FIM Superbike World Championship Miller Motorsports Park Tooele, Utah May 31, 2008 Superpole Results: 1. Carlos CHECA (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:48.193 2. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:48.504 3. Troy BAYLISS (Ducati 1098 F08), 1:48.604 4. Michel FABRIZIO (Ducati 1098 F08), 1:48.800 5. Troy CORSER (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:48.975 6. Ruben XAUS (Ducati 1098 RS08), 1:49.181 7. Regis LACONI (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:49.206 8. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:49.394 9. Max BIAGGI (Ducati 1098 RS08), 1:49.479 10. Noriyuki HAGA (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:49.735 11. Jakub SMRZ (Ducati 1098 RS08), 1:49.784 12. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:49.858 13. Fonsi NIETO (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:49.942 14. Shuhei AOYAMA (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:50.007 15. Lorenzo LANZI (Ducati 1098 RS08), 1:50.446 16. Ayrton BADOVINI (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:50.807 The Rest of the Grid: 17. Russel Holland (Honda), 1:50.353 18. Makoto Tamada (Kawasaki), 1:50.439 19. Jason Pridmore (Honda), 1:50.530 20. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda), 1:50.624 21. Vittorio Iannuzzo (Kawasaki), 1:50.762 22. Shinya Nakatomi (Yamaha), 1:50.813 23. Gregorio Lavilla (Honda), 1:50.861 24. Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha), 1:51.019 25. Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda), 1:51.154 26. David Checa (Yamaha), 1:52.029 27. Loic Napoleon (Yamaha), 1:52.430 28. Roberto Rolfo (Honda), 1:52.458 29. Scott Jensen (Suzuki), 1:52.601 More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Carlos Checa and the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda team claim Miller Superpole Carlos Checa secured his first World Superbike pole-position for tomorrow’s Miller race. After finishing the morning’s qualifying session third fastest, Checa worked hard to improve his results but a crash early in the session sent him back to the pit garage and return to the track on his number two bike. Just minutes before the end of the hour-long session Checa managed to set a new best time of 1’49.482, which put him fourth in the session – 0.258 seconds from fastest man Troy Corser. Teammates Kiyonari and Sofuoglu attempted to adapt to the new track and improve their lap times, but both riders were unable to qualify for Superpole. In the afternoon’s free practice session ahead of the Superpole, Carlos Checa was the first rider to dip under the 1’49 mark and took top of the sheets. In a hot Superpole qualifying on the 4.907m long Miller track Checa brought himself forward in a superb ride and claimed his first ever SBK pole in a fastest time of 1’48.193. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager; “Carlos has shown consistency throughout the weekend and put in an impressive performance today. We have had great support from Honda America who supplied us with important track data it surely has contributed to where we stand at the moment. Everything is looking good for the race tomorrow the pace is consistent and fast. A good start will be the most important thing that’s where we have lost valuable time in previous races. We will make some small changes to the set-up of the machine in the warm-up I am confidently looking forward to tomorrow’s race.” “The success on one side of the garage overshadows the results on the other side. Both Kiyonari and Sofuoglu have been struggling to find their rhythm. We didn’t expect Sofuoglu to race again this weekend after his family circumstances and be back at the level he showed in Monza. Kiyonari has endured some technical problems with his bike, especially electronic failures through which he hasn’t been able to find his pace. I hope we can improve things in the warm-up tomorrow and am confident that he will be able to strongly make his way forward.” Carlos Checa, 1’48.193; “First of all I want to thank Honda America for their support. They have supplied the team with important data about this new track.” “At the end of the free practice I thought 1.48 was a good time, but when I saw the other riders improve their lap times I just chased it more to set a better time.” “I tried to be focus and not make any mistakes, break in the right points and ride smoothly. The bike was working well and the grip was good, the setting was just right and I was able to ride well.” “When I saw my lap time I had to look twice as I couldn’t believe it and thought the 1 was a 7 – but no, it was in the right place and I set the fastest time. For me to make this improvement and claim the pole, specially after my crash this morning.” “It will be important for me to start well tomorrow I am in the best position and will try to make a good race. At the moment