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HANNspree Ten Kate Racing’s Fabien Foret took his fifth podium finish in six races on Sunday in round eight of the World Supersport Championship at Silverstone in the UK. The race was won by series leader Chaz Davies, with Spain’s David Salom finishing just ahead of Foret in second. Foret’s teammate, Florian Marino, was ninth.

Foret started from the second row of the grid, but the French ace dropped some places at the start and had to fight his way to the front of the field. He led for two laps before a false neutral on Silverstone’s back straight saw him drop to third.

Marino, conversely, began the 16-lap race around the 5.902km circuit from the front row and led for the opening two laps. However, tire problems forced the 18-year-old from Cannes in France to drop back through the field in the closing laps.

Fabien Foret, third:
Well it wasn’t the result we wanted, but the weekend has been quite difficult, so I’ll take it. I feel a bit sorry for the team though, because I didn’t really do the best race here and had the wrong tire. I wasn’t 100% happy with the setting either, but I made some mistakes too, so it wasn’t great. We didn’t really find what we wanted on the bike and I’m sorry I couldn’t get a better result for the team.

Florian Marino, ninth:
I’m really disappointed with the result here. I got a good start and when Chaz passed me I could go with him. Even when I dropped to fourth, I was able to match his times but after nine or ten laps the rear tire just went and I had no grip. After this I had to fight the bike so much just to get to the end. After a good qualifying I was confident for a nice result, but there are some positive things from the weekend so I can be confident going to Nurburgring.

Ronald ten Kate, team manager:
It was quite a hectic race today that saw both our riders leading. That was good for Florian in particular, because he’s had some problems finding a setting for the machine, and he showed his true speed on the bike. We’ve had some problems trying to sort the bike for Fabien this weekend, but we never really got it perfect. We’re happy with yet another podium although a win just before the summer holidays would have been nice. We’re in a good connection with the leading group now and all we can do now is fight for race wins and try to make a big step towards the lead at Nurburgring.

2011 World Supersport championship, round eight – Silverstone, UK (5.403km) – 16 laps:
1. Chaz Davies (GBR) Yamaha 34m55.198s
2. David Salom (ESP) Kawasaki +1.085s
3. Fabien Foret (FRA) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +2.449s
9. Florian Marino (FRA) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +14.906s

Championship points after eight of 12 rounds:
1. Davies 146, 2. Salom 104, 3. Foret 101, 4. Broc Parkes (AUS) Kawasaki 95, 11. Marino 44

ParkinGO Yamaha’s Chaz Davies was protagonist of the World Supersport race today at his home round at Silverstone, powering his YZF- R6 to claim his fourth race win of the season. From a less than perfect eighth place on the grid, Davies shot into third place at the start and worked his way up to claim the leading position by just lap three. Determined to impress his numerous fans at his home race, the Welshman fought hard to hold off his adversaries. Briefly surrendering his lead to Foret mid race, Davies reclaimed the position by lap eleven, from where he proceeded to the finish line, snatching the chequered flag. Davies struggled throughout the weekend’s qualifying sessions and was unable to secure a front row start for today’s race. The Yamaha ParkinGO team made impressive improvements on his R6 set up allowing the Brit to perform to his potential and deliver yet another race victory.

Teammate Luca Scassa had a less successful race day. The Italian encountered several issues throughout the weekend and had to settle for the third row on this afternoon’s grid. The Italian fought hard to push through the pack and climb up to ninth place. Struggling with the tyre issues, Scassa was unable to fight off his adversaries and was bumped down to 12th place by the end of the 16 lap race.

Chaz Davies remains at the top of the World Supersport championship on 146 points, 42 ahead of Salom in second place. Despite the less than perfect race, Luca Scassa managed to retain his fifth place and now has a total of 83 points, 12 points short of Parkes in fourth.

Chaz Davies, Yamaha ParkinGO Team, 1st:
“It was great to get a win at my home race. It was definitely one of the best races of the year. There were a good few passes back and forth so it wasn’t easy to get the win. I was eighth on the grid, we struggled all weekend as I couldn’t get that fast lap in to get on the front row. I got off to a good start and did my best to hold the pace. I wasn’t sure which tyres to use so I think we must have made the right choice and I’m relieved with that. It was a great battle with the guys and I had so much fun. Thanks so much to my team, they did a great job and I want to dedicate the win to my sister, who celebrates her birthday today.”

