FIM Superbike World Championship Brands Hatch, England August 1, 2008 Provisional Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Ryuichi KIYONARI (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:26.017 2. Noriyuki HAGA (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:26.144 3. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:26.156 4. Max BIAGGI (Ducati 1098 RS08), 1:26.166 5. Jakub SMRZ (Ducati 1098 RS08), 1:26.290 6. Gregorio LAVILLA (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:26.441 7. Troy CORSER (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:26.461 8. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:26.565 9. Tom SYKES (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:26.572 10. Fonsi NIETO (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:26.582 11. Michel FABRIZIO (Ducati 1098 F08), 1:26.593 12. Troy BAYLISS (Ducati 1098 F08), 1:26.631 13. Ruben XAUS (Ducati 1098 RS08), 1:26.753 14. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:26.830 15. Roberto ROLFO (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:26.921 16. Carlos CHECA (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:27.020 17. Lorenzo LANZI (Ducati 1098 RS08), 1:27.219 18. Sebastien GIMBERT (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:27.306 19. Regis LACONI (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:27.342 20. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:27.538 21. Chris WALKER (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:27.565 22. Ayrton BADOVINI (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:27.657 23. Makoto TAMADA (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:28.087 24. David CHECA (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:28.230 25. Shuhei AOYAMA (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:28.379 26. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:28.448 27. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:29.302 28. Luca MORELLI (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:29.325 29. Jason PRIDMORE (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:29.752 30. Christian ZAISER (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:29.795 More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Fresh from his victory with team-mate Carlos Checa in last Sunday’s Suzuka 8-hours race in Japan, Ryuichi Kiyonari celebrated today by grabbing provisional pole position for round ten of the World Superbike championship at Brands Hatch. The double British Superbike champion fired his CBR1000RR Fireblade around the undulating 3.7km circuit in a time of 1m26.017s, heading fellow Japanese Nori Haga and Yukio Kagayama into tomorrow’s second qualifying and Superpole sessions. On his first visit to Brands Hatch, Checa was just one second off Kiyonari’s dazzling pace and completed the one hour session in 16th place. HANNspree Ten Kate Honda’s third World Superbike rider, Kenan Sofuoglu, was 20th. Ryuichi Kiyonari P1, 1m26.017s: I think it’s so far, so good! The bike felt great in the first practice session this morning and that continued this afternoon and I was able to make some fast laps quite quickly. But it is completely different to the bike I was riding in British Superbikes last year and my time today was faster, I think. It was also quite windy today and I was still making some mistakes, so there is plenty of room to improve tomorrow. Carlos Checa P16, 1m27.020s: Obviously it is my first time here, and although I have been improving my times all day, I still need to find one second to be near the front. There are some uphill areas of the circuit where I need to carry more speed, so there are certainly places where I can improve tomorrow. Kenan Sofuoglu P20, 1m27.538s: After winning the Supersport title here last year, it’s very different riding a superbike around Brands Hatch and the front wheel comes up very easily! The bike is feeling good though, and the times are quite close, so I’m quite confident that I can make some improvements tomorrow and find a better position. Ronald ten Kate team manager: Looking realistically at everything that happened today, we have to be quite happy, I think. Kiyo-san is riding on a track that he knows very well and he is showing what a good rider he is. Also, the result of Carlos is not so bad it is his very first time here and he is only one second off pole position. Of course, we will be looking for big steps forward from him tomorrow. I feel a little sorry for Kenan, who is struggling to improve on his Brno results, but I’m sure he’ll find something better tomorrow as well. Results World Superbike first qualifying: 1 R Kiyonari (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) 1m26.017s 2 N Haga (Yamaha) 1m26.144s 3 Y Kagayama (Suzuki) 1m26.156s 16 C Checa (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) 1m27.020s 20 K Sofuoglu (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) 1m27.538s More, from a press release issued by FGSport Group: Japanese trio hit the front in Superbike first qualifying at Brands Hatch A trio of Japanese riders hit the front in the first qualifying session for round 10 of the HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championship at Brands Hatch, with two-times British Superbike champion Ryuichi Kiyonari clocking a time of 1 minute 26.017 seconds to take provisional pole. The Hannspree Ten Kate Honda man, who also won the Suzuka 8 Hours a few days ago, was just a fraction ahead of his fellow countryman Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB), second quickest today despite a late trip into the gravel. Suzuki Alstare’s Yukio Kagayama set a similar time to Haga to grab the third slot, while Italian Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati) was a further fraction of a second behind to complete the provisional front row. Czech Republic’s Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati) was in front of another former BSB champion, Gregorio Lavilla (VentAxia VK Honda) in sixth, with the two Australians, Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) and Karl Muggeridge (DFX Honda) seventh and eighth. Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) looked impressive in his wild-card ride and was up amongst the front-runners for much of the session before ending in ninth place, ahead of the factory Suzuki Alstare machine of Fonsi Nieto in tenth and the Ducati Xerox pairing of Michel Fabrizio and Troy Bayliss, in eleventh and twelfth. Max Neukirchner (Alstare Suzuki) and Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), a Brands Hatch rookie, were both inside the top 16, who were all separated by just 1″. Times: 1. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1’26.017; 2. Haga N. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 1’26.144; 3. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’26.156; 4. Biaggi M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 1’26.166; 5. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098 RS 08 1’26.290; 6. Lavilla G. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1’26.441; 7. Corser T. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R1 1’26.461; 8. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 1’26.565; 9. Sykes T. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’26.572; 10. Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’26.582; 11. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 F08 1’26.593; 12. Bayliss T. (AUS) Ducati 1098 F08 1’26.631; 13. Xaus R. (ESP) Ducati 1098 RS 08 1’26.753; 14. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’26.830; 15. Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1’26.921; 16. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1’27.020. FIM Supersport World Championship British riders were up at the front in first Supersport qualifying as the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda and Parkalgar Racing young hotshots Jonathan Rea and Craig Jones took the top two positions. Brno winner Rea was quickest with a new record lap time of 1 minute 28.117 seconds, with Jones two tenths behind. Third quickest was Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport), while Frenchman Matthieu Lagrive (Intermoto Czech Honda) completed the front row. Italian Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni) was a positive fifth quickest on the track where he finished third last year. Fabien Foret’s replacement in the Yamaha World Supersport team, Karl Harris, set the seventh quickest time, three places ahead of championship leader Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda). Times: 1. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1’28.117; 2. Jones C. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1’28.340; 3. Parkes B. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R6 1’28.409; 4. Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1’28.511; 5. Roccoli M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF-R6 1’28.780; 6. Veneman B. (NED) Suzuki GSX-R600 1’28.875; 7. Harris K. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R6 1’28.886; 8. Harms R. (DEN) Honda CBR600RR 1’28.952. Superstock 1000 FIM Cup Frenchman Maxime Berger (Hannspree IDS Ten Kate Honda) dominated the first qualifying session for the Superstock 1000 Cup, setting a time of 1 minute 29.315 seconds, just a fraction off Corti’s record time from last year. Berger was close to improving on the record in the final stages when he crashed out. Claudio Corti (Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team), who set second quickest time, also crashed out today, bruising his shoulder in the process. Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni) had a good run for third, while points leader Brendan Roberts (Ducati Xerox Junior Team) also had a crash but finished fourth. Title challenger Xavier Simeon (Alstare Suzuki) was down in eleventh place, well over a second slower than Berger. Times: 1. Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 1’29.315; 2. Corti C. (ITA) Yamaha YZF-R1 1’29.938; 3. Pirro M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF-R1 1’30.015; 4. Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 1’30.064; 5. Kirkham J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 1’30.085; 6. Morais S. (RSA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’30.382; 7. Hickman P. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 1’30.443; 8. Antonelli A. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1’30.522. European 600 Superstock Championship In European 600 Superstock qualifying, the battle continues to rage between Loris Baz (Yamaha YZF Junior Team) and Patrick Vostarek (Intermoto Czech Honda). Quickest time around the Kent circuit went to points leader Baz, who was two tenths ahead of his Czech rival. Britain’s Gino Rea (StoneBaker Yamaha) was also close to the top 2 in third place, while Eddi La Marra (Cruciani Moto Suzuki) was the first Italian in fourth. Times: 1. Baz L. (FRA) Yamaha YZF-R6 1’31.628; 2. Vostárek P. (CZE) Honda CBR600RR 1’31.839; 3. Rea G. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R6 1’32.054; 4. La Marra E. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R600 1’32.498; 5. Lowes S. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1’32.561; 6. Beretta D. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R600 1’32.610; 7. Linfoot D. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R6 1’32.735; 8. Hunt L. