IRTA
- Jerez
1. Losail
2.
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 09/06/2008
Round 6. Italy : Mugello
Seby takes his third
victory of the season in Mugello and also the standings lead from SFW
who came 2nd. Guishermo completed the podium today in Italy.
Seby took a second consecutive race
victory at the Gran Premio D'Italia in Mugello, ahead of SFW and
Guishermo. Seby now holds a four point advantage at the top of the
standings.
While third place starter Skider had broken away from the pack early,
the battle behind the two times World Champion was closely contested
during the opening laps. Guishermo once again took his share of the
limelight, bursting through the field to take second place in the first
lap. He was close followed by Seby and SFW. Unfortunatelly for
Guishermo he slipstreamed on Seby in the 3rd lap and didn't brake in
time to avoid the gravel trap as he lost the 2nd place to the Romanian.
He eventually came back to track in 4th position, losing only 4-5
seconds. By mid race Skider had some technical problems and had to pit
in, the misfortune made him lose the race lead and found himself in 6th
place at the end of the race.
Meanwhile, Seby was handed the race lead and he profited from it
although SFW was on his tail in the last laps. The Romanian kept his
nerve and managed to bring the bike home in first position, only 0.690s
in front of his title rival SFW.
Completing the podium, Lords Of Shadow rider Guishermo took another
rostrum finish not quite in line with his predictions of victory, but
nonetheless a fantastic achievement considering his mistake early in
the race. EseNeen made a great effort on Sunday and trailed Thunder for
fifth, ahead of Skider, Gabi46 and Gaz&Slide.
Team Yamaha UK-NL colleague Dolz and Bradders completed the top ten.
Interviews:
Seby Lords Of
Shadow (winner, 16:15.154):
"Congratulations to SFW and Guishermo for podium finishes.
The man of the day and the biggest surprise was definitely Skider who
could have won this race. He was leading the race after 5 laps and was
looking very strong for the end too but his pc stopped him. Big
congratulations m8 for the performance.
As for me, I'm very happy to win on a track like Mugello. I personally
don't like this track and last year I had my worst result here. I don't
enjoy myself so much after races, maybe because I focus too much on the
standings where I'm satisfied with the results in this start of the
season. Compared to last year I have 44 more points than what I had
last year after Mugello, this will be very important later in the
season, it will come in handy to have an advantage in the last races.
Back to the race, during the week I had soft-med and I could do a 39.1
but usually I was in mid 39s and I knew that wasn't enough to win the
race. I had to change to soft-soft and from that point I was able to do
a much better total time and also hot laps.
On Saturday Guishermo came online and we did few practice races and to
my surprise he was very, very fast, we did almost identical lap times
(GG m8). I was hoping for a one-two from us but I didn't expect such a
hard race on Sunday.
In Qualifying everything went perfect, I did a 38.7, very close to my
pb while others were again slower than in practice. The race started
and we had a very hard fight in the first lap, I couldn't even see the
corners, I had to take them from instinct so I touched the ripple few
times and couldn't escape. After the first lap Skider was leading while
I was fighting with Guishermo, few laps later he made a mistake in the
first corner and went wide. Then I had to catch up with Skider who was
0.7 in front of me, I did try to push hard and did a few low 39s but it
wasn't enough, he was doing the same times so I just took it easy and
followed him, hoping for a mistake from him later in the race. To my
surprise Skider frozed at one moment and I was left alone at the front,
leading by 1.5 to SFW. I knew that if I kept my head down and ride the
bike like in practice, I had the win in the bag. I did few other small
mistakes In the closing laps, specially In the penultimate lap and SFW
came at 0.9 from me at the start of the last lap but I knew it was
enough to secure the win so I just focused on the braking, not to fall
because I had red tyres. The last lap was a clean lap, no mistakes and
I took the victory, my 2nd in a row. It's a very good result despite
the very slow pace compared to practice, I guess 4 seconds slower (1.5s
lost only in the first lap).
Thanks to Guishermo's podium now we took a relaxing advantage in the
team standings and it will be easier for us in the last part of the
season. Also we took the lead in the constructors standings, Kawasaki
is even on points with Yamaha.
Next race is one of my favourites (Catalunya) and again I'll fight for
the victory, I won't care about anything else, I'll risk it all and
ride as hard as I can."
SFW Team
Yamaha UK-NL (2nd, 16:43.031):
"GG to Seby for the great race and also gg to Guishermo for despite
some bad luck finishing on the podium.
I'm happy with my result and glad that I didn't make any mistakes in
the race.
I've expected Seby to be fast but Skider and Guishermo were also very
strong so when the race started they all took off like loonetics and it
was hard to keep up.
I knew if I pushed too hard I was going to make mistakes so I just rode
my own pace and watched other's misfortune.
At the end of the race I still had some tyres saved so I could put some
pressure on Seby but it was too late for a real threat.
GG to Dolz, of course for beating Yvos and also Bradders did a good
race by beating Yvos aswell.
