FIM Superbike World Championship Assen, Holland September 1, 2006 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Troy BAYLISS (Duc 999F06), 1:39.336 2. Lorenzo LANZI (Duc 999F06), 1:39.888 3. Michel FABRIZIO (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.171 4. James TOSELAND (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.242 5. Alex BARROS (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.415 6. Andrew PITT (Yam YZF-R1), 1:40.474 7. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:40.567 8. Ruben XAUS (Duc 999F05), 1:40.581 9. Noriyuki HAGA (Yam YZF-R1), 1:40.612 10. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.746 11. Regis LACONI (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:40.796 12. Troy CORSER (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:40.837 13. Chris WALKER (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:40.848 14. Fonsi NIETO (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:41.001 15. Pierfrancesco CHILI (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:41.034 16. Sebastien GIMBERT (Yam YZF-R1), 1:41.104 17. Ivan CLEMENTI (Duc 999RS), 1:41.268 18. Norick ABE (Yam YZF-R1), 1:41.661 19. Roberto ROLFO (Duc 999F05), 1:41.874 20. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:42.118 27. Kurtis ROBERTS (Duc 999RS), 1:44.628 More, from a press release issued by Team Klaffi Honda: BARROS FIFTH ON GRID Throughout the last 15 years, the Assen round has become a favourite on the Superbike calendar. This year Assen has a modified race track. The original course with its almost 6 kilometres was shortened to a more modest distance of 4.555 km. So the TT Circuit at Assen is a new track for the Superbike riders. In Free Practice this morning Alex had to get acquainted to the course. And he did it rather well. With a 1’41.227 lap time he was second fastest after Troy Bayliss. In the first Qualifying later in the afternoon Alex improved his lap time. With a 1’40.415 he finished 5th. Teammanager Klaus Klaffenböck: “The first sessions today were rather okay for us. Position 5 in Friday’s Qualifying is much better than at the last two events. The conditions are nearly perfect and additional to this there is a new team member to join us. It is our new crew chief Ramon Forcada. He worked several years for Alex in MotoGP and will be with us at Assen, Imola and Magny Cours. So Ramon has two jobs from now just to the end of the season. He is working for Casey Stoner in MotoGP and for Team Klaffi Honda in World’s Superbike.” More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: TOSELAND TAKES PROVISIONAL FRONT ROW POSITION ON DAY ONE James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) scored what could be a very valuable top four placing at Assen after the dry first qualifying session, scoring a best time of 1’40.242 in the process. The new-look Assen was a new challenge to all the Superbike riders, with Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) tenth overall, and well inside Superpole qualifying – should the second qualifying session on Saturday morning prove to be wet. First qualifying was a largely close affair, with second through to 13th places only separated by a second, as riders learned the fastest way around the 4.555km track. Fastest lap of the day was a 1’39.336 from Troy Bayliss. Ronald Ten Kate Team Manager “A quite good result, considering we still have some issues to resolve. Also, our home circuit has changed a bit and we definitely seem to be struggling a bit on the first part of the track, the new part. So we need to change things a little bit on the set-up for that part, to allow the riders to go fast there. As soon as we can have that resolved I think we can have them both on the front row. It was important for us to be near the front today, so that we ensured we would reach Superpole, because the weather forecast for tomorrow is quite bad. For sure my staff will work hard to get things even better tomorrow, because our aim is a little bit higher than we have achieved now.” James Toseland Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (4th Position Fastest Lap 1’40.242 23 Laps) “A difficult day and I have had to get used to it all again, after being used to nought miles per hour for the last three weeks! Now it’s back up to 160mph. The bike was OK at the start, but we need to put in a little bit of work and for me to just get back into the riding. Both Karl and I have to improve on the first sector, so we maybe just have to do a little bit more work on the bike for that really tight section. On the other sections the bike is really good, so I don’t really want to sacrifice three-quarters of the track just for one quarter. We just need to work a bit more on the bike but our speed is quite consistent.” Karl Muggeridge Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (10th Position Fastest Lap 1’40.746 21 Laps) “The track’s really nice we just need to understand the way the bike’s going to work round here a little bit. We need to work with gearing to get out of corners a bit better, but I’m reasonably happy with the way it’s going now. We can move up from here, and with more laps and more time, we will get there.” More, from a press release issued by FG Sport: BAYLISS HEADS THE FIELD