2007 FIM Superbike World Championship Silverstone, England May 25, 2007 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Troy BAYLISS (Ducati 999F07), 1:25.295 2. Lorenzo LANZI (Ducati 999F07), 1:25.952 3. James TOSELAND (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:26.203 4. Ruben XAUS (Ducati 999F06), 1:26.328 5. Troy CORSER (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:26.408 6. Noriyuki HAGA (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:26.689 7. Michel FABRIZIO (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:26.724 8. Regis LACONI (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:26.847 9. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:27.280 10. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Suzuki GSX-R1000K6), 1:27.356 11. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suzuki GSX-R1000K7), 1:27.436 12. Max BIAGGI (Suzuki GSX-R1000K7), 1:27.464 13. Roberto ROLFO (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:27.473 14. Fonsi NIETO (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:27.707 15. Alessandro POLITA (Suzuki GSX-R1000K6), 1:28.384 16. Luca MORELLI (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:28.764 17. Josh BROOKES (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:28.917 18. Jakub SMRZ (Ducati 999F05), 1:28.976 19. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:31.060 20. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:31.902 21. Dean ELLISON (Ducati 999RS), 1:32.582 More, from a press release issued by FGSport Group: DUCATI DOMINATES IN CHANGEABLE CONDITIONS ON DAY ONE BAYLISS FROM LANZI AFTER GAME OF TWO HALVES The Silverstone race weekend kicked off in dry conditions but by the time the first qualifying session had started lunchtime rains had left a wet track for all 21 riders to contend with. In the last laps the track was dry enough for 2001 and 2006 champion Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) to secure a new track record for WSB with a 1’25.295, set on Friday, and as always on mass produced race tyres. To underline the magnitude of his achievement, the next closest rider was his own team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) who was 0.657 seconds behind. The Honda meat in a triple-decker Ducati sandwich was supplied by James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) who was the last rider within a second of the new SBK best time. Ruben Xaus (Team Sterilgarda Ducati) ended in fourth place on day one, ensuring Toseland was surrounded by the booming sounds of desmo engines. ROW TWO OF PROVISIONAL GRID LED BY THE ‘OTHER’ TROY A double rider push in the first qualifying session saw Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia) lead his team-mate Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) as they scored fifth and sixth best times respectively. A return to form for Michel Fabrizio (DFX Corse Honda) saw him seventh, with the aggression of Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) pushing him up to eighth. All the first day times may prove important if the second session of qualifying proves to be fully wet, as the times over the first two days will count for Superpole qualifying. MUGGERIDGE NINTH AS PRIVATEERS PROVE SOME POINTS Karl Muggeridge (Alto Evolution Honda) used new suspension parts to improve his final placing to ninth on day one, with another private rider, Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Germany) a fine tenth. Neukirchner was just ahead of the Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra duo of Yukio Kagayama and Max Biaggi, who went only 11th and 12th on day one. In his defence, Biaggi is a novice at the Silverstone circuit, despite his vast experience in other forms of racing. A drying track caught out many riders on settings more suited to dry conditions, with Roby Rolfo (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) fast in the wet, but finally 13th, while Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) was 14th. Two Italian private riders, Alessandro Polita (Celani Team Suzuki) and Luca Morelli (DFX Corse Honda) rounded out the provisional Superpole qualifiers. WORLD SUPERSPORT – SOFUOGLU SETS NEW TRACK BEST Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) held off the challenge of Sebastien Charpentier (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) in the first Supersport qualifying session and in doing so set a new track best of 1’27.937. In third place before the rains came to end the session prematurely, Broc Parkes (Yamaha World SSP Racing) made important early ground, especially as the rest of the weekend could well see more consistently wet weather. Robbin Harms (Stiggy Motorsports Honda) secured fourth on the provisional grid, once more showing his class and pace in a private set-up. Local rider in a regular WSS team, Craig Jones (Reve Ekerold Honda) went fifth, ahead of leading Kawasaki competitor and former UK Supersport championship regular Pere Riba (GIL Kawasaki). SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP – THREE DIFFERENT BIKES IN TOP THREE PLACES Claudio Corti (Team Lorenzini by Leoni Yamaha) sealed a narrow advantage at the top of the first day Superstock 1000 charts, from Niccolo Canepa (Ducati Xerox Junior Team) and MV Agusta rider Ayrton Badovini. Ilario Dionisi (Cruciani Moto Suzuki Italia) was the top Suzuki rider, sixth. SUPERSTOCK 600 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP – BERGER BESTS THEM Maxime Berger (Team Trasimeno Yamaha) slipped into a convincing provisional pole at Silverstone, finishing day one almost a second faster than second place rider, Domenico Colucci (Ducati Xerox Junior Team). More, from