round eight - race two
Brands Hatch, GB - Sunday, 7 August 2005

VERMEULEN GOES ONE BETTER IN SECOND BRANDS HATCH THRILLER

In the second of this afternoon's two eighth round World Superbike championship
races at Brands Hatch, GB, Chris Vermeulen added a third place to his fourth
from race one. The race was won by Japan's Noriyuki Haga after a thrilling
battle with series leader, Troy Corser, who finished second.

In front of a typically large Brands Hatch crowd who watched five different
manufacturers fill the first five positions, Vermeulen's Winston Ten Kate Honda
team-mate, Karl Muggeridge, crashed out of third place on the second of 25 laps
around the 4.2km Kent circuit, breaking a small bone in his right hand.

Ronald ten Kate - team manager:

"That's bad luck again for Karl who was doing well from second place on the grid
and feeling good on the bike. I think that a podium was possible for him today
and it would certainly have been deserved. Chris's race seemed to be a copy of
race one because it was lost in the first five or six laps. As soon as he got
past the slower riders, he was lapping at the same speed as Haga and Corser. But
it's good to have another podium and I think we have improved the CBR1000RR some
more this weekend. We're looking forward to our home race at Assen in three
weeks, where we'll be looking for some more success."

Chris Vermeulen - third

"I just got another bad start again and it's so hard to pass the guys I was with
because they're all so fast round here. I was a little faster than them but by
the time I eventually got past, the first two guys were just gone and, although
I could match their lap times, I just couldn't catch them. I slowed up a little
towards the end because there was no point crashing out. We changed the rear
spring for race two and the bike definitely felt a little better and it's good
to be on the podium again. At least I've been able to open the gap a little on
Laconi in the championship and we'll head for the team's home round in Assen
looking for something even better."

Karl Muggeridge - DNF

"I'm pretty upset with myself to be honest. Haga had just passed me on the
inside at turn three and I was trying to square off the corner and get him back
at the next one. I just gave it too much and the bike let go and spat me off. I
think I tried to hold onto it a little too long because I've cracked a little
bone in my hand. It's nothing too serious and should heal pretty well in a
couple of weeks. It's such a shame because the changes we made to the bike after
race one were spot on and it felt really sweet. I reckon I could have been on
for a good result but I'll just have to try for that again at Assen."

World Superbike, Brands Hatch - race two results (25 laps, 104.925km):

 1 Noriyuki Haga JPN (Yamaha)                 36m39.815s
 2 Troy Corser AUS (Suzuki)                      +2.686s
 3 Chris Vermeulen AUS (Winston Ten Kate Honda)  +8.062
 4 Chris Walker GBR (Kawasaki)                  +12.053
 5 Regis Laconi FRA (Ducati)                    +13.044
 6 Andrew Pitt AUS (Yamaha)                     +13.184
 7 James Toseland GBR (Ducati)                  +14.215
 8 Lorenzo Lanzi ITA (Ducati)                   +21.026
 9 Yukio Kagayama JPN (Suzuki)                  +21.175
10 Ben Bostrom USA (Honda)                      +21.257

Championship points after eight of 12 rounds:

Corser                                   344
Vermeulen                                234
Laconi                                   214
Kagayama                                 172
Haga                                     167
Toseland                                 161
Walker                                   130
Pierfrancesco Chili ITA (Honda)          111
Pitt                                      95
Norick Abe JPN (Yamaha)                   88
Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda)  85

Next round

Assen, Holland - 4 September