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Carlos Checa (7) was in complete control this weekend with Superpole and Doube Race Wins as World Superbike made its triuphant return to America. SBK Hannspree FIM World Superbike Championship, Salt Lake City Round 6 of 15 Miller Motorsports Does it Right as World Superbike Returns to America Checa had won his first career Superpole on Saturday, with a new track best of 1’48.193, but after an indifferent start to the first Race One, he took the lead on lap four and was never headed from then on. The supposed 21-lap race actually ran to 20 laps, after the start was delayed for a few minutes, but Checa kept his nerve after two of his main rivals, Troy Bayliss and Noriyuki Haga, crashed out of contention in separate incidents. The other hero of the weekend was Nori Haga who crashed hard and broke his colarbone in Saturday morning practce, but after a visit to the hospital, retured later inthe day to compete in Superpol and run both races on Sinday! Checa himself had crashed in qualifying, but overcame his bumps and bruises to reassert his championship threat once more. In Race two, Checa hit the front on lap nine, and eased away to record a margin of victory of 3.5 seconds, easing up at the finish to take a maximum 50 points for his day’s work. Checa is now the clear challenger to long time leader Bayliss, who scored no points today, after one crash and one technical retirement. Bayliss effectively lost 50 points / 2 -race wins from his previous unchanged 194 points to Checa’s 166, now just a difference of 28 points, with more than half a season left to run and Checa now burning up previously thought unsurmountable lead of Bayliss's. Enthusiastic Welcome for Return of World Superbike to USA This will be the third different venue for the USA Round after previous World Superbike events held at Brainerd (Minnesota) from 1989 to 1991, and at Laguna Seca (California) from 1995 to 2004. None of the current crop of WSBK riders have raced at the state-of-the-art Miller circuit, which was opened in 2006, so first practice next Friday will be an unknown factor for all concerned. However all have expressed enormous enthusiasm about racing at one of the safest, most advanced and fastest track layouts in North America. Double WSBK champion Troy Bayliss’ American experience began in 2000 when he set pole position at the Daytona 200 Miles event, before Ducati Corse moved the Australian to the World Championship that year as replacement for the injured Carl Fogarty. "I miss America and so am happy to be going back there” declared the Ducati Xerox rider. “In one way I’m sorry we’re not going back to Laguna, a track I enjoyed and know well but, having said that, I met the owner and designer of the Miller track while at Assen and saw the layout and it looks like a great track too. To be honest that is about all I know of the track at the moment, it looks pretty safe but might also get very dusty so we’ll have to see when we get there. I have good memories of racing in America, I guess my last visit was when I was in GP and I did ok so yeah, I’m looking forward to going back there again!" Another two-times champion Troy Corser, together with Ben Bostrom, Anthony Gobert and John Kocinski, is a three-time winner of the USA Round, and he returns to the country where he won the AMA title back in 1994, the first non-American to do so. “I am looking forward to going back again; it was always a nice race in America” said the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB man. “From all I've heard and seen, the track we are going to is well designed and safe. It should be all good. I still keep in contact with a lot of people over there, sponsors and friends and so on. More so now because they all know we're coming back and they want to come and see the race again! I made a lot of friends over there and we have been keeping contact by e-mail. It's great to be going back to the States again, for the championship and for me personally.” Carlos Checa is a rider who has had more recent US racing experience than most, having campaigned three different MotoGP machines in three years at Laguna Seca from 2005 to 2007. - “I’m looking forward to racing in America again. Its always a good place to go and I try to get there a couple of days ahead and visit friends and do some climbing or cycling” commented the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider. “I have always raced at Laguna Seca, so the Miller track will be a completely new experience for me and I heard it is a very fast track. Then again, it will be new to all the riders in the competition. I think the USA is a good place for the Championship and it needs to be included in the World Superbike Championship. Any credible World Championship should have at least one event in the United States.” Max Biaggi, who has also raced at Laguna Seca in MotoGP, is convinced that the new venue is a safe circuit and in time that the event will become a success. “I’ve just watched it on the Internet and seen some pictures” declared the Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati rider. “It looks like it’s similar to European-standard tracks which is good. It’s not like the American tracks which are not so safe and not so wide. When we started racing in America the sport was not that popular but in the last few years