LANZI COMPLETES DREAM WEEKEND FOR DUCATI XEROX TEAM WITH SENSATIONAL WIN IN RACE 2

Lausitz (Germany), Sunday 11 September: Lorenzo Lanzi completed a sensational
weekend for the Ducati Xerox Team as he stormed to the win in race 2 after being
penalized with a ride-through in the first race. The 23-year-old Italian rider,
making his debut for the factory team in place of the injured Régis Laconi,
might even had a double win today, but was given the penalty for a mistake on
the opening lap.

Poleman Lanzi missed a gear as the field went into Turn 1 just after the start
and had to pass through the circuit banking, specially created by the organisers
as the run-off area. The Italian rider re-joined the race in third position,
thus not infringing any sporting regulation, but failed to negotiate the
slow-down chicane in the run-off, judging it to be impossibly tight. For the
penalty Lanzi had to go through the pit-lane at regulation 60 km/h speed limit
and he re-joined the race at the required point, but this time in eleventh
place. As Chris Vermeulen took the win, Lanzi eventually finished eighth.

“Vermeulen went a bit wide and as I was trying to take the turn I missed a gear
and selected first instead of second, got the bike a bit crossed and went
straight on” explained Lanzi. “But I did what the regulations say for this
track – I came back into the race in third place. The chicane should be made
suitable for bikes, and it was impossible to get through due to its tight
layout. I was also given the drive-through quite late after five or six laps, I
wasn’t expecting it any more. I’m disappointed because my race pace was capable
of taking me to the win”.

Lanzi then made amends in the second race after a spectacular battle throughout
the 24 laps, first with Haga (Yamaha) and then with a fast-closing Vermeulen
(Honda) towards the end. Lanzi becomes the first Italian rider to win on a
Ducati factory machine since Pierfrancesco Chili at Assen in 1998.

“A dream race and a dream weekend” added Lorenzo. “I clearly tried to go at
maximum pace throughout the race but also to have a race pace sufficient not to
make any mistakes and keep the others behind. I saved my tyres until four laps
from the end and then I pushed as hard as possible in the final laps to keep
Vermeulen behind me. We showed in race 2 that we could win, and that we could
even have won race 1 as well. I am so happy, it ’s been a fantastic weekend.
It’s the dream of every Italian rider to win a race on a Ducati and this weekend
I was able to express all of my potential”.

James Toseland started fourth and finished fourth in race 1 after taking several
laps to get past Pitt (Yamaha) following a bad start. He was running well in the
same position in race 2 when he lost the front and slipped down out of the top 10.

“It was a difficult weekend, the second race was disappointing because I was
catching them and then I lost the front at the first turn. I wasn’t doing
anything particularly wrong and it was a pity because I felt I could have got
closer to the guys at the front. We had a decent set-up but it wasn ’t perfect
and were unable to improve as much as we should have. We would have been racing
at the front if I had stayed on but that’s racing. Congratulations for Lorenzo,
it’s a dream come true. I feel sure we could have both been on the podium and it
was certainly possible in that second race.”

RACE 1:

 1. Vermeulen (Honda)
 2. Haga (Yamaha)
 3. Corser (Suzuki
 4. Toseland (Ducati Xerox)
 5. Kagayama (Suzuki)
 6. Pitt (Yamaha)

RACE 2:

 1. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox)
 2. Vermeulen (Honda)
 3. Haga (Yamaha)
 4. Kagayama (Suzuki)
 5. Muggeridge (Honda)
 6. Pitt (Yamaha)
11. Toseland (Ducati Xerox)

POINTS (after 10 of 12 rounds) :

Riders
 1. Corser     389
 2. Vermeulen  329
 3. Haga       239
 4. Toseland   215
 5. Laconi     214
 6. Kagayama   211

Manufacturers
 1. Suzuki     408
 2. Honda      345
 3. Ducati     331
 4. Yamaha     280
 5. Kawasaki   153
 6. Petronas    37