FIM Superbike World Championship Misano, Italy June 23 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Troy BAYLISS (Duc 999F06) 1:34.903 2. Troy CORSER (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:35.016 3. Regis LACONI (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:35.166 4. Chris WALKER (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:35.255 5. Steve MARTIN (Foggy Petronas FP1) 1:35.313 6. Andrew PITT (Yam YZF-R1) 1:35.448 7. Michel FABRIZIO (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:35.466 8. James TOSELAND (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:35.553 9. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:35.561 10. Fonsi NIETO (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:35.667 11. Roberto ROLFO (Duc 999F05) 1:35.682 12. Noriyuki HAGA (Yam YZF-R1) 1:35.816 13. Lorenzo LANZI (Duc 999F06) 1:35.851 14. Alex BARROS (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:35.858 15. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:35.965 16. Fabien FORET (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:36.037 17. Ruben XAUS (Duc 999F05) 1:36.046 18. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Duc 999RS) 1:36.091 19. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yam YZF-R1) 1:36.111 20. Sebastien GIMBERT (Yam YZF-R1) 1:36.144 21. Gianluca NANNELLI (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:36.286 22. Marco BORCIANI (Duc 999F05) 1:36.530 23. Norick ABE (Yam YZF-R1) 1:36.625 24. Ivan CLEMENTI (Duc 999RS) 1:36.836 25. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:36.994 26. Josh BROOKES (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:37.120 27. Pierfrancesco CHILI (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:37.137 28. Craig JONES (Foggy Petronas FP1) 1:38.339 29. ALFONSI (Duc 999RS) 1:38.418 More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: TOSELAND CLOSE TO POLE TIME AFTER FIRST QUALIFYING SESSION James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) made strong early progress on his CBR1000RR at Misano, finishing the day eighth fastest, but consistently finding himself in the top echelons during each practice session. He would finish eighth overall, but only 0.650 seconds away from the quickest rider. Karl Muggeridge (Winston ten Kate Honda) had a crash, which held back his progress on the stopwatches, but otherwise felt day one was a move in the right direction for machine set-up and tyre evaluation. He finished day one 15th quickest, but knows there is great room for improvement in the final qualifying session on Saturday morning. With track temperatures peaking well over 50°C Misano was once more a stiff test for all the competing riders. The main problem to overcome, however, was the air temperature of over 30°C, and the competition itself was equally searing, with 14 riders within a second of Troy Bayliss’ pole time, and 25 within two seconds. Ronald Ten Kate – Team Manager “It is going quite well on the Superbike side of things. With James we have already made quite a few longer runs on race tyres, and he seems to be able to put in pretty good times consistently. At the end we tried to put in some new tyres and make some better lap times but unfortunately we did not manage to do that. But tomorrow is another day. We still have quite a few improvements we can make to the machine anyway. For Karl we had basically the same strategy; running race tyres and then going for a quicker lap with a new rear tyre. In his quick lap he had a crash, but for sure he will be up the grid after tomorrow. Our aim is to get both riders on the front row.” James Toseland Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (8th position Fastest lap time 1’35.553) “We were consistently one of the quickest and just with the new race tyre we have one problem around the long left corner, when it’s in a lower gear at maximum torque. The times are very close, so I’m not too worried about eighth place right now, because the bike feels good and the team is working well.” Karl Muggeridge Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (15th position Fastest lap time 1’35.965) “We had a few things to try in that timed session and we ran out of time a bit, so we didn’t get a chance to put in a new front tyre with the new rear, to find the best overall setting for today. So I just went with a front that had done a dozen laps and the rear was brand new. It gave me a few warnings but on the last chicane, even though it all felt right until I fell, I ended up on my head. It’s not the way it’s supposed to be. Otherwise things feel pretty good, we have good speed from the bike, and I am confident we can do it; but we don’t need these little setbacks along the way. But we have another qualifying tomorrow anyway.” RESULTS QUALIFYING 1: 1. Bayliss – Ducati – 1’34.903 2. Corser – Suzuki – 1’35.016 3. Laconi – Kawasaki – 1’35.166 4. Walker – Kawasaki – 1’35.255 5. Martin – Petronas – 1’35.313 8. Toseland – Winston Ten Kate Honda – 1’35.553 15. Muggeridge – Winston Ten Kate Honda – 1’35.965 More, from a press release issued by FG Sport: BAYLISS LEAVES IT LATE TO TAKE OVERNIGHT POLE DUCATI, SUZUKI AND KAWASAKI RIDERS ON PROVISIONAL FRONT ROW During an afternoon of intense heat and even more intense competition on the racetrack, Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) boomed to the