a press release issued by Scuderia SC Caracchi: WET RECEPTION FOR WORLD SUPERBIKE AT SILVERSTONE A classico British weather on the historical Silverstone circuit, close to its 60th anniversary, where Ferrari scored its first World F.1 victory. Heavy grey clouds totally covered the sky during all the day and, for afternoon sessions, the rain arrived to visit the competitors when practising.. That situation of course did not promote the setting research, most for the riders like Jakub Smrz at their debut on this track. But also Gianluca Nannelli in Supersport had not a happy practice day, cause of several problems that the rain arrival increased, sending down him to 17th position after the first qualifying. “I’m actually disappointed.” commentated at the end of the day Gianluca Nannelli. “We know that such twisted track could give us some difficult, but in the morning’s free practice I rode quite well, while for the qualifying session we didn’t select the right set up and, when I rejoined the track after a pit stop with the spare bike, which was setted like the morning, started raining and I couldn’t do anything good. If we see at my hypothetic lap time, summing all the partial time in the different splits of the circuit, I could have a very better position, but I had not even to try a fast lap and so I’m quite down in this first qualifying.” In Superbike Jakub Smrz used all the first free practice session to learn the track, but later in the afternoon the continuous weather changing did not allow him to find a good set up, letting him only 18th in the today’s qualifying. “As logicalin the morning the free practice session has been spent for know the track; I did find it quite difficult because it’s short and full of corners breaking off the pace.” related Jakub Smrz at the end of the day. “Unfortunately with the continuous start and stop of the rain every a few minutes we have been not able to find a set up to be satisfied and the result, in such conditions, was absolutely impossible to get. For tomorrow the weather forecast says still rain, but we hope that we could work with continuity. That’s a very demanding track, in some point I feel well, but for some other we still have to find the right set up.” More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: DUCATI XEROX MEN SET THE PACE IN SILVERSTONE OPENING SESSION Silverstone (UK), Friday 25 May: Troy Bayliss and Lorenzo Lanzi set the pace for the Ducati Xerox Team in today’s opening qualifying session of the British Round of the World Superbike Championship at Silverstone. The double WSBK champion totally decimated the circuit’s best lap by one second in tricky conditions to take provisional pole in 1m25.295s, while his Ducati Xerox team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi was six-tenths of a second adrift of Bayliss’s time but right behind him in the timesheets with a time of 1m25.952s. Troy and Lorenzo were the only riders to dip under the 1m26s mark. “I’m very happy, everything went good and I feel pretty comfortable on the bike” declared Troy. “Silverstone in general has got a lot less grip than where we’ve come from in the Misano tests so that bike didn’t work here! Anyway we made a few changes today and the bike’s working well. What we want now is better weather so we can do a couple of long runs and put it to the test. I thought we should be doing 25s, I did OK when the track was wet but we sat and waited until the track was dry near the end and the last ten minutes it was completely dry. It’ll be difficult to find much more than what I did but all in all I’m happy.” “I am very pleased with my result today, with my choice of tyres and feeling with the bike” said Lorenzo. “To set this time I used a softer tyre which I clearly will not use in the race, but I’ve already got a good idea on what tyre to use in the dry and for this reason I’m pleased. I managed to use a solution that was different to usual and this is important for me. I think 1m25s is a pretty good time on this track but we’ll see how things go tomorrow with the weather. It’s not going to be easy but we’ve made a good start.” Times: 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1m25.295s; 2. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 1m25.952s; 3. Toseland (Honda) 1m26.203s; 4. Xaus (Ducati) 1m26.328s; 5. Corser (Yamaha) 1m26.408s; 6. Haga (Yamaha) 1m26.689s; 7. Fabrizio (Honda) 1m26.724s; 8. Laconi (Kawasaki) 1m26.847s; 9. Muggeridge (Honda) 1m27.280s; 10. Neukirchner (Suzuki) 1m27.356s. More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Wet weather hinders Silverstone qualifying The first qualifying session of round seven of the 2007 World Superbike Championship took place in mixed conditions at Silverstone today. HANNspree Ten Kate Honda’s James Toseland completed the session with the third fastest lap time to secure a provisional front row start. Team-mate Roberto Rolfo qualified in thirteenth position. After a dry morning free practice that saw some good lap times from both riders, the afternoon qualifying was marred by bad weather conditions. The session was declared wet from the start but as the rain cleared and the track surface began to dry, the riding conditions changed considerably. By the time the 3.561km circuit had dried out, Toseland had already competed six laps on his tyres and did not have the grip to complete a fastest lap before the end of the hour-long session. However, he still qualified as the third fastest rider to secure a place on the provisional front row with a time of 1’26.203. Rolfo proved that the form he showed in Monza looked set to continue at Silverstone. However, he was also caught out by the mixed conditions as he switched to slick tyres late in the session and subsequently got stuck behind some slower riders. The Italian rider remains positive about the weekend ahead and is looking forward to tomorrow’s second qualifying session. