2007 FIM Superbike World Championship Brno, Czech Republic July 21, 2007 Superpole Results: 1. Noriyuki HAGA (Yam YZF-R1), 1:59.603 2. Max BIAGGI (Suz GSX-R1000K7), 2:00.018 3. Troy BAYLISS (Duc 999F07), 2:00.034 4. James TOSELAND (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:00.235 5. Troy CORSER (Yam YZF-R1), 2:00.251 6. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suz GSX-R1000K7), 2:00.879 7. Lorenzo LANZI (Duc 999F07), 2:01.078 8. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Suz GSX-R1000K6), 2:01.177 9. Roberto ROLFO (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:01.234 10. Michel FABRIZIO (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:01.690 11. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:01.708 12. Fonsi NIETO (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:01.755 13. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yam YZF-R1), 2:01.849 14. Ruben XAUS (Duc 999F06), 2:02.237 15. Regis LACONI (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:02.279 16. Jakub SMRZ (Duc 999F05), 2:02.855 More, from a press release issued by FGSport Group: HAGA THE HAMMER IN BRNO QUALIFYING NEW TRACK RECORD FOR SUPEPROLE WINNER HAGA Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) beat down the doors of the Brno Citadel by becoming the first rider to dip under the two-minute lap barrier on a race weekend, scoring to his second Superpole win of the 2007 season. His 1’59.603 lap beat the strong 2’00.018 of Max Biaggi (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), which four other top riders could not better, despite Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) looking set to be quickest until the last power-sapping climb up the hill to the final chicane. Bayliss was to finish third on the grid, with James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) scoring fourth place and a front row start. In regulation qualifying, Haga was also fastest, and was thus last man away in Superpole. CORSER ON ROW TWO WITH DOUBLE WINNER KAGAYAMA ALONGSIDE Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia) was many spectator’s best bets for the Superpole win but he lost pace in the final split and ended up on the second row, fifth fastest. Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) had a wild Superpole lap, running wide on one particular corner exit and drifting onto the dirt, but still ending up sixth fastest. The second row is completed by Bayliss’ team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) and top privateer Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Germany), who was only 12th in regulation qualifying. ROW THREE HEADED BY ROLFO Roby Rolfo (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) ran out ninth after a small crash at the end of the second qualifying session and suffered a slight leg injury, which held back his Superpole charge somewhat. Double 2007 podium finisher Michel Fabrizio (DFX Corse Honda) was into the top ten despite a couple of worrying rear-end slides, while Karl Muggeridge (Alto Evolution Honda) improved from 14th in regulation to record a third row time, and 11th position. Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) finished off the third row after failing to improve on qualifying tyres. NAKATOMI MAKES IT COUNT IN SUPERPOLE Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha YZF Team) mimicked his 13th place from regulation qualifying in Superpole, but two bigger SBK names had difficulties that held them on the fourth row. Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Ducati) has struggled all weekend and went 14th in Superpole, while Regis Laconi (Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse) battled hard on a bike which did not want to change direction in the fast sections, ending up 15th. Local rider Jakub Smrz (Caracchi Ducati SC) slipped to 16th only in Superpole, with 23 riders present at Brno. WORLD SUPERSPORT – KENAN THE PRACTICE KING Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) set a new Supersport track best of 2’04.871 in final qualifying to take pole at Brno for Sunday’s 18-lap race. The long time championship leader was over half a second faster than the next best rider, Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team), who was in turn followed in the pre-race ranking by a slow starting, fast finishing, Joshua Brookes (Stiggy Motorsports Honda). In a happy final session for the Stiggy Honda team, regular rider Robbin Harms (Stiggy Motorsports Honda) was fourth fastest, joining Brookes on the front row. Sebastien Charpentier (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) went fifth fastest but for Fabien Foret (GIL Kawasaki), the closest rider to