Luca Scassa, Yamaha ParkinGo Team, 12th:
“I thought I had resolved the issues I had in this weekend’s qualifying and I was sure I’d be able to fight for a podium. I got off to a good start and pushed hard to battle through the pack. I did my best to fight on but then I started to struggle with the tyres and began to lose positions. I’m disappointed but I’ll do my best at the next round in Nurburgring.”

The Yamaha ParkinGO World Supersport Team completed the second qualifying day on the British track at Silverstone, content with having successfully improved the R6 race set ups ahead of tomorrow’s race day.

Chaz Davies

Chaz Davies concluded the session in eighth place and faces his home race tomorrow determined to battle for victory in front of his British fans. The Welshman made the most of the second day at the British circuit to work through some chassis set ups and improve his race pace. Unfortunately Davies was unable to produce a fast lap towards the end of the session and settled for a second row position on tomorrow’s grid, but is confident to have made the progress necessary to be strong and consistent for the 16 lap race. Teammate Luca Scassa closed the day in 11th place overall and with a third row position on the race grid. Despite the result, the Italian is confident that he has made solid improvements on his R6 race set up today and will be in a position to fight for a podium tomorrow and climb back up the championship standings.

Chaz Davies, Yamaha ParkinGO Team, 8th, 2’09.405:
” We have worked hard and made progress. I have a better feeling with the front of my R6 than yesterday and I have improved the race pace also. I’ll start from the second row tomorrow but I’m sure I can be strong and push through to the front of the pack. At Silverstone there are plenty of opportune places to overtake, so I’ll do my best. It’s my home race and in front of my fans I just want to do my best to deliver good results for them.”

Luca Scassa, Yamaha ParkinGO Team, 11th, 2’09.700:
” Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get in a hot lap today and improve my qualifying times. I got caught up in traffic that slowed me down. We worked hard yesterday and were heading in the right direction. I could definitely see the results today and the track temperature was also hotter. The bike feels quite good and it adapts quite well to my riding style so I’m feeling quite confident. I’m not concerned that I’m on the third row, I’ll be doing my best to fight for a podium anyway.”

Yamaha ParkinGO riders Luca Scassa and Chaz Davies got straight down to business today at Silverstone and completed the first qualifying session in third and tenth places respectively. Both riders made the most of the first day at the long British track to work through various set-ups in search of a good feeling on their R6s ahead of Sunday’s race day.

Luca Scassa was back on top form today, following less-than-perfect results in the previous two consecutive rounds. The Italian impressed on the fast-flowing track, finishing up the first qualifying session in third place, just four tenths of a second behind the Gino Rea at the top of the time sheets and with a provisional front row position on Sunday’s grid. Teammate Chaz Davies spent the first day at Silverstone trying to find a good feeling on his machine and making adjustments to his chassis set up. The British rider is confident that he made improvements in the right direction, ahead of tomorrow’s second qualifying session.

Luca Scassa, Yamaha ParkinGO Team, 3rd, 2’09.804:
“We worked hard on my bike and made some major changes before coming to Silverstone. We took all the data from the beginning of the season in Australia and tried to analyze several aspects; the set-up, my input, the tires etc., in order to discover what the problem was in the last few rounds. We were strong in colder conditions but struggled in the heat. We obviously succeeded in making progress as the bike is going very well. We still need to do some minor changes especially to the front, but I’m confident for tomorrow. Finally, I feel like I’m riding my bike again and it feels good.”

Chaz Davies, Yamaha ParkinGO Team, 10th, 2’11.217:
“It wasn’t exactly a very successful session today. I didn’t get the times I would have hoped for but I’m not too concerned. We tried a few different set-ups to get the feel of them, but nothing was quite right. We have some adjustments to do before tomorrow but I’m pretty confident that we know what to do. I also tried the soft tires towards the end of the session, and I expected to improve on my lap times but that wasn’t the case. Tomorrow is another day, and I’m sure things will go much better.”