that we raced there a lot of people started to come and there were more people involved from the star-system who came close to this sport. Unfortunately where we go is in Utah, which is very far away, it’s not like California. We’ll see, it’s the first time there and it depends a lot on what people expect from this kind of event. With time however, I think people will also go there.” Troy Bayliss came to Miller on his Farewell Tour to World Superbike with a dominate 3-race lead in points. Bayliss Quickest on Friday in First Qualifying Session "I’m very happy with how we’ve gone seeing as it’s our first time here” declared Bayliss. “I like the track a lot, it reminds me a little of Qatar and the surface is similar to that of Misano, with a few little bumps and things here and there. The times are already fast, and we hope to go even faster tomorrow. We’ve already made good progress and we pretty much know already what we’re going to use in the race tyre-wise. The weather is supposed to get hotter and it’s a very physical track so that will definitely make for some great racing!” Second place on the provisional front row, just two-tenths of a second slower, went to another Australian, Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB), who also quickly got dialed in to the US track. Corser was closely followed by Spain’s Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who headed the timesheets for much of the session, and the increasingly impressive Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati) from the Czech Republic. The only two other riders who dipped under the 1’50” mark were Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox), and Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki Alstare) from Spain. Italian youngster Ayrton Badovini (Team Pedercini) also put in a good performance on last year’s Kawasaki machine to finish ninth, a fraction ahead of Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB), while Alto Evolution Honda Superbike Shuhei Aoyama recorded one of his best performances so far this year with eleventh quickest time. Both Max Neukirchner (Alstare Suzuki) and Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati) had a difficult start to their Miller Motorsports Park weekend, rounding off the top 16 provisional Superpole qualifiers. Alstare Suzuki’s German rider was fifteenth, with Biaggi a tenth of a second and one place behind in sixteenth after an off-track excursion. It is worth mentioning that the top speed on the over 1 kilometre straight, the longest on the WSBK calendar, was recorded by Nieto (Suzuki) in 305.8 km / 189 mph and that no crashes were recorded throughout the session.
Carlos Checa was in complete control this weekend as World Superbike made its triuphant return to America. Checa notches up his first Superpole at Miller Motorsports Park Carlos Checa: “We worked well today, I had an incident this morning so there is always something to improve and something to fix. But finally I was so concentrated in the lap I did, I tried to be as clean and effective as possible. I know that I was able to be in the 48s but I didn’t expect 48 low and when I saw that time it was a great surprise and a great satisfaction to be on the pole for the first time. Now the start tomorrow is the next step we need to improve! I will try to do a good race tomorrow, for sure we have some chance of winning because we have shown our potential in the last few races, and especially here. The bike is now working well and I’m also confident with the tyres, so you never know.” Max Neukirchner: “I’m really happy about the position and I think I did a great lap. I had some problems yesterday with the chassis and in particular I was losing a lot of time in the final split, but we found a good way to improve and we were much quicker than yesterday. I think we found a good race set-up and I hope I’m tomorrow I’m in front. Here on this track it’s going to be really hard, the times are very close and I’m sure it’ll be a big fight.” Troy Bayliss: "It was the best time I've done here at the Miller Motorsports track so far and I thought maybe my time would be good enough but I was actually half a second off in the end. It's always a good challenge coming to a new track and it will undoubtedly make for great racing. Everyone was riding well this afternoon in Superpole and Carlos (Checa) rode an incredible lap. Having said that, our weekend is progressing positively too, the bike is working well, the track is great and so things are looking good for tomorrow's races. Michel Fabrizio: "I am very happy as to start from the first row for the second time this season is a great feeling. We will see tomorrow, I will have to fight for positions at the front against several very strong riders but this at least means that we'll be seeing some great racing. We've made some good progress between the sessions of yesterday and today and so I'm pretty confident for tomorrow. With regard to strategy for the races, I prefer to simply say 'no comment'!" Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) had been quickest after the two qualifying sessions but was unable to repeat his performance in the one-lap Superpole session and just missed out on the front row of the grid by a fraction. Lining up alongside the Australian will be Spain’s Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati), Regis Laconi (Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse) from France and Japan’s Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare). The third row of the grid for the two races is headed by Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati), who put in a good performance despite still recovering from his recent injury. The Italian finished a couple of tenths of a second ahead of a courageous Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB), who took part in Superpole with a broken right collarbone following a crash in the morning’s qualifying session.