Sofuoglu in the championship battle, Brno was a tough challenge, and he finished only 11th in qualifying. SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP QUALIFYING – CANEPA ON THE HOT SPOT Niccolo Canepa (Ducati Xerox Junior Team) secured pole in the big Superstock class, while Ayrton Badovini (Biassono Racing Team) held off former champion Didier Vankeymeulen (TTSL-MGM Racing Yamaha). Michele Pirro (Yamaha Team Italia) went fourth on the grid. More, from a press release issued by Scuderia SC Caracchi: NANNELLI CLENCH THE TEETH AT BRNO GOOD RESULT FOR SMRZ ON HIS HOME TRACK Gianluca Nannelli is not a rider that easily surrender. At Brno, after the first practice day, “Nanna” was quite back in the grid because of the pain in the injured knee, but today in the two final sessions the 749R Ducati SC Caracchi rider used all his fighting spirit and improved more as 2 seconds his lap time, recording the 17th position that will allow him to start from the fifth row. The weather forecast speak about a small fall of the temperature and that too could give some advantage to the riders’ effort. “In those physical conditions I have to find a set up for give to the bike the agility that I couldn’t have on the saddle.” said a shaking Gianluca Nannelli getting of his bike at the end of the day. “The team made a lonh job looking for the solution and this morning too, during the free practice session, I rode better. The engine is powerful, with the best top speed of the group and the work we made on the suspension allowed me to get a better performance. Well, the zeal that the team and myself spent during those practices could merit something better, but the Supersport, with about fifteen riders in the gap of a second, is pitiless. I am still slow in the flip-flop corners and a few tenth of second should be very precious to bring us maybe a row before in the starting grid. I’m sorry to lose the possibility of the fourth row, during the last minutes of qualifying I found a couple of riders that slowed me a bit. The bike looks to be OK, but tomorrow it will be a very hard race. If the temperature will go on so warm I don’t know how my body will resist to the continuous stress of a hard race. Today I rode with a tutor to protect the left knee and for tomorrow’s race the Clinica Mobile staff will treat me with some anti-pain medicine, to be in the best conditions at the moment, as the great work of the Team and all my zeal merit.” Jakub Smrz on the 999F05 Superbike during the morning recorded a very good final qualifying session that allowed him to reach easily to be admitted to Superpole as the best of Ducati riders behind the pair of full factory Xerox Ducati riders. A small lack of power of his engine during the Superpole did not allow him to improve his grid position, but for tomorrow’s race “Kuba” looks to be confident and calm. “In the morning I earned easily the admission to Superpole, as I recorded my qualifying time using race-soft tyres.” commented Jakub Smrz at the end of Superpole “Also during the afternoon’s free practice session I rode the same tyres for several laps with very good result. The when we wear the qualifying tyres the engine started to fail and I rode even slower as with race tyres, but we were at the end of the session and Superpole would start a few minutes later. For that I couldn’t improve my lap time, but with the race set up we could ride a very good pace and so for tomorrow I’m quite confident in a good result on my home track. The Team has already installed a new engine, tomorrow we’ll be in the best conditions.” More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra: 2007 Superbike World Championship Round 9, Brno, CZ Final qualifying, Saturday 21st July Circuit: 5.403 kms Weather: Dry, sunny 28 C. MAX JUST MISSES OUT ON POLE. Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi was on course for pole position in the 16-rider Superpole shoot-out today right up the moment the last rider, Noriyuki Haga, went out. At that stage, Max had lapped the 5.403 kilometre Brno circuit in 2:00.018 – a time that looked unbeatable. But then Haga blitzed his Yamaha round the undulating track in 1:59.603 and became the first rider ever to have lapped a Superbike at Brno in under two minutes. But Max is happy enough with second today, a front row grid position and is ready for two long 20 lap races tomorrow. His team mate Yukio Kagayama made a couple of small mistakes on his Superpole lap and ended sixth quickest – the same as last year. Third fastest in Superpole today is Troy Bayliss (Ducati), with series leader James Toseland (Honda) fourth. Max – 2nd My Superpole lap time was the fastest I’ve been round here this weekend and I thought