FIM Superbike World Championship Brands Hatch, England August 4 Superpole Results: 1. Troy Bayliss (Duc 999F06), 1:25.449 2. Noriyuki Haga (Yam YZF-R1), 1:25.857 3. Karl Muggeridge (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:25.901 4. James Toseland (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:25.933 5. Troy Corser (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:26.000 6. Andrew Pitt (Yam YZF-R1), 1:26.291 7. Regis Laconi (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:26.323 8. Chris Walker (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:26.542 9. Yukio Kagayama (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:26.560 10. Tommy Hill (Yam YZF-R1), 1:26.580 11. Lorenzo Lanzi (Duc 999F06), 1:26.794 12. Fonsi Nieto (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:26.814 13. Ruben Xaus (Duc 999F05), 1:26.850 14. Michael Fabrizio (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:27.047 15. Sebastien Gimbert (Yam YZF-R1), 1:27.102 16. Pierfrancesco Chilil (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:28.058 More, from a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing: Uphill battle of Brands for Foggy PETRONAS Racing Foggy PETRONAS Racing riders Steve Martin and Craig Jones face an uphill battle in tomorrow’s eighth round races of the Superbike World Championship races after a troublesome day’s qualifying at Brands Hatch. Steve was denied a Superpole position in the dying stages of the morning session when Frankie Chili nudged him out of the top 16 by less than a tenth of a second, although he was one of the few riders to show a marked improvement on their Friday times. Craig’s qualifying push was also hampered by technical issues, a problematic gearbox reducing his track time and he will start from 24th on a grid headed by championship leader Troy Bayliss. Craig said: “I have had problems with the gearbox today and had to qualify on my number two bike, which I wasn’t as comfortable with. I was able to get back on that number one bike in free practice and immediately took quite a bit of time off, but wasn’t really able to get into a rhythm. The problems have made things doubly difficult but I am hoping that circuit knowledge will stand me in good stead for tomorrow. And if we can make some improvements for morning warm-up I am sure I will be able to put some decent race times together.” Steve said: “It has been a frustrating weekend as we have been up against it with reliability. I was disappointed not to make Superpole but I know that I gave it everything I had. In the afternoon I wanted to do 15 laps on one tyre, 10 on another and a couple on the hardest tyre. But my bike had an engine problem on the out-lap of the free practice session and I was forced to use the second bike, which has been slower all weekend. Tomorrow is now going to be a big gamble on tyres, although I have been able to put some consistent laps together on race tyres when things were going okay. But tomorrow is another day and it will be giving 110 per cent as ever.” More, from a press release issued by Team Yamaha Motor France – Ipone: Gimbert in Superpole Sebastien Gimbert had good results during the qualifying practice sessions which allowed him to qualify for Superpole. Thanks to his 15th position, he will start tomorrow from the 4th row of the starting grid. Norick Abe is 19th and Shinichi Nakatomi 26th. With a regular progression during the practice sessions, Sebastien Gimbert brilliantly ended up in the top 16 fastest riders. He had no major problem, except a little harmless crash on Saturday morning, so the rider of the Team Yamaha Motor France-Ipone found a good set up for his R1. Very happy with the good work of the team, Sebastien is in a good position to have two good races tomorrow. Norick Abe tried hard to find the right settings but it was not easy. On a very special track, with for instance two big compressions, he is still working with his technicians to make the good choices for the races. Shinichi Nakatomi has a difficult time because he is tired from the last Suzuka 8 Hours he raced last weekend. His job is complicated by the fact that he discovers the Brands Hatch race track. A crash on Friday morning, then an other one in the afternoon, did not help. But we all know that he will give his best tomorrow, thanks to his will and his courage. Sebastien Gimbert: “Everything went very well. This is the case since the weekend started. I am 1.5 seconds quicker than last year. We still have some work to do. We go in the right direction but we need more time. I am happy I qualified for Superpole. Since Brno, we go in the right direction. The team did a super job.” Norick Abe: “The setting of the suspension is here very different of what it is on the other tracks. It is much harder. On Friday afternoon, it was good, I had a nice feeling. Today we made a few changes but is was not better. So we shall try a new set up so I can go faster.” Shinichi Nakatomi: “I do not have a good rhythm on this track. Sometimes I am making mistakes. My riding is not sufficient at the moment but it will be better tomorrow for the races.” Martial Garcia (team manager): “Our sessions have been very quiet, we worked a lot on the settings. Like everybody, we have a lack of grip. I am happy that Sebastien qualified for Superpole, despite a little harmless crash Saturday morning. Since Brno, he is very confident. Norick had grip problems and it is too bad he could not qualify in the top 16. Shinichi is tired after the Suzuka 8 Hours. He has a