World Superbike Championship - event preview
Round seven - Brno, Czech Republic (15-17 July 2005)

WINSTON MEN SEEK BRNO BOOST

Winston Ten Kate Honda's Chris Vermeulen and Karl Muggeridge head to the Czech
Republic this weekend for round seven of this year's World Superbike
championship in search of further points. The Brno event marks the return of the
series to the Czech venue for the first time since 1996.

With one victory to his name already and two second place finishes last time out
at Misano leaving him second in the championship standings, Vermeulen will be
looking to make further inroads into the points lead of his fellow Australian,
Troy Corser. Muggeridge, meanwhile, will be hoping to build on the qualifying
form that put him on the front row in Italy.

Ronald ten Kate - team manager:

"It's our first time at Brno as a team and, although some of our competitors
have tested there this season, we'll be looking for a similar performance to
last year's at Laguna Seca in America. Chris had never seen the circuit before
and took a double victory there, so we know from experience that anything is
possible. Of course, testing at a new circuit is always an advantage but I
certainly don't think it rules us out of contention. We're hoping to test one or
two new chassis components in Brno to help us build on the base setting that saw
us perform well in Misano and I know that both Chris and Karl are growing in
confidence on the bike with each outing."

Chris Vermeulen - championship position 2nd, 181 points:

"I'm looking forward to the new challenge that Brno brings and excited about
going to a new track. I've spoken to a few other guys who have raced there in
MotoGP and it seems to be one of their favourites because it's fast and flowing.
It's a shame we haven't been able to test there but with only two test tracks
allowed, there's always going to be a compromise. It's certainly going to be
difficult going out on the first day but we'll hopefully get up to speed quickly
enough because the bike's been getting better and better over the last few
rounds. I've spoken to the guys back at the workshop and they've got a couple of
new things for us to try. I reckon Brno should suit the Fireblade so we're ready
to go. I'm pretty relaxed because I managed to grab a few days back home in
Australia between a couple of Suzuka 8-hour tests and, since I got back to
Europe last week, I've been playing around with my new Ford Coupe, which is
fantastic."

Karl Muggeridge - championship position 10th, 65 points:

"I've heard Brno is pretty quick but pretty bumpy, too, so that could throw up
one or two problems. I'll make sure I get lots of laps in on a scooter as soon
as I arrive to get myself properly familiar with it. We'll be playing a bit of
catch up with those who have already tested and one or two ex-GP riders who I'm
sure will remember which way it goes. We certainly found a better way forward at
Misano and everything was going well through qualifying and Superpole. I just
felt so rough on race day that I wasn't able to convert that good set-up into a
couple of decent finishes but we're making progress each time we go out so I'm
looking forward to the weekend. I'm also looking forward to some more of our own
testing at Lausitzring in Germany straight after Brno. The championship hasn't
been there for a few years either so hopefully that might give us a bit of an
advantage."

Championship points after six of 12 rounds:

 1 Troy Corser AUS (Suzuki)                      254
 2 Chris Vermeulen AUS (Winston Ten Kate Honda)  181
 3 Regis Laconi FRA (Ducati)                     162
 4 Yukio Kagayama JPN (Suzuki)                   148
 5 James Toseland GBR (Ducati)                   124
 6 Noryuki Haga JPN (Yamaha)                      88
 7 Chris Walker GBR (Kawasaki)                    87
 8 Pierfrancesco Chili ITA (Honda)                86
 9 Andrew Pitt AUS (Yamaha)                       70
10 Karl Muggeridge AUS (Winston Ten Kate Honda)   65

Brno World Superbike event schedule:

Friday   15 July - 10.30-11.30 free practice
                   14.15-15.15 qualifying
Saturday 16 July - 11.00-12.00 qualifying
                   14.45-15.45 free practice
                   16.00 Superpole
Sunday   17 July - 09.20-09.40 warm-up
                   12.00 race one (20 laps, 108.06km)
                   15.30 race two (20 laps, 108.06km)