IRTA
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1. Losail
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Jerez
3.
Estoril
4.
Shanghai
5. Le
Mans
6. Mugello
7.
Catalunya
8.
Donington
9. Assen
10. Sachsenring
11.
Laguna Seca
12. Brno
13. Misano
14. Indianapolis
15. Motegi
16. Phillip Island
17. Sepang
18. Valencia
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News 26/05/2008
Round 5. France : Le Mans
Seby blazes to victory ahead of
Vouks and SFW at Le Mans.
Seby took his second race victory
this season at the Alice Grand Prix de France with a superb solo run,
ahead of Vouks and SFW.
The Romanian is now only one point behind SFW in the rider standings.
Starting from Pole Position for the fourth time this season, Seby had
broken away from the pack early, the battle for the podium was closely
contested right up to the line. Vouks made his best performance of the
season and took his share of the limelight, bursting through the field
to take second place in spite having to beat SFW to the line.
Team Yamaha UK-NL rider SFW took another rostrum finish not quite in
line with his results so far this season, but nonetheless a very good
result for the standings.
Dark Racing Corporation's Luke took a well deserved fourth place,
having attempted to lead the race from the front in the early stages.
Some hard moves from both Vouks and SFW at the end of the Le Mans
battle left the German rider off the podium. Gabi46 trailed LuKe for
fifth, ahead of Max, Ronza746 and Guishermo. Home rider Yvos and
EseNeen, the two Arkos Connection colleague completed the top ten,
whilst there was a crash for two-time World Champion Skider who then
managed to bring his bike home in 13th position.
Interviews:
Seby Lords Of
Shadow (winner, 16:15.154):
"Big congratulations to Vouks for 2nd and beating SFW, also gg to the
dutch devil himself, to Ronza for a good result and to all who raced.
During practice I was fast in 1 lap but not so consistent in a whole
race, also I've made many mistakes. In practice I had soft-med and my
pb was 27.5 but on Sunday I decided to try softs and the hot laps were
not much faster but I was able to be more consistent. I don't remember
on other tracks being able to do laps times so close to my pb. Almost
each fast lap was 27.3 so I gained some confidence and I knew that if I
don't make mistakes I could win the race.
Qualifying started and again I did 27.3, I was hoping for a bit better
lap time but I didn't need it in the end because others were slower.
The race started and I took the lead but SFW was close to me in the
first lap, he tried to put some pressure on me but it didn't work, in
my mind I was saying 'leave me the f alone' lol. After the first lap I
started to do my thing, some mid 27s, a 27.3 (hot lap) but by mid race
I started thinking of other things and I slowed down a bit. Vouks came
close to me with 4 laps to go and I was thinking that he has soft-med
and he will pass me in the last laps so I pushed harder and then I
realised he had softs so I stopped worrying. In the last lap he made a
mistake and allowed me to take a 1.5 advantage so I just cruised around
the track looking back and finally crossed the line almost 1 second in
front. Besides the stress during the race, it wasn't as hard as I've
expected. Now I'm only 1 point behind SFW in the standings, looks good
for the spectacle, similar to my fight with Skider from last year but
this time I won't make the same mistakes and fight like a dog in each
race. Mugello next, not one of my best tracks but so far in practice I
was able to do some good laps. I was faster on the original mugello,
this new model gives me headache but at least it feels better than last
year. Good luck to all."
Vouks Arkos
Connection (2nd, 16:16.079):
"GG Seby for another win!!!!
SFW allso good pace and place but for standings it wasn't such a good
result. Of course it's stil a long way from that, even if Guishermo
said that he fights for 3rd in standings lololololololollololol.
Finally for Arkos was a good home race with nearly no crashes and good
places for all.
Next Mugello... hope good fights for all places there."
SFW Team
Yamaha UK-NL (3rd, 16:16.745):
"Congratulations to Seby, great riding m8.
Also gg to Vouks, finally a trouble free race and well deserved 2nd
place.
I had a great race with Seby, Vouks and Guishermo. In the first lap I
was fighting Seby hard for the lead but after Seby warmed up his tyres
he just took away, I was able to follow but every lap Seby extended his
lead a bit. Then halfway the race I've started making little mistakes
and then Vouks was on my tail, pretty soon Vouks got past me and it
looked like he was able to catch up with Seby and maybe slow him down a
bit. Unfortunatlly I've made a little mistake in the first corner and
lost about 2s there so my fight for the win was over.
Over the next few laps I've watched Vouks getting very close to Seby
but then Vouks slowed down a bit and Seby could escape once again and
finish first. My luck went back to me when Vouks made a little mistake
in the last lap and I was right behind him. During the last lap we
exchanged positions few times but when I finally had an advantage on
the back straight I run a bit wide on the chicane and Vouks got past me
again and I had to settle for 3rd.
This isn't the best result for me but this is one of my worst tracks so
I'm satisfied with the result.
I must say I did have much fun in the race and next time I hope we
could continue this battle.
As for my team preformance:
Overall it's been a dissapointing race for the team, Dolz was close to
a good result but missed a bit of speed and some luck to challenge for
top places.