hard time to find the good rhythm.” More, from a press release issued by FGSport Group: BAYLISS BEST IN SUPERPOLE AT RECORD PACE – CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER ROARS TO ANOTHER SUPERPOLE WIN Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) boomed his factory machine to Superpole victory at Brands Hatch, scoring a new track best time of 1’25.449. Having posted the fastest pre-Superpole qualifying lap, he was last away and made up time from the very start against eventual second place rider Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia). Team-mates Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) and James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) rode to pre-race front row positions, after finishing third and fourth fastest respectively. CORSER HEADS UP SECOND ROW Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) had set a new track best earlier in the day, but could only finish fifth overall in Superpole, earning a second row start on his GSX-R. The 1996 and 2005 World Champion has been fast all weekend, and is heavily tipped to feature in the leading groups in Sunday’s races. Another 2006 season race winner, Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) continued his good form with sixth fastest time in Superpole. Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) pushed himself to the top Kawasaki spot, with his team-mate Chris Walker just one place behind at his local circuit. BRNO DOUBLE WINNER NINTH AFTER SUPERPOLE Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) could not hide his disappointment at finishing Superpole in only ninth place, despite just beating his previous best qualifying time. He nonetheless fended off the Silverstone Superpole winner, Tommy Hill (Virgin Mobile Yamaha) who took a still impressive top ten in his second wild card ride of the year. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) and Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse – who is not a fan of the Brands layout) rounded out the third row. BIG SBK NAMES FILL FOURTH ROW Multiple-SBK race winner Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Berik Ducati) starts the SBK races from the first spot on row four, ahead of Brno sensation Michel Fabrizio (DFX Treme Honda), series regular Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France Ipone) and former Brands Hatch race winner, Pierfrancesco Chili (DFX Treme Honda). BARROS MISSES SUPERPOLE AT TOUGH BRITISH TRACK Despite his instant admiration for the classic Brands Hatch circuit on his first visit, Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda) could not get his suspension sorted enough in practice to make Superpole, mistiming his final run for a qualifying time by just enough to stop him posting one final fast lap. He ended up 18th, one place behind Steve Martin (Petronas FP-1) with Martin experiencing machinery issues that hampered his attempts at qualifying. Kurtis Roberts (Pedercini Ducati) crashed today, at Dingle Dell, and ended up 27th and last in qualifying for his first SBK race in Pedercini colours. SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) scored his second pole position of the season at Brands Hatch, adding to his pre-race primacy at Misano. Current world championship leader Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) proved to be second fastest after a late flurry of speed, easing out his number one championship challenger Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) to third. The front row Yamaha/Honda homogeny continued with the second Winston Ten Kate Honda rider, Kenan Sofuoglu, scoring fourth spot. Always a force at his favoutite circuit of Brands Hatch, Stephane Chambon (Gil Motorsport Kawasaki) was fifth fastest, easily his best qualifying of the season. Wildcard Northpoint Ekerold Honda riders Cal Crutchlow and Leon Camier ended up sixth and seventh respectively, just up on Misano race winner, Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia). SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP Ayrton Badovini (Biassono Unionbike MV Agusta) made pole in the ever-competitive Superstock 1000 class, ahead of fastest man on day one, Brendan Roberts (HP Racing). With the leading two the only riders into the 1’29s, Denis Sacchetti (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) scored third, with the front row completed by Luca Scassa (EVR Corse Ormeni Racing). Championship leader, Alessandro Polita (Celani Suzuki Italia) went 6th. SUPERSTOCK 600 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP Niccolo Canepa (Ducati Xerox) and Xavier Simeon (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) continued their battle for 600 Superstock supremacy with Canepa on pole and Simeon second. It was Canepa’s fourth pole of the year. The ‘junior’ Superstock race takes place at the end of Sunday’s race card. More, from a press release issued by Team Klaffi Honda: A difficult day for Alex at Brands Hatch Alex Barros rides for the time at Brands Hatch. His first impression of the track was enthusiastic. But Brands is not so easy to get acquainted with. It is bumpy and very special so it is a great challenge for a rider to find the ideal line and to choose the perfect set-up of the suspension. In the second qualifying today Alex struggled a lot with the set-up especially of the front fork of his Fireblade. He had a lot of bad luck, finished 18th in qualifying and even missed the Superpole. Alex Barros after free practice in the afternoon: “The set-up of the machine