Casoli (Ducati), who returns after missing a race through injury.
PREVIOUS SUPERSPORT RACES AT THE A1 RING - Supersport, at the World Series level, has already held races at the A1 Ring twice. Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA-Yamaha) won in 1997 and in 1998 Fabrizio Pirovano (ITA-Suzuki) was first.
THE SUPERSPORT RECORDS AT ZELTWEG - Official lap record (set during race): Cristiano Migliorati (ITA-Suzuki) in 1'35"853 at an average speed of 162,173 k.p.h. ('98). Race: Fabrizio Pirovano (ITA-Suzuki) 23 laps for a total of 99, 314 km in 37'11"081 at an average speed of 160,750 k.p.h ('98). Unofficial lap record (set during practice): Pere Riba (ESP-Ducati) in 1'35"746 at an average speed of 162.354 k.p.h. (98) .
SUPERSPORT STANDINGS: 1. Chambon (FRA-Suzuki) 126; 2. Bontempi (ITA-Yamaha) 105; 3. Pirovano (ITA-Suzuki) 74 ; 4. Kellner (GER-Yamaha) 68;. 5. MacPherson (GBR-Kawasaki) 67;; 6. Xaus (SPA-Yamaha) 65. COSTRUTTORI: 1. Yamaha 174; 2. Suzuki 147; 3. Honda 82 ; 4. Kawasaki 74; 5. Ducati 52; 6. Bimota 15.
YOUNGER CHAMPIONS GROW - Austria will also see the final rush for the awarding of the Axo European Superstock championship, the series which is reserved to the promising youngsters aged under 24 who race on strictly production based bikes. This has become more and more of a head to head between the Spaniard Daniel Oliver, 22, who wears the colours of Aprilia and leads the championship with 128 points, and Briton Karl Harris, 19, the Suzuki rider who is just seven points off the pace. Just set up, the Axo European Superstock championship is fully achieving all its objectives by serving up passionate races and above all new names that could become the stars of the future in the Superbike and Supersport world championships. The two protagonists are already in the sights of the major teams: Oliver is soon to try out the Aprilia RSV Mille Superbike while offers are already arriving for Harris who has already had the opportunity to make his debut in Supersport on the official Suzuki of the Endoug team.
SUPERSTOCK STANDINGS: 1. Oliver (ESP-Aprilia RSV Mille) 128; 2. Harris (GBR-Suzuki GSXR 750) 121; 3. Notman (GBR-Yamaha R1) 74; 4. Tosolini (ITA-Yamaha R1) 69; 5. Fissette (BEL-Suzuki GSXR 750) 62; 6. Duchene (GER-Kawasaki ZX9R) 47; 7. Ellison (GBR-Honda CBR600) 44; 8. Fabbroni (ITA-Honda CBR900) 30; 9. Jond (FRA-Suzuki GSXR 750) 28; 10. Sanchez (ESP-Yamaha R6) 28.
Superbike Wild Card Riders
29* Roger Kellemberger (GER-Honda) White Endurance 47 Johann Wolfsteiner (A-Kawasaki) Remus Racing Austria 65 Gerhard Esterer (A-Kawasaki) Champion Racing 67 Anton Rechberger (A-Suzuki) MSC Rottenegg 68 Brian Morrison (GB-Yamaha) Alpha Technik Team Yamaha 69 Stavros Stavrolakis (GRE-Ducati) 70 Giovanni Bussei (ITA-Suzuki) Alpha Technik Team Suzuki 71 Thierry Mulot (FRA-Ducati) FPR Prota 73 Karel Husak (CZ-Ducati) 74 Ali Guettouche (A-Ducati) Motorrad Center
*This rider will replace permanent rider n.26 J.P. Jeandat until the end of the season
Supersport Wild Card Riders
79 Thomas Hinterreiter (A-Kawasaki) 80 Christian Zaiser (A-Honda) Honda Austria 81 Franz Haslinger (A-Yamaha) 2-Rad-Ginziger 82 Michael Wohner (A-Yamaha) Yamaha Austria 83* Gerald Muteau (FRA-Ducati) Ducati France FP Racing 99** Eric Mahé (FRA-Yamaha) Lozano Racing
*This rider will replace permanent rider n.39 David Muscat For A1 Ring and Assen **This rider will replace injured rider n.90 I. Sanchez ***Team BNT Racing with rider n.70 Igor Antonelli (ITA-Yamaha) will replace a missing permanent team
Superstock Wild Card Riders
10 Kris Jennes (B) Motoline Yamaha YZF R1 18 Kelvin Reilly (GB) Team Yamaha BT Phonecards Yamaha YZF R1 26 Raul Loscos (SPA) Lozano Racing Yamaha YZF R6 27 Fabrizio Pellizzon (ITA) Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV1000 32 Andrea Bianconi(ITA) BI Motorsport Honda CBR600F 38 Andy Notman (GB) Speedline NRG Aprilia RSV1000 40 Tom Van Wezemael (B) Kawasaki Begium Kawasaki ZX 9R 44 Joso Maria Bordoy (SPA) Lozano Racing Yamaha YZF R6 47 Raimund Jetachko (A) Raimund Jetachko Honda CBR 900RR 50 Olivier Four (FRA) Star Moto Suzuki France Suzuki GSX 600 R 53 Koen Vieugels (B) Motoline Yamaha YZF R6 54 Jurgen Hirtsefelder (A) Aprilia Austria Aprilia RSV1000 55 Martin Bauer (A) Team Rosner 56 Manfred Krelmer (A) Team Krelmer Yamaha YZF R1
####
