FIM Superbike World Championship Assen, Netherlands April 26, 2008 Superpole Results: 1. Troy BAYLISS (Duc 1098 F08), 1:38.428 2. Noriyuki HAGA (Yam YZF-R1), 1:38.546 3. Ruben XAUS (Duc 1098 RS08), 1:38.587 4. Troy CORSER (Yam YZF-R1), 1:38.761 5. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:38.840 6. Carlos CHECA (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:38.864 7. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:39.029 8. Jakub SMRZ (Duc 1098 RS08), 1:39.058 9. Fonsi NIETO (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:39.189 10. Makoto TAMADA (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:39.307 11. Regis LACONI (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:39.613 12. Michel FABRIZIO (Duc 1098 F08), 1:39.859 13. Ryuichi KIYONARI (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.000 14. David CHECA (Yam YZF-R1), 1:40.189 15. Gregorio LAVILLA (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.377 16. Lorenzo LANZI (Duc 1098 RS08), 1:40.786 The Rest of the Grid: 17. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yam YZF-R1), 1:40.657 18. Max BIAGGI (Duc 1098 RS08), 1:40.673 19. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.695 20. Ayrton BADOVINI (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:40.714 21. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.741 22. Roberto ROLFO (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.869 23. Sebastien GIMBERT (Yam YZF-R1), 1:40.906 24. Russell HOLLAND (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:41.633 25. Arie VOS (Duc 1098 RS08), 1:41.662 26. Shuhei AOYAMA (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:42.203 27. Luca MORELLI (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:43.030 28. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:43.312 29. Loic NAPOLEONE (Yam YZF-R1), 1:43.414 More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: BAYLISS AND THE DUCATI 1098 F08 RECORD NEW FASTEST LAP TO TAKE POLE POSITION AT ASSEN Assen (The Netherlands) Saturday 26th April: Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) powered his 1098 F08 to the top of the Superpole time sheets this afternoon in Assen, taking his second pole position of the 2008 season and recording a new best lap time for a Superbike at the Dutch track. With six riders, and four different manufacturers, lapping in under 1m39, the battle for places on the front row was hard fought today and the Ducati Xerox Team were therefore very satisfied with the results. Team-mate Michel Fabrizio and his mechanics had a few difficulties with both bikes in this afternoon’s second qualifying session and, although there was limited time available to resolve the issues before the start of Superpole, Fabrizio still managed to take a third row position on the grid for tomorrow’s races. Troy Bayliss 1m38.4s “We lost the way a little this morning for some reason and so I was a bit disappointed that I couldn’t improve on the qualifying time I set yesterday. It’s looking good so far. All the sessions have gone well except for this morning, and the team has been constantly working towards a better set-up. As I managed a good time in free practice this afternoon, I thought I could maybe do a flat 1’38 or high 1’37 during Superpole but it wasn’t to be. Anyway I did enough to start from the front row and so although tomorrow’s bound to be difficult against these guys, I’m happy with how today finished and I thank the team too for their hard work this weekend.” Michel Fabrizio 1m39.8s “This morning we went well with a race tyre and towards the end of the session I got a good lap in, with the fourth fastest time of the session. Then in free practice this afternoon we had a few technical issues with both the first and second bike and unfortunately we were unable to resolve these in time. We didn’t have time to make the changes planned for the first bike, which is the one we decided to use for Superpole, and so we had to change the settings and forks from one to the other and this perhaps afeccted by concentration a little. Anyway, I start tomorrow from the third row and I hope to be able to make a great start and then fight for the positions that count.” More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki: MAX MISSES OUT ON THE FRONT ROW BY A WHISKER! Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner made the smallest of errors in the first corner of his Superpole lap and lost a place on the front row of the grid by just a tenth of a second. But the young German is confident that a good start tomorrow will give him a chance to challenge for a podium or two. Team Suzuki Alstare riders Yukio Kagayama and Fonsi Nieto finished their Superpoles with the seventh and ninth fastest times respectively. Both know they will have to get off the line quickly in tomorrow’s pair of 22-lap races if they too want podiums. Series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati) took Superpole today, with a lap of 1:38.428, nearly a second inside the lap record set by Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) last year. And it is Haga, who is his nearest challenger today, with Ruben Xaus (Ducati) third and Troy Corser (Yamaha) fourth. Max – 5th, 1:38.840 For me, my Superpole lap was a good one, except for the first corner! I think I might have braked a bit too late, pushed the front and lost some time. That tenth or two tenths of a second was enough to knock me off the front row. But, I’m quite happy because