Final Combined World Supersport Qualifying Results: 1. Sebastien Charpentier, Honda, 1:28.376 2. Kevin Curtain, Yamaha, 1:29.196 3. Gianluca Nannelli, Ducati, 1:29.199 4. Michel Fabrizio, Honda, 1:29.270 5. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Honda, 1:29.408 6. Fabien Foret, Honda, 1:29.499 7. Stephane Chambon, Honda, 1:29.709 8. Broc Parkes, Yamaha, 1:29.723 9. Barry Veneman, Suzuki, 1:30.151 10. Alessio Corradi, Ducati, 1:30.165 11. Matthieu Lagrive, Suzuki, 1:30.200 12. Craig Jones, Honda, 1:30.291 13. Robbin Harms, Honda, 1:30.372 14. Tatu Lauslehto, Honda, 1:30.373 15. Tom Tunstall, Honda, 1:30.381 16. Javi Fores, Suzuki, 1:30.512 17. Cal Crutchlow, Honda, 1:30.536 18. Johan Stigefelt, Honda, 1:30.536 19. Cristiano Migliorati, Kawasaki, 1:30.628 20. Sebastien Le Grelle, Honda, 1:30.945 More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: CHARPENTIER FASTEST EVER AT BRANDS Winston Ten Kate Honda’s Sébastien Charpentier set the fastest ever World Supersport lap around Brands Hatch, GB this afternoon, taking pole position for tomorrow’s eighth round race at the 4.2km circuit. With just four minutes of the 45-minute final qualifying session remaining, the Frenchman crossed the Brands Hatch finishing line in a time of 1m28.376s, eclipsing the 2003 record of fellow countryman Stephane Chambon by one tenth of a second. Charpentier’s Winston Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Katsuaki Fujiwara, set the fifth fastest time this afternoon on his return to World Supersport action for the first time in six weeks. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “I’m so happy with Sébastien’s pole position time today, especially as it broke the existing lap record. It’s all the more impressive because the previous record was established before the one-make tyre rule when qualifying tyres were allowed in Supersport. I wonder how fast Sébastien could go on a qualifier, but his race set-up is more important and he’s OK with that. We knew this weekend would be a little more difficult for Kats after riding the HRC Fireblade at Suzuka on slicks; but he has adapted to the smaller bike and treaded tyres very easily here. There is one sector of the circuit that we still need to work on with him but I’m sure he’ll put on his race face tomorrow to defend his place in the championship.” Sébastien Charpentier fastest, 1m28.376s “The bike is really, really good now compared to yesterday and everything felt great out there this afternoon. I thought that sort of time would be possible after yesterday’s sessions so I’m happy to achieve that small objective I set myself. To beat the lap record here at my favourite circuit is a special thing and I’m hoping for a similar result in tomorrow’s race. I felt smooth like a snake on the quick lap today and the bike is especially strong out of the left hander going on to the back straight where speed is so important.” Katsuaki Fujiwara fifth fastest, 1m29.408s “I’m much more comfortable on the bike now than I was yesterday and we’ve been able to make some important changes to the overall balance of the bike to improve it today. It’s been a long time since I rode the CBR600RR so I guess I’m happy enough with my position on the grid and grateful for the hard work the team has put in over the weekend so far. I’m happy with my race set-up so, as long as I get a good start in the race tomorrow, I’ll be fighting for a good result to close the gap on Sébastien in the championship.” More, from a press release issued by Stiggy Motorsport: Round 8, Brands Hatch England 2005-08-06 During today’s free practice and qualifying, Stiggy Motorsport riders Johan “Stiggy” Stigefelt and Robbin Harms tried their best to push lap times for a better chance to qualify in top positions for tomorrows race. Robbin was fastest of the two teammates, finishing 12th and set 1.30.3 as his best lap time around the 4.197 m long British racetrack. Stiggy on the other hand suffered technical problems on his no: 1 bike this morning, forcing him to ride his no: 2 bike for qualifying, finishing in 17th place on a 1.30.5. Never before this season has the time sheets been so tight, with only 2 tens of a second up to 10th place and with 13 riders within the second, the guys in front of the Stiggy Motorsport riders is not to far away.. Robbin: 12th 1.30.3, 3rd row. -Im satisfied with how this weekend turned out. I have to be happy with a 12th place here in Brands Hatch, since this is a whole new track for me and the fact that it’s a quite difficult track to get used to. Im happy with the bikes set up, everything is working really well. The only thing I suffered was lack of grip in the rear, but this is something im not to worried about, tomorrow for warm up we will try some different settings and we will se if we can improve it. Looking forward for a fun and tight race tomorrow. Stiggy: 17th 1.30.5, 5th row. -Leaving me riding on the no: 2 bike for qualifying things didn’t really come together like we have planned. The second bike has less engine power and the chassi settings felt complete different, but we managed to get the settings pretty much the same, and it started to feel relatively comfortable in the last half part of qualifying. Towards the end we messed up the tyre choice and I couldn’t go faster on the used soft tire we had left. Going out when it was 5 minutes left, I pushed way to hard on the old tire and as a result I found myself and the bike lying in the gravel of the first corner”¦ Although im starting from 5th row tomorrow, the guys in front is not far away. For tomorrows race I’ll just put my head down and I will try my best to get a good end to this quite unlucky weekend. The 8th round of the Supersport World Championships will start tomorrow at 13:20 (local time.) More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Curtain second fastest at Brands Hatch 6/8/2005 Kevin Curtain will start tomorrow’s eighth round of the Supersport World Championship from second on the grid after setting a stunning lap in today’s final qualifying session. The 39-year-old Yamaha Motor Germany rider took advantage of improved weather conditions and a new tyre option to improve his Friday time by over a second, ending the day with a best of 1:29.196. Team-mate Broc Parkes also found an improvement of over a second and will start from the second row of the grid, his 1:29.723 being good enough for eighth. Championship leader Sèbastien Charpentier (Honda) starts the 23 lap race from pole position, with a circuit best time of 1:28.376. Gianluca Nanelli (Ducati) and Michel Fabrizio (Honda) complete the front row of the grid. Kevin Curtain “I gave it everything I had on that fast lap and didn’t worry about crashing. We were trying out a new tyre so it was a bit of a gamble, but she stayed on the rails and held together well. I’d have liked to have got into the 1:28s but I think that what I did was the best possible. The new tyres worked well but we’ll have to do more endurance testing during the morning warm-up to see if they will last the race distance.” Broc Parkes “Second row again! I had a tough session and didn’t really find a good rhythm, which wasn’t helped by the fact that there always seemed to be a queue of four or five riders waiting to get a tow from me. Pirelli supplied us with some different specification tyres for this race and they definitely work better with our bike. We’ll use the new front in the race and will decide on the rear in the morning warm-up.”