Carlos Checa is on Top of the World inSunday's Superbike Troy Bayliss took the start of both races into Turn One at the vast Miller Motorsports complex. Troy Bayliss took the start with his Ducati and found himself racing for the lead with Neukircher, when on the 2nd lap Bayliss lost the front end in a corner and crashed hard, puting himself out of the race. Neukircher would continue on to dominate the lead of both of the day's races in the early laps, but then fade back as Troy Corser (Fortuna Yamaha), Checa and Michelle Fabrizio (Ducati Zerox) becan turning thir quickest times later in the races. Checa kept his nerve after two of his main rivals, Troy Bayliss and Noriyuki Haga, crashed out of contention in separate incidents. Checa himself had crashed in qualifying, but overcame his bumps and bruises to reassert his championship threat once more. After a poor start from his pole position the grid, Checa was back at the front of the pack by the fourth lap, and at half race distance had pulled out an impressive 3.667-second advantage on second placed Max Neukirchner. The experienced Spaniard then maintained his consistent riding style for the remainder of race distance to take his maiden World Superbike victory. Troy Corser, 2nd - "For the first race weekend this season I feel the bike is mine. The team have worked really hard and we’ve now got a package I’m enjoying. All season we’ve been struggling with grip, so it’s really good to have grip and be able to ride the bike hard. Life was more then interesting going into turn one for the first time in race one and there was an awful lot of action and touching. I think Checa and I collided or maybe I hit him, I’m not sure, but somehow I stayed on the bike. When Bayliss went down right in front of me, I was trying to work out which way to go to avoid him and his bike. I knew if I went to the right I’d be in the dirt and could easily fall myself. Fortunately there was just about enough space to miss him and the bike, but it was a close thing! After that, it was very hard passing Max and once I’d got passed him, Checa was too far off to do anything about. I was happy to finish second and get on the podium and happy with the bike." Max Neukirchner, 4th- "I'm very happy today, but I am destroyed! It's been a hot, long, hard day and the races were very tough. Early in race one, Biaggi braked too late for the first turn and I had to change direction which cost me some time and places. I was also very close to Bayliss when he crashed and I think I'm lucky not to hit him or his bike. I soon settled into a rhythm and began to charge again, but in the latter part of the race I had some front tyre problems and I couldn't attack the leaders as I wanted. SUPERBIKE Race 1: (Laps 20 = 98,140 Km) Checa eads Bayliss, Corser, Biaggi and Haga down through Miller's own version of the Laguna Seca Corkscrew. Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner continued his good run of form with a hard-fought fourth place in race one at the Miller Motorsports Park today before following it up runner-up spot in race two. He was at the forefront in both races; had to give way to Carlos Checa (Honda) both times; but knows that his next victory is only a matter of time. Team Suzuki Alstare riders Fonsi Nieto and Yukio Kagayama finished fifth and eighth respectively in race one and then reversed the positions in race two. Series leader Troy Bayliss had a day to forget - he crashed out of race one and finished out of the points in race two after being forced to pit and have his gearlever repaired. Carlos Checa, Both Race Winner said: “It’s been fantastic to take a double win here in the USA. Just at the start of the first race I had some problems with my number one bike and had to use the second one. I felt I had a good start, but then saw the other riders in front of me I knew I had to work hard. When I saw Neukirchner in front I knew I could overtake him and take the lead. In the beginning it was difficult to make a gap, but then I made enough ground. It then was more difficult to control my mind than control the tyre. At the end of the race Corser was catching up and I had to concentrate and improve my pace. The last time I won a race was ten years ago and these are my first wins outside Spain. I would like to dedicate them to my friend Wayne Rainey.” Max Neukirchner - Race 1: 4th, Race 2: 2nd: "I'm very happy today, but I am destroyed! It's been a hot, long, hard day and the races were very tough. Early in race one, Biaggi braked too late for the first turn and I had to change direction which cost me some time and places. I was also very close to Bayliss when he crashed and I think I'm lucky not to hit him or his bike. I soon settled into a rhythm and began to charge again, but in the latter