2007 FIM Superbike World Championship Magny Cours, France October 6, 2007 Superpole Results: 1. James TOSELAND (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:38.501 2. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Suzuki GSX-R1000K7), 1:38.524 3. Troy CORSER (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:38.624 4. Noriyuki HAGA (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:38.897 5. Lorenzo LANZI (Ducati 999F07), 1:38.955 6. Max BIAGGI (Suzuki GSX-R1000K7), 1:38.982 7. Troy BAYLISS (Ducati 999F07), 1:39.174 8. Regis LACONI (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:39.638 9. Fonsi NIETO (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:40.129 10. Ruben XAUS (Ducati 999F06), 1:40.150 11. Roberto ROLFO (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:40.199 12. Michel FABRIZIO (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:40.390 13. Steve MARTIN (Suzuki GSX-R1000K6), 1:40.834 14. Yoann TIBERIO (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:41.106 15. Jakub SMRZ (Ducati 999F05), 1:41.391 16. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:41.462 More, from a press release issued by Team Yamaha-YZF 17th position for Nakatomi The first qualifying practice session was difficult because of a sudden shower. The track became wet, but dried quickly thanks to the wind and the sun. The riders went to try their best, but the surface was tricky because some wet spots remained. Shinichi Nakatomi finished 18th in these difficult conditions. On Saturday, he could not qualify for Superpole, with the 17th time. This was unfortunate because the bike was working very well, having for instance the second best top speed of all the bikes on the track. Shinichi Nakatomi: “Yesterday my feeling was not so good. Today, we did not have enough time to set up the bike properly. I had a clutch problem.” More, from a press release issued by Scuderia SC Caracchi: NO LUCK FOR SMRZ AFTER A FAST QUALIFYING After an excellent result at the end of qualifying sessions, ninth fastest overall, Jakub Smrz was practicing to contest the last season’s Superpole looking for a good position on the starting grid. But the Czech rider of Scuderia SC Caracchi had any luck. During the early laps of the second free practice session Smrz crashed, with bad damages to the “good” bike that could not be repaired in time for the Superpole challenge. Smrz has been forced to ride the spare bike, not setted for Superpole and the result has been a fourth row position. “It has been actually a not happy afternoon.” said a disappointed Jakub Smrz at the end of practices. “After the qualifying session, where I rode with all my soul to score the ninth fastest l was absolutely confident in a good position on the starting grid after Superpole session. On the contrary at the start of the second free practice session, riding the long corner before the fastest line, I’ve lost the front wheel and I crashed, badly damaging the bike. Unfortunately the spare bike wasn’t setted for Superpole, so I’ll be forced to start from the fourth row. It’s a pity, because the bike was performing well, I feel in good conditions and I like this track. The guys are already working hardly to recover the bike for the race, they are fantastic and I’m sure that tomorrow the bike will be OK.” More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra: 2007 Superbike World Championship Circuit: 4.411 kms. Conditions: Overcast, 17-19C. Final qualifying, Saturday 6th October ALSTARE’S NEW BOY ALMOST TAKES SUPERPOLE! Max Neukirchner, standing in for the injured Yukio Kagayama, stunned everybody by almost winning Superpole on his first outing with Team Alstare Corona Extra at Magny-Cours this afternoon. Despite only riding the Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 K7 for the first time yesterday, he immediately got on terms with the bike and was a force to be reckoned with throughout practice and qualifying. In this afternoon’s 16-rider shoot-out he blasted round the 4.411 kilometre track in 1:38.524 and was only deprived of Superpole by a determined James Toseland (Honda). At the end, the margin between him and Toseland was only 0.023, so he will start alongside the series leader in tomorrow’s pair of 23-lap racers. Third quickest today was Troy Corser, with his Yamaha team mate Noriyuki Haga fourth. Regular Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi finished Superpole with the sixth fastest time and will line up on the second row of the grid with Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati), Troy Bayliss (Ducati) and and local favourite Regis Laconi (Kawasaki). MAX NEUKIRCHNER – 2nd, 1:38.501 I am so happy to be on the front row of the grid after today, especially as I’ve only been on this bike a total of about three and a half hours. Everything about this bike is different to my Suzuki Germany bike and I really like riding it. The chassis, engine and brakes all feel so much better and I can push it a lot harder. I still find it a bit hard to believe how