we found a good set-up for the race and I think we will be very competitive. We may make a few small adjustments in the warm-up tomorrow morning, but they will only be minor changes because I am pretty happy with what we’ve got already. Yukio – 7th, 1:39.029 I think I made two small mistakes on my Superpole lap. The first was at turn nine when I braked a bit too early and the second was at the final chicane when my line wasn’t as good as it could’ve been and I lost speed on the exit. Today, in normal practice and qualifying we found a good set-up for the bike and that means I can make a good start and push hard right from the first lap. I like this Assen layout and I am hoping for some good results tomorrow, but I hope that it doesn’t rain any more! Fonsi – 9th, 1:39.189 I am not so happy because all weekend I’ve been up the front but, in Superpole, I missed the second row by just two tenths of a second! I had no real problems in Superpole, I just didn’t manage a fast enough lap time. I am not 100% happy with the set-up of my bike, but it’s OK and I think I can make some good races as long as I make two good starts. I know that I am faster than some of the riders in front of me on the grid, so as long as I have chances to overtake, I think I can make good results. More, from a press release issued by Team Pedrcini: Just one tenth denied Ayrton Badovini from qualifying for his second seasonal Superpole. The young Italian rider ran a great qualifying second session and he set immediately his quickest time once taken the way of the track on the final part of the day. The following lap he could improve his time but unfortunately he found Holland on his way and he had to slow down. Vittorio Iannuzzo preferred to carry out a day with no risk. He didn’t ride for the most of the morning session because of the pain caused by the cold weather on his hand. Anyway, he could cut one second off his yesterday time during the afternoon free practice, riding 12 laps. No good news from the Superstock duo Tiberio-Aldrovandi. Both the young riders could not sort out the set-up difficulties. They will start respectively form the 16th and 29th position. AYRTON BADOVINI | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 20° classified in 1’40.714: “I’m pretty confident about tomorrow’s two race. I think I can finish into the points. I’m just sorry about missing the Superpole sice I could better my time in my second best lap. Anyhow my goal is finishing into the points, as ever. We have found a good race trim for the bike. The start will be crucial, as passing is very hard on this track “. VITTORIO IANNUZZO | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 28° classified in 1’45.196: “Tomorrow will be a sort of training for me. I’m happy enough to have been able to improve my time during the afternoon free practice. This morning I felt an heavy pain at the hand and I preferred to make no efforts in order to avoid inflammations. I missed motorbikes so much, although I have been off just for a short period. Being back on the bike is a big emotion”. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Haga and Corser Earn Vital Front Row Start Positions at Assen Noriyuki Haga and Troy Corser put in their best performances of the weekend when it really counted to take a second and fourth place respectively in the one-lap Superpole qualifying session at Assen. The Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team pairing have declared themselves ready to race after exhaustive tests of machine set-up throughout qualifying. Each also completed a successful long run to determine which tyres to use for the two 22-lap races on Sunday. Haga, who had been sixth fastest after regulation combined qualifying, showed all his skill and speed to set a 1’38.546 in Superpole and miss out on the ‘win’ by only 0.118 seconds. Corser set a 1’38.761 to line up on the front row of the grid alongside pole winner Troy Bayliss, Haga and third placed rider Ruben Xaus. David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) secured a Superpole start by finishing 13th in combined qualifying, and after Superpole he starts the race 14th, from the fourth row of the grid. Team YZF rider Shinichi Nakatomi was desperately unlucky not to qualify for Superpole, finishing one place out of a guaranteed start on the first four rows by only 0.069 seconds. Nakatomi was only 1.099 from Jakub Smrz’ fastest pre-Superpole time, of 1’39.558. Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) was 23rd fastest, 1.3 seconds from the pre-Superpole best, after experiencing technical issues in qualifying on a machine hastily rebuilt after the Le Mans 24-Hour race last weekend. Noriyuki Haga (2nd – 1’38.546 – Yamaha Italy WSB Team) “It’s great to be on the front row because it is the first time that has happened this year. I am already happy with the bike settings and the tyre choice for tomorrow, so I am really ready for the race. It’s going to be tough and we can see that the lap times are very close, but I will try to ride aggressively from the front row and go for the best result possible.” Troy Corser (4th – 1’38.761 – Yamaha Italy WSB Team) “I spent a lot of laps trying to find a good race set-up so I wasn’t too concerned about my lack of early pace. I had struggled on day one with front and rear grip, but we went back to what we knew and were able to improve our overall set-up. I knew we could go fast in Superpole and it’s very important to be on the front row here. The first corner is tight and we can’t afford to let the other guys get away. We’re in a good position for the races.