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R6 1’32.899. More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: THE DUCATI XEROX TEAM FAILS TO DEMONSTRATE ITS TRUE POTENTIAL IN FIRST QUALIFYING Brands Hatch (UK), Friday 1st August 2008: although conditions remained dry for the first World Superbike qualifying session of the weekend, the Ducati Xerox Team had a few difficulties during the day which left the two factory riders Michel Fabrizio and Troy Bayliss in eleventh and twelfth position respectively at the close of play today. Bayliss suffered from a lack of grip and was also held-up by traffic which slowed his progress but in spite of this, he, his team-mate Fabrizio and the whole team feel confident that with the right tyre choice, they will be able to improve on today’s results during tomorrow’s sessions. With the first fifteen riders all recording fastest times of within a second of each other, the battle for supremacy at Brands Hatch this weekend is sure to be hard-fought. A rather technical circuit, it seems apparent that the riders with the most experience of this particular track will be the ones to watch out for. Michel Fabrizio 1m26.5s “It’s gone fairly well today all things considered, although my position doesn’t demonstrate this. Unfortunately during the afternoon’s qualifying we made a bad rear tyre choice in the final few minutes and so failed to record the times that we expected. Anyway, it’s not gone badly and I’m feeling pretty comfortable on the bike. I’m not a big fan of the first two curves but overall I like the track and haven’t had any real difficulties. I am confident that I’ll be able to improve on my times tomorrow.” Troy Bayliss 1m26.6s “Although I’m not particularly happy with a twelfth place today, I’ve been struggling a little with a few things, mainly grip on entry into the curves and the fact that I wasn’t able to put the bike exactly where I wanted it to go. Then towards the end of the session I was feeling good on the bike but traffic meant that I couldn’t get a clean lap in and my times were not as fast as they could have been as you can see from my ideal time which is a half second quicker. Tomorrow we’ll make some changes and are confident of finding a good set-up. Times are already faster than last year which shows Pirelli are working well to give us tyres that perform very well on a track that has deteriorated somewhat since last year.” More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki: Team Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama mastered a bumpy track and blustery conditions in this afternoon’s qualifying at Brands Hatch to end the day with the third fastest lap time. His team mate Fonsi Nieto finished tenth and Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner fourteenth. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) used his years of British Superbike Championship experience at the Kent circuit and took provisional pole position, just over a tenth of a second faster then Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha). Yukio – 3rd, 1:26.156 In this morning practice and at the start of this afternoon’s qualifying I did not have a good feeling with the bike and also suffered problems with the grip. But my mechanics and I made some changes to the balance of the bike and the chassis set-up and there was a big improvement straightaway. I was able to put in some good laps and now I feel that we can improve further. The wind was very strong this afternoon, especially in the first and last turns and it was easy to get blown off line if you weren’t careful. I am a little sore from my crash at the Suzuka 8 hour race last weekend. I hit my left knee and it is not as flexible on the bike as it should be. The damaged ligaments in my left hand are getting better, but I know this is going to take quite some time. It is a little frustrating, but my job is to race so I just have to try and forget about it. Fonsi – 10th, 1:26.582 Today was not so bad and although I only finished tenth quickest my lap time was not so far away from the leader, so I’m pretty happy. I used my number one bike for the whole day, except at the end when there was a problem with the exhaust and I had to switch to my number two bike. I prefer my number one bike and that’s what we’ll work with tomorrow. We will carry on working on the traction and wheelie control because it is important to have this working well at this track. Max – 14th, 1:26.830 The first practice felt good and we had a good set-up and the lap times were not so bad. But when we started trying different tyres, the grip went down. Towards the end we used a front and rear combination that worked well and now we will look at Yukio’s data and see if we can use some of it and improve. The race line round here is OK, but when you get off-line the track feels dirty and slippery, so you have to keep your wits about you. More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY SATISFIED WITH 7TH ON DAY ONE. Troy ended the first day of qualifying at Brands Hatch with the seventh fastest time, but was satisfied with the direction the team are taking at the Kent circuit and knows that further improvements will follow tomorrow. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) used his British Superbike Championship experience and took provisional pole position with a lap of 1:26.017, just over a tenth of a second ahead of fellow countryman Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) Another Japanese rider, Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) is third, with Max Biaggi (Ducati) completing the provisional front row of the grid. Troy – 7th, 1:26.461 Yeah, today wasn’t too bad and I think we found a good direction on the bike and can improve quite a bit tomorrow. The track felt bumpier then last year and the winds were pretty strong this afternoon. In fact it was so bad sometimes that I really had difficulty hanging onto the bike! I got pushed off-line one time and was over the white line, but somehow I managed to keep off the dirt, otherwise I might have crashed. The tyres we liked today seemed pretty consistent, though we didn’t do any great distance on them. The weather forecast is not so good for tomorrow, but we’ll just have to see what happens and make the best of whatever takes place. More, from a press release issued by Sterilgarda Go Eleven: Max Biaggi takes the first provisional row after the first day of qualifying at Brands Hatch, 10th round of the WSBK Championship. The four times 250GP champion showed to be immediately at ease on the English track also thanks to a good physical form. Biaggi powered to several quick laps which allowed him to be the first Ducati’s rider of today’s provisional ranking. On the contrary some temperature influenced