part of the race I had some front tyre problems and I couldn't attack the leaders as I wanted. We changed the bike a little for race two, because I had been having some problems entering the turns in the first race and the bike was better, but Checa got away again and was too far ahead to catch. Considering the problems we had at the start of the weekend, I am happy. I have the best team in the paddock: They worked so hard for me and I want to thank them for these good results" Troy Corser - Race 1: 2nd, Race 2: DNF - "Obviously I am disappointed with the result in race two, but I’m happy because finally the bike is working the way I want and I’m really enjoying riding it. For the first race weekend this season I feel the bike is mine. The team have worked really hard and we’ve now got a package I’m enjoying. All season we’ve been struggling with grip, so it’s really good to have grip and be able to ride the bike hard. Life was more then interesting going into turn one for the first time in race one and there was an awful lot of action and touching. I think Checa and I collided or maybe I hit him, I’m not sure, but somehow I stayed on the bike. When Bayliss went down right in front of me, I was trying to work out which way to go to avoid him and his bike. I knew if I went to the right I’d be in the dirt and could easily fall myself. Fortunately there was just about enough space to miss him and the bike, but it was a close thing! After that, it was very hard passing Max and once I’d got passed him, Checa was too far off to do anything about. I was happy to finish second and get on the podium and happy with the bike. Troy Bayliss (Race 1 - DNF, Race 2 - 22nd) - Having made a blistering start to both Race 1 and Race 2, Bayliss unfortunately came off during lap four of the first race and then suffered a technical problem with his 1098 F08's gear lever during the second. - "I am really disappointed with today's results of course. In race 1 I crashed in a similar way to how I went down yesterday, which was a bit strange. Having said that, my weekend had been going ok until Race 1 and I was feeling pretty positive ahead of Race 2. Although I got a good start, after a few laps something came loose with the gear shifter so I had to come in. We sorted it quickly enough that I thought I might as well go out and ride, even if it was impossible to get points. I was going well out there but I was too far behind to make up any places. It goes without saying that after all our hard work this weekend I'm really disappointed that we've given away 50 championship points in one weekend." Michel Fabrizio (Race 1 - 3rd, Race 2 - 3rd) - In Race 1 Michel found himself going from fourth place on the grid down to fourteenth place before making an exceptional comeback to finish the race on the podium, in third place. Race 2 was almost an exact replica, as Michel once again dropped back to twelfth position before battling back to take an impressive third place on the podium for the second time today. - "Obviously I am extremely happy with today's results. In Race 1 I had a gear problem on the start-line which caused a race restart but thanks to the great work of my team I was able to start (the restarted Race 1) without incident. On the first lap I went right down to fourteenth position but worked my way up the field, stayed calm and was very satisfied to take third. In Race 2 I again had to make up a lot of positions and although I'm happy with third, I was hoping to be able to give Carlos more of a run for his money. It was hard work today, the heat and altitude here makes it a really physical challenge, and the last laps of both races were a struggle." Max Neukirchner, 2nd: "We changed the bike a little for race two, because I had been having some problems entering the turns in the first race and the bike was better, but Checa got away again and was too far ahead to catch. Considering the problems we had at the start of the weekend, I am happy. I have the best team in the paddock: They worked so hard for me and I want to thank them for these good results" SUPERBIKE Race 2: (Laps 18 = 104,274 Km) Fastest Lap 11° Carlos Checa 1'49.703 161,028 Km/h Riders Championship Standings: Carlos and team owner Ronald Ten Kate on the MIller podium FIM World MotoGP Championship, Gran Premio d'Italia Alice Round 6 of 18 Rossi extends World Championship Lead with 7th Mugello win The script had been written, but it was still up to the Fiat Yamaha rider to perform when the lights went out. Taking the lead from 2007 World Champion Casey Stoner on the fourth lap, Rossi then set about creating a gap between himself and the chasing pack. He did so with a series of increasingly faster times, and eventually crossed the line with a comfortable advantage for Mugello premier class victory number seven. His rivals must now wait another year to attempt to dethrone the `King of Mugello´. The supporting cast to the Rossi show was headed by Ducati Marlboro rider Stoner, on the podium at Mugello for only the second time in his Grand Prix career. The result helps Stoner make up ground in the MotoGP standings, in which he maintains fourth place but narrows the gap between himself and Jorge Lorenzo. Second in the World Championship, Dani Pedrosa completed the podium places, having got off to a fantastic start courtesy of his Repsol Honda RC212V. The Spaniard