Chaz Davies provided a remarkable race in yesterday afternoon’s Spanish heat to claim his third victory of the season and fifth race win for the Yamaha ParkinGO Team. A perfect start from fourth position on the grid saw Davies shoot into second place. The Brit immediately set the pace and was consistent throughout. Closely tailing Kawasaki’s Broc Parkes for the first 15 laps, Davies moved in and was ready to take the lead when the Australian crashed out of contention. Davies crossed the finish line just half a second ahead of fellow Brit, Parkalgar Honda’s Sam Lowes. Teammate Luca Scassa had a less fortunate race day in Aragon. Struggling to maintain the pace, the Italian lost the front of his machine causing him to crash out with just four laps to go.

Yamaha have further increased the gap in the manufacturer’s standings now leading by 27 points. Davies leaves Aragon topping the rider’s standings with a total of 105 points, 20 points ahead of Parkes in second. Scassa, now sitting in fourth place with 70 points, is just one point behind Salom in third. Yamaha ParkinGO team head to Brno for round seven of the WSS Championship in three weeks’ time.

Chaz Davies, Yamaha ParkinGO Team – 1st:
“It was a very good day especially considering all the issues I had throughout the weekend. I went into the race a bit blind and knowing that Parkes was so strong all weekend. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I figured if I could hold on for the first 10 laps and make the tires last that I’d probably be ok. I just had to make sure I kept the pace till the very end. I can’t thank the team enough for the hard work all weekend, they were amazing. It’s a pretty great bonus after such a difficult weekend. A huge thanks to all the crew, to Yamaha, Monster Energy and all my sponsors.”

Luca Scassa, Yamaha ParkinGO Team – DNF:
“We had a lot of problems over the weekend. Even when we were testing here we had a few issues, so it’s just not my track. We tried so many solutions but failed to find a good set up and improve lap times. Three crashes in one weekend is too much so I’m going to put it behind me, forget about the bad weekend and look forward to Brno.”
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Broc Parkes rode a perfect race at Misano yesterday to take his first World Supersport victory for Kawasaki and take the team’s first race win of the season. Parkes also seized the lead in the Riders’ Championship standings.

Having qualified fourth, Parkes was in line for a good result, and his first win in Kawasaki colors came at one of his favorite circuits, after making a change to the machine setup that worked well in real race conditions over all 22 laps.
Broc now leads the championship by five points from Chaz Davies, who led the race for a time, before Parkes swept past on lap five.

David Salom almost joined Parkes on the podium at Misano, finishing fourth, less than half a second from his teammate. He was third early on but dropped to sixth before rallying in the later stages and passing another rider on the last lap to go into the top four. Salom is fifth in the championship, one point out of fourth place.

The next round at Aragon is in Salom’s home country of Spain, where he can count on some solid support from the crowd.

Broc Parkes:
“Unreal to win. It felt really good and I got a good start from fourth place on the grid. I was really concerned how the set-up would be for the race, because we made quite a big change for the start, so we did not know exactly where we were. It was a little bit of a gamble but it paid off in the end. I got out in front, got to the lead and looked back to see who was behind me. I could see he was not a championship contender, so I had to think about points as well. But I wanted a win, I really wanted to win so much, and at the end we took it. I could see some other guys were coming, but I just had to stay relaxed and control the race. First Kawasaki win for me and it feels good, and a great job from all the team.”

David Salom:
“Not a bad race to finish in fourth position, it’s good, and it was a strong race for the championship. However, I was really looking for a podium. It was not possible in this race because of a back marker, as it was not possible to pass him at the right time. But I had a good race with Sam Lowes and I am happy for the team because they did a good job this weekend.”

With just more a month off since the last round of the World Supersport Chapionship in Monza, the Yamaha ParkinGò Team is geared up and all ready to hit the Adriatic coast for this weekend’s racing at the Misano World Circuit. Following the high of the spectacular double podium at the team’s home race in Monza, Chaz Davies and his team are aiming to replicate victory at the second of the three Italian rounds while Luca Scassa is forced to sit it out following an infringement of the regulations prior to the last round in Monza.

