FIM Supersport World Championship Santamonica Circuit Misano, San Marino June 28, 2008 Final Qualifying Results: 1. Broc PARKES (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:39.398 2. Andrew PITT (Honda CBR600RR), 1:39.840 3. Fabien FORET (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:40.011 4. Craig JONES (Honda CBR600RR), 1:40.052 5. Josh BROOKES (Honda CBR600RR), 1:40.145 6. Jonathan REA (Honda CBR600RR), 1:40.151 7. Russel HOLLAND (Honda CBR600RR), 1:40.257 8. Mark AITCHISON (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:40.282 9. Barry VENEMAN (Suzuki GSX-R600), 1:40.443 10. Joan LASCORZ (Honda CBR600RR), 1:40.470 More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Pitt claims second place on the grid HANNspree Ten Kate Honda rider Andrew Pitt held on to his provisional front row start and set the second fastest time in today’s qualifying practice at the Misano circuit. Pitt topped the qualifying timesheet for the first part of the 45-minute session and was the first rider able to dip under the 1’40 mark before the session was interrupted by a red flag. In the second part of the session Pitt left the box on a mission to secure a pole position start, but it was fellow Australian Broc Parkes who took the lead with a best time of 1’39.398. Pitt concluded the session with a best lap of 1’39.840, which places him on the second place on the grid for tomorrow’s race. Jonathan Rea was sixth fastest in the session with a best lap of 1’40.151 – 0.7 of a second off Parkes’ best lap. Rea will start tomorrow’s race from the second row on the grid. Andrew Pitt, 1’39.840; “First row again, that’s where we need to be. The race pace is really good and the bike is working well. We still have a bit of an issue with the front end of the bike. I think we can fine-tune that before the race.” “We have chosen our race tyres and are running consistently fast lap times. We are still able to dip into the ’39’s after 5 or 6 laps. I tried to go for a pole in the end but I tried too hard and missed a few apexes. We’ll be there tomorrow, everything is ready for the race.” Jonathan Rea, 1’40.151; “I am a bit disappointed I am not on the front row this weekend. We had another issue with the machine which is quite annoying. On my last outing when we were going to push the pace, I ran into problems with the bike and didn’t manage to improve my lap times.” “We are showing a good pace now and are ready for a good fight tomorrow. I really like the circuit here, even though the conditions are quite hard I have no problems with them. Normally I am quite nervous about race day, but I’m excited now and want to make it successful. I’ll be there.” Ronald ten Kate, Team manager; “Tomorrow’s Supersport race will become a very tough battle once again. I am satisfied with the performance of our riders today. Both Andrew and Jonathan are running the right race pace at the moment. Unfortunately Jonathan experienced some issues with his bike that prevented him from qualifying further up front. I’m confident we can resolve this and am looking forward to tomorrow’s race.” More, from a press release issued by Scuderia Triumph-SC: A LOT OF WORK FOR TRIUMPH SC TEAM AT MISANO (Misano Italy 2008, June 28) The second and final qualifying day for World Supersport round at Misano did bind hardly the Bologna based team. Garry McCoy found some difficulties, despite the increasing in the lap time and the new performing engine mounted on his bike. The Australian veteran is however still confident about the power of 675 Daytona three cylinder: “During all the week end we made a lot of work to find a good set up on this track which is quite new for me. I’ve never used before the new track layout, and yesterday at the end of practice I was quite satisfied for the work done. Today on the contrary something did run wrongly. I spent a lot of time in the pit trying different solutions, but we never found the right one. Yesterday evening the team did install a new engine which was performing very well, but is the total package that didn’t allow me to drive as I’m used to. Now we are looking all the data record files to plan something for tomorrow. As always is the race day what’s important, I’m confident we’ll be able to find a solution for the morning warm up and then for the race.” Ruggero Scambia is rather happy for the great improvement recorded today in qualifying: “I’m very satisfied of the result that I scored today. That’s not only the better position on the starting grid, a couple of rows in front, what makes me happy is my fastest lap, that I increased to the 1’41″ limit, very close to very experienced riders who I hope to be able to rode together tomorrow during the race. My approach with the bike is always better and better and now I’m looking to the race with confidence to get a good result.” More, from a press release issued by Triumph Italia Be1 