AROUND THE NEW ASSEN LAYOUT POINTS LEADER TAKES A CLEAR ADVANTAGE ON DAY ONE Having recently confirmed that he will ride for his current Ducati factory squad for two more seasons, 2001 world champion Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) set about the first day of work at Assen with some relish, leading the field for the majority of the first qualifying hour before setting an unbeatable lap of 1’39.336 near the end of the session. He was only followed into the 1’39s by his own team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi, who set an opening day personal best of 1’39.888 at the new-look 4.555km Assen circuit. CLOSE TIMES FOR THE CHALLENGERS AT ASSEN With rain always a possibility at Assen, it was important for the top riders to post a fast first day time, in case the second and final regulation qualifying session dawns wet. Thus the competition from third place to 16th place (the last spot in Superpole) was covered by less than a second. In third place on the timesheets Michel Fabrizio (DFX Treme Honda) posted a 1’40.171, 0.8 seconds behind Bayliss. James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) pushed his way to fourth, despite losing time in the first section of the track; the modified and shortened section. PROVISIONAL SECOND ROW HEADED BY BARROS With a new crew chief to oversee operations, Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda) scored fifth fastest time on his first visit to the new Assen, holding off the close attentions of top Yamaha qualifier, Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia). Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) was an assured seventh and top Ducati privateer proved to be former Assen race winner, Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Berik), blooding the nose of many riders on ostensibly faster machines. HAGA ON OVERNIGHT ROW THREE AHEAD OF MUGGERIDGE Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) made a relatively safe Superpole qualifying performance on day one, leading Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) on the time sheets by 0.134 seconds. Top Kawasaki rider on day one was Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) 11th, but ahead of first day toiler, Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra). Seldom has the third row held so much proven race-winning talent. WALKER 13th FASTEST Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) eased into his task on day one at Assen, finishing just a second down on second place qualifying position, and second in the Kawasaki rankings. His team-mate Fonsi Nieto was 14th, while the DFX Treme Honda squad put two riders into the top 16, when Pierfrancesco Chili rode to 15th. Last rider in the provisional qualifying top 16 was Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France Ipone). CLEMENTI MAKES GOOD PROGRESS FOR PEDERCINI Ivan Clementi (Pedercini Ducati) gave his Pedercini squad a morale boosting start to the weekend scoring 17th fastest time from 28 qualifiers. Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France Ipone) was just outside the Superpole arena also, 18th fastest, with Roberto Rolfo (Ducati SC Caracchi) scoring 19th place, and privateer entrant Vittorio Iannuzzo (Celani Team Suzuki), 20th. Max Neukirchner (Alstare Engineering Corona Extra) scored 23rd on day one of his championship return. Kurtis Roberts (Pedercini Ducati) was 27th, with the Petronas of Steve Martin 22nd, having set only 15 laps. SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) was fully 0.421 seconds clear of second fastest rider Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) on the first day of Supersport action at the recently revamped Assen. Kai Borre Andersen (Hoegee Suzuki) was an impressive third fastest, while local expertise from Dutchman Barry Veneman (Hoegee Suzuki) put him fourth, and gave GSX-R fans a glory day to remember. Monza race winner Yoann Tiberio (Megabike Honda) scored fifth fastest time, some 1.129 seconds behind Charpentier. Equal points leader so far, Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) was only eighth fastest, just one place ahead of overall fourth placed rider in the table, Robbin Harms (Stiggy Motorsports Honda). SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) made the best of the first day at Assen, only taking provisional pole by 0.012 seconds from Ayrton Badovini (Biassono Unionbike MV Agusta). These two riders enjoyed a clear advantage in lap times over their main rivals, with Brendan Roberts (HP Racing Suzuki) third, some 0.9 seconds from Corti. Luca Scassa (EVR Corse Ormeni Racing) finished of the top four, in a field with 37 riders. SUPERSTOCK 600 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP Ducati Xerox rider Claudio Canepa was a clear fastest qualifier, with Andrea Antonelli (Junior Team Italia Honda) second. Corti headed up championship leader Xavier Simeon (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) by almost 0.4 seconds as Simeon was leapfrogged by Antonelli in the last section of the qualifying session. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Xerox: DUCATI XEROX DUO POWER TO THE FRONT IN ASSEN FRIDAY QUALIFYING Assen (Netherlands), Friday 1 September: The Ducati Xerox Team pairing of Troy Bayliss and Lorenzo Lanzi powered to the front during today’s opening World Superbike qualifying session at the Assen circuit in the Netherlands. On the new shorter 4.555 km TT track, Troy and Lorenzo were the first – and only – two riders to get below the 1m40s mark, thus making clear their intentions for Sunday’s ninth round of the championship. “I’m really pretty happy with the way things are going” declared Troy, who has signed up for another two years with the Italian squad. “I had a nice break in the three weeks since Brands, hopped back on the bike this morning and basically fell straight into a good rhythm. The team worked really good today and it’s just nice to know I’m back where we left off. Both Lorenzo and I did a good job today, let’s hope it can continue throughout the weekend. I quite like the new part of the track actually, for some reason the old part was more flowing but I always had a bit of trouble there. Now the bike works really well round there for me and I’ve got nothing to complain about. Apparently there’ll be a change in the weather for the worse tomorrow but I’m not bothered. We’ve got a good dry setting and we can work on the wet setting if it does.” “Both Troy and I went really well today and this gives me great satisfaction” declared Lorenzo. “Assen is a circuit that I really like and I did a lot of good laps on my own this morning to get to know the new part. We still have to improve with the race tyre duration even though my pace is good so there’s some work to do there. Considering that it is only Friday, I think we have a good starting-point. On paper the new part of the circuit actually looks worse than it is, but all in all it’s pretty easy to ride. It’s important to start at the front here in Assen because you never know what the weather is doing from one session to the next. We’ve staked a good place in Superpole, now we’ve got to fight for it tomorrow”. More, from a press release issued by Scuderia SC Caracchi: SC CARACCHI DUCATI SUPERBIKE AND SUPERSPORT RIDERS LOOK FOR BETTER RESULTS TOMORROW First qualifying day on the new course of 4550 meters; very changeable day with light rain showers that was not able to damage hardly the rider’s practices. 20°C air temperature, while the track reached 24°C. In Superbike Roberto Rolfo had not been very brilliant, despite his SC Caracchi Ducati 999F05 showed a very good top speed, the best of the bike’s group running on the track. The bike of the fast rider from Turin still need a setting work of the package for the new track. “This morning we weren’t not OK.” related Roby Rolfo back in the pit. “During the mid day pause the guys worked a lot and then the engine was very powerful. We still have some problem in the handling and tomorrow morning we need to recover it quickly. Some difficult could be caused by the weather, here in The Netherlands it’s always something unknown and it changes every moment. However our position today is false, I’m sure we’ll improve tomorrow.” In Supersport the fastest of team’s trio has been today Stuart Easton, quite satisfied for his performance, also in the Scot looks for a better result tomorrow. “I’m quite satisfied today.” has been the comment of Stuart Easton rejoining the pit. “The bike has a quite good top speed and I feel well. Tomorrow we’ll have to look for a better tuning of our set up, but as I told I feel well and I’m rather confident also for the race.” Quite disappointed on the contrary Gianluca Nannelli; on this circuit where, during the past season, he had a bad accident without any guilt, Gianluca was looking for a very good result, but his 749R had not today a good top speed and the result failed, despite the rider’s diligence. “Today the engine didn’t push too much, in the speed trap I recorded about fifteenth kph slower as my teammates.” said a disappointed Nannelli at the end of practices. “More I had some trouble with the third gear. Now we’ll install a new engine, but if tomorrow during the final qualifying it would rain it could be a disaster. It’s a pity because in those conditions also the package set up is very rough. Our result is tied to the weather, we couldn’t do anything more.” Luka Nedog rode in the past at Assen, and his bike is quite fast, so Luka is not unsatisfied of his practice result. ” Assen isn’t completely unknown for me.” commented Nedog at the end of the day. “here I rode several years ago in the 125 European Championship and, also if the course is a bit changed, I feel quite well. My bike has been recorded as the fastest 749R, but I have still to work for the package set up for this track, because the rear open his line outing the corners. I hope to recover tomorrow morning.” Supersport – Qualifying 21. EASTON Stuart – Ducati 749R Scuderia SC Caracchi 1’44.631 22. NANNELLI Gianluca – Ducati 749R Scuderia SC Caracchi 1’44.750 36. NEDOG Luka – Ducati 749R Scuderia SC Caracchi 1’46.618 More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: ALSTARE MEN LEARN NEW ASSEN CIRCUIT Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra riders Troy Corser and Yukio Kagayama used today to learn the new Assen layout and try out different gearing and tyres on their GSX-R1000s in readiness for Sunday’s ninth-round World Superbike Championship round. The