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “To have two riders on the front row is what we always work towards so we are very happy with that. We have to wait to see how we manage the tyre life tomorrow but the test we did were not so bad. This afternoon both riders made quite long runs and the performance did not drop down, it was very consistent, so hopefully we can do that again tomorrow. I think there will be a few riders in it tomorrow, but I think we will be there also.” Shinichi Nakatomi (17th – 1’40.657 seconds, Team YZF Yamaha) “We changed the set-up in the beginning of the second timed session, and put in a new tyre. I pushed hard, but not enough to qualify. If it is dry on raceday than many riders will be together, so getting a good start is very important.” Christophe Guyot (Team Manager Yamaha GMT94 Team) It was good to have David in Superpole but he is disappointed not to be higher than 14th, because he did good times in practice and we expected him to be in about tenth or 11th position. But it is better to be disappointed with 14th place than to be happy that you got that high, like in Valencia. That means that we have improved, and our expectations have been lifted. Sebastien was very unlucky because we had very little time to prepare a new bike for Assen after last weekend’s Endurance race, and that meant he had some technical problems during qualifying this weekend.” More, from a press release issued by Sterilgarda Go Eleven: Ruben Xaus will start from the front row tomorrow’s race at Assen for the forth round of the Superbike World Championship. The Catalan rider has been author of a great qualifying second session, in which he completely reversed his yesterday result. Then he powered a great Superpole lap, recording the final third best time of the qualifying. On the other hand, setting problems influenced the day of Max Biaggi. The Italian champion will use the data collected today in order to find a different set-up solution which can allow him to get the best from the machine. Bad day for Alex Polita too. The young rider will start from the third line tomorrow. He will be forced to make a good start otherwise he might be stuck in the battle of the first lap, losing the touch with the pack of the best riders irreparably. RUBEN XAUS | Ducati 1098 RS | 3rd classified in 1’38.587: “I have run a great Superpole, especially doing my best in the second part of the track. As yesterday I was out of the Superpole I had to work hard this morning to get my ‘pass’ for the afternoon contest. I also had some time to get everything ready for the race, although I will focus on it during tomorrow morning warm-up. Starting from the front line is crucial here because passing is really hard on this track. Tomorrow I will play a defensive game until the tenth lap, then I suppose that many riders will be forced to slow down and at that moment I will move in to attack”. MAX BIAGGI | Ducati 1098 RS | 18th classified in 1’40.673: “Today has gone as I didn’t wish. We could not find the right set-up for the front and it influenced the turning in the corner and all the rest. Tomorrow morning I will try to reverse the trend, focusing my warm-up in testing different solutions which I hope could help me to run two good race”. ALEX POLITA | Ducati 1098R | 9th classificato in 1’42.809: “I’m really angry. Today I could not ride as I wished and I moved behind instead of making steps forward. Anyway my race pace is still good and my goal doesn’t change. I must start well tomorrow because the best ones are very quick and it will be hard to recover even from a gap of just a couple of second on this track”. More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY HAPPY TO BE ON FRONT ROW Troy finished the 16-rider Superpole shoot-out with the fourth quickest lap and will start tomorrow’s pair of 22-lap races from the front row. The morning free practice was mostly damp and Troy and most of the riders rode cautiously, rather then risk anything and crash. The track then dried out by midday and Superpole took place in dry conditions. Series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati) took Superpole today, with a lap of 1:38.428, nearly a second inside the lap record set by Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) last year. Haga, was is his nearest challenger today, with Ruben Xaus (Ducati) third. Troy – 4th, 1:38.761 I’m reasonably happy with my Superpole lap because we actually changed quite a lot on the bike between the sessions today. Also, we found not bad grip from the race tyres and that’s good for the races tomorrow. Recently we may have been spending too much time trying to be fastest in practice and qualifying when we probably needed to have a good race set-up and be fast on race rubber. We probably spent too much time trying to get the bike set up for a soft tyre, but really the race is more important. Here we’ve found a good rear tyre for the race, but we’re not quite sure about the front yet. We’ll have a look at the telemetry tonight and maybe make a few small adjustments in the warm-up tomorrow and see if we can improve the front feel. No real dramas today, except that I got a puncture this morning! I went out in damp conditions and felt the bike sliding around more then usual. I looked down and saw that the rear was quite a bit down so I rode the bike back to the pits.