From a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Yamaha riders work towards raceday After finishing regulation qualifying fourth fastest, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team rider Troy Corser could have expected to make a strong challenge for his 42nd career Superpole win, but a crash late in the pre-Superpole free practice session meant he eventually had to work with his number two machine. He finished Superpole eighth quickest, and now takes a second row start in Sunday’s 23-lap Superbike races at Valencia. Corser’s team-mate Noriyuki Haga chased an optimum set-up through the practice sessions and rode hard to record a top ten Superpole finish, after qualifying only 15th in the regular sessions. The team tried several solutions to improve the overall machine set-up for both riders, during four exhausting SBK practice sessions, and will continue to work in the 20-minute warm-up session tomorrow morning. David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) was last man into Superpole but qualified 14th on the grid, a strong result for the local rider, especially with so many officially supported machines on the Valencia entry list. Team YZF Yamaha rider Shinichi Nakatomi missed out on a Superpole ride and now starts the races from 21st place on the grid, equating to a sixth row start. Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) experienced a technical problem early in the timed session today that held back his progress and he finished 22nd in the ranking, although only 1.3 seconds from the pre-Superpole best time. Thirty riders qualified for the races on Sunday. Troy Corser (8th – 1’34.492 – Yamaha Italy WSB Team) “We are just having to work harder because we were not here for the official tests like most other people. I’m not hurt after falling but I had to use my other bike for Superpole, not my number one machine. We haven’t chosen a tyre for the races yet so we’ll do that tomorrow.” Noriyuki Haga (10th – 1’34.770 – Yamaha Italy WSB Team) “Superpole was an improvement after qualifying, so that was good. We have found it hard to get a rear suspension set-up that stops the chattering we have right now, so we will be working on that in warm-up tomorrow. When we get the suspension setting OK we will then be able to decide which tyre will work best for the races. The engine has been strong, the engine braking system is very good, but we cannot make the most of the whole package yet.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “This has been a tough qualifying and Superpole but I am always confident that we can have good results on raceday. I know our riders and I know what they can do, so that gives us all confidence. Troy had a small crash a few minutes before Superpole but he is OK and the bike was only damaged by sliding along the ground, nothing too bad. You always expect things to be tight here in qualifying, but the times are particularly close this year.” David Checa(14th – 1’35.089 – Yamaha GMT94 Team) “I was very satisfied to get into Superpole but after trying out the qualifying tyre in free practice I thought maybe I would like to use a race tyre anyway, because there was a lot of grip and it upset the bike in a few corners. We decided to use a qualifier anyway and after the team made some clever changes it worked very well. My target was to get a 1’35.2 and we actually got a 1’35.0. For the races we should be OK but I have to think about the Le Mans Endurance race coming up soon. This is also very important for Yamaha.” Superpole Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 1’33.805 2, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 1’33.928 3, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 1’33.976 4, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 1’34.332 5, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 1’34.370 6, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 1’34.370 7, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 1’34.492 8, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 1’34.613 9, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 1’34.658 10, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 1’34.770 11, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 1’34.799 12, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 1’34.930 13, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 1’34.959 14, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 1’35.089 15, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 1’35.232 16, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 1’35.980 Qualifying 2 Pos., Rider, Nat., QUAL I, QUAL II 1, Carlos Checa, ESP, n/a, 1’34.418 2, Max Neukirchner, GER, 1’34.806, 1’34.546 3, Lorenzo Lanzi, ITA, 1’35.085, 1’34.587 