FIM Superbike World Championship Brno, Czech Republic July 18, 2008 Provisional Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Jakub SMRZ (Ducati 1098 RS08), 1:59.125 2. Troy CORSER (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:59.493 3. Troy BAYLISS (Ducati 1098 F08), 1:59.517 4. Max BIAGGI (Ducati 1098 RS08), 1:59.747 5. Lorenzo LANZI (Ducati 1098 RS08), 1:59.850 6. Fonsi NIETO (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:59.926 7. Michel FABRIZIO (Ducati 1098 F08), 2:00.024 8. Niccolo CANEPA (Ducati 1098 F08), 2:00.131 9. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 2:00.179 10. Ruben XAUS (Ducati 1098 RS08), 2:00.196 11. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 2:00.361 12. Noriyuki HAGA (Yamaha YZF-R1), 2:00.371 13. Roberto ROLFO (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:00.384 14. David CHECA (Yamaha YZF-R1), 2:00.388 15. Carlos CHECA (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:00.424 16. Regis LACONI (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:00.482 17. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yamaha YZF-R1), 2:00.552 18. Ryuichi KIYONARI (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:00.581 19. Sebastien GIMBERT (Yamaha YZF-R1), 2:01.279 20. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:01.302 21. Gregorio LAVILLA (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:01.334 22. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:01.350 23. Ayrton BADOVINI (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:01.392 24. Makoto TAMADA (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:01.423 25. Shuhei AOYAMA (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:01.579 26. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:01.968 27. Jiri DRASDAK (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:02.604 28. Jason PRIDMORE (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:03.397 29. Christian ZAISER (Yamaha YZF-R1), 2:03.722 30. Milos CIHAK (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 2:04.216 More, from a press release issued by FGSport Group: Smrz (Guandalini Ducati) sets the pace in Superbike qualifying at Brno Jakub Smrz powered his privateer Guandalini Ducati 1098 to the top slot on the first day of Superbike qualifying at his home circuit of Brno as twin-cylinder Italian machines filled seven of the top 10 places. The 25 year-old Czech rider lowered the previous circuit best lap by almost half-a-second to end up with a time of 1 minute 59.125 seconds, almost five-tenths quicker than Noriyuki Haga’s benchmark set last year on a Yamaha. The first of the four-cylinder machines was Troy Corser’s Yamaha Motor Italia WSB R1, the Australian holding up well to the twin-cylinder opposition in second slot, three-tenths of a second down on Smrz. The provisional front row was completed by two more potential candidates for the win on Sunday, Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) and Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati). A good performance was also produced by Lorenzo Lanzi (RG Ducati) in fifth, the Italian getting the better of Spain’s Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki Alstare), who was the only other rider to dip under 2 minutes, and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox), who crashed in the morning session. The Ducati factory man was a fraction ahead of his wild-card team-mate Niccolò Canepa, who is making his World Superbike debut, while Max Neukircher (Alstare Suzuki), second in the championship, headed up the provisional row 3. Down in tenth place was Misano winner, Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati), while Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) is yet to get dialed in to the Brno weekend and the Japanese rider is currently languishing in the 12th slot. Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was even further off the pace, the Spaniard down in 15th, one place behind his brother David (Yamaha France Ipone GMT 94). Times: 1. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098 RS 08 1’59.125; 2. Corser T. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R1 1’59.493; 3. Bayliss T. (AUS) Ducati 1098 F08 1’59.517; 4. Biaggi M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 1’59.747; 5. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 1’59.850; 6. Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’59.926; 7. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 F08 2’00.024; 8. Canepa N. (ITA) Ducati 1098 F08 2’00.131; 9. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R1000 2’00.179; 10. Xaus R. (ESP) Ducati 1098 RS 08 2’00.196; 11. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 2’00.361; 12. Haga N. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 2’00.371; 13. Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 2’00.384; 14. Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF-R1 2’00.388; 15. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 2’00.424; 16. Laconi R. