Superbike World Championship Round 2 Phillip Island, Australia March 4, 2006 Superpole/Final Qualifying Results: 1. Troy BAYLISS, Ducati 999F06, 1:32.159 2. Troy CORSER, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:32.373 3. James TOSELAND, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:33.003 4. Steve MARTIN, Foggy Petronas FP1, 1:33.206 5. Alex BARROS, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:33.373 6. Karl MUGGERIDGE, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:33.571 7. Andrew PITT, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:33.598 8. Norick HAGA, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:33.631 9. Lorenzo LANZI, Ducati 999F06, 1:33.791 10. Chris WALKER, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:33.928 11. Pierfrancesco CHILI, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:33.998 12. Yukio KAGAYAMA, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:34.111 13. Fonsi NIETO, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:34.158 14. Regis LACONI, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:34.492 15. Roberto ROLFO, Ducati 999F05, 1:34.719 16. Ivan CLEMENTI, Ducati 999RS, 1:35.032 17. Norick ABE, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:34.269 18. Fabien FORET, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:34.513 19. Max NEUKIRCHNER, Ducati 999RS, 1:34.559 20. Michel FABRIZIO, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:34.632 21. Sebastien GIMBERT, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:34.666 22. Ruden XAUS, Ducati 999F05, 1:34.790 23. Marco BORCIANI, Ducati 999F05, 1:34.944 24. Shinichi NAKATOMI, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:35.039 25. Franco BATTAINI, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:35.316 26. Craig JONES, Foggy Petronas FP1, 1:35.886 27. Lucio PEDERCINI, Ducati 999RS, 1:35.931 28. Vittorio IANNUZZO, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:36.202 More, from a press release issued by Team Klaffi Honda: Phillip Island – Alex Barros Fifth in the Grid A thrilling second day at Phillip Island! Yesterday Alex Barros finished second in Qualifying I. This morning the Brazilian improved his lap time again. But Alex tested a different setting of his Klaffi Honda Fireblade. This solution was not so perfect and with a 1’33.749 Alex achieved 9th position. So he had to push in Superpole. And Alex managed this job! In the Free Practice before the pole he did a 1’33.471 lap time. In Superpole Alex covered the 4.445 m of the track in only 1’33.373. Faster than Muggeridge, Pitt, Rolfo and Haga he finished 5th. Tomorrow Alex starts from second row in the grid. Alex Barros: “The conditions are perfect here at Phillip Island. I like the hot and sunny weather very much. And there are no gusts of wind from the seaside which may attack you sometimes here. But beside this we took a big step forward since Qatar. We have a very good adjustment for the race tomorrow. I start from the second row. Position 5 in the grid is not so bad at all. Bayliss and Corser, the two Australians, are in front. They are fast but it is not impossible to catch them!” More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: TOSELAND TO START FROM FRONT ROW AT PHILLIP ISLAND Having set the fourth fastest time in regulation qualifying, James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) improved both his time and his starting position in Superpole, slashing half a second off his previous best outing on race tyres, with a 1’33.003. Only his fellow former World Champions, Troy Bayliss and Troy Corser, set times faster than Toseland in Superpole, with Bayliss on pole thanks to a 1’32.159. In the second timed qualifying session, which determines the Superpole qualifying order, Toseland set a 1’33.548. Toseland will be going for win number two of the season in Sunday’s two 22-lap Superbike races, having won the opening leg of the year in Qatar. Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) will start from a second row grid position, having qualified sixth fastest with a time of 1’33.571, also beating his regulation qualifying time. Muggeridge is the fourth Australian rider in the top six places, proving how much of a boon local knowledge and support means at this fast and sun-drenched track. Ronald Ten Kate Team Manager “We knew that it was going to be an epic battle between the two Troys to grab pole here and so we have been concentrating on race settings. They seem to be quite consistent on race tyres. We also had messy Superpole laps, with some small mistakes and slides, but what happens, happens, and we are happy for James to make a front row start. After we saw how things went for Karl yesterday, it was pretty good for him to get onto the second row today. I think he had some things on his mind, like his little boy back in Switzerland. Now he is fully focussed back here. We are sure he can do well here tomorrow, because on a race set-up he is running quite a constant pace. Tomorrow morning we will make use of warm-up to define race set-up. With James we are really