World Supersport Monza: Honda preview

SBK

, pubblicato il 08 maggio 2008

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The best race of the 2008 Supersport season so far took place at Assen on 27th April and it delivered a positive result for most of the top Honda contenders. Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) took his second win of the year to jump up to second in the rankings, behind the remarkable championship leader, Joan Lascorz (Glaner Motocard Honda CBR600RR) on an entirely private machine. Between them, Pitt and Lascorz have won three of the four races so far, with Lascorz currently on 70 points and Pitt on 50.

Josh Brookes (Hannspree Stiggy Motorsports Honda CBR600RR) is now fifth, while a hard fought season best of second place at Assen for rookie Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) has seen him climb to sixth in the reckoning. Rea led out of the last chicane at Assen, in a race in which he showed real maturity for a rookie WSS rider.

Experiencing some technical issues last time out, Craig Jones (Parkalgar Honda CBR600RR) dropped to ninth in the Assen race and seventh overall in the championship, but such is the closeness in the top championship rankings that he is only 11 points from second place. There are nine rounds of the 13-round season remaining, including Monza.

Further proof of how close this season is came at Assen for Robbin Harms (Hannspree Stiggy Motorsports Honda CBR600RR) who finished 5.088 seconds from the winner Pitt, but scored only three points for 13th place. He is now eighth overall, on 28 points, 16 of which were the result of stepping onto the podium for third at Phillip Island.

No fewer than eight of the top ten championship places are now taken by Honda riders, with only Broc Parkes and Fabien Foret, in third and fourth respectively on their Yamahas, breaking a near perfect run of early season placings for the CBR600RR.

Once more Italian Gianluca Vizziello will join fellow countryman and regular team rider Gianluca Nannelli (Hannspree Althea Honda CBR600RR) as a replacement for the still recovering Tommy Hill (Hannspree Althea Honda CBR600RR), with each Italian rider out to make the most of home advantage at the exquisite parkland circuit of Monza.

Pitt said: “I always enjoy riding at such a fast track and there is always a good atmosphere. Its one of the last remaining old style circuits. It will be a big event for our sponsors as well. After my successful race at Assen my confidence is high again. If we can find the right set up and pace through the qualifying sessions I’m confident about my chances to battle at the front of the field. I hope the battle will not be as tight as it was in Assen, but I expect it will be.”

Brookes said: “Just like many of the racetracks on the this year’s calendar, I have never ridden Monza on a 600 before. Last year, on my 1000, I finished the race in 11th place - which was OK. Monza is a track I like. It’s very fast and definitely requires a fast bike in order to do well. Our bikes have the speed we need here for sure, but we need to find the right combination of chassis settings to be able to make good results. I feel confident about the race weekend, although it’s going to be a tough one for sure.”

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