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 2’00.482. FIM Supersport World Championship Provisional pole in Supersport qualifying went to Australian Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport), who set his fastest lap of 2 minutes 3.604 seconds ten minutes from the end of the session. Fellow countryman Joshua Brookes (Hannspree Stiggy Motorsport Honda) was three-tenths behind in second place, the two Aussies the only two riders to dip under the 2’04″ mark. Parkes’ time was over 1 second quicker than the circuit best lap, set by Sofuoglu last year. Championship leader Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) made it three Aussies on the front row, but Craig Jones (Parkalgar Honda) prevented a clean sweep for ‘down under’, the British rider edging out Mark Aitchison (Triumph Italia BE1) for the fourth slot by two-tenths. Frenchman Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport) had two crashes today, suffering concussion and a cracked vertebra in the second, injuries that will keep him out of this weekend’s race. Times: 1. Parkes B. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R6 2’03.604; 2. Brookes J. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 2’03.922; 3. Pitt A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 2’04.176; 4. Jones C. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 2’04.194; 5. Aitchison M. (AUS) Triumph 675 2’04.377; 6. Veneman B. (NED) Suzuki GSX-R600 2’04.552; 7. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 2’04.622; 8. Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 2’04.654. Superstock 1000 FIM Cup Top slot in the opening Superstock 1000 qualifying session went to Maxime Berger (Hannspree IDS Ten Kate Honda), who finished three-tenths ahead of Claudio Corti, the Italian finding the pace again on his Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team R1. They are joined on the overnight front row by points leader Xavier Simeon (Alstare Suzuki), who raced with a broken collarbone at Misano, and a surprising Andrea Antonelli (Althea Racing Honda). Four more potential candidates for the win in Sunday’s race, Brendan Roberts (Ducati Xerox Junior Team), Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni), Matej Smrz (MS Racing Honda) and Alex Polita (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati) were next up. Times: 1. Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 2’04.062; 2. Corti C. (ITA) Yamaha YZF-R1 2’04.311; 3. Simeon X. (BEL) Suzuki GSX-R1000 2’04.844; 4. Antonelli A. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 2’04.854; 5. Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 2’04.895; 6. Pirro M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF-R1 2’05.012; 7. Smrz M. (CZE) Honda CBR1000RR 2’05.069; 8. Polita A. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2’05.194. European 600 Superstock Championship The Superbike result was repeated in the Superstock 600 first qualifying session, with hometown man Patrick Vostarek (Intermoto Czech Honda) stopping the clocks in a time of 2 minutes 7.378 seconds. Second place went to championship leader Loris Baz (YZF Yamaha Junior Team) from France. Italian Marco Bussolati (Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Time) put in a good lap for third place, and he was followed by the two British StoneBaker Yamaha riders, Gino Rea and Dan Linfoot. Times: 1. Vostárek P. (CZE) Honda CBR600RR 2’07.378; 2. Baz L. (FRA) Yamaha YZF-R6 2’07.571; 3. Bussolotti M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF-R6 2’08.120; 4. Rea G. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R6 2’08.277; 5. Linfoot D. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R6 2’08.996; 6. Jezek O. (CZE) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’09.248; 7. Sembera M. (CZE) Honda CBR600RR 2’09.355; 8. Beretta D. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R600 2’09.493. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Corser an early contender on day one Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) enjoyed a competitive start to his Brno race weekend by scoring second best time behind local favourite Jakub Smrz, on the recently resurfaced 5.403km Brno circuit. Corser’s early pace has already seen him under the previous circuit best, with one more qualifying session plus Superpole on Saturday to determine his final grid position. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) was held back in his early laps by a niggling fault with his machine’s electronics package and lost him track time that held back his ultimate provisional qualifying position to 12th. The weather conditions remained dry through first qualifying, despite some dark clouds skirting the track, and both Corser and Haga would prefer dry conditions for day two, to complete their pre-race set-up work in consistent conditions. David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) is in a provisional Superpole qualifying slot, 14th, one place ahead of his brother Carlos. Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) was 17th today, Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) 19th, making Superpole entry a real possibility for each rider after the final official qualifying session. Troy Corser (2nd – 1’59.493 – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “The settings feel reasonably good already and I think the grip from the track is starting to come in more, with rubber being put onto the track. I think sand is washing onto the track when it rains so I hope it doesn’t rain tonight. I think there will be more life from the tyres as well, although the front tyre is still a bit of a problem for race distance. But we still have something to try in the set-up of the bike to help that a little. There is a lot of pressure on the front tyre here, more than at any other track, maybe. And there is a lot of heavy braking going into corners here. Up the steep hill our bike is pretty good compared to the other guys I was on track with, so I’m quite happy so far.” Noriyuki Haga (12th – 2’00.371 – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “This morning we had problems with the electronics and that stopped us from making a lot of laps and that has stopped us from making good lap times. So it has taken time to try and catch up. We started with different settings from last year, and we tried another setting this afternoon, and finally we found a good feeling. Not enough for the race yet, so I hope tomorrow we find even better settings. For me, the track feels the same as last year, maybe it is more slippery.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “Troy is up front and Nori can get there two, so we will see how we go tomorrow. Nori lost some time when we had a few problems this morning but we are confident because this is still only Friday. Our tyre choice here is critical, but we have already found one rear that works well. Now we need to find a front one. But overall we are OK. The riders feel different things from the track surface but that is because they have very different riding styles!” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Team Suzuki Alstare rider Fonsi Nieto finished the first day of qualifying at Brno today for round nine of the World Superbike Championship with the sixth fastest time and was the quickest of the Belgium-based squad. Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner was ninth fastest, but Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama is still suffering problems with his left hand and could only manage 11th. Local hero Jakub Smrz (Ducati) sent the home fans wild by topping the standings at the end of today’s qualifying session. Second is Aussie Troy Corser (Yamaha) ahead of fellow countryman Troy Bayliss (Ducati) with Max Biaggi (Ducati) fourth. Fonsi Nieto – 6th, 1:59.926: “I’m quite happy today and feel very positive about tomorrow – as long as the weather stays OK and it doesn’t rain. Today we tried two different styles of bike. We tried a new style of balance and new-spec engine on one bike and an old style balance and old-spec engine on the other. At the end, my preference was for a new-style balance together with an old-spec engine. We are working a lot on the suspension and trying to get the front forks to absorb better. The track has new asphalt and in the afternoon the grip felt similar to the morning, but the tyre life was better. If it stays dry I think that the grip will improve some more and the lap times will come down further.” Max Neukirchner – 9th, 2.00.179: “I think today went well and we didn’t have so many problems. The track asphalt is a bit strange at the moment because we used hard tyres and the tyre life was not as good as when we changed to softer ones! We altered the chassis set-up in the afternoon to help me keep the line in a corner and we will continue to work on this. The new asphalt definitely has more grip and I am sure that the lap times will improve quite a bit as long as it doesn’t rain.” Yukio Kagayama – 11th, 2:00.361: “The ligaments in my left hand are still giving me some problems, and my strength there is not yet 100%, but the pain is less. The track doesn’t feel the same as last year and the new surface reminds me of Qatar – sandy with not a good feeling. But the lap times are not so bad. We made a little mistake with the settings in the beginning of the afternoon, qualifying, but changed them at the end of the session and improved the feeling. Tomorrow we will make some adjustments to the front and rear suspension and see if we can the bike better entering the corners.” Friday WSB qualifying: 1 Smrz (CZ-Ducati) 1:59.125, 2 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 1:59.493, 3 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:59.517, 4 Biaggi (I-Ducati) 1:59.747, 5 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:59.850, 6 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare) 1:59.926, 7 Fabrizio (I-Ducati) 2:00.024, 8 Canepa (I-Ducati) 2:00.131, 9 Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki) 2:00.179, 10 Xaus (E-Ducati) 2:00.196, 11 Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare) 2:00.361. More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: THE THREE DUCATI XEROX RIDERS TAKE PROVISIONAL PLACES ON THE FRONT TWO ROWS AT BRNO Brno (Czech Republic), Friday 18 July 2008: in dry conditions all three of the Ducati Xerox riders, Bayliss, Fabrizio and Canepa, made a strong start to their campaign for victory this weekend at the Automotodrom of Brno. After a few tyre