FIXI Crescent Suzuki racer Jules Cluzel marked his debut
in the eni FIM Superbike World Championship by taking
an impressive seventh place in this afternoon's second
race at Phillip Island in Australia.
Cluzel got a good start
to the second race and was up into eighth by the end
of lap one. He maintained a strong rhythm and made
his way to sixth as the race progressed. Cluzel then
got involved in a battle with last-year's championship
runner-up Tom Sykes before the British rider pushed
Cluzel back into seventh, a position he held until
the end of the race despite coming under intense pressure
from Jonathan Rea in the closing stages. Cluzel had
made a strong start to his rookie season in Superbikes
by finishing 11th in race one on his Yoshimura-powered
Suzuki GSX-R1000 after starting from 17th on the grid.
The Frenchman's results today were just reward for
him and his crew following the string of misfortune
and frustration that had hit him throughout the test
and then the race weekend in Australia, and leaves
him on a positive footing as he heads to the next
test and race.
Leon Camier scored a
pair of ninth place finishes at the 4,445m Phillip
Island track today, but both under different circumstances.
In race one he got a poor start and was battling all
race long to make up places. He ended lap-one in 13th
but fought his way to ninth at two-thirds distance
and following a battle to the line with Rea, the FIXI
Crescent Suzuki rider just couldn't get past him at
the line to take eighth. In race two, Camier was the
innocent victim of a first lap crash which forced
the Englishman off the track He re-joined in last
place and then had the task of chasing down the field.
Camier made up time to the pack and began picking
off riders, eventually making his way to ninth on
lap-19 after passing Leon Haslam. He pushed all the
way to the line, but was unable to make up any more
places and was left to think of what might have been
in the second race.
Today's weather was again
warm and sunny with a light breeze, air temperatures
got up to 27°C and the fine weather led to a weekend
attendance of 61,500 over the three days. Race one
was won by Sylvain Guintoli on an Aprilia, with Ireland's
Eugene Laverty - also on an Aprilia - taking the honours
in the second event. Guintoli and Laverty share the
championship lead as the pair also took a second place
apiece today.
FIXI Crescent Suzuki
will now head back to England for a short break before
the next race at Aragon in Spain on Sunday April 14th.
The next time the team takes to the track will also
be at Aragon for a private test at the start of April.
Jules Cluzel:
"I am really happy
with both races, even though the first one was very
difficult, but I finished and learned a lot. We chose
the wrong tyre in the first race, which was not a
big problem because I need to learn and understand
everything. I needed to do some laps today and I think
in the two races today I did more laps than I had
done all weekend - and maybe the test as well! It's
really good to finish the weekend like this and I
am pleased for my team as well because they have had
a tough time and worked really hard to get me on the
track. I think today has been a good step for the
future."
Leon Camier:
"The first race
was really difficult and the bike just didn't feel
like anything we'd been working on over the weekend.
We really struggled and we made the wrong tyre choice
- by the end of the race the tyre was destroyed! This
was very strange because all weekend we'd done race
runs on the tyres and it hadn't shown wear like that.
I'd put in good laps on used tyres in the test and
during practice, so we were confident that it would
work, but whatever the reason is, it didn't!
"I got a better
start in race two and tried to make some places up
early on, but as I tried to go round the outside coming
into a corner there was a big crash in front of me
and I got taken out and on to the grass - so that
was really the end of the race for me! The rest of
the time was just spent catching up and racing with
some other guys. I had to try and do what I could
and I could see Jules and Johnny Rea coming back to
me really quickly so I kept pushing, but just couldn't
get up to them. It's frustrating because I felt that
in the second race we had the package to challenge
the front pack."
Paul Denning - Team Manager:
"We will leave Australia
after these two weeks in Phillip Island with a positive
outlook because, irrespective of two quite disappointing
results for Leon caused by the wrong tyre choice in
race one and being knocked off the track in race two,
we've still shown great potential and it's clear that
the bike is at a different level than it was 12-months
ago. The whole team and both the riders have been
superbly positive, despite a few issues - including
five absolutely massive crashes in total! The guys
have worked incredibly hard to be in good shape come
race-day.
"Jules has shown
that he is absolutely not scared of getting involved
with the best Superbike riders in the world and we
know very well that Leon's potential - and that of
the bike - is a lot better than two ninth places.
We have a three-day test at Aragon at the start of
April, where we have some new stuff coming to improve
the bike further, and we're really excited about the
prospects for the season."
Phillip Island
- eni FIM Superbike World Championship - Race One: 1. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia) 33'47.109: 2. Eugene
Laverty (Aprilia) 33'48.46: 3. Michel Fabrizio (Aprilia)
33'48.468: 4. Chaz Davies (BMW) 33'52.811: 5. Tom
Sykes (Kawasaki) 33'52.862. 9. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent
Suzuki) 34'06.261. 11. Jules Cluzel (FIXI Crescent
Suzuki) 34'17.414.
Phillip Island
- FIM Superbike World Championship - Race Two: 1.
Laverty 33'45.938: 2. Guintoli 33'46.356: 3. Marco
Melandri (BMW) 33'47.320: 4. Fabrizio 33'48.220: 5.
Sykes 33'57.483. 7. Jules Cluzel (FIXI Crescent Suzuki)
34'03.268. 9. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) 34'05.824.
World Championship
Classification: 1=. Laverty 45: 1=. Guintoli
45: 3. Fabrizio 29: 4. Sykes 22: 5. Melandri 16: 8.
Jules Cluzel (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) 14: 9. Leon Camier
(FIXI Crescent Suzuki) 14. |