whole northern loop section has been completely revised and now features a series of slow turns before rejoining the circuit after the Strubben. At the end of the first qualifying, Kagayama finished with the seventh fastest time and Corser 12th. Series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati) posted the day’s quickest time with a lap of 1:39.336, with his team mate Lorenzo Lanzi second. Third is Michel Fabrizio (Honda), with James Toseland fourth. New Alstare Engineering Corona Extra rider Max Neukirchner had to learn both the new Assen circuit and his GSX-R1000 K6. Most of the time was spent putting in the laps and getting to grips with the bike and, despite a small tumble, he finished the day optimistic about his chances of improvement tomorrow. Yukio Kagayama – 7th, 1:40.567: “Although seventh is not particularly a good position I am happy because I enjoyed myself on the bike today. Also, I think I am one of the few riders who actually likes the new first section! I am even using the same gear ratios! I compared the position of my split times there this year compared to last year and I am happy because I am higher up this time. I had no big problems today and spent most of the time learning the new track layout and trying different tyres. At the moment I am happy with everything but I need to finish in the top four tomorrow and make sure of a good grid place.” Troy Corser – 12th, 1:40.837: “No dramas, no worries today – just cruising, learning the track and trying out different gearing. I don’t like the new section at all and feel the flowing nature of the track has been spoilt. But I understand why they’ve done what they’ve done and it’s up to all of us to just get on with it. I had a few little problems with the brakes but nothing too serious. I’m not worried about being 12th today as it’s what happens tomorrow that counts.” Max Neukirchner – 23rd, 1:42.589: “Today was quite a hard day for me because there is so much to learn and not so much time to learn it. I had a little crash when I high-sided exiting Ruskenhoek but I didn’t do any damage to myself. At the moment I am not 100% fit, but I’m getting stronger each day. It’s a bit early for me to say much about the Alstare Engineering bike but I feel it has a lot of potential. My aim tomorrow is to continue my steep learning curve and qualify for Superpole. We’ll see what happens after that.” More, from a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing: TOUGH TASK FOR FOGGY PETRONAS RACING AT ASSEN Foggy PETRONAS Racing riders Craig Jones and Steve Martin face an uphill battle to qualify for Superpole after a challenging opening day to the ninth round of the Superbike World Championship at Assen, Holland. Craig made huge strides forward during the afternoon qualifying session,bettering his free practice time by more than three seconds on his first meaningful visit to the circuit. Steve was hampered in learning the new shorter circuit lay-out when a series of mechanical problems denied him essential track time. He finished 22nd in the standings with a time of 1:42.443, with Craig just half a second behind with a time of 1:43.052. Troy Bayliss set a blistering pace with a lap of 1:39.336 in cool, overcast conditions. Craig said: “It’s hard to come to a new circuit and set a bike up from scratch, and the fact that there is a new lay-out meant we didn’t even have any data from last year. So I didn’t really know what I wanted the bike to do early on. But I took more than three seconds off my time in the afternoon and we have a direction to follow overnight. I want to continue learning tomorrow because the further up the grid I can get the better the chance I will have in the race, and this looks like a circuit with a lot of passing opportunities.” Steve said: “We have had a lot of problems throughout the day and I have had to walk back to the garage on two occasions. I am not going to make excuses about the new lay-out, because I know the lay-out as well as Bayliss does and he is two seconds a lap quicker. But it is important to get into a rhythm and that has been difficult over the last few meetings. I think I can go quicker tomorrow but it will be asking a lot to make Superpole.” Friday qualifying times, Superbike World Championship round 9, Assen, Holland: 1 Bayliss 1:39.336; 2 Lanzi 1:39.888; 3 Fabrizio 1:40.171; 4 Toseland 1:40.242; 5 Barros 1:40.415; 6 Pitt 1:40.474; 7 Kagayama 1:40.567; 8 Xaus 1:40.581; 9 Haga :40.612; 10 Muggeridge 1:40.746; 22 Martin 1:42.443; 26 Jones 1:43.052 Friday free practice times: 1 Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1:40.692; 2 Barros (Klaffi Honda) 1:41.227; 3 Haga (Yamaha Italia) 1:41.417; 4 Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki) 1:41.518; 5 Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:41.541; 6 Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 1:41.563; 7 Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:41.594; 8 Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 1:41.704; 9 Xaus (Sterilgarda Berik) 1:41.805; 10 Fabrizio (DFX Treme) 1:41.985; 18 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:43.136; 27 Jones (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:46.831 For more news visit our web site: www.foggyPETRONASracing.com