will next week be chasing victory on home soil in Catalunya. A best result of 2008 for Alex de Angelis was another reason for Italian fans –who had seen home victories in all three classes- to be cheerful, with the San Carlo Honda Gresini man taking fourth place. The San Marino-born rider was riding what was effectively his local race, and had shown his cards early with the fastest time in the morning warmup. The Tech 3 Yamaha duo of Colin Edwards and James Toseland were fifth and sixth respectively, ahead of Rizla Suzuki´s front row starter Loris Capirossi and Italian JiR Team Scot rookie Andrea Dovizioso. Before the halfway point there were a number of riders withdrawing from the action. First out were Marco Melandri and Randy de Puniet, both sliding off track whilst battling amongst themselves. They were followed by Kawasaki rider John Hopkins and, in a blow to his world title chances, second Fiat Yamaha rider Lorenzo. A lowside by the Spaniard left him with a DNF mark by his name for the first time in his MotoGP career. Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha)1st - "It's a great feeling, like always. A lot of my family and close friends have come to see me. I tried to push hard and my Yamaha and Brigestone worked very well, right to the end. During part of the race I was faster than Stoner, but he came back and made me work hard. It´s wonderful to be on the podium with two very strong riders." Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team) 2nd - "I was disappointed not to be on the podium in my first race here for Ducati last season so this makes up for it and it's a chance for me to say 'thank you' to Ducati and all the Ducatisti for their support. We've had some problems over the first few races of this season but at Le Mans and here we've found a more comfortable set-up and a bike that is really competitive. Today was an awesome race. I led from the start but I didn't want to push too hard because the front tyre took a few laps to bed in. Valentino came past in a section of the circuit where I was losing a little bit too much time - I was trying to make it up around the rest of the track but pushed it too much into turn one, ran wide and lost touch with Valentino. We knew the setting of the bike would be more suited to the final few laps and we expected to be strong but unfortunately I'd fallen a little bit too far behind. Even so, second place is a great result and it gives us a real boost going to Catalunya." Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) 3rd - “That was a really tough race because Valentino’s pace was very, very fast. I got a good start and the rhythm was really high, at first I was able to go with them, then I had a battle with Casey. I tried to catch him at the end but it was impossible. It was great to be on the podium, it's a good result for the Championship, but while consistency is always important, we need to win more races. The engine was good today, our main concern now is tyre consistency during the second part of races. I was losing the front towards the end of today’s race, so tyres are what we must focus on.” MotoGP Race Results: (23 laps = 120.635 km) Pole Position: Valentino ROSSI 1'48.130 174.623 Km/h World Championship Positions: Simoncelli and Barbera had exchanged harsh words and almost come to blows at last year´s visit to Mugello, but they left their latest clash until the start of the final lap. Trailing the eventual race winner, Barbera clipped his rival´s bike and was thrown off his own in a 100th Grand Prix heartbreak for the Team Toth rider. The fall elevated Lotus Aprilia´s Alex Debon to second place, with the Le Mans racewinner himself involved in a duel with Thomas Luthi over the course of the 21 lap showdown. Missing out on second place, Luthi contented himself with a first podium in the 250cc class, from eighth on the grid. Crashes from the likes of early leader Alvaro Bautista and front pack runners Hector Faubel, Lukas Pesek, Manuel Poggiali and Yuki Takahashi gave a welcome boost to World Championship leader Mika Kallio. The Red Bull KTM rider had a second consecutive race off the podium at a difficult track for his Austrian machinery, but still holds the advantage in the quarter litre class courtesy of fourth place. Polaris World´s Mattia Pasini and second Metis Gilera man Roberto Locatelli added to the home presence in the top six. Cardion AB´s Czech rider Karel Abraham took a best dry result of seventh place, whilst Hiroshi Aoyama ran wide on the final lap battling with teammate Kallio and dropped down the order. Aleix Espargaro and Ratthapark Wilairot completed the first ten past the chequered flag. 250cc Race Results: (21 laps = 110.145 km) Pole Position: Hector BARBERA 1'52.675 167.579 Km/h World Championship Positions: AMA Superbike Championship at Miller Motorsports Park, Round 5 of 11 Spies Doubles Miller AMA Superbike The race was the first ever for World Superbike at Miller Motorsports Park, but with a twist: World Superbike riders raced on the 3.06-mile Perimeter Course, while the AMA Superbike riders raced on the 4.486-mile Full Course. Both courses have a European feel, with long flowing corners and no stop-start corners. The Full Course has 23 turns, where the Honda CBR1000RR can show its versatility. And the 3500-foot straightaway is the longest on the World Superbike calendar, which lets the 