FIM Supersport World Championship Brno, Czech Republic July 20, 2012 Qualifying Session One Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Broc PARKES, Australia (Honda CBR600RR), 2:03.440 2. Sam LOWES, UK (Honda CBR600RR), 2:03.481 3. Jules CLUZEL, France (Honda CBR600RR), 2:03.495 4. Fabien FORET, France (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:04.120 5. Ronan QUARMBY, South Africa (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.475 6. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:04.661 7. Gabor TALMACSI, Hungary (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.662 8. Andrea ANTONELLI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:04.944 9. Sheridan MORAIS, South Africa (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:05.074 10. Matthew SCHOLTZ, South Africa (Honda CBR600RR), 2:05.077 21. Josh DAY, USA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:05.746 More, from a press release issued by PTR Honda: JULES CLUZEL is third and Ronan Quarmby fifth on the provisional grid for Sunday’s eighth round of the World Supersport Championship at Brno in the Czech Republic – a new best ever for the 2012 PTR Honda team. Add to that Sam Lowes in second and Mathew Scholtz 10th on the sister Bogdanka PTR Honda bikes and the opening day has been good for the PTR teams. Martin Jessopp on the Riders PTR Honda is 29th after a crash in the morning session. The eighth round of the World Supersport Championship takes place at 1330 CET on Sunday, 22nd July. Ronan: “The forecast shows rain tomorrow, so that might have been an important session. I went out at the end of qualifying and my PTR Honda was working for me and I pulled it out of the bag; I felt comfortable. I am really chuffed with my low 2min 04secs lap and even though I just missed out on the front row, I am really excited and hope to maintain this position for the race.” Jules: “Yeah, I am happy, this afternoon and I’ve got a good feeling with my PTR Honda. We tried to push because tomorrow maybe there may be rain, so it was important to get on the front row. Everything is OK, it is really close with Parkes and Sam and I am happy.” Martin: “This morning I was tipping into a corner and the next thing I knew I was in the air. Foret came into the corner too hot and punted me off my bike. The bike was badly damaged and needed a full rebuild before qualifying and I got out just in time. It felt very different though and I ended up riding round as quick as I could on what felt like someone else’s bike. I was putting in sensible times until Foret hit me and had good momentum. Luckily I have no injuries and will look to change my fortunes tomorrow.” Simon Buckmaster, PTR Honda Team Manager: “Ronan is starting to really get to grips with his PTR Honda and is enjoying himself – that’s why he has qualified fifth today, and if he can keep that it would be a new career best for him. Jules has got off to a strong start and is showing he has podium potential yet again, as he has done all season. Martin was hit by Fabien Foret and that disrupted his whole day, he’ll be back in better shape tomorrow.” Friday Qualification 1. Broc Parkes AUS Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR 2m 03.440s 2. Sam Lowes GBR Bogdanka PTR Honda CBR600RR 2m 03.481s 3. Jules Cluzel FRA PTR Honda CBR600RR 2m 03.495s 4. Fabien Foret FRA Intermoto Step Kawasaki ZX-6R 2m 04.120s 5. Ronan Quarmby RSA PTR Honda CBR600RR 2m 04.475s 6. Kenan Sofuoglu TUR Kawasaki Lorenzini ZX-6R 2m 04.661s 7. Gabor Talmacsi HUN ProRace Honda CBR600RR 2m 04.662s 8. Andrea Antonelli ITA Bike Service Yamaha YZF-R6 2m 04.944s 9. Sheridan Morais RSA Kawasaki Lorenzini ZX-6R 2m 05.074s 10. Mathew Scholtz RSA Bogdanka PTR Honda CBR600RR 2m 05.077s 29. Martin Jessopp GBR Riders PTR Honda CBR600RR 2m 07.399s More, from a press release issued by Bogdanka PTR Honda: BOGDANKA PTR HONDA’s Sam Lowes took a close second in Friday’s opening qualifying for round eight of the World Supersport Championship at Brno in the Czech Republic with plenty more to come as the weekend goes on. Mathew Scholtz also had a fast start to the weekend on the other Bogdanka PTR Honda, with the South African posting the tenth fastest time in Friday’s first qualifying session and targeting more progress on