close, for Karl we maybe have to do a bit more to play catch up, because we almost lost yesterday. I’m happy, we are looking good, and I don’t think anyone can make five or six laps into the 1’32s. I would be very surprised with that.” James Toseland SBK Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (3rd position 1’33.003) “I’m happy to be on the front row again, it’s hard out there because the two Troys are going particularly well this weekend and I didn’t expect anything else. I’ve got a good race setting for tomorrow, so I’m happy enough. I’m also confident I can be consistent and everybody is going to have a few tyre issues tomorrow, so we’ll be spinning towards the end of the race. But we’ll have the same as everybody and we’ll be in with a shout. I’m learning every time out there, I’m doing a lot of laps, and the bike is a great package. I’ve qualified on the front row here and in Qatar, then won and took a fourth, and now I’m tied for second in the championship. If we can build on that, I’ll be happy.” Karl Muggeridge SBK Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (6th position 1’33.571) “Not so bad, considering that yesterday was such a disaster. We had to chase like hell today to make everything in a better direction. I wasn’t extremely happy with my Superpole lap but we made some big changes between yesterday and today, but it has worked. We still have stuff to do in warm-up on Sunday but I feel much better on the bike today.” More, from a press release issued by Team Yamaha Motor France – Ipone Getting ready for the race Norick Abe, Se©bastien Gimbert and Shinichi Nakatomi did not qualify for Superpole and worked hard this Saturday so their Yamaha R1s have the best settings to perform as well as possible during the races. The level of the 2006 Superbike World Championship is very impressive: After the qualifying sessions, there were only 1.5 seconds between the riders from 4th to 24th position! In this context, Norick Abe missed the 16th and last qualifying spot for the Superpole by only 0.08. Sebastien Gimbert was 21st and Shinichi Nakatomi 24th. It is interesting to see that we could have a great starting grid with the riders who did not qualify for Superpole : Abe, Foret, Neukirchner, Fabrizio, Gimbert, Xaus, etc. The temperature in Australia is quite high, with 37° Celsius for the air and 53° for the track on Friday afternoon. On Saturday morning, it was already 26° and 37°. This makes it difficult for the technicians to find the right settings because the grip is changing a lot. Norick Abe : “There is less grip than during the January tests, probably because of the higher temperature, and I had to change my settings. We tried to find some grip, but with little success. My engine lacks power. This is the second time in a row that I do not qualify for Superpole so I am not very happy.” Sebastien Gimbert : “I am not satisfied because this grid position is definitely not mine. During my fast lap, I had to avoid one rider exiting the pit lane and I lost between 3 to 4 tenths of a second. So I shall have to start from the back of the grid. The front of my bike moves a little bit too much so we shall try to find the right settings for the race. I am 20 kph (13 mph) slower than the fastest guy so I lose roughly 2 tenths in the main straight. The positive points are that my brake problems have been solved and there is less chattering.” Shinichi Nakatomi : “I am so-so satisfied with my qualifying practices. There is a chattering problem that appeared with the new tyres, and there are many little things we have to improve. We shall try to find the best settings for the race.” Martial Garcia (team-manager): “Our riders did the same lap time than in January, which is positive, but they could not improve. Setting the bikes up is difficult because the new tyres have more grip, then more chattering. The opposition is very strong and we did not qualify for Superpole. Abe had an engine problem. Because of lack of time, we are using the 2005 engines.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: BAYLISS (DUCATI XEROX TEAM) SMASHES SEVEN-YEAR-OLD PHILLIP ISLAND LAP RECORD TO GRAB SECOND POLE OF THE YEAR ON THE DUCATI 999F06 Phillip Island (Australia), Saturday 4 March: Troy Bayliss smashed Phillip Island’s seven-year-old record lap time to take a second successive pole position of the year on the Xerox-backed factory Ducati 999 machine. In scintillating form throughout the weekend, the 36-year-old Australian was quickest in every practice and qualifying session and clinched pole with a time of 1m32.159s, a full second faster than Troy Corser’s 1999 mark. Bayliss’s Superpole lap also made it three world champions in the top three positions as he lines up with Corser (Suzuki) and James Toseland (Honda) alongside him, while Steve Martin completed the front row for the Petronas team. “It’s very nice to be on pole back here at Phillip Island, at the moment I’m having a bit of a dream run” declared Troy. “Everything’s gone well today, my lap was good enough to take pole, but honestly I thought I was going to do a