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager: “We had almost all track surfaces in one session today, which is almost unique in itself. This made it a very difficult session. It was good to see that our riders were fast in all conditions, especially James, who was up at the top in the dry, wet and intermediate. He had slick tyres on the bike with a rain setting, but towards the end it was fully dry so to enable him to go faster we should have moved to the dry setting. Roby was also fast but he was unlucky in that he moved rather late to the slick tyres and he also hit a bit of traffic on his fast lap. He’s a bit further down the grid but he is still strong. We’ll have to see what the weather brings, but everything is looking in good shape so far.” James Toseland: “It’s been a pretty good day all in all. It was dry this morning and we did the second fastest lap, which was pretty much equal to Haga’s fastest anyway. I was pleased with that. This afternoon it started to rain and the track was pretty damp, but then it stopped and the track gradually dried out. By the end of the session it was fully dry but by that time I had already done six laps on my tyres and the grip was beginning to go. Anyway, I ended up third so I’m happy with that.” Roberto Rolfo: “I am a little bit angry because the last lap was quite good and I feel that I had improved everywhere – particularly the first section of the track. Unfortunately some riders got in the way on the last section and I was unable to improve the lap time. This was the only chance I had and I couldn’t do it. Anyway, I want to be able to regain some positions tomorrow. If it rains it is not so bad because I know I am ok in the wet and after today we have a good pace. For tomorrow we have a lot of work to do and I have to be quick immediately to be able to get a better position.” More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra: Round 7, Silverstone, GB Circuit: 3.561 miles Conditions: Overcast, some rain 12-14C. Friday qualifying, 25th May, 2007 DIFFICULT CONDITIONS HINDER PROGRESS FOR TEAM ALSTARE. The first qualifying session of the weekend was blighted by changing conditions and Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra riders Yukio Kagayama and Max Biaggi finished the day with eleventh and twelfth positions respectively. The start of the timed session saw a wet track and lap times were generally over ten seconds slower then the morning untimed dry practice. But the 3.561 mile circuit began to dry out and halfway through the session some riders were going out on either full slicks or a rear slick and an intermediate front. For Max, the problem was compounded because it was his first time at the circuit and, as usual, he began by concentrating on finding a good bike set-up. Yukio crashed in the afternoon qualifying, but fortunately was uninjured. He then ran out of time at the end of the session and was unable to go out on full slicks and therefore could not improve his lap time. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) took provisional pole with a lap of 1:25.295 – over one second inside the lap record. His team mate Lorenzo Lanzi ended second quickest today, with James Toseland (Honda) third and Ruben Xaus (Ducati) fourth. YUKIO – 11th, 1:27.436 This was not such a good day and once again I had some bad luck. In the afternoon qualifying I had a problem with my brakes and crashed. This was the first time I have had such a problem, but I suppose I was also a bit lucky because I did not hurt myself! The start of qualifying was wet and I had my crash on my second lap. Later the track began to dry out and then we changed to intermediate tyres. Right at the end, I think maybe the track was dry, but I was too late to change to slicks front and rear and that’s why many of the other riders went much quicker. I know if I had been on full slicks, I would’ve probably finished on the second row of the grid. Today I also found it hard to get the bike to change direction easily, so we will make some adjustments and hopefully we will be able to go faster. MAX – 12th, 1:27.464 It is my first time here and there is a lot for me to learn and the bike has to improve also. The track is quite bumpy and so we need to get a good bike set-up before I can push hard. The changing conditions in this afternoon’s qualifying didn’t help us much and I know we got a lot of work to do tomorrow if we are to challenge the front row. At the moment I am having a little problem because the bike is not accelerating so good out of the turns. That initial charge is not as good as it should be and you need it at this track. But for my first time here, it’s not so bad -especially when you consider that I am doing the same lap times as Yukio who has been here many times before. Friday qualifying 1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:25.295, 2 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:25.952, 3 Toseland (GB-Honda) 1:26.203, 4 Xaus (E-Ducati) 1:26.328, 5 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 1:26.408, 6 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:26.689, 7 Fabrizio (I-Honda) 1:26.724, 8 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 1:26.847, 9 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda) 1:27.280, 10 Neukirchner (D-Suzuki) 1:27.356, 11 YUKIO KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:27.436, 12 MAX BIAGGI (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:27.464,