I have pain everywhere, but I am very satisfied with the results of today.” Ryuichi Kiyonari, QP2, 1’50.624; “I am far from happy with my results today – after fighting for a win in Monza I now find myself at the end of the field. It was a very difficult qualifying session this morning, although I had a better feeling with the bike and my lap times have improved.” “I need to run a lot more laps this afternoon to better understand the circuit and be able to make my way forward. I was hoping to start tomorrow’s race from a better position.” Kenan Sofuoglu, QP2, 1’51.154; “This is the second day on the new track and I was hoping to make a step forward and qualify for the Superpole, but I have improved very little.” “Technically, my feeling with the track is fine, I just can’t control the bike the way I want to. I am using too much strength in my arms which tires me through the session and makes it even more harder to control a powerful bike like the CBR1000RR. I’ll just try and learn some more in tomorrow’s race.” More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: FRONT ROW STARTS FOR TROY BAYLISS AND MICHEL FABRIZIO FOR TOMORROW’S SUPERBIKE RACES IN SALT LAKE CITY Miller – Salt Lake City (USA), Saturday 31st May: Troy Bayliss and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) will both line up on the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s races, the first ever World Superbike races to be held here at Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City. Bayliss qualified second for this afternoon’s Superpole and a hard fought battle against several fast riders rewarded him with third place on tomorrow’s grid while team-mate Fabrizio made an impressive step up during the afternoon, improving on the eighth place he set in qualifying to conclude Superpole with a fourth place finish and a spot on the front row alongside Troy. Troy Bayliss 1m48.6s “It was the best time I’ve done here at the Miller Motorsports track so far and I thought maybe my time would be good enough but I was actually half a second off in the end. It’s always a good challenge coming to a new track and it will undoubtedly make for great racing. Everyone was riding well this afternoon in Superpole and Carlos (Checa) rode an incredible lap. Having said that, our weekend is progressing positively too, the bike is working well, the track is great and so things are looking good for tomorrow’s races. Michel Fabrizio 1m48.8s “I am very happy as to start from the first row for the second time this season is a great feeling. We will see tomorrow, I will have to fight for positions at the front against several very strong riders but this at least means that we’ll be seeing some great racing. We’ve made some good progress between the sessions of yesterday and today and so I’m pretty confident for tomorrow. With regard to strategy for the races, I prefer to simply say ‘no comment’!” More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki: MAX JUST MISSES SUPERPOLE VICTORY! Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner saw his dream of Superpole victory at the Miller Motorsports Park dashed by Carlos Checa (Honda) in 16-rider shoot-out. Although Max had put in a superb lap of 1:48.504, substantially quicker then anybody in regular qualifying, Checa managed to blast round the 4.907 kilometre circuit in a time of 1:48.193. Team Suzuki Alstare riders Yukio Kagayama and Fonsi Nieto ended Superpole with the eighth and thirteenth quickest times and so will start from the second and fourth rows of the grid respectively. Max – 2nd, 1:48.504 Throughout qualifying we’ve been having some problems with the race tyres but my team worked very hard and we found a good race set-up, and that makes me happy. I had problems with the first sector, so this morning I watched Ben Spies on the track and saw the lines he was using. I tried some of them later and found them much better. My Superpole lap was great – the bike was working really well and now I’m happily looking forward to the races tomorrow. Yukio – 8th, 1:49.394 In the first sector, my bike had a nervous feeling and it was difficult to push as hard as I would normally. So I rode it a bit safely because I didn’t want to crash, but that meant I lost some time and ended eighth. Today the final sector of the track was better then yesterday, but there are some places where my bike has a bit of a bumping feeling, so we will see if we can improve it in the warm-up tomorrow. I’m not happy with Superpole today, but the races are long and anything can happen tomorrow. Fonsi – 13th, 1:49.942 Superpole has not been good for me and this afternoon, when it was hot, I could not go fast or turn the bike easily. Also, I didn’t find good grip and so I am not happy with finishing thirteenth. This morning was quite good and I was able to be fast. We will have a lot of work to do tonight and a lot of data to