SEASON''S BEST FOR MARTIN AND FOGGY PETRONAS RACING AT IMOLA
02 October 2005 - Foggy PETRONAS Racing

Steve Martin achieved Foggy PETRONAS Racing’s best result of the season when he finished fifth in the first race at Imola today.

But the Australian was denied the chance of a repeat performance when the second race of the penultimate round of the Superbike World Championship was cancelled due to appalling weather conditions, resulting in Troy Corser clinching the title.

Although the riders formed the grid in the afternoon, many indicated at the end of the warm-up lap that the conditions were too dangerous, prompting race control to abandon the start after a lengthy delay.

However, conditions were not as clear cut in the morning and, having decided at the last minute to run on slick tyres on a drying track, Steve worked his way through the field from 15th at the end of the first lap as the riders who had chosen intermediate front tyres paid the price as the race progressed.

With six laps remaining Steve started to close two seconds a lap on Chris Walker in fifth place and eventually passed him on the penultimate bend of the final lap, prompting celebrations on the FPR pit-wall.

Steve said: “I am stoked to have achieved my best result on the PETRONAS FP1 in my 100th World Superbike race finish. I wanted to use an intermediate front because the track was pretty damp but the boys talked me into using slicks at the front and rear. I am grateful they were strong and stuck to their guns, although I was worried in the first few laps as a few guys were flying past me. But I managed to pull them back in the last few laps and I was really happy with my lap times in those conditions. I could barely see Chris with three laps to go but, after seeing my last lap board I knew I could catch him by the middle sector. I passed him at the bottom of the hill at Rivazza, where I had passed a few others too, as I didn’t want to leave it to the final corner.

“I think it was the correct decision to abandon the second race. There was no grip and a lot of standing water. This is the kind of circuit where, if someone crashes, the bike or the rider ends up in the middle of the track and, as there was no vision, it would have been asking for trouble. It’s a shame because we had a great first race and I have been getting on well with the bike in the wet. But I would have hated to have hurt myself and missed the final round at Magny-Cours next week because, although the bike has made yet more steps forward this weekend, I am sure it will go even better there.”

The performance earned lavish praise from team owner Carl Fogarty. He said: “Steve rode fantastically and kept his head when many others didn’t. He had confidence in the bike and the tyres and came through with a very good professional performance on race day, having been impressive all weekend in qualifying.”

Team-mate Garry McCoy was earlier ruled out of action when an X-ray revealed that he had cracked a coccyx bone in yesterday’s crash. He has been advised to rest for three weeks.

He said: “It’s disappointing. I requested an X-ray this morning as I was still quite sore and, sure enough, it showed a fracture. Up until then I had been intending to check and see whether I could sit on the bike. The doctors said to rest up for 20 days and the next race is in six days, so we will have to play it by ear.”

Race one results, Superbike World Championship round 11, Imola, Italy: 1 Vermeulen; 2 Corser +0.297; 3 Haga +8.313; 4 Toseland +15.339; 5 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) +49.638; 6 Walker +50.072; 7 Neukirchner +52.175; 8 Gimbert +52.381; 9 Laconi +57.834; 10 Vizziello +1:05.727; 11 Bussei +1:08.332; 12 Sanchini +1:10.289; 13 Bostrom +1:10.786; 14 Borciani +1:27.905; 15 Kagayama 1:33.440

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