KAGAYAMA GRABS EQUAL-BEST RESULT OF SEASON |
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Team
Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama enjoyed his best
World Superbike race weekend this season today at
Magny Cours in France since the opening round in Australia
in March and is looking forward to further improvement
in the next round in Portimao in three weeks time.
His team mate Karl Muggeridge had a slow-speed tumble
in race one, but then made amends by posting a solid
eighth position in race two.
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Ben Spies (Yamaha)
and Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) took a win apiece to leave
Haga leading the championship by just 10 points.
Spies won today's first race, with Haga second and
Max Biaggi (Aprilia) third. Haga got his revenge in
race two with Biaggi second and Jonathan Rea (Honda)
third.
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Yukio Kagayama - Race 1: 7th,
Race 2: 6th:
"Today my results were the best
they have been for a long time, but I want more. The progress
the bike has made on its new suspension has been good, but
again, I want more. There have been some not so fun times
this season, but at Imola last week and here in Magny-Cours,
I am enjoying being a racer again. The settings we used
on the bike today were the best they have been this weekend,
so a big thank you to my team for doing a good job. There
were still some problems with rear grip, but I hope that
we can solve this problem in Portimao. I am looking forward
to continuing the good progress there and ending the season
on a high."
Karl Muggeridge - Race 1: DNF,
Race 2: 8th:
"I suppose the crash in race one
was probably my mistake: It was early in the race and the
fuel tank was full and I must have got in a bit too hot
and lost the front. Maybe because of this, I rode a bit
tentatively at the beginning of race two and it took me
a bit of time to get going properly. My bike was OK on the
fast sweepers, but it struggled for grip on the slow, small
corners and I reckon that cost me about four-to-five-tenths-of-a-second
each lap. I am getting more used to the bike every time
out and feel we are making good progress with it and the
new suspension. Hopefully, I will have another chance in
the next round, but I'll wait and see on that."
World Superbike Results:
Race 1: 1 Spies (USA-Yamaha),
2 Haga (JPN-Ducati), 3 Biaggi (ITA-Aprilia), 4 Fabrizio
(ITA-Ducati), 5 Haslam (GBR-Honda), 6 C Checa (ESP-Honda),
7 Yukio Kagayama (JPN-Suzuki Alstare). Karl Muggeridge (AUS-Suzuki
Alstare) DNF.
Race 2: 1 Haga, 2
Biaggi, 3 Rea (GBR-Honda), 4 Spies, 5 Haslam, 6 Yukio Kagayama
(JPN-Suzuki Alstare). 8 Karl Muggeridge (AUS-Suzuki Alstare).
WSB Points: 1 Haga
436, 2 Spies 426, 3 Fabrizio 346, 4 Biaggi 293, 5 Rea 279,
6 Haslam 241. 12 Yukio Kagayama (JPN-Suzuki Alstare) 123.
21 Karl Muggeridge (AUS-Suzuki Alstare) 21.
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