analyse to see if we can make some improvements for tomorrow. More, from a press release issued by Miller Motorsports Park: TOOELE VALLEY, UTAH (May 31, 2008) Carlos Checa, riding the No. 7 Hannspree Ten Kate Honda, notched up the first Superpole of his short HANNspree Superbike World Championship career at on Saturday at Miller Motorsports Park. The 35-year-old Spanish rider, in just his sixth race in the series, powered his Honda CBR1000RR to a new lap-record time of 1:48.193 around the 3.048-mile Outer Circuit. Qualifying second overall, just three tenths in arrears, was the recent Monza round winner, Germany’s Max Neukirchner on his No. 76 Suzuki Alstare GSX-R1000. The front row of the grid was completed by Ducati Xerox factory teammates Troy Bayliss and Michel Fabrizio on their 1098 F08 machines. “We worked well today,” Checa said. “I had an incident this morning, so there is always something to improve and something to fix. But finally I was so concentrated in the lap I did. I tried to be as clean and effective as possible. I knew that I was able to be in the 48s, but I didn’t expect 48 low and when I saw that time it was a great surprise and a great satisfaction to be on the pole for the first time. Now the start tomorrow is the next step we need to improve! I will try to do a good race tomorrow; for sure we have some chance of winning, because we have shown our potential in the last few races, and especially here. The bike is now working well and I’m also confident with the tires, so you never know.” Neukirchner also expressed pleasure with his effort, saying, “I’m really happy about the position and I think I did a great lap. I had some problems yesterday with the chassis, and in particular I was losing a lot of time in the final split, but we found a good way to improve and we were much quicker than yesterday. I think we found a good race set-up, and I hope I’m tomorrow I’m in front. Here on this track it’s going to be really hard; the times are very close and I’m sure it’ll be a big fight.” Troy Corser (No. 11 Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) had been quickest after two qualifying sessions but was unable to repeat his performance in the one-lap Superpole session and just missed out on the front row of the grid by a fraction. Lining up alongside the Australian will be Spain’s Ruben Xaus (No. 111 Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati), Frenchman Regis Laconi (No. 55 Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse) and Japan’s Yukio Kagayama (No. 34 Suzuki Alstare). The third row of the grid for the two races is headed by Max Biaggi (No. 3 Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati), who put in a good performance despite still recovering from a recent injury. The Italian finished a couple of tenths of a second ahead of a courageous Noriyuki Haga (No. 41 Yamaha Motor Italia WSB), who took part in Superpole with a broken right collarbone following a crash in the morning’s qualifying session. Race one for the HANNspree Superbike World Championship is scheduled for 12:00 pm on Sunday, with the second race of the StriVectin-SD USA Round taking the start at 3:30 pm. In the first of two races for the AMA Superbike Championship, defending champion Ben Spies was unchallenged from start to finish after his chief rival and teammate, six-time series champ Mat Mladin, crashed on lap two. While Mladin walked back to the pits uninjured, Spies, a 23-year-old Texan who rides the No. 1 Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000, went on to beat Jamie Hacking (No. 2 Monster Energy Kawasaki ZX-10R) by 1.601 sec. after 14 laps. Neil Hodgson, the 2003 Superbike World Champion, placed third on his No. 100 factory Honda CBR1000RR with Aaron Yates (No. 20 Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R1000) and Hodgson’s teammate Miguel Duhamel filling out the top five. With his fifth consecutive win and pole position, Spies vaulted into the championship lead with a 29-point advantage over Mladin. In the nine-lap AMA Superstock Series presented by Dynojet race, Geoff May, on his No. 99 Michael Jordan Motor Sports Suzuki GSX-R1000, claimed his first AMA victory with a dominating performance. Once working past M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Blake Young (who took the holeshot but was judged to have rolled at the start and was issued a stop-and-go penalty) and Team ESP’s Chris Peris in the race’s opening lap-and-a-half, May checked out and had to battle his nerves more than his opponents en route to the checkered flag. After surviving one big moment late in the race, the ecstatic Georgian crossed the stripe with a stand-up wheelie before shaking his fists in a combination of joy and relief. Points leader Aaron Yates gave the Jordan Suzuki squad a 1-2 result, working past polesitter Jake Holden on the No. 59 Corona Extra Honda Racing CBR1000RR and