well these two days have gone and I’m hoping that it all continues. I would like to finish on the podium tomorrow, but we shall have to see what happens in the races, as I know that I have to ride for the team. MAX BIAGGI – 6th, 1:38.982 Every time I go out, I learn the track a bit more, so it’s no big surprise that my best lap was in Superpole. I have been consistently improving my lap times throughout the weekend and I feel I can run at a consistently good pace now. Of course, we still have some things to work out, so we will look at all the telemetry tonight and decide what changes to make for the warm-up tomorrow. More, from another press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra: TEAM ALSTARE SAYS THANK YOU! At the last round of this year’s Superbike World Champion Magny-Cours this weekend, Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra’s bikes carried special stickers to commemorate and say ‘thank you’ to Corona Extra for all their support during the last ten years. As alcohol advertising is banned in France, the bikes would normally carry a bar-code version of Corona Extra, but team owner Francis Batta and Alstare’s creative department wanted to do something different to celebrate this ‘end of an era’. So, at Magny-Cours, Max Biaggi, Max Neukirchner’s and Xavier Simeon’s racebikes carried the legend ‘Gracias’. More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Blistering lap puts Toseland on pole The final races of the 2007 World Superbike Championship will see HANNspree Ten Kate Honda’s James Toseland start from pole position on the grid. The current series leader heads into tomorrow’s two 23-lap races with a 29-point advantage and the clear aim of reclaiming the prestigious champion’s title. Although Toseland topped the free practice timesheets yesterday, he entered today’s Superpole one-lap dash as the seventh fastest rider. However, the issues he had in qualifying were soon a distant memory as headed out on the 4.114km circuit aboard the Honda CBR1000RR. The British rider secured a blisteringly fast time that shot him to the top of table and set a new Magny-Cours best Superbike lap. No other rider was able to match Toseland’s impressive feat – including closest rivals Max Biaggi and Noriyuki Haga, who will start the races from sixth and fourth respectively. After changing the set-up of his bike overnight, team-mate Roberto Rolfo was hoping for a place in the second row today. He qualified for Superpole as the fourteenth fastest rider but unfortunately he missed out on his ambition and will start from 11th on the grid. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager: “We couldn’t have asked for a better result from James today – his Superpole lap was nothing short of amazing. After the issues we have had during qualifying it was great to see James get out there and really go for it. It’s his last Superbike round this weekend and it seems he was not going to let anybody take the last pole away from him. Anyway, we have done as much as we can do going into the race – let’s see what tomorrow brings.” James Toseland: “I think I must have taken a bit of inspiration from watching Lewis Hamilton take pole position in his F1 championship quest today. I really wanted to get pole in my final World Superbike race and start from the best position possible to get the points I need. Qualifying had its ups and downs this weekend but I think we’ve got there and I am ready to put everything I have into reclaiming the championship title tomorrow.” Roberto Rolfo: “Although I didn’t achieve my aim of getting on the second row, I am happy with the progress we have made with the set-up of the bike. I did quite a good lap in Superpole, but the standard of the other rider’s laps was very high and we saw some very impressive times today. Anyway, I am looking to get two top five finishes for the last races of the season and I believe we are able to achieve this.” More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: LANZI AHEAD OF BAYLISS AS DUCATI XEROX MEN LINE UP ON ROW 2 OF MAGNY-COURS GRID FOR FINAL ROUND Magny-Cours (France), Saturday 6 October : Lorenzo Lanzi and Troy Bayliss will line up on the second row of the grid for the Ducati Xerox Team after a relatively below-par Superpole qualifying session at the Magny-Cours circuit. James Toseland (Honda) took the pole ahead of Max Neukirchner (Suzuki), with the other two title contenders Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) and Max Biaggi (Suzuki) in fourth and sixth respectively. Quickest after the first two qualifying sessions, the 38 year-old Australian put together his fastest lap of the weekend in Superpole, but his time of 1m39.174s was only good enough for the second row. “I’m pretty disappointed with my lap to say the least” declared Troy. “That was as fast as I’ve ever gone around here, but I honestly thought I was going to do quite a bit better. It wasn’t just one thing, the whole lap was missing just a little bit; I didn’t flow with the bike and it didn’t come