4, Troy Corser, AUS, 1’35.424, 1’34.607 5, Yukio Kagayama, JPN, 1’34.932, 1’34.762 6, Fonsi Nieto, ESP, 1’35.766, 1’34.922 7, Troy Bayliss, AUS, 1’35.060, 1’34.936 8, Michel Fabrizio, ITA, 1’35.080, 1’35.004 9, Ruben Xaus, ESP, 1’35.892, 1’35.008 10, Ryuichi Kiyonari, JPN, 1’35.550, 1’35.148 11, Jakub Smrz, CZE, 1’35.262, 1’35.193 12, Makoto Tamada, JPN, 1’35.598, 1’35.209 13, Regis Laconi, FRA, 1’35.278, 1’35.874 14, Max Biaggi, ITA, 1’36.305, 1’35.304 15, Noriyuki Haga, JPN, 1’35.548, 1’35.331 16, David Checa, ESP, 1’36.066, 1’35.380 17, Gregorio Lavilla, ESP, 1’35.939, 1’35.381 18, Roberto Rolfo, ITA, 1’35.756, 1’35.521 19, Karl Muggeridge, AUS, 1’35.634, 1’35.597 20, Russel Holland, AUS, 1’36.150, 1’35.692 21, Shinichi Nakatomi, JPN, 1’36.088, 1’35.703 22, Sebastien Gimbert, FRA, 1’35.766, 54’15.498 23, Sergio Fuertes, ESP, 1’36.711, 1’35.862 24, Kenan Sofuoglu, TUR, 1’36.268, 1’35.911 25, Carmelo Morales, ESP, 1’36.070, 1’36.070 26, Carmelo Morales, ESP, 1’36.070, 1’36.070 27, Ayrton Badovini, ITA, 1’36.749, n/a 28, Loic Napoleone, FRA, 1’37.288, n/a More, from a press release issued by FGSport Group: SUZUKI TAKE 1-2 IN THRILLING VALENCIA SUPERPOLE Suzuki Alstare riders Max Neukirchner and Yukio Kagayama finished first and second in today’s thrilling Superpole session at the Valencia circuit. The young German rider has been on the pace all weekend and he took his first ever Superpole, Suzuki’s 16th pole position, with a time of 1m33.805s, the new outright circuit record. His Suzuki team-mate Yukio Kagayama was just a fraction of a second behind, the Japanese rider almost back to full strength after his recent collarbone injury. Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) was the first rider this weekend to dip under 1m34s, but he was outpaced in the one-lap sprint and had to settle for third place. “This is my first Superpole win and I’m really happy about that” said Neukirchner. “Unfortunately I had some small problems in the free practice, but now the temperature goes a little bit down, my lap was very good. A big thanks to my team, I think we have a good set-up on the bike for race tyres and tomorrow I have big hopes of doing a couple of good races.” “I watched Troy’s Superpole and he made a great lap time” declared Kagayama. “It was good motivation for me then I went out and made a great lap. It wasn’t a clean lap but I am very happy to be second. Now that my collarbone trouble is over, it’s not perfect, but for me it’s a better situation because if it was 100% I would probably push too hard.” “Today has been one of the toughest days as far as things go, with the top 18 covered by one second in qualifying and it’s very competitive out there” commented Bayliss. “We’re pretty happy with the Superpole lap but honestly for the race tomorrow, we still have a few little problems to sort out. We’ve been trying a few things today and hopefully we can be a bit more consistent tomorrow.” The final front row grid slot went to the first Spanish rider, Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati), who just edged out Lorenzo Lanzi (RG Ducati). Two HANNspree riders, Ryuichi Kiyonari and Carlos Checa were next up. The Spanish rider could only manage seventh place after setting the quickest qualifying time in the first two sessions, but is feeling confident with a good race pace. Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) was eighth fastest, ahead of Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati), who qualified for Superpole with a painful wrist but who managed to set a heroic ninth quickest time. Noriyuki Haga rounded out the top 10 for Yamaha. TIMES: World Superbike Superpole 1. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’33.805 2. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’33.928 3. Bayliss T. (AUS) Ducati 1098 F08 1’33.976 4. Xaus R. (ESP) Ducati 1098 RS 08 1’34.332 5. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 1’34.370 6. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1’34.370 7. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1’34.492 8. Corser T. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R1 1’34.613 9. Biaggi M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 1’34.658 10. Haga N. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 1’34.770 11. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 F08 1’34.799 12. Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’34.930 13. Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’34.959 14. Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF-R1 1’35.089 15. Laconi R. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’35.232 16. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098 RS 08 1’35.980 Alfa Romeo Superpole Award Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Alstare) is the third winner in the ALFA 159 SUPERPOLE AWARD contest, which was launched at the start of the season. The prize, an Alfa Romeo 159 3.2 Sportwagon Ti, will be awarded at the end of the year to the rider in the Superbike World Championship who has totaled the highest number of Superpoles. After three rounds therefore, Corser, Bayliss and Neukirchner have one pole each. World Supersport Andrew Pitt (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) remained at the top of the timesheets for the second day to take his second pole position of the year. The Australian had some problems with the front of his bike and twice crashed out, once in free practice and once in qualifying, but no other rider was able to improve on the time of 1m36.773s he set yesterday. Second placed man was Joan Lascorz (Glaner Motocard.com Honda), one tenth of a second down in second place, while Britain’s Craig Jones took his Parkalgar Racing version to third in a Honda 1-2-3. Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport), Katsuaki Fujiwara (Kawasaki Gil Motorsport) and Jonathan Rea (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) took the next 3 places, with points leader Joshua Brookes (HANNspree Stiggy Motorsport Honda) in eighth place. Superstock 1000 Brendan Roberts (Ducati Xerox Junior Team) headed a trio of Italians in Superstock 1000 qualifying, the Australian rider leaving the lap record at 1m37.114s on his 1098R. Davide Giugliano was three-tenths behind for the Cruciani Moto Suzuki Italia machine, followed by Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni) and Claudio Corti (Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team). The leading Honda was fifth placed Maxime Berger, with Rene Maehr posting a respectable tenth place on the rookie KTM 1190 RC8 machine. More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: BAYLISS SECURES FRONT ROW START FOR TOMORROW’S RACES AT THE RICARDO TORMO CIRCUIT IN VALENCIA Valencia (Spain), Saturday 5th April: Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) faced stiff competition in this afternoon’s Superpole in Valencia but succeeded in snatching a place on the front row of the grid for tomorrow races. Bayliss will start from third place while team-mate Michel Fabrizio also fought hard to take eleventh place. With many riders all lapping within a second of each other, it was not an easy day for the Ducati Xerox Team who have had to work hard on both riders’ 1098 F08 machines in order to optimize the bike set-up ready for the races tomorrow afternoon. Troy Bayliss 1m33.9s “I have to say it was very competitive out there today with the first ten riders all within a second of each other. I was pretty satisfied with my Superpole lap but it has been a bit of a struggle over the last two days. We have had a few little problems which we’ve had to try and resolve by trying different things and we’ll continue to work before tomorrow’s races in order to hopefully be a bit more consistent in competition. There are a lot of strong riders starting from the front couple of rows tomorrow so it will be difficult but I’d say there’s a very good race in store for the crowd.” Michel Fabrizio 1m34.7s “Overall I’m happy with my performance but I could have done better in Superpole. It was simply very competitive and I unfortunately lost a few tenths at certain points of the track. My team has worked really hard during all the sessions so far and this morning we continues to work on the set-up of the bike. We’ll see how we go tomorrow in warm-up before establishing whether to make any more modifications but I’d say we’re more or less ready for the races.” This afternoon the Ricardo Tormo circuit was also the location for the presentation of the Alfa Romeo 147 Ducati Corse to the Spanish media. Team Manager Davide Tardozzi and the two riders were all guests at the event which strengthens the relationship between Alfa Romeo and Ducati. TIMES (Superpole): Neukirchner (Suzuki) 1m33.8s; Kagayama (Suzuki) 1m33.9s, Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1m33.9s; Xaus (Ducati) 1m34.3s, Lanzi (Ducati) 1m34.3s, Kiyonari (Honda) 1m34.3s, Checa (Honda) 1m34.4s, Corser (Yamaha) 1m34.6s, Biaggi (Ducati) 1m34.6s, Haga (Yamaha) 1m34.7s, Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1m34.7s More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner stunned his rivals by storming to his first ever Superpole win this afternoon at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, Valencia, smashing the lap record by well over a second in the process. Neukirchner’s Superpole was something special, but to make it an even better day for the Belgian based team, Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama took second place. Third quickest is Troy Bayliss (Ducati), with local hero Ruben Xaus (Ducati) fourth. Team Suzuki Alstare rider Fonsi Nieto suffered grip problems again and finished 13th in the 16-rider Superpole shoot-out and so will face an uphill task starting from the fourth row of the grid in tomorrow’s races. Max Neukirchner – 1st, 1:33.805: “I am really happy because my Superpole lap was a great lap, but I feel I have been fast all weekend and I was hoping for a front row grid position. This afternoon’s free practice was hotter then the morning and the grip level went down, but fortunately it cooled off a little for Superpole and I was able to really go for it. We didn’t make any big changes to the bike from yesterday because the bike was working so well. For that I’d like to give a big thank you to my whole team.” Yukio Kagayama – 2nd, 1:33.928: “I knew I had to do something good to beat Troy Bayliss in Superpole and I was able to put in a good, fast lap and beat his time. We’ve done a lot of good work these two days and the hard work has paid off this afternoon. My body is not 100% but, as I said before, that is a good thing because I am riding smoothly and not taking any risks by pushing too hard.” Fonsi Nieto – 13th, 1:34.959: “Just like yesterday, I had problems with grip – both front and rear – and so I couldn’t use the throttle as I wanted to. The rear was spinning quite a bit and I had no confidence about what the bike was going to do today. We did a long run and my laps were consistent, so that is a positive sign. We’ll change the bike back to how it was this morning and hopefully it will feel better and more comfortable to ride.” Final WSB Qualifying: 1 Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki) 1:33.805, 2 Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare) 1:33.928, 3 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:33.976, 4 Xaus (E-Ducati) 1:34.322, 5 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:34.370, 6 Kiyonari (J-Honda) 1:34.370. 13 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare) 1:34.959. SUPERSTOCK 1000: Team Alstare Suzuki rider Xavi Simeon struggled with grip problems in Valencia today and was only able to post the ninth fastest time in final qualifying. He was frustrated because he couldn’t get anywhere close to the lap times he did at the tests in March. Brendan Roberts (Ducati) took pole position, with a lap of 1:37.114 with Davide Giugliano (Suzuki) second and Michelle Pirro (Yamaha) third. Xavi Simeon – 9th, 1:38.176: “It’s a bit frustrating at the moment because I just cannot do the lap times I did here in March. Grip was not a problem then, but it is now and we’re scratching our heads trying to find a solution. It seems strange, but I’m actually doing better on an old tyre, then fresh rubber. “Just like yesterday, I didn’t have a good feeling with the bike. I looked at the lap times of the top guys and I noticed that their fastest laps were one-offs and the rest were so-so. But my lap times are consistent, so maybe the race will be a very different affair. As usual, I will be trying my hardest and we will see what happens.” Final Superstock 1000 Qualifying: 1 Roberts (Aus-Ducati) 1:37.114, 2 Giugliano (I-Suzuki) 1:37.425, 3 Pirro (I-Yamaha) 1:37.502, 4 Corti (I-Yamaha) 1:37.513, 5 Berger (F-Honda) 1:37.678, 6 Polita (I-Ducati) 1:37.897. 9 Xavi Simeon (B-Alstare Suzuki) 1:38.176. More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Kiyonari claims 6th in first Superpole appearance Ryuichi Kiyonari concluded his first Superpole appareance today with a best of 1’34.370 which places him on the 6th spot on the second row for tomorrow’s race. The young Japanese is consistently improving his pace and made an impressive appearance in his maiden Superpole lap in which he took 0.6 off his best lap time on qualifiers. In the morning qualifying session, HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Carlos Checa put his new CBR1000RR Fireblade firmly on top of the sheets and passed provisional pole sitter Neukirchner with a new best lap time of 1’34.418. In the Superpole qualifying Checa had more difficulties to keep his leading pace on the qualifiers and finished 7th in 1’34.492 which puts him on the second row on the grid for tomorrow’s race. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager; I am satisfied with the results achieved today. I am more then happy to see Kiyonari riding as well as he did today and finishing his first Superpole qualifying ahead of proven Superpole riders. He has already shown his pace in Australia so we’ll just have to see what more he has in store for us tomorrow. Sofuoglu is improving step by step but the difficulties he’s facing in adapting his riding style to the CBR1000RR become more apparent on a small track like Valencia. I’m convinced he will improve further in the next race when we travel to the fast circuit of Assen. Carlos Checa, Honda CBR1000RR; I am satisfied with the second qualifying in which we tested tires and selected the best one to work with in the Superpole session. I’m still struggling to set that one fast lap on the qualifiers but am satisfied we can keep a consistently fast pace on the race tires. That’s were we can make the difference tomorrow in tomorrow’s race. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda CBR1000RR; I was really excited for my first Superpole qualifying and happy with the result I achieved. After I endured some technical difficulties with my bike in the second practice session I had to get on my 2nd bike and change the set up for that one to improve my lap times. I started the Superpole with a best of 1’35.1 and managed to take some more off in one lap which has boost my confidence. There’s only that much time difference between the guys in the top 10 so it will be a fierce competition at the front tomorrow. Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda CBR1000RR; I feel like we have made some progression today but I still need to go faster to close the gap with the front. The field is so close, my best time of 1’35.911in the second qualifying put me on 24th place, but there’s only 0.7 between my best time and the last man in the top 10, Kiyonari who finished the second session in 1’35.148. That just shows how fierce the competition is. Superpole: 1 M.NEUKIRCHNER 1’33.805 2 Y. KAGAYAMA 1’33.928 3 T. BAYLISS 1’33.976 4 R. XAUS 1’34.332 5 L. LANZI 1’34.370 6 R. KIYONARI 1’34.370 7 C. CHECA 2 1’34.492 8 T. CORSER 1’34.613 9 M. BIAGGI 1’34.658 10 N. HAGA 1’34.770 More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki: Team Suzuki Alstare news 2008 Superbike World Championship Round 3, Valencia, Spain Final qualifying, Saturday 5th April Circuit: 4.005 kms. Conditions: Dry, sunny 18-21C MAX’S DEBUT SUPERPOLE VICTORY! Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner stunned his rivals by storming to his first ever Superpole win this afternoon at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, Valencia, smashing the lap record by well over a second in the process. Max’s Superpole was something special, but to make it an even better day for the Belgian based team, Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama took second place. Third quickest is Troy Bayliss (Ducati), with local hero Ruben Xaus (Ducati) fourth. Team Suzuki Alstare rider Fonsi Nieto suffered grip problems again and finished thirteenth in the 16-rider Superpole shoot-out and so will face an uphill task starting from the fourth row of the grid in tomorrow’s races. Max – 1st, 1:33.805 I am really happy because my Superpole lap was a great lap, but I feel I have been fast all weekend and I was hoping for a front row grid position. This afternoon’s free practice was hotter then the morning and the grip level went down, but fortunately it cooled off a little for Superpole and I was able to really go for it. We didn’t make any big changes to the bike from yesterday, because the bike was working so well. For that I’d like to give a big thank you to my whole team. Yukio – 2nd, 1:33.928 I knew I had to do something good to beat Troy (Bayliss) in Superpole and I was able to put in a good, fast lap and beat his time. We’ve done a lot of good work these two days and the hard work has paid off this afternoon. My body is not 100% but, as I said before, that is a good thing because I am riding smoothly and not taking any risks by pushing too hard. Fonsi – 13th, 1:34.959 Just like yesterday, I had problems with grip – both front and rear – and so I couldn’t use the throttle as I wanted to. The rear was spinning quite a bit and I had no confidence about what the bike was going to do today. We did a long run and my laps were consistent, so that is a positive sign. We’ll change the bike back to how it was this morning and hopefully it will feel better and more comfortable to ride. Final qualifying 1 Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki) 1:33.805, 2 Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare) 1:33.928, 3 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:33.976, 4 Xaus (E-Ducati) 1:34.322, 5 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:34.370, 6 Kiyonari (J-Honda) 1:34.370, 13 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare) 1:34.959, More, from another press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki: Team Alstare Suzuki news 2008 Superstock 1000 FIM Cup Round 1, Valencia, Spain Final qualifying, Saturday 5th April