building up a cushion before taking the flag 2.553 sec. behind May. After winning the previous two races, Holden sits second in the championship, while May holds steady at third in points with his winning performance. In qualifying for the AMA Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship presented by Shoei, Erion Honda Racing’s Jake Zemke snapped Yamaha’s perfect 2008 pole streak, edging rival Ben Bostrom for the top spot with a quick lap of 2:51.045. Zemke said he made a mistake on his fastest lap of the 4.5-mile Full Circuit and was expecting it would take a time in the 2:50s to secure the pole, but Graves Motorsports Yamaha star Bostrom had problems as well, crashing at speed without injury on his intended fast lap. Bostrom’s 2:51.266 was still easily good enough for second on the grid, with third-ranked Josh Hayes more than a second behind the top two qualifiers. Attack Kawasaki’s Steve Rapp rounded out the front row, with Bobby Fong, Aaron Gobert, Blake Young and Tommy Aquino filling out the second row. The AMA Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship will be Sunday’s fist race at 10:30 am, while the second race for the AMA Superbike Championship will take place at 2:00 pm. In off-track news, a Helmet Art Party on Friday night at the Miller Motorsports Park Club House raised over $6800 to benefit the Children’s Justice Center in Tooele. A variety of artists, both local and national contributed their work to the project toe benefit this very good cause. On Saturday, “King” Kenny Roberts, the legendary multi-time World Champion American motorcycle racer and team owner, thrilled fans in the Club House by stopping by to autograph his photo in Legends Hall. The HANNspree Superbike World Championship® StriVectin-SD® USA Round and Honda Summit of Speed AMA Superbike Championship weekend is the biggest event ever staged at Miller Motorsports Park, and may well be the biggest international sporting event in the State of Utah since the 2002 Winter Olympics. The Superbike World Championship races will be broadcast live on 95 television networks to 173 countries and an estimated television audience of 120 million. In addition to the on-track action, there is a myriad of off-track entertainment for fans including stunt bikes, freestyle motocross exhibitions, live bands, helicopter rides and sky diving. More, from a press release issued by PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse: Laconi Shines In the Desert Sun of Utah Salt Lake City, United States, 1 June 2008 After Superpole Régis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse Ninja ZX-10R) qualified on row two for the Miller Motorsports Park races, having been an impressive third quickest after regulation qualifying. Laconi was a revelation after the fitment of a new specification of rear swingarm to the 2008 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R racebike, with the Frenchman setting not only competitive single lap times but also proving to be fast during race simulations. Makoto Tamada found life hard in qualifying, but stuck to his task and went 18th out of 28 riders, learning his way around the impressive 4.907km circuit, which is a new SBK venue for 2008. Laconi set his best of 1’49.206 on qualifiers in Superpole, with Tamada doing a 1’50.439, on race tyres. Two 21-lap Superbike races now await each Kawasaki rider, with weather conditions at this high altitude circuit expected to be warm and sunny for raceday. Régis Laconi: “We tried the new swingarm here and from the very first lap it was an improvement, a real step forward. It has almost eradicated the chatter we have been suffering. Sometimes there is a small amount of chatter but nothing like before. We tried it at Monza but it was not quite right so they modified it and now it’s great. Now I can race and not just ride. I can push the bike around, I have a good corner entry speed and I can choose my lines. I am so happy the way things are right now, and to be close to the top feels fantastic. I made really good race pace over race distance, and I think we have a good race set-up.” Makoto Tamada: “The track is a new one for us and we did not get into Superpole, but Laconi set a good time. For me, we tried a lot of settings but all we found was chatter, especially when turning in. It was also difficult to find consistency but we hope to make improvements in war-up that will allow is to battle for good points in each race.” More, from a press release issued by FG Sport Group: Checa notches up his first Superpole at Miller Motorsports Park Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) notched up the first Superpole of his short Superbike World Championship career at the Miller Motorsports Park in Utah. The 35 year-old Spanish rider, in just his sixth race, powered his Honda CBR1000RR to a new outright record time of 1 minute 48.193 seconds around the