improved. I tried different tyres and 4 different set-up solutions on the machine. Now it comes more and more the way it should be alright. And I’m sure I m be able to do a 1’26 lap time and not only a 1’27 as today. Tomorrow we will try another front suspension solution, because we know the right way now. And finally the machine responses as it should do. I think more positive now. This morning I was really frustrated. But now that the set-up improved and if the starts work well I should be rather competitive.” More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: MUGGERIDGE AND TOSELAND SHARE FRONT ROW AT BRANDS Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) led Superpole qualifying almost until the end, eventually finishing third on the grid after an intense final push for qualifying positions. He had qualified seventh after the last regulation qualifying session, and will now start Sunday’s two 25-lap Brands Hatch races with his team-mate James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) alongside him, after the English rider set the fourth quickest time in Superpole. The Winston Ten Kate Honda team-mates were only separated by 0.032 seconds after Superpole, and were the last two riders under the 1’26 barrier. The Superpole session, run with qualifying tyres fitted, saw times from almost all of the top riders dropping in the sunshine at Brands, with Muggeridge some 0.8 seconds faster than his previous official qualifying best; Toseland setting a mark 0.7 seconds faster than his previous quickest. Troy Bayliss scored the Superpole win, with Noriyuki Haga second. Ronald Ten Kate Team Manager “For the first time this year we have had both riders on the front row, so obviously I am happy – and doubly happy because we actually have four riders on the front row, when you consider the Supersport guys as well. I think that is quite unique at world level. The main aim was front row for both, because we know how difficult it is if you are not in the front here. Yesterday we had problems and issues but everybody worked really hard to improve things for today. Even this morning we could see James was a lot faster. He did what he had to do but he was a little disappointed not to take pole in front of his home crowd, but with a huge quantity of fans behind him I am sure he will do well. For Karl, I was impressed with him, the lap time he did was very, very good. Good to see him on the front row, and we can build on that to make solid results for tomorrow. Two CBRs on the front row shows us that Hondas are going quite well round here, even if it did take us some time to get the set-up right.” Karl Muggeridge Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider “It’s been a bit of a rocky road coming back from when I busted my back. I didn’t think it would take so long, but we seem to be finding some strength now, and I’m happy to be up there. It’s nice to know that when it all goes the way we want it to, we can set competitive times like this.” James Toseland Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider “We were way down yesterday after starting with new settings from Brno, and it proved not to be the way to go. But we did well today, and in Superpole, and saw Karl’s time and thought ‘well done for that.’ I knew I would have to set a 1’25 to stay on the front row and we did it, so I’m happy to be on the front row. It’s vital to get away well here so I was over the moon to see I was in fourth place. Front row is paramount. We’re still in this championship and I think it will be close tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: SUPER BAYLISS TAKES SUPERPOLE FOR DUCATI XEROX TEAM IN BRANDS HATCH SUPERBIKE Brands Hatch (UK), Saturday 5 August: Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) took the tenth pole position of his World Superbike career with a blistering lap of 1m25.449s at Brands Hatch, which becomes the Kent circuit’s outright lap record. The Australian, who leads the championship by 73 points, will line up at the front of the grid for tomorrow’s two races ahead of Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) and the Honda Ten Kate duo of Karl Muggeridge and James Toseland. Italian team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi set his quickest time over the weekend in the one-lap dash and will start from the third row of the grid in eleventh position. “I went a little bit wide on the first corner and just missed the line by a foot so the first split wasn’t great and I was maybe a little bit nervous but I put the lap together and it all came good in the end so I’m pretty happy to be starting on pole position tomorrow” declared Troy. “Brands Hatch is a funny place, it’s got lots of dips and bumps and you have to set the bike different to every other place and as a result your lap looks quite ‘physical’, but it does make for good racing and it should be a good day tomorrow. It’s nice to be fastest and that’s what everyone aims for, but a front row start here at Brands is always great. I took my second ever World Superbike win here in 2000 but that was a long time ago and I’d like to score a couple more tomorrow!” “I did my quickest lap this weekend during the Superpole, but I had a bit of bad luck because we had to change the clutch before the session” commented Lorenzo. “It’s not any excuse in any way but it made things a bit more difficult in Superpole. Today I really thought I could have got sixth or seventh place because I’ve always been more or less six tenths slower than Troy and with a