fastest lap of the first official qualifying session, taking a best of 1’34.903, already inside the previous race lap record despite the 53°C track temperature. Cutting through the 31°C air in his usual rapid fashion, Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) thought he had taken the fastest lap, but had to settle for second quickest, after Bayliss nipped in at the very end. The top 14 riders were all within a second of Bayliss’ best time, the top 25 all within two seconds. PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse riders Regis Laconi and Chris Walker howled their four-cylinder ZX-10Rs to third and fourth place respectively. With huge track temperature changes between the morning session and the afternoon, most riders worked hard on finding a set-up that would handle the hot conditions they will meet on Sunday’s brace of SBK races, before attempting to set quick times on softer race tyres. MARTIN BOOSTS PETRONAS TEAM WITH FIGHTING FIFTH Steve Martin (Foggy Petronas FP-1) rode his 900cc triple to a sensational fifth place in qualifying, the experienced Aussie giving his all around the 4.060km Misano circuit. Another Aussie, Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) was the top Yamaha rider in the session, sixth fastest overall. Only Frenchman Laconi and Englishman Walker broke up the Aussie party in the top six. The best of the home riders was Michel Fabrizio (DFX Treme Honda), making use of a recent test session to set seventh quickest time. He was also the top Honda runner, pushing 2004 World Champion James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) to eighth. KAGAYAMA AND NIETO ROUND OUT THE TOP TEN ON DAY ONE Corser’s team-mate Yukio Kagayama scored ninth quickest lap in the final sectors of the hour-long session, and Fonsi Nieto ensured that all three PSG-1 Kawasaki machines would finish within the top ten, with a lap only 0.764 seconds from pole, despite suffering rear brake problems. Local rider and SBK rookie Roberto Rolfo (Ducati SC Caracchi) took his private vee-twin to 11th, holding off the threat of the ever-menacing Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) who rounded out the overnight third row. LANZI 13th ON HIS HOME TRACK, BARROS FOLLOWS ON Bayliss’ fellow Ducati Xerox rider Lorenzo Lanzi dropped from fourth after the unofficial qualifying session in the morning to 13th in the afternoon, but still ended his day ahead of Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda), who was 14th, and the last rider within a second of provisional pole. Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) and Fabien Foret (Alstare Engineering Suzuki) were the last two riders in the current Superpole positions, but with one more session of official qualifying, and then Superpole to determine the final top 16 grid positions, there is still everything to play for. Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Berik Ducati) was an unusually lowly 17th, running smaller diameter brake discs than he finds ideal at Misano, but 18th was a positive step for the Pedercini Ducati rider, Max Neukirchner. WORLD SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP Despite a late halt in proceedings during the first official qualifying session in Supersport, after two riders crashed, the 45-minute session was completed in fine style by Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) who scored provisional pole. He was just ahead of local rider Gianluca Vizziello (Yamaha Team Italia), one of many riders who had taken part in the official SBK tests at Misano earlier this year. Yoann Tiberio took his Megabike Honda to third fastest out of 37 would-be qualifiers, just ahead of Vizziello’s team-mate, Massimo Roccoli. Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) lost out on the chance of a final fast lap after the late crash halted the session, but has nonetheless posted his name inside the top five, and with a second qualifying session still to be completed on Saturday 24th. Top Ducati rider was Christian Zaiser (LBR Ducati Racing), sixth. SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP Alessandro Polita (Celani Suzuki Italia) continued his incredible run of form to record the provisional pole time at Misano, but only some 0.63 seconds ahead of the Biassono Unionbike MV Agusta of Ayrton Badovini, and 0.309 seconds up on Luca Scassa (EVR Ormeni Racing MV Agusta). SUPERSTOCK 600 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP Davide Guigliano (Lightspeed Kawasaki) took provisional pole in the 600cc class of Superstock, ahead of Xavier Simeon (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) and the Ducati-powered, Xerox-sponsored, machine of Niccolo Canepa. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Xerox: BAYLISS (DUCATI XEROX) TAKES PROVISIONAL POLE WITH LAST MINUTE QUICK LAP AT MISANO ADRIATICO Misano Adriatico (Italy), Friday 23 June: Troy Bayliss pulled a last minute quick lap out of the bag to clinch provisional pole position for the Ducati Xerox Team at a hot and humid Misano Adriatico circuit on Friday. The Australian was languishing in a lowly top 10 position for much of the session as he completed a race simulation, but then bolted a fresh tyre on towards the end to produce two stunning laps that just edged him ahead of fellow Australian Troy Corser (Suzuki) and the Kawasaki duo of Règis Laconi and Chris Walker. “I had just done a long run with the hardest tyre Pirelli have got” declared Troy. “The first lap was just like the last lap which was not incredibly fast but at the end of the race it could come in handy and tomorrow I’ll do another long-run with the next softer one and we’ll see which one is the safest and fastest and go from there. I want to go faster than two months ago but you can’t because the track’s not in good condition as it’s really hot. But we did a bit of a long run and we’ve got one tyre picked already. The tyre I did my quick lap on is the one I’ll use for the long-run tomorrow and those are the two options I’ve got. We’ve basically got the same bike from Brno, not the same as the one we used in the tests here because today it’s 15° warmer and that makes a big difference.” Team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi qualified in provisional thirteenth place but with the top 15 riders all within one second of each other, the 24-year-old Italian is within striking distance of the men in front. “I was feeling really good this morning when I set fourth quickest time but this afternoon we concentrated on testing several different tyres seeing as my race pace is already pretty good. I was lapping close to Troy so that gives me confidence for tomorrow and the race day” commented Lorenzo. “When we fitted a slightly softer tyre to do my time there were a lot of riders out on the track and I made a big mistake, which ruined my lap and then there was no more time left to do another one.” TIMES: 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1’34.903; 2. Corser (Suzuki) 1’35.016; 3. Laconi (Kawasaki) 1’35.166; 4. Walker (Kawasaki) 135.255; 5. Martin (Petronas) 1’35.313; 6. Pitt (Yamaha) 1’35.448; 7. Fabrizio (Honda) 1’35.466; 8. Toseland (Honda) 1’35.553; 9. Kagayama (Suzuki) 1’35.561; 10. Nieto (Ka wasaki) 1’35.667; … 13. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 1’35.851. TV COVERAGE Eurosport (Europe): Sunday 25 June, 1200-1300 Race 1 (live), 1530-1630 Race 2 (live); British Eurosport (UK): 1000-1545 Race 1 & 2 (live); La7 (Italy): Sunday 25 June, 1150-1245 Race 1 (live), 1850-1935 Race 2 (delayed). More, from a press release issued by Team Klaffi Honda: BARROS HAS “WORK TO DO” AT MISANO The Misano round of World’s Superbike Championship began with a lot of work for Alex Barros and the crew of Team Klaffi Honda. Misano is nearly a new race track for Alex. His last test rides on the Santa Monica Circuit have been in April. Now the conditions are completely different. With temperatures of 31 0C and track temperatures of more than 50 0C he had to find out the optimal tyres and to work on the suspension. With a 1’36.045 lap time Alex finished 10th in free practice. In the first qualifying in the afternoon Alex was 14th with a lap time of 1’35.858. Alex Barros: “The new traction control is ready for one of his bikes as planned. But the work on the suspension of the front fork and the perfect choice of the tyres took much time today. So I didn’t want to loose precious time with the new system. We still have some work to do.” Resultate Qualifying I 1. Bayliss (Ducati) 1’34.903 2. Corser (Suzuki) 1’35.016 3. Laconi (Kawasaki) 1’35.166 14. Barros (Klaffi Honda) 1’35.858 More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: CORSER SECOND ON MISANO GRID World Superbike Champion Troy Corser put his Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra GSX-R1000 into provisional second place during today’s qualifying for Sunday’s World Superbike Championship sixth round at Misano. The Australian lapped the sun-scorched 4.06km San Marino circuit in a time of 1:35.016 – a fraction behind fellow countryman Troy Bayliss as team mates Yukio Kagayama and Fabien Foret finished in ninth and 16th places. Troy Corser – 2nd, 1:35.016: “Second quickest is ok, considering I wasn’t chasing a lap time. We’re trying to find a good set-up and that’s what we’ve been working on today. We made some changes to the bike after Silverstone and this has been my first chance to try them out. In some areas the bike feels stronger and in other areas a bit weaker, so now we’ll try and find a good balance. I had a little tip-off this morning when the bike went into neutral going into the first left-hander, but fortunately I didn’t hurt myself. Because of my recent attack of chicken pox and the high temperatures today, my energy levels are bit down now, but it’s no problem when I’m on the bike.” Yukio Kagayama – 9th, 1:35.561: “I’m happy today because I am enjoying riding the bike much more. The clutch feeling is better and I have more control of the bike which means I can rider harder and still stay consistent. So much more fun! My hand gets a bit sore after many laps and also my back. My back is a bit of a problem in the long turns and the chicanes but I only notice the discomfort after I get off the bike. But this is my life and it’s no problem when I am on the racetrack.” Fabien Foret – 16th, 1:36.037: “I was very happy after our Brno tests because we found what we thought was a good solution. We started with that set-up here, but the characteristics of this track are different and that set-up didn’t work as well as we had expected. We’ve been trying to modify the set-up today and I’m sure we’re going in the right direction. I know I can improve tomorrow and my first