spectacular 4.907 kilometre circuit. Just three tenths behind was recent Monza round winner, the German Max Neukirchner on his Suzuki Alstare GSX-R1000. The front row of the grid was completed by the Ducati Xerox factory pairing of Troy Bayliss and Michel Fabrizio on their 1098 F08 machines. Carlos Checa: “We worked well today, I had an incident this morning so there is always something to improve and something to fix. But finally I was so concentrated in the lap I did, I tried to be as clean and effective as possible. I know that I was able to be in the 48s but I didn’t expect 48 low and when I saw that time it was a great surprise and a great satisfaction to be on the pole for the first time. Now the start tomorrow is the next step we need to improve! I will try to do a good race tomorrow, for sure we have some chance of winning because we have shown our potential in the last few races, and especially here. The bike is now working well and I’m also confident with the tyres, so you never know.” Max Neukirchner: “I’m really happy about the position and I think I did a great lap. I had some problems yesterday with the chassis and in particular I was losing a lot of time in the final split, but we found a good way to improve and we were much quicker than yesterday. I think we found a good race set-up and I hope I’m tomorrow I’m in front. Here on this track it’s going to be really hard, the times are very close and I’m sure it’ll be a big fight.” Troy Bayliss: “It was the best time I’ve done here at the Miller Motorsports track so far and I thought maybe my time would be good enough but I was actually half a second off in the end. It’s always a good challenge coming to a new track and it will undoubtedly make for great racing. Everyone was riding well this afternoon in Superpole and Carlos (Checa) rode an incredible lap. Having said that, our weekend is progressing positively too, the bike is working well, the track is great and so things are looking good for tomorrow’s races. Michel Fabrizio: “I am very happy as to start from the first row for the second time this season is a great feeling. We will see tomorrow, I will have to fight for positions at the front against several very strong riders but this at least means that we’ll be seeing some great racing. We’ve made some good progress between the sessions of yesterday and today and so I’m pretty confident for tomorrow. With regard to strategy for the races, I prefer to simply say ‘no comment’!” Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) had been quickest after the two qualifying sessions but was unable to repeat his performance in the one-lap Superpole session and just missed out on the front row of the grid by a fraction. Lining up alongside the Australian will be Spain’s Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati), Regis Laconi (Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse) from France and Japan’s Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare). The third row of the grid for the two races is headed by Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati), who put in a good performance despite still recovering from his recent injury. The Italian finished a couple of tenths of a second ahead of a courageous Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB), who took part in Superpole with a broken right collarbone following a crash in the morning’s qualifying session. More, from a press release issued by Team YZF Yamaha: Nakatomi 22nd Shinichi Nakatomi did his best on the new Miller Motorsports Park circuit, but could not qualify for the Superpole. His qualifying practice sessions went fairly well, the Japanese rider being only 1.6 seconds from the best time. After the qualifying sessions on race tyres, 5 different manufacturers were on the top 5 positions: Yamaha (with Troy Corser) was leading, in front of Ducati (with Troy Bayliss), Kawasaki (with Regis Laconi), Honda (with Carlos Checa) and Suzuki (with Fonsi Nieto). Courageously, Noriyuki Haga ended up 10th of the Superpole with a right collarbone that was broken when he crashed on Saturday morning. Spaniard Carlos Checa (Honda) was the fastest in the Superpole in front of the Monza winner Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) and the World Championship leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati). Martial Garcia (team-manager): “Like the other riders, Nakatomi did not know this track. He finished at 1.6 seconds of the fastest time in the qualifying practices, which is good. But this year there are many riders so he is 22nd. The motorcycle is good; there is no problem with the handling or the engine. Our only difficulty is the acceleration, which is complicated because we do not have any traction control device. We are one of the very few teams which does not use one and this is a handicap on this track where the exit of the curves are very