Chaz Davies began the season in less-than-perfect fashion in Australia being forced to retire from the race, losing out on the opportunity to gain precious points. The Welshman has since made up for it with two race victories and a second in the last three rounds to comfortably take him to the top of the 2011 Championship standings, a place he stares with teammate Scassa. Davies is eager to head to Misano, get back on his powerful R6 machine, which has delivered two consecutive victories, confident on his ability to pocket the third win of the season and reconfirm his leading status.

Scassa will be present in Misano to encourage his teammate while losing out on precious points and inevitably risking his position in the standings. The Italian was refused entry to the race by the Superbike race direction following an error on the rider’s behalf, unaware that conducting his riding school in Misano was an infringement of the regulations. Scassa is disappointed but further motivated to be back with a blast in Aragon next week as competitive as ever, on a track he recently successfully tested with his YZF-R6.

The Yamaha ParkinGò Team have spectacularly won all four rounds of the 2011 World Supersport championship so far and have sights on making it an impressive five in a row this weekend in Misano.

2nd Fabien Foret, 1st Chaz Davies, 3rd Broc Parkes

Kawasaki Provec Racing‘s World Supersport riders Broc Parkes and David Salom overcame several obstacles at Assen to record strong finishes on race day, with Parkes third and Salom fifth in a twice-restarted and eventually shortened race.

Parks eventually took his second podium of the year and now sits three points from the top, in second place overall, as points leader Luca Scassa crashed out of a race won by his teammate Chaz Davies.

Salom is now fifth overall in the points, only 16 from the leader, as he continues his push to take his first podium score of 2011.

Massimo Roccoli, from the Kawasaki Lorenzini by Leoni Team, was sixth today and moved to seventh in the standings. His team-mate Vittorio Iannuzzo fell but is still inside the top 12 championship positions.

Broc Parkes
“I was a little bit fortunate that some other riders went out but I was unlucky to be bumped wide in the first turn, so it was just luck coming back my way. I am second in the championship and only three points from first, so it is like the season just started again. We have learned some things to take from this weekend to Monza and the team is always working on new things, so we can look forward to that. We improved the bike every day here and I had the pace so we scored a podium and got some good points again.”

David Salom
“A very confusing day but a good race. My start was good the first time but it did not count and in the second and third starts it was no good. I had some work to do to. I think I was in about 14th place in the first lap of the real race but when I got behind Broc he passed rider after rider and I got up to fifth place. My lap times were good and a top five was not so bad. We overcame some problems that we had in practice and I was happy to be able to make a pass on another rider in the last corner to make it into the top five.”

Fabien Foret finished second in Sunday’s third round and crash-strewn World Supersport Championship race at Assen in the Netherlands. The Frenchman finished seven seconds behind race winner ParkinGO Yamaha’s Chaz Davies after tire problems forced him to ease off in the closing laps

The race was red flagged twice; initially after Parkalgar Honda rider Sam Lowes crashed out of contention on lap four. The restart was barely a lap old before two other riders crashed at the final chicane, bringing out another red flag.

In the second restart, Foret’s Hannspree Ten Kate Honda teammate, Florian Marino, was taken out of a podium position by Italian rider Luca Scassa, who careered into the rear of Marino’s Honda CBR600RR on lap seven of the revised 16-lap encounter around the 4.542km Assen circuit.

Foret had started the race from the outside of the front row and fell back to sixth place in the early stages before fighting his way through and then benefiting from the exit of Marino and Scassa.

However, tire problems similar to those which forced his exit from the opening round in Australia, meant the French rider was unable to push and, with a big gap behind him, he rolled off the throttle to ensure his first points of the season.

Fabien Foret – 2nd
It was a tough day but I’m happy with 20 points, but we had some pretty bad tire issues with about four or five laps to go. I had to try to save the tire and finish the race so I was lucky that there was a good gap to Broc Parkes in third. I had to ride really slowly just to finish the race but at the end of the day it turned into quite a good weekend. Between the tire issue and the fact that I am still not quite 100%, it’s good to get some points and I hope for Monza to be in really good shape to fight for a win.