little bit better. It was messy and I had my feet in the wrong place in a few spots, but I’m happy. I’m not kidding myself however because I realise how hard tomorrow is going to be, with two long races and plenty of heat out there. I really need to get a good start if I want to try and do something special, but Phillip Island makes for great racing and it tends to bring the top few guys together and you end up having a race and then it gets sorted out at about two-thirds distance”. Team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi made progress in the morning’s second session, when he qualified 15th, and the Italian followed that up with ninth quickest time in Superpole, which was good enough for the third row of the grid. “It has been a very difficult weekend for me” said Lorenzo. “We started off well on Friday morning then we encountered a bit of difficulty. I made a few changes on the bike, which didn’t take us in the right direction but now it seems that I have got it more to my liking. I made a few errors in Superpole, without them I might have been able to get on the front row, or at least the second. So all things considered I’m in a better position than I was this morning. Hopefully I can get a good start, because the most important thing is to start with a win in mind or at least a good placing. It’s going to be tough seeing as the two Troys are in such great form on this track, but my aim is to stay in the second group and do a good race starting from the third row”. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Troy Corser will start tomorrow’s second-round World Superbike Championship round at Phillip Island, Australia from the front row after taking second place in today’s Superpole. It was a mixed day for Alstare Suzuki riders Yukio Kagayama and Fabien Foret: Kagayama crashed in regular qualifying and bruised his right hand and the base of his spine. Then, on his Superpole lap, he ran wide exiting Siberia, went over the white line and hit the dirt. He stayed on the bike, but he lost time in the process and ended up with only the 12th fastest time overall. Foret continued his Superbike learning process, but failed to make Superpole by the narrowest of margins. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) topped the time sheets with James Toseland (Honda) third and Steve Martin (Petronas) fourth. Troy Corser – 2nd, 1:32.373 “We struggled a bit yesterday with grip and the clutch, so we made some adjustments to the set-up and changed the clutch today. It was definitely an improvement – though not perfect yet. I think we’re all going to have some sort of grip problems tomorrow if the weather stays as hot as it has been these two days. Most of us are all on the same tyres so it’s going to be a very long, hard day tomorrow. I would’ve liked to win Superpole – in front of all the Aussie fans – but being on the front row is what counts. There are quite a few guys in with a chance so it’s going to be a fantastic day’s racing for all the fans.” Yukio Kagayama – 12th, 1:34.111: “We changed the front and rear set-up from yesterday but I don’t think there was any improvement so we will probably go back to our original set-up tomorrow. A couple of mistakes today for me: First a crash in the last corner and I hurt my hand and the bottom of my back. Then in Superpole, I ran wide and nearly lost it when my bike went on to the dirt. Because of that, I lost time and that means I am on the third row of the grid. I need a very good start, otherwise I will get held up in a group and I don’t want that to happen. I hope my back is not too sore tomorrow because I need two good races and many points. Fabien Foret – 18th, 1:34.513: “We made some changes to the front end this morning and the bike felt a bit better. But in the afternoon, we could not make any improvement, so we’ll try another change in the tomorrow morning’s warm-up. The bike is very sensitive and I am not finding it so easy to ride as fast as I would like, but I am confident that I will get there. We’ll try and make it handle better over the bumps and be a bit easier to ride. At the moment I am still learning about the difference between a Supersport bike and a Superbike and I think I must change my style of riding if I want to make good progress.” Final WSB Qualifying: 1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:32.159, 2 Troy Corser (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:32.373, 3 Toseland (GB-Honda) 1:33.003, 4 Martin (Aus-Petronas) 1:33.206, 5 Barros (Bra-Honda) 1:33.373, 6 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda) 1:33.571, 7 Pitt (Aus-Yamaha) 1:33.598, 8 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:33.631, 9 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:33.791, 10 Walker (GB-Kawasaki) 1:33.928. 12 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:34.111. 