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noticias
27 Abr 2008
Top 10 for Jones at Assen
PARKALGAR HONDA racer Craig Jones fought for victory at the fourth round of the World Supersport Championship at Assen in Holland today, eventually ending up ninth in an exciting race where anyone in the top 10 could have taken the honours.
On lap 16 of 21 Jones took the lead but ran off the 4.55km track shortly afterwards - and despite rejoining in third place, the hard-riding Brit slowly slipped back to ninth by the chequered flag.
Parkalgar Honda’s Miguel Praia suffered a high-speed crash and injured his shoulder in the morning warm-up due to oil on the track. Despite the pain and riding his spare bike, the Portuguese racer started 23rd and finished a very creditable 17th. Honda’s Andrew Pitt won the race.
The fifth round of the 13-round World Supersport Championship takes place at Monza in Italy on May 11th.
Craig Jones:
“That was a very hard race with a lot of close passing and tactics right from start to finish. There were always 10-or more riders in with a chance of taking the win and right from the first lap I was fighting to hold position as well as pass the racers in front.
“I am disappointed in ninth place, especially after having the pace to stay at the front for 18 of the 21-laps. I will sit down with my Parkalgar Honda team and we will examine how we lost the race and make a plan so it will not happen again.”
Miguel Praia:
“I am in a lot of pain in my shoulder after a big crash in the morning warm up that was not my fault. I am pleased to have improved on my qualifying position in the race but would have preferred to score points, maybe if I had been completely fit it would have been possible.
“I have time now to fully recover my fitness before Monza. My Parkalgar Honda team will need to rebuild my number one bike also, so we will notch this race to experience and move forward.”
Simon Buckmaster, Team Manager:
“Craig rode a lot better than ninth and deserved to finish higher up but the racing was so close and hard-fought that the slightest loss of lap time led to big penalties – with the top 10 separated by only three seconds there was no breathing room.
“The Parkalgar Honda race bikes are fast and Craig has the talent and ability to win races. We will focus on those positives and do our best to make sure the tailing off in competitiveness at the end of a race does not happen again.
“Miguel had a difficult race with an injury and did very well to finish ahead of his qualifying position. I think he would have been well into the points if he had been fully fit and on his number one bike rather than his spare. That is encouraging for the future.
“Parkalgar Honda had a positive weekend right up until the last five laps of the race. We’ll get that sorted and Monza is the next opportunity for us to win a race and it can’t come quick enough.”
Race Result:
1: A Pitt, AUS, (Honda)
2: J Rea, GBR, (Honda) +0.014
3: J Lascorz, ESP, (Honda) +0.150
4: F Foret, FRA, (Yamaha) +0.201
5: B Parkes, AUS, (Yamaha) +0.283
6: J Brookes, AUS, (Honda) +0.447
...
9: CRAIG JONES, GBR, (PARKALGAR HONDA) +2.714
...
17: MIGUEL PRAIA, POR, (PARKALGAR HONDA) +27.773
Championship Positions (after four of 13 rounds)
1: Lascorz 70
2: Pitt 50
3: Parkes 49
4: Foret 46
5: Brookes 43
6: Rea 41
7: CRAIG JONES, (PARKALGAR HONDA) 39
...
23: MIGUEL PRAIA, (PARKALGAR HONDA) 4
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