Florian Marino – DNF
Of course I’m really disappointed. After all the work that we did as a team over this weekend, it’s a very tough way to finish a race. I know these things can happen in a race sometimes, but I’m not happy that it happened to me today. Everything was OK in the race and I was just waiting to see how Gino Rea was going in front of me. But I have shown that I can fight for podium positions and I’m looking forward to Monza to do that again.

Ronald ten Kate, Team manager
We had quite a difficult weekend here until Sunday morning. On Saturday night we found a breakthrough with setup which needed a lot of extra hours working from everyone involved with the team. So a big thanks must go to them for today’s results. Florian was riding at his best ever for us and was very unfortunate to be taken out. But things like that happen when there’s an intense battle up front and, for sure, being as young as he is, there will be more days for him. Fabien also had troubles this weekend. Injuries have not been holding him back so much and the Sunday morning set-up really allowed him to propel himself forward in the race. However, he encountered a similar tire problem to Phillip Island, and he had to close down the throttle towards the end of the race. We need to work on his starts, which are not so good, but apart from that I must give him big compliments for staying calm all weekend. When the bike was good, he was really fast so we’re really looking forward to Monza and carrying this momentum forward. We’re not so far behind in the championship so we’ll take it race-by-race and get the maximum we can from each weekend.

2011 World Supersport championship, round three – Assen, Netherlands
Results (16 laps):
1. Chaz Davies (GBR) Yamaha 26m37.029s
2. Fabien Foret (FRA) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +7.236s
3. Broc Parkes (AUS) Kawasaki +8.084s
4. Robbin Harms (DEN) Honda +8.191s
DNF. Florian Marino (FRA) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda

Championship points after three of 12 rounds:
1. Luca Scassa (ITA) Yamaha 50, 2. Parkes 47, 3. Davies 45, 4. Harms 37, 5. Salom 34, 6. Foret 20, 9. Marino 17

Next round: Monza, Italy – May 6-8.

Yamaha ParkinGO Team rider, and 2008 AMA Daytona 200 winner, Chaz Davies took his maiden victory in the World Supersport Championship today on the historic Dutch track in Assen. The Brit didn’t hesitate to take the lead right off the grid and ride his YZF-R6 to cross the checkered flag with over seven seconds ahead of his competitors. Davies put in a spectacular performance, keeping the leading throughout the entire race and providing the Yamaha ParkinGO WSS Team with their third consecutive race win of the 2011 season.

Chaz Davies

Another former AMA rider, Davies’ teammate Luca Scassa, had a less fortunate race day, crashing out mid race. The Italian rider got off to a less-than-perfect start from his pole position on the grid, falling back to fourth. He immediately regained a steady race pace, and on attempting to jump up to third, he collided with France’s Florian Marino, sitting just ahead of him. As a minor compensation for the disappointing race today in Assen, Scassa claimed the fastest race lap with a lap time of 1’39.019, showing his true potential and that of his YZF- R6 machine.

Plenty of drama was on display as the race was red flagged twice. On both occasions, Scassa and Davies had gotten perfect starts off the grid from pole and eighth position and were sitting comfortably in first and second places respectively before a series of riders crashed out, causing the race to be red flagged.

Scassa heads to his home round in Monza still leading the championship on 50 points. Davies is now just five points behind, sitting in third position with a total of 45 points, while Yamaha is comfortably leading the Manufacturers Championship by 14 points.

Chaz Davies, Yamaha ParkinGO Team – 1st, 1’39.007
“Finally. I think that sums up how long I have waited for today to come. It’s often a case of luck and I feel it has rarely been on my side in the last few years and so far this season. The bike is doing really well. After yesterday’s accident in qualifying, the team had to work really hard all night to rebuild the bike and I think I managed to repay them for it. I’m looking forward to Monza now that I am officially back in the hunt.”

Luca Scassa, Yamaha ParkinGO Team – DNF
“Today was very stressful due to the three race starts. Everything was under control in first two races, I was sitting nicely in the lead before we were red flagged. Unfortunately the third time around I didn’t get off to a very good start. I had difficulty overtaking and when Marino seemed to slow down, I just lost control of the bike. I’ve learnt a lesson and hopefully it won’t happen again. I have to be tougher from the start and get my head down and just go. I’ll make up for it in Monza.” Read more…