07 Aug 2011 2011 China Superbike Championship (Beijing Round) Race One Post Race Press Conference

SS600cc class

Winner: Huang Shi-Zhao (Yes! Yamaha Tianjian Racing)

This year the track has been re-paved and it is better than before. May the track is still fresh, the tyres don’t grip very well and it is a bit slippery. Therefore at the start of the race I was a little conservative, in some of the corners I was quite careful. But in the latter half of the race I think I was more at ease and the grip improved. Thanks to the motor cycle enthusiasts in Beijing for coming out to race in the CSBK. We have not raced in Beijing for two years, although in 2008 and 2009 we raced here before, I was not 100% due to my back injury. Until this morning my bike was still being fine tuned, therefore I was more conservative early on.

1st Runner’s Up: Xiao Jin (Yes! Yamaha Tianjian Racing)

First of all thanks to the media and to my team. Today the race was okay. I was following Shi-Zhao until the last 5 laps when I overtook him. But with 3 laps to go, in the second 180 degree corner and approaching the right turn, a toad appeared on the track right on my racing line. I could not change direction and squashed it to death, I almost fell off. That broke my rhythm and allowed Huang Shi-Zhao to get back in front. After that I wanted to look for a way past but there was no chance. I hope I can do better in the afternoon, just hope to be in front of Shi-Zhao.
 
2nd Runner’s Up: Huang Zhi-Yu (Tianyu DTU Racing)

At the early stages of the race I tried to fight against the Yamaha rider, but due to the physical weariness I was not as sensitive to the bike as I was yesterday. I was just thinking about following them until the middle of the race and then see if I could mount an attack. But unfortunately my physical fitness wore down and they rode away. I just hoped to finish the race and take third place. I hope in race two I can race better. For the afternoon race, hopefully someone will come up and challenge me.

150cc Open class

Winner: Chen Xiao Lei (Young Cubs Racing)

This race victory was very hard to come by, it was a huge effort by everyone in the team. The team did a lot of work before the race but during the race, SYM Jiguang Racing was still very strong. It takes a lot of hard work to fight against them. I would like to thank my team and thank Wuyang-Honda here. We had too little time to prepare for round one. It was all a bit of a hurry. But there was a big gap to this race and we could prepare well, that’s why we can achieve this good result.

1st Runner’s Up: Qiu Ming-Xian (SYM Jiguang Racing)

I was very happy today to have taken pole position because I have never qualified on the pole before. I made a small mistake after the start of the race and dropped to fourth place. Slowly I follow the leading riders and two to three laps later I was in second place. After that I followed my leader. In the middle of the race I ran at the front but I knew he was behind me and my teammate was behind him. But today my two teammates seemed to have a slight problem. Then in the last two laps, Chen Xiao-Lei passed me. I felt my bike could not keep up and in the end I could only finish second. But still I am very happy. My two teammates’ accidents are not a big problem to us because we can fix the bikes quickly.

2nd Runner’s up: Zhou Sheng Jun-Jie (Young Cubs Racing)

Today I could finish third mainly because my bike was quick, also my coach and my team’s hard work. I qualified seventh and slowly came up to 4th place. Later the two SYM Jiguang riders fell off and luckily allowed me to take third place. This is the first time I am on the CSBK podium and I would like to thank my coach and my team. Thanks to Wuyang Honda for providing the bikes. My target in the afternoon is to finish in the top 3.