This time Eseneen did an exellent job finishing in 5th place, just
shows how much it means to do a clean race (you still need to ride fast
though)."
Guishermo
Lords Of Shadow (3rd, 16:47.026):
"Well done Seby, also SFW, you were quite close to the leader, Skider
(great job after seeing the night before you were 0.5s of the pace),
Vouks wasn't so fast in this GP but for sure he will on top soon. This
GP was the first time I was as fast as the tops guys in this season, I
returned to the setup of China were I felt very comfortable and
everything went very smooth since the beginning... the night before the
race I practiced with Skider and Seby and just great fun, specially
with seby because we were in a very similar pace... the next day the
race arrived and in qualfying I couldnt rice well, but it didn't
mattered me because I knew I had a good pace... I did a good start and
I battled in the first laps with Seby while Skider took a little gap to
us... then in the main straight I get the slipstream from Seby and
braked as always (my mistake, I knew I had to brake earlier) and run
off the track, at the beginning I thought I was going to crash, but
luckily it was only a run-off and I didn't lose so much time (4-5 secs
compared to 12-13 you lose if you crash and appear on the grass), when
I was again on track I was fighting with Vouks, in a few laps he
crashed and I focused on SFW (meanwhile I saw Skider had crashed,
that's what I thought but in the chat he told us his computer froze,
big pity m8), he was 2.3 secs in front and I wanted to recover a bit to
put on him a little bit of pressure, but I could only recover 3 tenths
before I did a mistake, touched the gravel and lost 1 sec... Since then
I tried to make a safe ride, but not too slow because I knew Luke and
Gabi were fast too and I couldnt relax.
I hope to be fast in Montmelo too, I want more podiums and help the
team to win the team standings (and help myself to be third lol), see
you then."
Dolz Team
Yamaha UK-NL (9th, 16:57.762):
"GG Seby and wd to rest of podium and fu everyone else lol.
Mixed fortunes for my race, I ran off at end of the 1st lap and came
off the grass in 4th about 1-2 secs behind Yvos, I caught him after
about 2 laps and the battle began. A lot of overtaking between us. I
recommend to anyone to watch the replay.
Early in the week Yvos was going about how better his pb was than mine
but by raceday mine was better, so I didn't just talk the talk I also
walked the walk and was good to finish in front in our 1st real battle
on track. Cya in Catalunya, a very enjoyable track indeed!"
Yvos Arkos
Connection (11th, 16:59.815):
"Congrats Seby for the win and being new leader on the standings, also
SFW and Guishermo, strongs on the podium.
Our Teams had different fortunes...Vouks and Max crashed, especially
Max was unlucky crashing on closing laps after a strong race. Eseneen
and Gaz&slide did well, with a Top 5 finish for Ese.
I raced with Max, also Dolz, Thunder and Inara.
That was a crazy race for me...I ran off first lap after a good start
and so did Dolz, then we had about 50 cross-overs all the way and that
was too much for me... I lost my nerves a bit and made mistakes on last
2 laps, giving him a 2 secs gap on the line.
Anyway, I get some valuable points with 11th, I will try to do better
in Catalunya on Sunday."
LuKe Dark
Racing Corporation (15th, 17:15.980):
"Congrats to Seby, SFW and Guishermo for your podiums, very good pace,
especiallly the qualifying time by Seby!
About my race, this was the baddest race this season for me, I was
0.5-1s slower than in practice, I think the EM was a little problem for
me this day. I did 2 silly crashs in the last laps. Now lets wait fot
the next GP where I will try to go back on poduim. Cya all at
Catalunya!"
Statistics:
Seby has taken the lead from SFW in the Rider Standings thanks to his
3rd victory of the season in Mugello. Guishermo is 3rd, 65 points
behind Seby. Eight points behind Guishermo is Gabi46 with Vouks 5th,
another 8 points behind Gabi46. Thunder is 6th, 5 points behind Vouks.
Lords Of Shadow have extended their lead to 37 points in front of Team
Yamaha UK-NL in the Team Standings thanks to Seby's victory in Italy.
Dark Racing Corporation is 3rd, 95 points behind the leading team.
Arkos Connection and Oasics NoGrip Racing complete the top 5.
Kawasaki has taken the lead in the Constructors Standings but Yamaha
are equal on points with the leading manufacturer. Suzuki is 3rd, 75
points behind Kawasaki while Honda and Ducati complete the top 5.
In the Qualifying Award, Seby has extended his advantage to 2.291s over
SFW thanks to another Pole Position, his 5th of the season. LuKe is 3rd
at over 7 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
0.436s behind the Romanian. Guishermo is 3rd at 3.426s while Gabi46 and
Thunder complete the top 5.
SFW leads the Total Time Award from Seby with a 0.841s advantage after
6 races into the season. Guishermo is 3rd, over 1 minute behind SFW.
Gabi46 and Thunder complete the top 5.
Join us in 1 weeks time for the seventh race of the season at Montmelo,
in Catalunya.
Report by Seby
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