issues this morning for most of the Superbike riders due to the lack of grip on track after yesterday’s rainfall, the field got back to business in this afternoon’s first qualifying session. At the conclusion of that session it was local rider Smrz who had registered the fastest lap on his privateer Ducati bike. Troy Bayliss and his factory 1098 F08 recorded the third fastest time to take a provisional front row place on the grid while his two team-mates Michel Fabrizio and Niccolo’ Canepa (the latter riding the F09 development machine) achieved the seventh and eighth fastest lap times respectively. A track at which the Ducati Superbikes have not excelled in the last couple of years, it is worth noting that six of the first eight riders on this afternoon’s time sheet were on board Ducati machines. Troy Bayliss 1’59.5 “I’d say today has gone quite well. The lap times have been very fast as the surface is so grippy. Everyone had problems this morning as yesterday’s rain meant the track surface was destroying the tyres. This afternoon was much better, with most people able to put in some fast qualifying times. The lap times that I recorded on the race tyre were definitely faster than those of last year. Tomorrow I hope to improve the feeling I’ve got with the rear and if I can do that, I think we’re pretty much there.” Michel Fabrizio 2’00.0 “It’s all gone quite well. At the start it took us a while to find the right direction but this afternoon we got back on track so to speak. We tried different tyres before finding the right one with which to make the best lap times. I lost three tenths while making what would have been my fastest lap due to traffic on track, which was a shame as I wanted to complete at least one lap in under 2’00. Anyway we improved throughout the day and I’m confident that we’ll continue to improve tomorrow.” Niccolo’ Canepa 2’00.1 “We’ve worked a lot on the bike set-up today. The last time I rode this track was while testing the Ducati GP bike a few weeks ago and so I need to adapt all my points of reference now to the Superbike. It’s taking me a bit of time to properly understand when to open the gas, break etc. but I reckon we are getting there. We’ve tried a few different things and have done a lot of laps to check how the tyres are with regard to race pace. Tomorrow I think we can better the lap times but today has been more than satisfactory.” TIMES: 1. Smrz (Ducati) 1’59.1; 2. Corser (Yamaha) 1’59.4; 3. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1’59.5; 4. Biaggi (Ducati) 1’59.7; 5. Lanzi (Ducati) 1’59.8; 6. Nieto (Suzuki) 1’59.9; 7. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 2’00.0; 8. Canepa (Ducati Xerox) 2’00.1 More, from a press release issued by Sterilgarda Go Eleven: Max Biaggi takes the first provisional row after the first day of qualifying at Brno, 9th round of the 2008 World Superbike Championship. The roman champion recorded the 4th best time on a track he likes very much, showing to be constantly quick and confirming his good form. Good performance by Ruben Xaus too, who set the 10th best time. On his first day at Brno the Spanish rider focused his work on fine-tuning his bike for both Sunday’s race, capitalizing the data collected during the Sterilgarda Go Eleven tests which took place just here one month ago. Second line for Alex Polita after the Superstock qualifying session. The “Pirate” fulfilled his potential thanks to the information gathered two weeks ago on the Czech track which allowed him to reach a satisfying set-up already. RUBEN XAUS | Ducati 1098 RS | 10th provisional time in 2’00.196: “Since tomorrow is expected to be rainy, I preferred to carry out the work for the race today in order to get everything ready for Sunday’s race. I reached a good level which I hope might be improved tomorrow by setting few little changes, weather permitting”. MAX BIAGGI | Ducati 1098 RS | 4th provisional time in 1’59.747: “The set-up we reached today is like the one of Misano and it is pretty good although we need to fix some little problem with the chattering on the front-wheel suspension. We must work on the gear because we got some difficulties on some stretch of the track. Once we will have fixed these problems we will have the chance to make another step forward”. ALEX POLITA | Ducati 1098R | 8th provisional time in 2’05.194: “We have carried out a good work today, capitalizing the data gathered here two weeks ago during the tests. I would have had the opportunity to record a quicker lap but I lost grip in the last part of the track and I came close to slide. The pace is already good and tomorrow I will work in order to better my lap time”. More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: Troy finished the first day of qualifying at Brno with the second quickest lap of the day and ended the only four cylinder rider in the top five. Local hero Jakub Smrz (Ducati) ended with the fastest time in qualifying, much to the delight of the home fans, over three tenths of a second of Troy in second place. Third quickest today is series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati), with Max Biaggi (Ducati) fourth. Troy – 2nd, 1:59.493 Today was not so bad