together. I’m a bit disappointed to start on row 2, but the bike’s been working quite good and I’m looking forward to a nice sunny day and some good racing. We know which tyre we’re going to use, I haven’t done a full long-run in one go, but we’ve done a lot of laps on the tyre and I’ve been pretty happy with how it’s going. I think tomorrow’s going to be one of the hardest days of the year, everyone seems to be going very fast and it’s going to be interesting!” Lorenzo Lanzi improved throughout qualifying and was quite pleased with his time of 1m38.955s which put him in fifth place on the grid. “I’m only happy in part because I hoped to get on the front row. I didn’t make it but it’s OK anyway” commented Lorenzo. “I’m right behind Toseland on pole and if I can get a good start I am sure I can do a couple of good races. I’m also pleased for my team, who deserve it for all the work they’ve done this year. I’m the first Ducati on the grid, I want to show that I am still competitive and that I can stay up there with everyone. I’ve got a good feeling with the 999, we just have to decide which tyre to use at the front and for the rest we’re in a good position”. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Yamaha Lines up in Third and Fourth for the Showdown at Magny-Cours The Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team has its name on two spaces on the front row of the grid for the final race of the season tomorrow, with Corser in third and Haga in fourth. Haga set a blistering pace during this morning’s second qualifying session, becoming the first rider of the session to put in a 1’39 lap time and go top. He stayed at the top of the board until the final minute when Bayliss took 0.095 seconds off his time, pushing Haga to second place for Superpole. Corser used the session to work on his set-up and joined the 1’39 club five minutes from the end to go fifth fastest. Corser was the first man out of the box for the team and managed a good lap to go second in the rankings behind Toseland, although he was later knocked into third by Neukirchner who was 0.1 seconds in front. Haga was the penultimate man out for his flying lap but he was unable to do any better than fourth because the cooler temperatures affected his chosen tyre. Shinichi Nakatomi’s luck didn’t improve today as he continued to struggle further down the grid with clutch problems. Unable to continue his good form from last weekend at Vallelunga, the Team Yamaha YZF rider qualified in 17th, just outside the Superpole allowance. With the Japanese rider only five points behind Jacob Smrz in the championship standings, Nakatomi will be keen to beat the Czech rider tomorrow and finish 14th in the championship. Tomorrow’s races will be close-run events with Haga, Toseland and Biaggi all within a chance of the Championship Title as well as the Manufacturer Title still up for grabs. Troy Corser (3rd – 1’38.624 – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “Today went okay although I struggled to find the right set-up on race tyres. Losing the session to the weather yesterday didn’t give us enough time today to try all the set-up options that we wanted to. This morning we decided to try setting one of my bikes up with Nori’s settings because he was consistent in his timings. We made some fork and gearing changes and it felt better than it had been, but we just ran out of time. I’m disappointed that I didn’t put on a new front tyre for the Superpole lap. I had wanted to hold one back for the warm up session tomorrow morning but the tyre I used this afternoon had lost its edge and I even thought I was going to go down in one corner. I’m happy enough with a front row start although it would’ve been nice to keep hold of the lap record. I know I can run as good lap times as anyone else here, though. I just want to go out now, get a good start and go for the win. There’s going to be a few elbows and fairings clashing tomorrow that’s for sure!” Noriyuki Haga (4th – 1’38.897 – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “I got a better feeling for the qualifying tyres during the second session this afternoon, but when it came down to it the track temperature was just too low for me to put in a really fast lap. I did my best and didn’t feel like I made any mistakes; it’s just one of those things. Fourth is okay, it’s still the front row and I’m confident that I can get a good start. I just hope that the weather is no worse than today; it needs to be dry at least. I found a good suspension setting for tomorrow and we’ve made our tyre choice, so we’re all set for the race. Now, it comes down to a mix of determination and luck.” Shinichi Nakatomi (17th – 1’41.846 – Team Yamaha YZF) “Yesterday the bike feeling wasn’t good. I didn’t have enough time to find a good setting because of the rain and I also had a clutch problem. I’m disappointed with 17th qualifying position and with missing the opportunity to improve on it in Superpole. I hope to get a good start tomorrow and have a good race to end the season.”