aim is to make sure I qualify well for Superpole.” More, from a press release issued by Scuderia SC Caracchi: HOT WEATHER DOMINATES MISANO Very hot weather for the first practice day at Misano’s Santamonica circuit, stage of the sixth WSBK Championship round. Roberto Rolfo worked most looking at the bike set up and the final result made quite satisfied the rider of SC Caracchi 999F05 Ducati, who recorded the eleventh fastest after being for long time in the top ten group, from which he went out just in the final minute of qualifying. “Today has been a positive day, we worked well just from this morning to select a good setteng of the rear and to improve the traction.” said at the end of the day Roberto Rolfo. “Today it was very hat, 53°C on the asphalt surface, the track was quite slippery, but I found well in the morning, with a good pace, and the work we done got god fruits, because at the end I recorded also a good lap time. During the afternoon we focused in the race set up, looking for a consistent pace. At the end of the session we improved also the lap time; I could be faster because the track was free, but I’ve done a small mistake at Carro corner, a decisive for a fast lap. However I’m satisfied for thi first day as well for the job made with the team.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Yamaha Motor Italia warmed up for their second home race of the season with a productive day of practice in Misano today. Andrew Pitt spent the day’s two one hour sessions working on finding good race settings for his Yamaha YZF-R1 in the hot conditions. The Australian was able to try out all the Pirelli tyre options at his disposal and settle on his likely choices for the race. Pitt posted the sixth best time of the session, a 1:35.448, despite being held up in traffic. With track temperatures of over 50°C, grip levels proved significantly lower than at April’s test at the same venue. Noriyuki Haga struggled to find as good a setting as he would have liked on his YZF-R1. The Japanese star, who lies third in the championship, plans to make changes to his machine overnight to improve the handling and traction of his machine. Like Pitt he worked exclusively on finding settings for Sunday’s two 25-lap races, ending the day less than a second from provisional pole – in 12th place with a best of 1:35.816. Yamaha Motor France riders Norick Abe, Sebastien Gimbert and Shinichi Nakatomi all fought problems during the session. Nakatomi was the fastest of the trio, ending the day 19th despite riding with an arm injury sustained during the last round in Silverstone. Gimbert experienced set-up problems and ended the day in 20th with Abe complaining of a lack of traction as he ended the day an unusually low 24th. Championship leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati) was the fastest man on show today, recording a 1:34.903 on his final lap of the day. Troy Corser (Suzuki), Regis Laconi (Kawasaki) and Chris Walker (Kawasaki) complete the provisional front row. Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) “I was surprised at how well the bike has gone in these hot conditions. We did a lot of laps and have tested all our tyre options, so we know what we’ll be using for the race. At the end we put the best settings on and I was able to do a good lap, even though I got held up in traffic a bit. Tomorrow it’s about trying to refine the package further so that we can be in the best possible shape for the race.” Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) “The traction levels are a lot lower now than when we tested in April so we still have to improve the balance of the bike. I want to be able to change direction of the bike more easily and generally make the bike easier to ride. We’ll look at the suspension and gearing tonight and I think we can find some progress for tomorrow.” Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) “We had some problems with the chassis settings today so I think that we can make some big improvements tomorrow. The times are very close with just over a second between me and Bayliss in pole so I know that we can be close to superpole tomorrow.” Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) “I was able to do many laps today and my arm did not hurt too much, so this is promising for the race. I am glad to be coming to a circuit I know, because we have already tested here and I am pleased to be faster than my team-mates.” Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) “For me it is the same as last year’s race here. I have no grip and the back wheel is just sliding around. I tried very hard to make a good lap time, especially in those last three laps, but I could not make the improvement. We are already looking at the data to see what improvements we can make to try and find a solution for tomorrow.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator – Yamaha Motor Italia) “I’m quite satisfied. Obviously you want to be right up the front but Andrew has had a good day and was able to find a setting that works well. He’s already found a tyre that works for the race and tomorrow we’ll make a few changes to try and give him more front end feeling. Nori is still looking for the best set-up but I am not too worried as he is often wanting to make big changes to the bike on the Friday night but we usually find a solution for Saturday.”