and we did a lot of work on the bike from the first to second sessions. We tried different gearing and changed the front fork springs to improve the feel of the bike in the afternoon. Initially, the bike felt a bit like it felt at Miller, so we will alter the balance and see if that improves it. The track feels a bit dirty and probably needs more (bike) rubber down on it to improve the grip. The new asphalt is giving us all a different feeling to last year and we need to understand what is happening with the grip in order to set up the bike properly. I think it’ll be OK as long as it doesn’t rain! More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Team battles through first day of qualifying The hard work continued for the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Superbike team today as they came into action on the first day of qualifying in Brno. Carlos Checa spent his two session chasing the optimum set-up for his bike but struggled to find traction on the new surface of the Brno track. Checa went out in the free practice session using a different swing arm, but switched back to the regular KR component after the much anticipated improvement on the rear grip stayed out. A fastest time of 2’00.424 today sets him back at fifteenth place after the first official qualifying. Ryuichi Kiyonari improved his pace midway the first qualifying session and managed to keep his lap times consistently, but lack of time towards the end of the session stopped him from improving his fastest time of 2’00.581. Team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu, the record breaking rider in last year’s Brno Supersport race, set his fastest lap today at 2’01.302. Both riders finished in 18th and 20th place respectively. Despite today’s results the team are working hard and remain confident they can improve the results and find the right set-up that will push them up the time sheets with one more day of qualifying to go. Carlos Checa, 2’00.424; “I am not satisfied after today’s qualifying session. We are still some areas in which we loose too much. We still have chattering problems and its difficult to keep the right line on the track.” “We spent some time trying to find the best tyre combination but finally I didn’t have enough time to go out for my fastest lap. The front tyre was worn out and by the time I wennt in for a rear tyre change there wasn’t enough time to put a new front tyre. I am confident we can make a big step up front and find the connection with the fast group tomorrow.” Ryuichi Kiyonari, 2’00.581; “My feeling with the machine is as good as it was in Vallelunga last week during the test. I had some problems with the chattering of my bike and some smaller issues we tried to improve in the afternoon’s session. But it’s difficult and although I have been able to improve my lap times and keep them consistent, I am not happy with the results.” “The tyre life on this circuit is very short and we had to try several. Today I mainly concentrated on my riding and my feeling with bike. The set-up of the machine is nearly there, we’ve tried various things based on the Vallelunga test we did last week. I’m confident I can improve my lap times tomorrow and hopefully qualify for the Superpole.” Kenan Sofuoglu, 2’01.302; “My results wasn’t really good today, but we made some improvements. I had some chatter problems in the first session but we worked on it and found a good set up and a good tyre and improved the pace a little bit.” “I like the track a lot and have set some good results here in the past. It’s different on the Superbike but hopefully this will be a turning point for me and I can have a good result here on Sunday.” More, from a press release issued by Team Pedercini: Team Pedercini has started today his first day of the 9th WSBK round at Brno, Czech Republic. Today both riders and the team focused their job on finding the basic settings for the bikes. The work returned good results and interesting times which allow Vittorio Iannuzzo and Ayrton Badovini to do their best tomorrow with the goal to gain a good starting place on the grid. The same has been done by Yoann Tiberio and Alessio Aldrovandi riding their ZX-10 R in the Superstock session which was spent by the young riders to test several settings which might give them the chance to fight for good positions tomorrow. VITTORIO IANNUZZO | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 26th provisional time in 2’01.968: “During my best lap, once I set the qualifying tyre, I followed Neukirchner up to three corners to go when I lost a lot of time due to the front which came close to end tucked. I lapped one second an a half faster then last season but I know that I can improve more. My goal is to get a starting position within the first 5 rows in order to have the opportunity to fight for the points”. AYRTON BADOVINI | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 23rd provisional time in 2’01.392: “I can be quicker, we just need to improve the bike response when I try to close the line. We are working on this problem which forces me to wait opening the gas. If we will fix this hitch I feel confident we can make many steps forward on the grid”.