a familiar track tomorrow. Bogdanka Honda PTR’s Pawel Szkopek started his home event strongly too, with the Polish rider grabbing 20th position amongst a total of 33 riders. Second qualifying will follow tomorrow with Sunday’s race starting at 13:30 CET. Sam Lowes: “The first day was good. We still have some things to try tomorrow to get a better feeling and get rid of the chatter. We can improve further but already after the first day the feeling is good and so is the setup. We’re looking to do a race simulation in the morning to see where we’re at, and we’ve got some things to try too. I’m confident I can make an improvement in myself, as well as with the bike. Brno is one of the most enjoyable tracks to ride on the calendar so I’m looking forward to going out there again in the morning.” Mathew Scholtz: “Brno is one of my favourite circuits. We went out for the free practice and got our rhythm while also working on the setup before making a few more changes for the qualifying. I followed one or two of the fastest guys to see where I can improve my time before qualifying in tenth which I’m very happy with. We’ve been working on race setup today and I know we can go faster tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to the rest of the weekend.” Pawel Szkopek: “It was a good start to the weekend. I was focusing on getting up to speed today and finding the right setup. I’m getting the feeling back with the bike after the injury and starting to have more and more fun again. I was on my own on the track all day today, just focusing on my riding and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I made a small mistake on my last lap and lost a bit of time, but I’m confident we can go faster tomorrow and have a good very on Sunday.” Simon Buckmaster, Bogdanka PTR Honda Team Manager: “It’s been a really good first day for Sam. We are in a strong position and there are areas we can improve the bike and Sam feels he can improve himself. Mathew had a really strong first day and is riding well and there will be more to come from him tomorrow.” Friday’s qualifying 1. Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Racing Products) Honda CBR600RR 2’03.440 2. Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda) Honda CBR600RR 2’03.481 3. Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda) Honda CBR600RR 2’03.495 4. Fabien Foret (Kawasaki Intermoto Step) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’04.120 5. Ronan Quarmby (PTR Honda) Honda CBR600RR 2’04.475 6. Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Lorenzini) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’04.661 7. Gabor Talmacsi (PRORACE) Honda CBR600RR 2’04.662 8. Andrea Antonelli (Bike Service R.T.) Yamaha YZF R6 2’04.944 9. Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki Lorenzini) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’05.074 10. Mathew Scholtz (Bogdanka PTR Honda) Honda CBR600RR 2’05.077 20. Pawel Szkopek (Bogdanka Honda PTR) Honda CBR600RR 2’05.665 More, from a press release issued by Honda: Broc Parkes set the early pace in today’s opening qualifying session for Sunday’s ninth round World Supersport race at Brno in the Czech Republic. The Ten Kate Racing Products Honda rider fired his CBR600RR around the undulating 5.4km Brno circuit in a time of 2m03.440s, less than a tenth of a second ahead of the Honda-mounted pairing of Sam Lowes and Jules Cluzel. All three will be in action again tomorrow afternoon to finalise grid positions for Sunday’s 18-lap race. Broc Parkes P1, 2m03.440s It was good today. We saw that the forecast for tomorrow didn’t look so good and the bike felt quite good from this morning, so it was good to get the banker in. The bike changed quite a lot from this morning because we were struggling a little bit, but the lap times were OK. The bike felt OK and when we put a tyre in at the end it felt even better, so I was happy to put that lap away. Pieter Breddels technical co-ordinator We ended the day on top so that’s very good! We are still struggling to find pace because there is not a lot of grip so we’re looking for a setting and a way to improve that and get a good race rhythm. There are still some things to sort out but the speed from practice is OK So we’ll take it from there.