Silverstone World Superbike Superpole Results: 1. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:26.679 2. Noriyuki HAGA (Yam YZF-R1), 1:26.985 3. Regis LACONI (Duc 999F05), 1:27.086 4. Troy CORSER (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:27.177 5. Chris VERMEULEN (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:27.261 6. Jose Luis CARDOSO (Yam YZF-R1), 1:27.399 7. James TOSELAND (Duc 999F05), 1:27.584 8. Chris WALKER (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:27.805 9. Andrew PITT (Yam YZF-R1), 1:27.861 10. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:27.888 11. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:28.014 12. Garry MCCOY (Petronas FP1), 1:28.085 13. Pierfrancesco CHILI (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:28.129 14. Norick ABE (Yam YZF-R1), 1:28.133 15. Ben BOSTROM (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:28.897 16. Massimo ROCCOLI (Yam YZF-R1), 1:28.908 More, from a press release issued by Ten Kate Honda: SECOND ROW FOR VERMEULEN AT SILVERSTONE Chris Vermeulen will start tomorrow’s two fifth round World Superbike championship races from the second row of the grid after setting the fifth fastest time in this afternoon’s Superpole event at Silverstone, GB. Japan’s Yukio Kagayama will start from pole position, with Vermeulen’s Winston Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Karl Muggeridge, eleventh fastest. Going last into Superpole after setting the fastest time in regulation qualifying, Vermeulen was able to improve his best time by three tenths of a second in the blustery conditions and was just one tenth of a second off a possible front row start. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “Dropping back from first to fifth place is, of course, disappointing for Chris and the team but that is how it goes in Superpole sometimes. It seems that the one-lap format is not suiting us so well this season. But Chris is ready for tomorrow’s two 28-lap races which will be long and red hot. We still have some work to do with Karl’s set-up tonight and we will try to improve things in warm-up tomorrow. He liked the setting changes we made this afternoon and simulated a race distance on one tyre.” Chris Vermeulen fifth fastest, 1m27.261s: “I don’t really like going last in Superpole sitting in the box watching everyone else go and waiting for my turn is difficult. When I finally got out there, I didn’t really push as hard as I might have anywhere even though everything felt pretty good. I was aiming for around a 1m26.9s lap and I could have been a bit quicker with another lap, I guess. It would have been nice to put a qualifier in during free practice to get a feel for it but we had some problems with the battery and then the brakes, so we ran out of time. A good start is going to be critical tomorrow because it’s going to be very hard to pass here, so I really need to be at the front in the first couple of laps.” Karl Muggeridge eleventh fastest, 1m28.014s: “We changed a lot for this afternoon’s free practice session which certainly improved things but there’s still some way to go. We need to absorb the bumps a lot more, get the bike to turn better and get the power down everything, really! The strong wind today made Superpole a bit of a lottery and I got a really strong gust just as I went on to the back straight that nearly had me off the track. I need a really good start tomorrow if I’m to continue the progress we made at Monza, so we’ll try a few things in warm-up and see how it goes.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Team Suzuki Press Office – May 28, 2005. Yukio Kagayama will start tomorrow’s British fifth round World Superbike Championship round at Silverstone from the front after winning this afternoon’s Superpole. The Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider set a best time of 1’26.679 on his GSX-R1000 Suzuki to beat Nori Haga by 300ths of a second. Alstare team mate and current World Championship leader Troy Corser finished Superpole in fourth position, 100ths of a second behind third-placed Regis Laconi. Yukio Kagayama – 1st, 1:26.679: “My Superpole lap was almost perfect – though I did make some small mistakes. When I was waiting in the garage and saw how quickly Nori had gone, my heart was beating so loudly, I thought everybody could hear it! I wanted to beat Nori, so I just went out and gave it everything I had. I am not sure why I was able to go so fast, but I give a lot of thanks to all my British fans – it was British power that helped me for sure. “This circuit is very tough and two 28-lap races will be very hard. Today the conditions were not so easy because the wind was very strong in the morning and it was trying to push me off the track at the end of the front straight. Fortunately it was not so bad in the afternoon and maybe I was a little lucky with it on my Superpole lap. Winning Superpole was on my schedule this weekend so I am hoping to follow this schedule tomorrow as well!” Troy Corser – 4th, 1:27.177: “Everybody expects me to take Superpole every time out, but there are lots of fast riders out there and it’s never easy. The conditions today were very tricky and there were a few places on the track where it would have been dead easy to crash if you didn’t take good care of what you were doing. But I’m happy enough to be on the front and as long as I get a good start I’m sure I’m going to be there or thereabouts at the end. It would be good if I could get an early lead because that would mean that the rest would be spending their time and energy fighting each other and slowing each other up.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: LACONI LINES UP THIRD, TOSELAND SEVENTH FOR DUCATI XEROX TEAM AFTER SILVERSTONE SUPERPOLE Silverstone (UK), Saturday 28 May: After impressive performances in practice and qualifying, Régis Laconi and James Toseland set third and seventh quickest times respectively for the Ducati Xerox Team at a wind-swept Silverstone circuit in the final World Superbike qualifying session today. But both the 29-year-old Frenchman, who will start from the front row of the grid, and his British team-mate, one row behind, are confident of scoring good results in the two 28-lap races tomorrow. “We have been working well with the team and Ducati to find a good setting on this new track. It’s actually a very small, physical but fun to ride track because you have to fight all the time and there is no time for a rest” said Régis. “My 999 is perfect, the engine is going well and the chassis is doing a good job, we have made a good improvement for this race. I didn’t do a perfect lap in Superpole and these two Japanese guys ahead were very fast but third position is fine for me today. The wind tends to affect the bike in the first part of the lap because it pushes a lot and you have to be very careful. However I just wanted to be on the first row today, which we did, and I have a good setting for the race”. “Seventh after being one of the quickest guys all weekend is not exactly ideal, while my time in Superpole was good but not amazing” declared James. “Superpole is always half-a-second quicker than all the other sessions, but we got a little bit caught out this time. The second row will be fine, I am as fast as anyone else on race pace so I’ve just got to get to the front as quick as possible. We’ve still got a few things to try in the morning, the front is sorted out, but the balance at the rear still needs a bit of tweaking and once we get that sorted out, I know we’ll have a bike that’s capable of winning tomorrow. It’s going to be tough to pass but you just have to be aggressive on the first couple of laps and get stuck in”. TIMES: 1. Kagayama (Suzuki) 1m26.679s; 2. Haga (Yamaha) 1m26.985s; 3. Laconi (Ducati Xerox) 1m27.086s; 4. Corser (Suzuki) 1m27.177s; 5. Vermeulen (Honda) 1m27.261s; 6. Cardoso (Yamaha) 1m27.399s; 7. Toseland (Ducati Xerox) 1m27.584s; 8. Walker (Kawasaki) 1m27.805s; 9. Pitt (Yamaha) 1m27.861s; 10. Neukirchner (Honda) 1m27.888s; etc. TV COVERAGE: British Eurosport (UK) – Sunday 29 May, 1130 BST race 1 (live), 2200 race 2 (delayed). Eurosport (Pan European) – Sunday 29 May, 2245 race 1 + 2 (delayed).