TREBLE TROUBLE FOR FPR AT LAGUNA SECA
12 July 2004 - Foggy PETRONAS Racing

The mid-season blues continued for Foggy PETRONAS Racing today with three retirements in two trouble-strewn races in the seventh round of the Superbike World Championship at the American circuit of Laguna Seca.

Troy Corser''s 10th place in the opener was the only finish for the team after both he and team-mate Chris Walker were forced to pull into the pits with technical problems in the second race.

Troy said: ''This has been a very frustrating and disappointing weekend, especially considering I was reasonably happy with my set-up and race tyres. In the second race the bike was okay for a few laps but then I started to lose the rear going into the right-handers. But I was right on the back of Clementi and the track was busy so I did not get a chance to look down until Sanchini came passed. There was too much oil on the bike and I knew I wouldn''t be able to finish and I didn''t want to crash like I did in Germany.''

Walker''s day of woe started when, after an engine problem on the formation lap of the first race, he narrowly escaped crashing with two laps remaining when a gearbox problem caused an oil leakage. His day went from bad to worse when a clutch failure brought an end to his second race after eight laps.

Chris, riding with three fractured ribs after a trouble-strewn previous outing at Silverstone, said: ''I don''t deserve the luck I am having at the moment, especially at a time in the championship when you need as many points as you can get. It''s a shame that, having struggled in qualifying, I wasn''t able to finish either race after being up near the top ten. I didn''t get my normal start in the second race as the clutch didn''t release properly. I was pushing the lever out with my finger for a while but it got gradually worse.''

Both races were won by Australian Chris Vermeulen, at his first visit to the technically demanding Californian circuit.

Race two results, Superbike World Championship, round 7, Laguna Seca, USA: 1 Vermeulen; 2 Toseland +0.465; 3 Laconi +13.520; 4 Haga +13.742; 5 Chili +21.770; 6 Martin +27.964; 7 McCoy +43.631; 8 Borciani +48.268; 9 Sanchini +49.327; 10 Clementi +54.021; 11 Pedercini +1:09.618; 12 Bontempi +1:24.444; 13 Nowland one lap; 14 Saiger one lap

Race one results: 1 Vermeulen; 2 Chili +4.127; 3 Martin +5.707; 4 Toselnd +8.347; 5 Laconi +8.390; 6 Haga +18.560; 7 McCoy +21.290; 8 Sanchini +31.795; 9 Haslam +34.166; 10 Corser (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) +38.175; 11 Borciani +43.554; 12 Pedercini +57.948; 13 Bontempi +1.18.252; 14

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