Racing: Triumph Italia Be1 Racing takes the second row of the starting grid of tomorrow’s Supersport race. Mark Aitchison succeeded to better his time although he was not able to get the first line. However his starting position allows him to feel confident to power to a great race where he will aim to be part of the leading pack in order to fight for one of the best final places. Also Ivan Clementi improved his performance today. The Italian rider spent the day fixing the problems which influenced his yesterday qualifying. He would have had the opportunity to start from the third line but a little mistake in his last quick lap kept him from moving a further step forward. Today Davide Fanelli made his debut in Superstock600. He has confirmed to be one the best promising young rider of the Italian motorcycling passing the chequered flag in 15th position. MARK AITCHISON | Triumph 675 | 8th best time in 1’40.282: “I’m pretty satisfied with my qualifying result although the first row was within my reach. Unfortunately when I was recording the third best time with the new tyre just set I found traffic on my way which forced me to slowed down. I expect a lot from tomorrow’s race, I would like to give to my team my best seasonal result”. IVAN CLEMENTI | Triumph 675 | 18th best time in 1’41.147: “I’m half satisfied with my performance. I was able to reduce the problems which influenced my yesterday session although the feeling with the front wheel is still not perfect. On the contrary I was not able to take the starting position that I wished. Unfortunately I spent all the session to find the best set-up and I was able to step on the gas just during the last minutes. At the last lap, when I was recording the twelfth best time, I did a mistake with the gear and I lost precious tenths. I will start from the middle of the grid with the goal to collect points”. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Parkes on Pole and Foret third on the grid Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) saved his best for last in qualifying and powered his way to pole for an impressive fourth time in succession. His best time of 1’39.398 was fully 0.442 ahead of next best rider, Andrew Pitt. Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport Team) finished the day third on the combined timesheets, and now starts Sunday’s 22-lap WSS race from the front row. Parkes has been fast all weekend and put in a special effort on soft tyres near the end of the session to guarantee his optimum starting spot. Both Yamaha riders have won a race this year, Parkes in Losail and Foret in Monza, and now each has another genuine opportunity to add to their haul of trophies. Track temperatures at the 4.226km Misano circuit were over 50°C again today, despite this each rider is confident that they have found a good race set-up and tyre selection. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) was held up in qualifying and could not make the most of his best chance to move up from the fourth row of the grid. David Salom (Yamaha Spain World Supersport) was 17th today, despite crashing at a key moment in qualifying. Broc Parkes (1st – 1’39.398 – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “We had a really good pace all weekend. The bike’s race set-up is good and we have been working on that since the last race in Germany, so we think we will be all set for tomorrow.” Fabien Foret (3rd – 1’40.011 – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “A front row start is OK, and we will see how things work out tomorrow. I think most people are struggling with the heat. I wanted to find a perfect setting but it is very difficult in these conditions to get a perfect bike. It was not too bad near the end but in my best lap someone took my line and then I had to push in the very last lap, with no more chances left. I pushed, but not too much, to make sure I got a good lap time without too much risk. A front row start was our target and we hit it. Now we have to get a good start and see what happens.” Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) “Broc was very good today, even better than yesterday. Fabien was held up by traffic, but he still did a 1’40 flat and is starting from the front row. I think Broc has a little better feeling on this track at the moment, and he’s been safe, good and fast. Both riders are fast and fit, the tyres all seem good so we are not worried about doing 22 laps in very high temperatures tomorrow.” David Salom: (17th – 1’41.089 seconds – Yamaha Spain) “I couldn’t avoid crashing but fortunately I haven’t injured myself and my bike is basically OK. This morning the free session was great but I couldn’t improve my times this afternoon during the qualifying. With three minutes to go I tried to improve my time again but unfortunately I crashed. I think that tomorrow I’ll be fighting to be in the top ten anyway.”