Bradders had his first real mistake and crashed but still maneged to
score points.
The Yamaha NL-UK team wasn't able to finish in the points (again) but
I'm sure that after some more practice we will see some good results in
the 2nd part of the season. Cya next race!"
Guishermo
Lords Of Shadow (8th, 16:31.066):
"Well done Seby, finally your tyre choice was good. Also well done
Vouks, you are in great shape and you could have won the race if you
hadn't been so conservative, and SFW, you lost some points but you
weren't far from the two guys...
My race was dissapointing, it's the third time I crash this season, I
was trying not to lose ground to Vouks who was in thirdin the first
laps (I was 1 sec behind him) and in the last corner I lost
concentration and crashed... I really hate that damn corner... With no
crash I would have been 4-5 seconds from the top guys, so I was more or
less fast but again a rookie mistake made me lose valuable points for
the fight for the third in the standings. See you in Mugello"
Yvos Arkos
Connection (9th, 16:31.817):
"GG Seby, another victory!
Great result for Vouks, really close, and SFW had to settle for 3rd
place, but still very near to the winner. My race with Thunder and Dolz
was good, I won it but wasn't super, I was a little too cautious on
closing laps, with the 2s advantage I built through the race.
But well, 9th in my home race is still a good result.
Well done to Ronza, who is more competitive this year and to Arkos
riders globally, only Gaz&slide crashed, probably due to 'home race
jinx'. Cya all in Mugello!"
darkJr Dark
Racing Junior (16th, 16:45.062):
"Well... I could have done 1 position better but I'm very happy in this
round, finally I did a full race without crashing or out track also the
1st team Dark Racing didn't won in Academy class we keep getting
stronger in all 3 class's and in the overall points. I know that for
now A, B and Academy don't have standings but I have made them to get
my team in high motivation every round. Thanks all for racing and also
for Sweetie for her best ever overall position even with her last turn
off track but that's life! let's get ready for 'The Doctor Round'."
Bradders Team
Yamaha UK-NL (19th, 16:47.119):
"Good result Seby, the championship couldn't be closer!
1st crash of the year for me. I braked too early, let off the brakes a
little and ended up running into the gravel and falling off at about
5mph. Very stupid mistake...
Anyway, I'm determined for Mugello so hopefully back in the top 10."
CBR Lords Of
Shadow II (23rd, 17:05.261):
"Congrats for Seby! I'm pround of the LoS I & II results, happy
ending for catutza who didn't have so much time to practice this race
and also congrats to Mircea who finished again in points and also to
Dark. About me, I could make it better, but I crashed in the first curb
of the track and lost about 10s there... too bad for me but good points
in Academy.
See you at Mugello and let's get ready for 'X Fuera Round'!"
Joey Dark
Racing Junior (24th, 17:12.856):
"Well my race did not start very well. I had an error in the first lap
and had to make up for the lost time. During the race Sweetie and I had
a very interesting fight. After overtaking Sweetie I tried to earn some
progress. But the three laps from the end I made a mistake that left me
behind Sweetie again. I tried to catch Sweetie but without success.
When I had my lucky moment, Sweetie went wide the last corner. After a
surgery to mouth and race with some pains the race as well.
Congratulations to the Seby for victory."
PeQuInHo Team
Suzuki Daikin (26th, 17:15.100):
"Well what I say about my race... IT'S BAD!
I don't have mutch to say, I crashed 2 times... and in race I can do 1
lap in 1.31 so... I'll try to forget this round.
Let's train hard for Mugello."
Statistics:
Seby has reduced the gap to 1 point to SFW in the Rider Standings
thanks to his 2nd victory of the season in Le Mans. Guishermo is 3rd,
57 points behind SFW. 1 point behind Guishermo is Gabi46 with Vouks
5th, 3 points behind Gabi46. LuKe is 6th, 3 points behind Vouks which
means 4 riders in only 7 points fighting for the 3rd place in the
standings.
Lords Of Shadow have extended their lead to 23 points in front of Team
Yamaha UK-NL in the Team Standings thanks to Seby's victory in France.
Dark Racing Corporation is 3rd, 64 points behind the leading team.
Arkos Connection and Oasics NoGrip Racing complete the top 5.
Yamaha is still leading the Constructors Standings but Kawasaki have
reduced the gap to only 5 points. Suzuki is 3rd, 68 points behind
Yamaha while Honda and Ducati complete the top 5.
In the Qualifying Award, Seby has extended his advantage to 1.876s over
SFW thanks to another Pole Position, his 4th of the season. LuKe is 3rd
at over 5 seconds behind the Romanian, while Gabi46 and Thunder
complete the top 5.
In the Hot Lap Award Seby leads the way while SFW is close in 2nd at
0.278s behind the Romanian. Guishermo is 3rd at 3.348s while Gabi46 and
Thunder complete the top 5.
SFW leads the Total Time Award from Seby with a 1.531s advantage after
5 races into the season. Guishermo is 3rd, over 1 minute behind SFW.
Gabi46 and Thunder complete the top 5.
Join us in 2 weeks time for the sixth race of the season at Mugello,
in Italy.
Report by Seby
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