FIM Supersport World Championship Assen, Netherlands April 27, 2007 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Sebastien CHARPENTIER (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.174 2. Broc PARKES (Yam YZF-R6), 1:42.191 3. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.482 4. Fabien FORET (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:42.755 5. Vesa KALLIO (Suz GSX-R600), 1:42.773 6. Barry VENEMAN (Suz GSX-R600), 1:42.875 7. David SALOM (Yam YZF-R6), 1:43.000 8. Massimo ROCCOLI (Yam YZF-R6), 1:43.010 9. Andrew PITT (Hon CBR600RR), 1:43.040 10. Katsuaki FUJIWARA (Hon CBR600RR), 1:43.167 11. David CHECA (Yam YZF-R6), 1:43.241 12. Gianluca NANNELLI (Duc 749R), 1:43.245 13. Steve MARTIN (Yam YZF-R6), 1:43.297 14. Davide GIUGLIANO (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:43.369 15. Craig JONES (Hon CBR600RR), 1:43.414 16. Vladimir IVANOV (Yam YZF-R6), 1:43.478 17. Simone SANNA (Hon CBR600RR), 1:43.539 18. Pere RIBA (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:43.578 19. Sebastien GIMBERT (Yam YZF-R6), 1:43.601 20. Lorenzo ALFONSI (Hon CBR600RR), 1:43.624 28. Chris PERIS (Yam YZF-R6), 1:44.789 More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Charpentier on a mission for HANNspree Ten Kate Honda HANNspree Ten Kate Honda’s home round of the 2007 World Supersport Championship began in style today as inujred rider Sébastien Charpentier made an impressive comeback. The Frenchman set the fastest lap time in the first qualifying session, while team-mates Kenan Sofuoglu and Andrew Pitt finished in third and ninth places respectively. Having missed out on the fourth round race in Valencia due to his pelvic injuries, Charpentier was determined to prove his fitness at his team’s home track. He set about doing this by securing the fastest lap in both the free practice and the official qualifying session. His final time was 1’42.174 – just 0.268 seconds behind the Supersport best lap at Assen, set by Charpentier in 2006. Sofuolglu was on top form once again as he secured the fastest lap five times during the morning free practice. He followed this up in the official session by shaving almost a full second off his practice time and qualifying in third position with a best lap of 1’42.482. Temporary rider Andrew Pitt experienced problems when he got caught up in slow traffic towards the end of the 45-minute session. However, he is happy with the set-up of the CBR600RR and looks forward to improving on his position tomorrow. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager: “We’ve had a good start to the weekend today. I am truly happy to see Sébastien on top of the timesheets again. His new helmet says ‘on a mission’ and that is exactly what he is! It is nice to have him back with us in the garage. Kenan did a good job today and has made good progress in getting onto the provisional front row. With Andrew, everything was looking fine. We did a long run on race tyres, then we wanted to test a softer tyre but unfortunately he got stuck in traffic. We are confident that he can move up the timesheets tomorrow. The team has quite a bit of work to do because we still have to shave around half a second off the time of the boys – we have made good progress but we are not done yet.” Sébastien Charpentier: “I am really happy to come back at Assen because it is the home race of the Ten Kate team and we are lucky to have good conditions today. I worked really hard after my crash and for the moment I am ok. The bike is running well, the team has worked hard and they have managed to improve the new CBR600RR even further. For tomorrow we will make some small changes, but nothing special – I am ok, the bike is ok and I am happy to be back with my team.” Kenan Sofuoglu: “Today was not too bad. I am happy because we have been trying something new with the clutch on the bike and it seems to be working very well. I have had problems with the clutch since the beginning of the season but now we seem to be sorting that out and it gets better every time I use it. I am pleased with the lap times as I am getting faster with each lap. Tomorrow morning I will go race distance. My ambition is the same as usual – to be in the front row. This is always where I want to be and that is what I will set my sights on tomorrow.” Andrew Pitt: “We put the soft tyre on the end there and I just got caught up with a lot of guys on the track. By the time I got a clear lap it was lap four or five on the tyre and it was starting to move around a bit. Anyway, we did a long run and we have ruled out the tyre that we don’t want to use so it’s ok. We won’t be changing the bike too much – I just need to do some more laps.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Parkes takes second in day one qualifying at Assen Parkes showed that he is back on the pace today by taking second place in qualifying following his accident at Donington only a month ago when he broke his right collar bone. And with Steve Martin settling into Curtain’s seat while he recovers from the leg injuries he sustained at Valencia, the team is confident of good results this weekend. Parkes started the morning’s free practice session focusing on ensuring he was happy with the set-up and trying out several tyre options for the race. In the qualifying session Parkes proceeded to take second place on a flying lap before being knocked down to fourth by Sofuoglu and Charpentier. The session was then red flagged but as soon as it was re-started Parkes went out and re-took second place where he ended up only 0.017 seconds off pole position man Charpentier. Time ran out before the Australian could push any further for first place. Today was Steve Martin’s first opportunity to ride the R6 since stepping into Curtain’s boots. Martin started the morning’s free practice session using Parkes settings which he adapted to suit his riding style. Martin hasn’t ridden in the supersport class since 2000 but that didn’t stop the highly experienced World Superbike rider taking to the R6 within the first few laps. Yamaha Team Italia rider Massimo Roccoli comes to Assen confident after a win in the national Italian championship last weekend at Mugello. His new-found confidence showed today in both sessions with him finishing in eighth. Broc Parkes (2nd – 1’42.191 – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “Today’s sessions felt good. We tried two bikes which were set-up quite differently and have found a good direction for this weekend. Tomorrow we will concentrate on riding race distance to see if we can find the right tyre before the second qualifying session in the afternoon. But at the moment everything is going the right way for a good result this weekend. My collar bone is still sore and I’m finding it a bit hard to change direction in some of the fast-change corners but it certainly feels a lot better than it did at Valencia.” Steve Martin (13th – 1’43.297 – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “I’m happy with what I’ve achieved today considering I have only been on the bike for less than two hours. The bike is great to ride and I feel I am making solid progress. I didn’t manage to get a good run on the tyres today due to the oil flag during the session, but I am confident we will go faster tomorrow. I just need to get to know the bike more and understand what it can and can’t do.” Massimo Roccoli (8th – 1’43.010 – Yamaha Team Italia) “Last weekend’s win for me was a great boost to my confidence and the bike is very fast here. Those two things combined make me very happy and confident this weekend. It is thanks to my race engineer that the bike is so good. I am happy with my position and will look to improve on it tomorrow.”