time like that I could have got onto the second row. Starting from row 3 makes things a bit more difficult, hopefully I can get a good start because there are some tough guys to overtook ahead of me. However my race pace is good and I’m sure I can get two good results tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Beowulf Racing: BEOWULF RIDER SETS ROASTING PACE AT BRANDS HATCH 2006 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, Rd 6 Brands Hatch, Great Britain Qualifying session 2, Sat 5th August Beowulf rider Pat McDougall (Suzuki) continued to fulfill his team’s expectations at Brands Hatch today. Lapping almost two seconds faster than yesterday, the 20-year-old hotshot from Guildford put himself in 32nd place for Sunday’s FIM Superstock 1000 Cup race with a time of 1:33.985 despite roasting his foot on a hot exhaust pipe. At the front of the field, Ayrton Badovini (MV Augusta) and Brendan Roberts (Suzuki) battled for pole with the Italian’s lap of 1:29.711 taking the upper hand. Overnight adjustments had been made to the ride height of the Beowulf Suzuki, but it didn’t seem to do McDougall much good during this morning’s half-hour free practice session. His time of 1:35.718 was actually slower than he logged yesterday and still half a second away from the time he set in the European Superstock 600 race here last year aboard a less powerful machine. Returning in the Beowulf team after a 6-month flirtation in the British R6 Cup, Pat’s frustration afterwards was evident for all to see. Determined to make an impression in this afternoon’s second qualifying session, McDougall was lucky to escape the crash of Italian Luca Scassa (MV Augusta) which bought a temporary halt to proceedings. When the session recommenced, Pat rode with renewed aggression possibly as a result of the extreme heat creeping through his boots from the footrests which had been set too close to the machines exhaust pipes. Sliding the rear end of the Beowulf Suzuki around the 2.3-mile Kent track whilst now keeping the front stuck firmly to the ground, McDougall’s confidence grew and his lap times fell. The dogma of his 2005 time being bettered was laid to rest with his sixth lap of the session, whilst his fastest time of the weekend was set on his penultimate circuit. “I think I must be getting more comfortable with the Beowulf Suzuki because that actually didn’t feel particularly fast” commented McDougall afterwards. “We still need to make a few adjustments to the riding position of the bike, mainly the handlebars, but the main thing now is to get on the right racing line for a 1000cc Stocker that’s where the speed tomorrow will come from.” Andy Stone, manager of the Shepton Mallet-based team, concurred: “I’m overjoyed with the progress that Pat has made today but he’s right to concentrate on his cornering lines. You have to ride this beast very differently from the 600 we prepared for him last year. I had wanted a one-second improvement in each of today’s sessions but I’ll take getting both of them this afternoon. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a further reductions tomorrow.” Although McDougall is towards the rear of the grid for Sunday’s 15-lap race, less than a second separates him from the seven riders ahead. Provided he gets a good start, the mid-pack battle could turn out to be just as intense as the anticipated dogfight at the front of the field. More, from a press release issued by Scuderia SC Caracchi: SECOND PRACTICE DAT AT BRANDS HATCH No luck today at Brands Hatch for the Scuderia SC Caracchi in the second and final qualifying day for tomorrow races, eight round of 2006 WSBK Championship. In Superbike Roberto Rolfo suffered a bad crash during the early laps of the final qualifying session and has not been able to earn the access at Superpole session. Roby went on to practice looking for the race set up, despite the pains caused by the crash. “Today has not been a lucky day.” has been the disappointed comment by Roberto Rolfo. “I’m not happy at all, because for the morning session I started focused to improve my performance and to earn the Superpole access. But during the second lap, while I was riding carefully, I’ve lost suddenly the rear, as we’ve seen in the data recording system. I’ve been throw out on the gravel. By luck I didn’t suffer bad injuries, as well during the afternoon I had a lot of pains in all my body. However I’ve been able to rejoin the pits a go on to practice with the T-bike, also if that wasn’t set as I like. Unfortunately in such conditions I’ve been not able to improve my lap time, as well I recorded a very close result. We worked also during the afternoon free session to set the T-bike and select the race tyres for tomorrow. Also if I’ll start from the back I’ll try to make a good race. Now I’ll go to rest, I want to recover to be in good shape for tomorrow.” In Supersport Gianluca Nannelli found today some unattended difficult and tomorrow will start from the fourth row. The Florentine rider broke once more the steering damper, with strong vibration on the front that, together with a bit tired engine didn’t allow him to defend at the best his grid position. Looking for the race have been tested some package setting that look to be OK, but at the end of the session, with all the riders along the track looking for the lap time, hasn’t been possible to find a free lap to improve his qualifying lap time. “Today our bike wasn’t performing as yesterday.” commented Gianluca Nannelli at the end of the practice. “The package had quite