important.” More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY HAPPY DISPITE MISTAKE IN SUPERPOLE Despite a small mistake in Superpole, which cost him a front row grid place, Troy is happy and ready for tomorrow’s pair of 21-lap races at the Miller Motorsports Park. For possibly the first time this season, Troy has ended the two days of qualifying with virtually nothing to try or test in tomorrow morning’s warm-up and is looking forward to the races. Carlos Checa (Honda) took his first ever Superpole today, with a time of 1:48.193, with Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) second, Troy Bayliss (Ducati) third and Michel Fabrizio fourth. Troy – 5th, 1:48.975 On my Superpole lap I made a little mistake when I went back a gear too many going into turn one and by the time I had got it sorted out, I had lost too much time to recover and the lap was gone. But fifth is just behind pole position and as long as I can get good starts, I can challenge for the podium for sure. I am really happy with regular practice and qualifying – the bike is feeling really good on race tyres, probably the best feeling all year so far. We did almost a full race distance today and the tyre life has been pretty good. The track grip has been good throughout and because the grip has been good, the higher temperatures today has not affected the bike like some other tracks. I don’t think we’ve got anything to try or test in the warm-up. We’re ready to race! More, from a press release issued by Sterilgarda Go Eleven: Qualifying second day at Miller Park (USA) ends with a sixth position for Ruben Xaus and the ninth place on the grid for Max Biaggi. The Spanish rider is going to start from the second line while his Italian team-mate will be on the third row. During today’ session the riders of the team leaded by Marco Borciani showed to have already reached a good race pace, nevertheless tomorrow the start will be a crucial issue in order to enter immediately the heading pack and to fight for the podium. RUBEN XAUS | Ducati 1098 RS | 6th best time in 1’49.181: “I feel confident with tomorrow’s race. I have found a good set-up for the bike in race trim and it gives me the power to be quick. I will start from the second line which is a good place to join the leading pack. I would like to thank the team because they have been wonderful today. I fell down just few minutes before the end of the free-practice but, thanks to their skilfulness, I could take part of the Superpole with a perfectly fine-tune bike”. MAX BIAGGI | Ducati 1098 RS | 9th best time in 1’49.479: “We have improved both on the race pace and on the quickest time as I showed in the Superpole cutting 8 tenths off my qualifying second session time. We have done a finicky job on the set-up, therefore I feel confident about the two race of tomorrow. A good start will be crucial, then I will have to play my cards right in order to get the best final position”. More, from a press release issued by Team Pedercini: Team Pedercini ends the second day of qualifying at Miller Park with a big smile on its lips. The happiness comes from the performance of both its riders, Ayrton Badovini and Vittorio Iannuzzo. The first young rider ran his second seasonal Superpole, confirming the high level of competitiveness reached, as he did in front of his supporters at Monza. Badovini took the 14th best time after the qualifying and the 16th definitive place after the Superpole. As well Vittorio Ianuzzo is the author of a big performance, especially considering he was not at the top of his physical conditions. Despite the pain at his hand, Iannuzzo was able to cut more than 1 second an 5 tenths off his yesterday time. Tomorrow both the rider will take to the track hunting for precious points to bring home. AYRTON BADOVINI | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 16th classified in 1’50.807: “I was not able to improve my yesterday qualifying time, unfortunately I met traffic on my way every time I tried to do my best lap. Anyway my ideal time is better than yesterday and it means that we did improvements on the set-up and on the felling with the track. In Superpole I paid for my little experience on the one-lap contest but the main thing is taking the best tomorrow. I have a good race pace and this track suits my riding style. I would like to enter the top ten in one race at least”. VITTORIO IANNUZZO | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 21st best time in 1’50.762: “I’m very satisfied with my performance. I improved markedly my yesterday time and I lapped on times which might allow me to fight for my first seasonal points. My hand still hurts therefore in agreement with the team I’ve chosen to skip the afternoon free practice in order to avoid useless efforts. Thanks to the help of the Mobile Clinic tomorrow I will give myself the opportunity to end one race at least into the top-15″.