The circuit in central France comprises some fast, flowing sections, but with a number of chicances to negotiate. The pivotal corner is the Adelaide hairpin, a tight right-hander at the end of the long blast out of the Estoril turn. Heavy braking from high speed makes this a frequent scene of overtaking moves.

Qualifying went better for Honda than for Suzuki. Rear tyre trouble meant that 2005 champion Corser would start from sixteenth with his Alstare Corona machine, with team-mate Yukio Kagayama beaten by three Honda FireBlades and three other machines. A third pole in four outings was earned by Ten Kate rider Chris Vermeulen, at lap record pace, with his partner Karl Muggeridge also on the front row of the grid in fourth.

These two were split by the Ducati 999 F05 of Caracchi team rider Lorenzo Lanzi (second), and the Yamaha Italia of Noriyuki Haga (third). The works Ducati of James Toseland led row two, from Max Neukirchner and the Klaffi Honda. Kagayama was followed by Andrew Pitt, on the second Yamaha, and Chris Walker. The PSG-1 Kawasaki rider did well despite struggling with the right elbow broken at Assen. Régis Laconi decided not to start, again because of his Assen misfortune.

Race one saw Haga lead away, in front of Kagayama, Vermeulen, Lanzi, Walker, Toseland, Pitt, Muggeridge, Neukirchner, Corser, Ben Bostrom and Frankie Chili. But lap one was all action, especially at the Adelaide hairpin. Kagayama went to Haga’s inside, and Vermeulen to the outside, as they approached the braking zone. Noriyuki was therefore third at the corner, but that turned into fifth as Walker pushed his way through on the inside at the apex, followed by Toseland.

Vermeulen now led Walker, Kagayama, Toseland and Haga. Sixth man Neukirchner had a ‘moment’ at one of the chicanes, losing places to Muggeridge and Corser, but staying ahead of Pitt. Then came Chili, Bostrom, Lanzi, David Checa, Steve Martin and Norick Abe. Vermeulen was already showing the pace to break away, and Kagayama looked to chase as he passed Walker on the inside at the Grande Courbe, the first turn left-hander.

The early stages saw Walker attacking Kagayama, with Toseland in tow; and Muggeridge pressuring Haga just behind. Gaps opened up in this group when Toseland managed to go into the rear of Walker at one point, pushing both bikes wide and letting Kagayama get clear. Haga, Muggeridge and Corser joined on behind the two English riders, but Noriyuki lost two spots with a moment of his own.

Vermeulen was soon holding a handy four-second lead, with Kagayama equally comfortable in second. The dramatics were reserved for the group behind, especially between Walker and Toseland. James made a pass at the final Lycée complex, going inside at the first right-hander, but Chris duplicated the manoeuvre at the immediate second right. The Ducati was ahead again approaching Adelaide, and this time Muggeridge also relegated Walker going on the inside at the corner. In the next moment Haga was out, pushed into a fall by a similarly robust pass by team-mate Pitt.

Andrew was obviously looking for a good result, and he took over sixth with a second attempt at Corser that this time didn’t take him wide. Meanwhile, compatriot Muggeridge was looking at a first podium result as he passed Walker again at the right-left Nürburgring chicane, and began to pull away. Toseland re-took Walker at the dipping right-left Imola chicane, and the physical effort seemed to be affecting Chris now. He lost fifth to Pitt at Adelaide, and at the tight final right-left at Lycée got the line wrong to lose out to Corser and Neukirchner.

The battle for third became a four-man affair in the later stages. First Toseland caught Muggeridge, passing at Adelaide; and later Pitt and Corser joined in. Troy had got into fifth with a move at the first part of Lycée, only to go wide at Adelaide and drop behind the Yamaha and Neukirchner’s Honda. As Max dropped back towards Walker and Lanzi, Corser moved in on Pitt. He made the pass going to the left on the way down to the hairpin, pulling ahead on sheer straight line speed. Not long before, Muggeridge had done the same to Toseland.

The fight for third was a frantic one towards the end. Toseland held the place briefly on the way out of the left looping 180 turn, but Muggeridge forged back ahead as they took the immediate right in close contact. On the last lap, James got onto the inside line exiting the Adelaide hairpin, taking over the place and holding the smallest gap for the rest of the circuit. Corser, Pitt, Walker and Neukirchner were next home behind Karl, with Vermeulen and Kagayama clear in the first two places. Lanzi, Abe, Checa, Bostrom, Bussei, Nieto and Gimbert took points, while Chili, Martin and da Costa all pulled out at much the same time.