18 Fabien Foret (F-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:34.513. More, from a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing: Martin on front row for Foggy PETRONAS Racing at Phillip Island Steve Martin will start from the front row of the grid on the PETRONAS FP1 for the second season in succession at Phillip Island tomorrow. The Australian qualified in fourth place for the second round races in the Superbike World Championship, alongside James Toseland, Troy Corser and Troy Bayliss. Having qualified in fifth place in the morning session, Steve posted his best lap time of the weekend of 1:33.206 to claim his front row place. He was also able to complete extensive race simulation runs during afternoon free practice, in which he finished sixth fastest. Craig Jones continued to gain valuable knowledge of the circuit, in only his second visit to Phillip Island, and sliced more than half a second off yesterday’s best time during morning qualifying. Steve said: “I have gone progressively quicker all weekend and to do my fastest lap when it counted was great. It was just about as quick as I could go, while knowing that I would be returning! So we have given ourselves every chance for the races tomorrow, as being on the front row is a great asset for us. I have been practising starts all weekend and think I have them nailed now, so I can be nice and aggressive into the first corner. I might not be able to run the top guys but I should be able to race for the points this weekend and I am really hoping for a top ten finish, which should be achievable. The level of competition in the Superbike World Championship has always been high but to be on the front row this year, with the addition of the MotoGP riders, is a real achievement and a measure of how much progress we are continually making with PETRONAS.” Craig said: “I made a little bit of progress with the bike towards the end of morning qualifying and tried other things in the free practice which didn’t make a massive difference. Trying to make the bike suit me and go fast at a track that I don’t fully know is difficult. I have a setting I am reasonably happy with but circuit knowledge is important round here, but tomorrow I will be riding as hard and as fast as I can with the package I have.” More, from a press release issued by Scuderia SC Caracchi: WELL ROBY IN AUSTRALIA, BUT FAILS THE SUPERPOLE (Phillip Island 2006, March 4) To play all the work done during qualifying sessions in a “dead live lap” could be exiting, but sometime could also get you angry. That what happen today at Phillis Island for Superbike qualifying. After having recorded at the end of qualifying a fantastic seventh fastest, just a tenth of second behind the third position, in the afternoon Roberto said to fly away the possibility of a prestigious starting grid position due a wrong performance in Superpole that fling him in the fourth row. SC Caracchi 999F05 Ducati rider looks confident for tomorrow races. “Unfortunately I made a wrong lap during Superpole session.” admits Roberto Rolfo, but not very disappointed for what has happened. “Still the lap start I’ve been not very fast, but I could repair at that mistake, then in the central sector of the track I made several mistakes, I’ve lost the pace and I finished the lap with a bad lap time. We used qualifying tyres, but I’ve not been able to use them at the best. However I’m confident that the bike with race set up is good, as shows by the seventh fastest this morning with race tyres. I believe that I have still to coordinate my job on this bike to have some improvement more. During those couple of days we always improved our performance, more and more looking at the Qatar week end, so it’s going all at the best, I just have to forget this wrong Superpole lap.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Yamaha Motor Italia duo Andrew Pitt and Noriyuki Haga bagged second row starts during today’s superpole qualifying session for round two of the Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island in Australia. Having ended combined qualifying with Haga third and Pitt sixth, the pairing was a little disappointed at being unable to maintain their positions on the soft tyres used for superpole but satisfied with their performances in race trim. After struggling to find a good balance for his R1 in yesterday’s opening qualifying session, Pitt’s crew completely revised the machine’s settings for today’s practice. Their work paid dividends with the Australian carving a massive 1.3 seconds from his Friday time in the Saturday afternoon, lifting him from 16th to sixth in the timesheets with a 1:33.567 lap time. However, on his grid deciding superpole lap, Pitt was one of the few riders not to better his time from the two one-hour sessions, losing one place with a fractionally slower 1:33.598. Team-mate Haga was another rider unable to improve his lap. His 1:33.631 superpole lap was two-tenths of a second slower than his time from regular qualifying, dropping him five places on the grid – from third to eighth. The Japanese rider had made many changes to the rear suspension on his machine in a bid to improve traction in the sweltering conditions and, despite his team working late into the night and trying many different shock and swingarm combinations, Haga was unable to find a perfect setting for his qualifying lap. The team is expected to make further adjustments this evening ahead of tomorrow’s two 22-lap races. Yamaha Motor France rider Norick Abe starts tomorrow’s races from 17th position after missing out on superpole by less than a tenth of a second. The Japanese rider continued to experience set-up problems, as did team-mates Sebastien Gimbert and Shinichi Nakatomi. Gimbert ended the day 21st after being baulked on his flying lap, while world championship rookie Nakatomi took over a second off his Friday time to end the day in 24th. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) took pole position with a 1:32.159 lap time. Troy Corser (Suzuki), James Toseland (Honda) and Steve Martin (Petronas) complete the front row. Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) “We’ve improved a lot today although we’re still not quite there yet. It’ll be a hard race as we’re struggling for traction but, with the exception of Bayliss and Corser, I think everyone’s in the same boat. We can do six or seven quick laps and then it drops off, so we’ll try to improve it further overnight. I thought I did a pretty good lap, so I was a bit disappointed when I saw my time. It could be a lot worse though. Second row’s not the end of the world and we can get a good start from there.” Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) “We did a good job today. We tried many different things today although the feeling is still quite similar to yesterday and we couldn’t quite get a good setting for the superpole. I made a small mistake on my superpole lap but it is ok. Tomorrow we will try a few more things. It will be hard but I know that we are always stronger in the race than in qualifying.” Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) “We have less grip than when we tested here in January. Probably this is down to the increased temperature but it means that we must change the settings of the bike. We are still looking for grip. I am disappointed to miss out on superpole for the second week in a row. We are a little down on power and must try to find some improved settings overnight.” Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) “I am not happy because 21st is not my normal position. A rider exited the pits and cut in front of me as I attacked my fastest lap and this probably cost me about four-tenths-of-a-second, so I am sorry to be so far back on the grid. We made some improvements today. We changed the brake discs and this was better, and we managed to reduce the chatter. We have to work and improve the set-up overnight though, as we have still to match our performance from our test here. The front is still moving around a lot and I am down on top speed compared to the fastest riders.” Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) “I’m not happy to end the day so far down. We have a problem with chattering, as well as some other small things. We changed the settings in the afternoon and I hope we can find some more improvements this afternoon.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator – Yamaha Motor Italia) “After our strong performances in Qatar we have found it a little bit more difficult than expected here. I am still confident about tomorrow though. We know what Nori can do in the race while Andrew will have a boost from riding at his home track.” Martial Garcia (Team Manager – Yamaha Motor France) “When we tested here in January we were using the 2005 tyres and although the new specification Pirellis perform better, they also create more chatter with these settings. As a result we have been almost able to match our performances with from the test but not improve on them. Because of the early start to the season we have had to use 2005-specification engines and because the level is much higher this season we have not been able to make the superpole today.” More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: FRONT ROW FOR TROY Troy rode a superb Superpole lap at Phillip Island today but ended up second quickest behind his fellow countryman Troy Bayliss (Ducati). Just two tenths of a second separated them at the end of the 16-rider Superpole shoot-out and now the scene is set for a tremendous day’s racing tomorrow. Third fastest today is James Toseland (Honda), with Steve Martin (Petronas) alongside him on the front row of the grid. TROY – 2nd, 1:32.373 Superpole would’ve been good, especially as I have my family and friends here, but the front row is all that matters and I’m ready to race. We had some problems yesterday with grip and the clutch and the bike seemed to be spinning a lot instead of giving good traction. So we made some changes to both and there was an improvement today. I can’t say it’s fully OK, but it’s better than yesterday for sure. Tomorrow is going to be another long, hard day and I’m sure we’re all going to feel tired after two 22 lap races. There’s going to be quite a riders in with a chance of a win and that’s going to mean really good racing. With good weather and good racing, the fans are in for a treat.