maybe it was good enough for pole position. It didn’t work out that way, but I’m not too unhappy because I am on the front row and that is what counts. If the weather is as hot or similar to these last two days, tyres are going to be a crucial element. I think the guy who wins tomorrow’s race is the one who conserves his tyres best. It’s going to be a long, hard day for sure and the last five or six laps of the races are going to very interesting. I hope that tomorrow Brno will once again give me good memories. Yukio – 6th I was sixth in qualifying last year and went on to win both races, so if I can do the same I will be very happy! Today I made some mistakes in Superpole and lost some time. That was enough to lose the front row, but sixth is not so bad. I went onto the grass and then wheelied when I hit the ripple strip and that was probably about four tenths of a second gone. Then some slides and more time lost, so that’s where my Superpole lap went. But, I’m quite happy with my times on race rubber and as long as I get a good start I think I can be competitive for sure. It’s going to be very hard tomorrow – especially if the weather stays as hot. Tyre life is going to be a problem and you will have to have a good tyre strategy to win the race. This is going to be my goal. More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: FRONT ROW START FOR BAYLISS, LANZI IMPROVES TO ROW 2 IN BRNO HEAT FOR DUCATI XEROX TEAM Brno (Czech Republic), Saturday 21 July: Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) will start tomorrow’s ninth round of the World Superbike Championship at the Automotodrom Brno from the front row of the grid after setting third quickest time in Superpole. The 38 year-old Australian was looking good in the first two splits but lost time in the final sector to finish behind Max Biaggi (Suzuki). Noriyuki Haga then did the first ever sub-2 minute lap of the Czech Republic circuit to grab pole for Yamaha. Team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi did his quickest lap of the entire weekend in Superpole to line up on row 2 in seventh place. “It’s pretty important to be on the front row here because last year with the track conditions we really struggled” declared Troy. “I was happy to set the time that I did and was surprised Nori made 59.6 because that’s a really good job. No one has ever gone that fast on a Superbike here before. My last split was far from perfect, I ran a little wide in the final corner but it wasn’t going to gain me four tenths so I’m happy with that and hopefully we can do a decent job tomorrow. They are going to be two very hard races tomorrow. Honestly there are two choices of tyre: a soft one that everyone will want to use and that’s going to be very difficult for the last six laps and then there’s the harder tyre where you’re going to lose a second a lap right from the start, so I’m sure we’re going to see some strange things tomorrow!” “I made a mistake right in the middle of the first corner on my Superpole lap and for sure I lost some time there. The rest of the lap wasn’t bad so I start on the second row, which is OK because it’s a row ahead of what we have been doing all weekend” commented Lorenzo. “I feel I’ve got a good race pace so tomorrow we will try and get a good start and do a good race with the tyres. We’ve still got a couple of things to try in the warm-up as well. Conditions will for sure be different for tomorrow’s races, like last year, but hopefully they will be a bit more in our favour and the temperature will be lower, which should help us”. More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: SECOND ROW FOR TROY Troy just missed out on a front row grid position in today’s Superpole shoot-out at Brno. He had tried a couple of qualifying tyres just before Superpole started and couldn’t get them to work, so when he began his Superpole lap on a similar tyre he was a bit concerned that it might be the same. He started his flying lap cautiously and that was enough to drop him from the front row to the second. Troy’s Yamaha Motor Italia team mate Noriyuki Haga stormed round the 5.403 kilometre circuit in 1:59.603 and in so doing became the first Superbike rider to lap the circuit in under two minutes. Third quickest today is Troy Bayliss (Ducati), with series leader James Toseland (Honda) fourth. Troy – 5th Superpole was ok, but I was bit tentative in the first split because I wasn’t sure how my tyre was going to behave. I had tried a couple in the free practice before and had not been able to get them to work, so I guess I was just a bit too cautious at the beginning and that was enough to lose the front row. On race tyres though, I’m reasonably happy and I think everybody is going to have some sort of tyre problems tomorrow – mainly because of the heat. The tyres are going to fall off in performance towards the end, so the rider who looks after them best during the race will be a strong position. The last five or six laps are going to be very interesting for sure, and I hope that I will be in a good position when the fun starts. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Haga Goes Under the Two-Minute Lap to Take Pole Haga today became the first rider to do a sub two-minute lap at Brno, taking pole position with a time of 1’59.603. With this morning’s track temperature over ten degrees cooler than yesterday’s qualifying, both Haga and Corser found the going easier in second qualifying. Haga went out this morning and put in two fast laps, waking the rest of the pack up and reinforcing his place at the head of the qualifying table. Corser also beat his best time from yesterday, breaking into the 2’00 lap times, but was unable to hold off an attack for second from Bayliss. Superpole was where the action really heated up. Haga was the last rider to complete his Superpole lap and did not disappoint as he went to the top of the board to take his second successive pole at the Czech circuit with the record-breaking lap time. Corser’s lap earlier in the session had been smooth throughout the first two sections until he lost grip on the final part of the circuit, putting him in third. It was only Haga and Bayliss’ laps afterwards that shifted him to fifth. Shinichi Nakatomi had another good day of progress as he took almost a second off his best time to put himself in 13th going into his second Superpole of the season. He went even better on his flying lap, posting a 2’01 lap to maintain his 13th grid position going into tomorrow’s race. Haga is joined on the front row tomorrow by Biaggi, Bayliss and Toseland and both Corser and Haga will be keen to give Yamaha their 150th WSB podium. With rain forecast, though, the weather will become an important factor in the day. Noriyuki Haga (1st – 1’59.603 – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “The track temperature was lower this morning which meant the tyres felt better and had more grip. This is why I was able to put in a couple of fast laps right at the start of the morning session. I then focused on doing a long distance run and found a much better front set-up, though the rear still needed work. My Superpole lap was almost perfect except for one small mistake. To lap in less than two minutes is excellent; I’m very pleased with that achievement. If the weather is the same as this tomorrow it’s going to be a tough race. I’ll be happy if it rains, which it might, as it’ll then be survival of the fittest.” Troy Corser (5th – 2’00.251 – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “The grip was a bit better this morning than yesterday but I think that was more down to the track temperature than any tyre options we tried! We concentrated on finding the right set-up this morning to help the tyres in this heat but we haven’t quite got there yet, as my Superpole lap showed. I was going well in the first and second sections but then I lost some grip in the final one, which lost me time. Second row isn’t great but I’m confident of a good start.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator, Yamaha Motor Italia) “Today’s result is great. Tomorrow morning we will do a final check of everything and then we we’ll be ready to race. When I saw Biaggi’s lap time I thought it would be very difficult to get pole. I couldn’t watch Nori’s lap until the last few corners; I was just praying that he could go better. Once I saw 1’59.6 I was so pleased – well done to Nori. If Troy hadn’t lost grip in the last part of the circuit we would’ve had both riders on the front row. Tomorrow’s results will be dependent on the weather but I believe we’ll be on the podium whatever happens.” Shinichi Nakatomi (13th – 2’01.849 – Team Yamaha YZF) “I’m happy with my grid position for tomorrow’s races. Today has been a good day and I’m looking forward to taking away some more points from Brno. The team has worked hard on the bike’s set-up all weekend and I am pleased with what we have achieved so far.” Martial Garcia (Team Manager, Team Yamaha YZF) “Finally all our hard work bears fruit! This is result of the work that we’ve done over the last winter and spring. The bike is working well and we had the second top speed in qualifying practice. I hope that Nakatomi has a good race, like last year when he finished eighth. He looks in good shape for the last third of the season; he was 1.5 seconds faster here today than he was in 2006 so it is all looking hopeful.”