1000 stretch its legs. The defending AMA Superbike Champion won Sunday's 14-lap race, after having already won Saturday's race - and capturing pole position for the weekend. Sunday's result marks the two-time AMA Superbike Champion's 24th career AMA Superbike victory and increases his standings in the overall championship. Rockstar Makita Suzuki team mate Mat Mladin was right behind Spies off the start but he was overtaken over the course of the race and finished in fourth position and holds second place in the overall championship. Ben Spies: "After the first few laps I saw I had a gap on Mat, but I knew Jamie Hacking would be strong after doing so well yesterday. So I just tried to put in some good laps on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000. I tried to keep the gap the same and just bring home the win in the end. Everything was good this weekend and I've got to thank my crew for giving me such a good bike in the Suzuki. This weekend definitely helped us out in the whole championship points-chase. What we've been doing this year has worked so far. We've won six in a row and we're going for that elusive seven. That's a record I definitely want… so we're going for Mat Mladin: "I was looking forward to a good race with Ben today and my Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 was working fine. But I reckon yesterday's crash banged me up a little bit more than I thought. There's nothing seriously wrong or anything but I was pretty stiff and not 100 per cent. I'm not making any excuses; we just didn't get it done today. Now I'm just going to focus on rebuilding my confidence for next week's race at Road America where we won a race last year and have had some success in the past." Hodgson ran second for more than half of Saturday’s Superbike race before being passed by Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) on the 10th of 14 laps, but not before the pair had literally rubbed elbows. That came after Hodgson collected a tire mark on the thigh of his leathers as the result of another close encounter. Hodgson saw that Hacking had chosen a different tire on Saturday, so on Sunday, he was better prepared. He first passed six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin (Suzuki) for second and was drawing a bead on the race leader when he again came under attack from Hacking. This time Hacking made the pass on lap eight of 14 and held Hodgson off for the duration. For Hodgson, who worked as a test rider and didn’t race last year, it was a long overdue return to the podium and he savored it in front of his former World Superbike brethren - “Yeah, it did, it made it more sweet” to podium for the World Superbike crowd, he said. “It just proved that I’m not just slogging around over here in America trying to earn some money. I’m out here racing, going as hard as I can.” Duhamel ran fourth on Saturday before being passed by Hacking on his march to second. The next day he battled Aaron Yates (Suzuki) to the flag, coming up short by less than a second. Still, it was the best weekend to date for the American Honda team and a hopeful sign of things to come. Next weekend’s race is at another high speed track, Road America, where Hondas have done well in the past. Neil Hodgson, 3rd, 3rd - "Yeah, I knew where Jamie (Hacking) was going to be on the track so I was just reaching across trying to block him like you do in racing. I think he squared the corner up before me and just got a better drive out of it, so there was nothing I could do and he got the inside line. Like I said, I like rubbing elbows with Jamie (Hacking) because I know him really well and he’s a good friend and we’ve done a bit of training together in the past. Don’t get me wrong, we still want to beat each other, but it’s nice that you know no one’s going to do something stupid. On Sunday, I just copied what Jamie (Hacking) ran yesterday, because obviously his tire looked better after the race. I had no big problems, really, just felt like that was the limit for me, really. I didn’t want to throw away the third place. I couldn’t go with Jamie, so I was happy to get the points and build on this weekend." Miguel Duhamel 5th, 6th - "Saturday was really good. We hit a good set-up and some of that came over from Neil (Hodgson), for sure, and that was good for us. And we put that set-up in this morning and qualified with it and raced with it and had a really good result. I felt pretty good about being able to keep the guys in sight. I was pretty pleased with that. today we tried to make it a little bit better and we addressed some things. But the warm-up this morning was called off. We only did one lap. It was the same for everybody. We tried to make it better and we made it…I’ll say the famous saying; “Same but different.” And I was having trouble adjusting to it. Just the front end, I was having a little trouble feeling the front end as far as that confidence, I was losing it. And we put a little bit more spring in it so the front end was rising up a bit. So we were trying to address some braking issues yesterday we had, but the bike was good yesterday. Obviously if we raced again I’d just go back to what I raced yesterday. I should’ve been able to get Aaron (Yates). We had more speed that he did. I tried, but he rode a good race and got us for fifth."
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