Points All Round At Magny Cours For the Largest All British Team At WSB

European SuperStock 600 Championship

The final round at Magny Cours had come around very quickly. It
seemed only a couple of months ago that we arrived at Valencia for a
couple of days testing the week before the first round of the series.
Difficult to believe that Matt had never ridden a 600cc bike before
that test and Chris was embarking on his first full season in the
SuperStock 600 class. It was always going to be emotional with
everyone getting together for what could be the final time but with a
weather forecast that wasn't looking promising and a temperature a
good 15 degrees colder than Imola the week before it was going to be
a challenge for everyone.

Chris has raced at the circuit once before when he finished in 19th
place as a wild card at the tail end of 2005. Matt wasn't due to
arrive until the early hours so wouldn't see the track until he was
actually out for the first practice session! Chris and I took the
opportunity to do a few laps on the scooter to see the circuit and
define reference points ready for the morning. Having to give up
after three laps due to the extreme cold didn't bode well nor did the
dark clouds rolling in, especially when it rained for most of the night.

The morning was cold and damp although as free practice wasn't until
midday the track had time to dry before the SuperStock 600 class had
time to venture out. Matt was bedding in new brake pads so did three
gentle laps and came in to the pits to consider his lines. Both
riders opted to build up the pace slowly with Matt taking the
opportunity to get a tow from as many faster riders as possible to
help learn the track. Whilst Chris was concentrating on his reference
points Matt was clearly benefiting from the experience of those
around him and by the end had progressed to 17th place with a best
lap of 1'52.408 - Still 0.442 seconds above his ideal time (adding
together his best sectors throughout the session). Chris was also
happy with his progress although disappointed to end up in 26th place
despite a best lap of 1'53.366, some 0.25 seconds faster than his
fastest lap here in 2005. There was still some way to go as Chris had
set an ideal time some 0.594 seconds faster showing promise for the
later sessions.

First qualifying was later the same day and with the temperature
dropping the lap times were obviously going to improve. Both riders
made a good start and posted their best times four or five laps in to
the new session. Matt was struggling with getting clear track and
despite the rear tyre going off significantly in the remaining laps
he was consistently between 0.1 and 0.3 seconds down on his best time
which was a real shame as having been 9th fastest when he set his
best dropped to 16th by the end of the session. Having improved to
1'51.757 was very promising and with more laps on the scooter that
evening things were looking good for second qualifying on Saturday.
Having put in a good time early on Chris spent most of the session
working on certain corners and improved to 25th place with a 1'53.023
lap.

A few freezing laps on the scooter later that evening were cut short
by workers needing to paint lines and logos around the track so we
were left with some ideas for both riders to work on in second
qualifying. After more heavy rain overnight the track was wet first
thing and still rather damp when the SuperStock 600s ventured out for
their session. With many people nervous about pushing hard in the wet
the Brits were in their element, well, at least they were used to the
conditions! Matt started off second fastest and maintained fourth
place for much of the session as the track continued to dry.
Finishing the session in 12th place with a best of 1'53.757 Matt was
confident he could improve if the conditions were the same for the race.

Meanwhile Chris was steadily building his confidence and with the
first sector of the track now dry he pushed on putting in a series of
quick laps ending the session with a 1'53.172 putting him in 7th
place for the session. Not sure how he managed get within 0.15 of his
dry time in the damp although I suspect the new turning points we
defined the previous evening helped as did making sure he was looking
far enough ahead in the tighter turns. Needless to say he was
bouncing up and down hoping for rain come the race.

Starting in 16th place meant Matt would be on the inside for the
first turn which wasn't ideal but at least the weather was dry albeit
getting cooler once again. Matt made a good start only to get boxed
in on the inside and had to watch all his hard work disappear as lots
of other riders came by. Chris was in a similar position but had held
back to see how things unfolded in the first turn. Both set about
making up places in the first lap and with some brave overtaking
crossed the line in 12th and 23rd place, respectively.

By the second lap Matt had overtaken another rider and with his new
found focus Chris had both overtaken several riders and benefited
from the misfortune of a three others who went down together just in
front of him to move up to 17th place. Matt appeared to be struggling
to improve his times and even when a couple of faster riders came by
he was unable to stay with them. He was still catching the group
ahead whilst Chris was averaging a rider a lap as he ploughed through
the field at a pace most could not match. By lap seven Matt was up to
11th and Chris was in 14th place and gaining rapidly on the group in
front, including Matt. As another rider went down in front of Matt
requiring avoiding action Chris was taking another place and could
now see Matt up ahead.

With no more laps there was nothing Chris could do to improve on the
2.5 second deficit on Matt but taking his best placed finish of the
year in 11th place with Matt in 10th was just the finish the team
needed. As the top privateer Suzukis to finish almost together was an
excellent achievement. Matt put in a fastest lap of 1'51.101 whilst
Chris blew that away with an excellent 1'50.594 - Who knows who would
have finished ahead given another few laps but Chris had more than
doubled his points tally to 9, finishing the championship in 30th
position. Matt now had 21 points putting him in 17th overall and, if
you exclude those that had competed in the series before, 5th
'Rookie' in the class. I'll repeat that, someone who had only ridden
a 72 hp Suzuki SV650 until the week before the first round had
finished 5th 'Rookie' and 17th overall in his first year!

All in all it has been an incredibly hard year with everyone in the
team going above and beyond the call of duty but the results have
spoken for themselves. I am confident that were both riders young
enough to compete in the class in 2007 I am convinced Chris would
finish in the top ten and Matt would easily be in the top six. Both
riders have had their share of bad luck, with Matt being punted off
in the first couple of turns at two different tracks only to rejoin
in last place on both occasions, and Chris being punted off at Assen
and his premature clutch failure at Valencia hurting his chances.

We have all learned a great deal from the infrastructure and backing
required to compete at this level to the importance of testing
between the rounds to learn the bike and keep up to speed. Both
riders are now too old so will have to move in to the SuperStock 1000
class next season if funds allow us to return. We also have had
interest from other young riders who wish to race with us in the 600
class. Fingers crossed that we can raise enough sponsorship to return
in 2007 where we hope to once again be the largest all British team
in the paddock and, if the Foggy Petronas team are absent, we will be
the largest British team overall!

Mike Edwards
Team Manager - MIST Suzuki
www.mistsuzuki.com

Would like to thank main sponsors www.givemethekeys.com and Steve
Jordan Motorcycles and ongoing support from B & C Express, Dyna Pro,
Pipercross, RaceDays.net, S&B Commercials and Silkolene.

Both GSXR600K6 machines are now for sale. Specification includes
Ohlins suspension front and rear, Arrow full race exhaust system, GPR
steering dampers, Harris clip ons, Promach rear sets and Yoshimura
kit base gasket.



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