Ruben Xaus’ performance. The Spanish rider is now 13th just seven tenths behind his team-mate. He worked hard, focusing on the riding style and he also crashed twice but with no consequence. Hard day for Alex Polita too. The Italian rider has not been able to find the right set-up yet. Anyhow he doesn’t lose heart and tomorrow he will work on the bike in order to take a better place on the grid. RUBEN XAUS | Ducati 1098 RS | 13th provisional time in 1’26.753: “I have some fever and it influenced me a lot. We tried to fine-tune the bike but we took the wrong tyre; I picked for an hard one but it didn’t work fine and maybe it caused my two crashes”. MAX BIAGGI | Ducati 1098 RS | 4th provisional time in 1’26.166: “Brands Hatch is an hard track where experience on it matters a lot. Although I have been here just in the 2007 I was able to be quick even if we are all quite near. Tomorrow I will try to confirm the place in order to start from the front line of the grid, on a track where passing is very hard”. ALEX POLITA | Ducati 1098R | 17th provisional time in 1’31.205: “We have been not able to find the right set-up. Tomorrow we will get back to the setting which allowed me to win at Misano, and we will resume our work from it. We must get the best from tomorrow morning session in order to reverse the bad trend”. More, from a press release issued by Team Pedercini: Good first day at Brands Hatch for Team Pedercini. On the British track the Italian team showed to be on the right way to find the best set-up to face the race. Furthermore Sheridan Morais recorded the sixth best provisional time in Superstock100 while Tiberio and Aldrovandi seem to have profited by the Aussie presence to fix the setting issues which influenced their performances so far. Tomorrow the goal is helping the French-Italian duo to improve its position on the grid and giving to all the riders the chance to start from the first lines. SBK riders Badovini and Iannuzzo will carry on their good work in order to enhance the possibility to start from a better position. AYRTON BADOVINI | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 22nd provisional time in 1’27.657: “We are working fine and we have already found a satisfying set-up which allows me to ride forcefully. I would have had the chance to lap quicker today but first I was stopped by the yellow flag when I was just behind Bayliss, and then I didn’t want to wear our the tyres. Tomorrow we will try to improve the efficiency of the bike in the first part of the corners and then capitalize the work by lapping with best tyres”. VITTORIO IANNUZZO | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 26th provisional time in 1’28.448: “We are on the good way for the best set-up although we must work on the corners where the bike has the tendency to go out. As well we worked on the tyres: first we picked a tender ones but then we understood that the race tyres allowed us to be more forceful. Tomorrow I hope to capitalize the data collected today in order to set a better time and get a good place on the grid”. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Haga on provisional front row with Corser seventh Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) was the fastest man in the early unofficial laps at Brands Hatch and continued his strong form in the first qualifying period, taking second best time overall with a 1’26.144, only 0.127 seconds from provisional pole. Haga came close to the previous track best in final qualifying, despite not yet finding a perfect feel from his rear tyre, a possible factor in him taking a high-speed spill at Paddock Hill Corner, thankfully without injury. Weather conditions for the weekend are predicted to be unsettled, but today the biggest weather factor was a stiff breeze, blowing across pitlane. Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) went 18th, the third best Yamaha rider on the day, with David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) 24th, each making progress in qualifying after re-learning this difficult track. Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) fell early in qualifying and his big high side left him with an overextended left wrist. He will undergo medical checks in the morning to see if he can ride for the rest of the weekend. Noriyuki Haga (2nd – 1’26.144 – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “Things have gone very well and we were checking out all the tyres we had available. I may have to check a bit more tomorrow because there are still some parts of the track the rear tyre doesn’t like so much, so we have to fix the suspension settings for that. I also did some crash testing, at the very fast first corner! But my old collarbone injury was perfect, so no problem. I have a good feeling from the front tyre here. After this session there are three Japanese riders in the front row – which looks OK to me! We will check more suspension settings tomorrow but it all depends on if it rains or not. It was also quite windy today and you could feel it on some corners.” Troy Corser (7th – 1’26.461 – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “The first day back here after last year and the circuit feels pretty bumpy, especially compared to the last track we were at, Brno. The bike feels a little bit nervous at the moment, and that was a similar feeling to last year at this track. The set-up has been improved compared to this morning and we did go in the right direction with the set-up, just not far enough. So tomorrow we will go further in that direction and right now the tyres don’t seem to be causing any issue in terms of life, so the choice will probably depend on grip. Considering how I felt about the bumps, and given our decent lap times, we’re not a mile away.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “We spent today looking for the best balance and we have already found good race tyre possibilities. Tomorrow we will finish the job. We have always had good results here so after this first day we’re confident we can continue to perform well at Brands.”