Race two was only seconds old before it descended into chaos. Haga led Vermeulen, at least as far as Adelaide, from Corser, Lanzi, Toseland and Walker. Near the start line, though, Muggeridge had not got settled on the footpegs, and had been collected by Pitt. Steve Martin, Giovanni Bussei and wildcard Julien da Costa had not been able to avoid the accident, and all five men and their machines ended up in the gravel trap. The race was stopped pretty quickly.

The carnage was cleared to reveal that Muggeridge and Bussei had sustained minor injuries, and they were both taken to hospital. Martin, Pitt and da Costa were unhurt, but the experienced Foggy Petronas rider was not able to restart. The grid had three empty slots second time around.

The restart saw Vermeulen lead from Haga, with the Japanese rider this time passed at Adelaide by Lanzi, on the outside, and Kagayama, on the inside. Yukio moved from fourth to second in the act, with Lanzi and Haga tailed by Toseland, Walker, Pitt, Neukirchner, Corser, Chili, Abe, Bostrom, Checa, Sébastien Gimbert and Fonsi Nieto. Corser quickly gained a place to eighth.

As before, Vermeulen was quick to move off into a race of his own. This left Kagayama, Lanzi and Haga in the contest for second. Having fallen to twelfth on the first lap of race one, Lorenzo was obviously out to make more of the opportunity with the works-spec Ducati this time. When Kagayama went wide through a right-hander, Lanzi was into P2. He then proceeded to pull away, and home in on Vermeulen, taking his lead from 0.8s down to just 0.2s. This set the scene for an intensive tussle between friendly rivals Kagayama and Haga behind.

Haga’s first move had taken him ahead going inside through the 180 loop. Kagayama’s reply was to get the inside through the right at Château d’Eau. Next it was the Yamaha going in front at Adelaide, but the Suzuki led again when Yukio sneaked onto the inside through the right kink at Golf, on the way down to Adelaide - only for Haga to get the inside again at the hairpin. There seemed to be no let up, and positions exchanged again rapidly as Kagayama got the inside for the Nürburgring chicane, then Haga dived to the inside for 180 to reverse the situation.

Vermeulen’s impressive weekend was destined to end in disappointment. The Ten Kate Honda slowed crossing the start-finish line, and Chris pulled out with mechanical dramas. Lanzi went straight into an uncontested lead, and by this time Kagayama had managed to emerge for a similar run in P2, with Haga in P3. Corser had bested Toseland and Walker, who were still together, and Pitt passed Neukirchner for seventh.

The action in the final moments was left to the British pair, who had raced for the podium as team-mates here in 2003. Walker was obviously holding up better in this second race, and he was on the attack behind Toseland. Chris made his move at the Adelaide hairpin, this time running a tighter line on the way out, getting onto the right side of James, and making the pass by the time they turned in at Nürburgring. An impressive final lap gave the Kawasaki man just enough margin to retain fifth to the flag. Pitt and Neukirchner were followed by Abe, Chili, Bostrom and Checa.

The weekend had belonged to Chris Vermeulen until his bike failed, but Lorenzo Lanzi had done a great deal towards securing a works Ducati ride for 2006. The Italian just failed to get into the top eight in the points table. Troy Corser’s first meeting for Suzuki as the champion had been disappointing, but he had raced through for yet more top six finishes - fifth in race one his worst result bar when he fell in Germany. Meanwhile, Noriyuki Haga and Yukio Kagayama had been strong going into the off season - as had Chris Walker - and for Yukio it marked his best outing since round two.

Final standings, after twenty-three races:
1 Troy Corser, Suzuki • 433
2 Chris Vermeulen, Honda • 379
3 Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha • 271
4 James Toseland, Ducati • 254
5 Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki • 252
6 Régis Laconi, Ducati • 221
7 Chris Walker, Kawasaki • 160
8 Andrew Pitt, Yamaha • 156
9 Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati • 150
10 Frankie Chili, Honda • 131
11 Karl Muggeridge, Honda • 124
12 Norick Abe, Yamaha • 123
= Max Neukirchner, Honda • 123

A review of the season will follow in due course.

To buy the photograph shown above, visit Raceline Photography

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