nervous reactions and I feel hard vibrations on the front. At the end of the session we found the steering damper broken once time, a very strange technical trouble that happened twice in two days. This night the team guys will change the engine that today was a bit tired and I lose a lot of time climbing the hill. I’m however calm looking at tomorrow’s race, I’m hoping just in a good start, then we’ll see. I hope to finish the season together with Stefano Caracchi and his Team, we are a great friend’s group and it would be fantastic to live once more a day like last year at Imola.” Stuart Easton too is not very satisfied: some difficult on the rear suspension prevented the Scots to improve his performance and tomorrow Stuart will start from the back of the grid, also if his starting skill let hope in a good race. “When today I tried to push for a good lap time I had some problem on the rear.” said Easton at the end of the day “We worked a lot together the suspension engineer for a solution, but no result. By luck our bike is still one of the fastest, the engine push a lot on the long Hawthorn Hill climb, so with a good start in the race I hope to be able to recover some position, but tomorrow it will be a very hard fight. For my hometrack race I had a better hope.” Luka Nedog is on the contrary quite satisfied after his qualifying. Today too the Slovenian rider improved a couple of seconds his score and is not far from his rivals. “Today the bike was perfect.” has been the Luka Nedog’s comment “I improved more as two seconds my lap time and I earned also some position on the grid. 23 laps on this track are a very hard test, but I’m in a good shape and I hope finally in a good result, also for my team that make a great work.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Troy Corser missed out on a front row grid place by less then a tenth of second at the Brands Hatch World Superbike eighth round today, but he is happy with his bike’s race set-up and ready to challenge for the lead in tomorrow’s pair of 25-lappers. His team mate Yukio Kagayama had a bit of a nervous Superpole and ended ninth quickest, but he too is confident of making good starts and challenging the leaders. Series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati) had been fastest in qualifying and followed that up by taking Superpole today three-tenths-of-a-second ahead of Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) with Karl Muggeridge third and his Honda team mate James Toseland fourth. Troy Corser – 5th, 1:6.00: “The only problem I had in Superpole was a bit of a slide which lost me three tenths of a second and once that happened I knew winning Superpole was gone. Strangely though, I’d rather be fifth on the grid than fourth because of the slope at Brands Hatch. Fifth is on the top part and the run to the first turn from there is much easier than from fourth. I’ve got a pretty good race set-up and know what we can do on race tyres, so now it’s up to me to get a couple of good starts. If I can do that, I’m confident that I’ll be fighting with the leaders.” Yukio Kagayama – 9th, 1:26 .560: “I am so angry not be on the font row of the grid because that was my intention. I felt a lot of pressure and a bit nervous on my Superpole lap. Ninth is not so bad as long as I make good starts because the position is on the top of the slope and better than eighth because that place is on the lower part of the grid. It’s better to be high up on the grid for the charge down to turn one. My race set-up is ok and I know which tyres to use but we will try a very small adjustment in the morning warm-up tomorrow to alter the balance of the bike a little. That’s all.” Final WSB Qualifying: 1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:25.449, 2 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:25.857, 3 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda) 1:25.901, 4 Toseland (GB-Honda) 1:25.933, 5 Troy Corser (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:26.000, 6 Pitt (Aus-Yamaha) 1:26. 291, 7 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 1:26.323, 8 Walker (GB-Kawasaki) 1:26.542, 9 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:26.560, 10 Hill (GB-Yamaha) 1:26.580. EUROPEAN SUPERSTOCK 600: Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Xavier Simeon missed out on pole position this afternoon by a mere 3000ths of a second! It was the championship leader’s nearest rival, Nicola Canepa (Ducati), who blasted round the 3.703 kilometre circuit with a time of 1:33.186, and ended the day quickest. Third is Ondrej Jezek (Kawasaki), with Andrea Antonelli (Honda) fourth, making it four different manufacturers on the front row of the grid. Xavier Simeon: – 2nd, 1:33.189: “I’m happy enough to be second today because it is the front row that is important here at Brands Hatch. I am very happy with my lap times and with my bike’s set-up. My team worked very hard yesterday to give me a good bike today and once I was dialled in, the lap times came pretty comfortably. The start of the race will be very important and I’m sure that I’m going to have a big battle with Nicola. I know I have to be calm and think of the championship and that’s what I’ll do, but if I have a chance of winning, I’ll take it.” Final Superstock 600 Qualifying: 1 Canepa (I-Ducati) 1:33.186, 2 Xavier Simeon (B-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:33.189, 3 Jezek (CZ-Kawasaki) 1:34.256, 4 Antonelli (I-Honda) 1:34.335, 5 Barrier (F-Yamaha) 1:34.498, 6 Costantini (I-Honda) 1:34.654.