Circuit: 4.005 kms. Conditions: Dry, sunny 16-21C XAVI NINTH! Team Alstare Suzuki rider Xavi Simeon struggled with grip problems in Valencia today and was only able to post the ninth fastest time in final qualifying. Xavi was frustrated because he couldn’t get anywhere close to the lap times he did at the tests in March. Brendan Roberts (Ducati) took pole position, with a lap of 1:37.114, with Davide Giugliano (Suzuki) second and Michelle Pirro (Yamaha) third. Xavi – 9th, 1:38.176 It’s a bit frustrating at the moment because I just cannot do the lap times I did here in March. Grip was not a problem then, but it is now and we’re scratching our heads trying to find a solution. It seems strange, but I’m actually doing better on an old tyre, then fresh rubber. Just like yesterday, I didn’t have a good feeling with the bike. I looked at the lap times of the top guys and I noticed that their fastest laps were one-offs and the rest were so-so. But my lap times are consistent, so maybe the race will be a very different affair. As usual, I will be trying my hardest and we will see what happens. Final qualifying 1 Roberts (Aus-Ducati) 1:37.114, 2 Giugliano (I-Suzuki) 1:37.425, 3 Pirro (I-Yamaha) 1:37.502, 4 Corti (I-Yamaha) 1:37.513, 5 Berger (F-Honda) 1:37.678, 6 Polita (I-Ducati) 1:37.897, 9 Xavi Simeon (B-Alstare Suzuki) 1:38.176, More, from a press release issued by Team Sterilgarda Go Eleven: Tomorrow Ruben Xaus and Max Biaggi will start respectively from the first and the third line of the grid. Xaus succeed to fix the problems which influenced his yesterday’s performance and today he scored the 4th best time. His target is to repeat the last year result when he won one race just here on his home-track. In spite of the pain, Max Biaggi has powered an extraordinary performance and he has worked to get everything ready for tomorrow’s two race. His goal is to finish in the best positions as possible in order to get important points for the ranking. As well, Alex Polita’s performance is very expected on the opening round of Superststock1000. Tomorrow the young rider will make his debut on Ducati1098 starting from the second row thanks to the sixth best time recorded during today’s qualifying. RUBEN XAUS | Ducati 1098 RS | 4th classified in 1’34.332: “Today we have fixed the problems which influenced our work yesterday and I could lap as during the testing. I will start from the first line and I will aim to repeat the last year result although it will be very hard this time. During the first part of the race nobody will move away from the rest of the field. Tomorrow is expected to be hot, therefore who better manages the tyre will have the more opportunities to make a difference in the last 10 laps”. MAX BIAGGI | Ducati 1098 RS | 9th classified in 1’34.658: “I still have troubles when the motorbike is fullfilled of fuel. I don’t want to set any goal for tomorrow. The most of the brakings are on the left side and the harm hurts. Anyway the race is long and you never know”¦” ALEX POLITA | Ducati 1098R | 6th classified in 1’37.897: “I wished to start from the first row but my objective is ever the same. I have a good race pace and the motorbike is very well set and balanced. Today the track was very slippery and I didn’t want to take any risk. I prefer to focus my work on tomorrow’s race. MARCO BORCIANI | TEAM MANAGER: “Today we’ve lapped as in the first two rounds of the season. We have what it takes to score good results tomorrow and I hope to reach the podium in both the contests. My deepest compliments to Max and his staff. They did an extraordinary job and I’m sure that tomorrow he will amaze all us”. More, from a press release issued by Team Pedercini: Team Pedercini is ready to face tomorrow’s race where it feels confident to get good results both in Superbike and Superstock1000. Today’s qualifying showed that the team is on the right way. Ayrton Badovini have found a fair race pace and he is going to fight for a good final position although he will start from the back lines. Yoann Tiberio and Alessio Aldrovandi carried on the work done yesterday on their motorbikes, especially focusing on the suspensions. They will start from the eleventh and sixteenth place with the goal to play a good match. AYRTON BADOVINI | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 27th classified in 1’36.596: “Since this morning we have worked on the set-up of the machine, especially on the gear settings and the suspensions. I still have some troubles in the middle of the corners, when I want to stand the motorbike up in order to push on the gas. We are on the right way and tomorrow I would like to play an offensive game”. YOANN TIBERIO | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 11th classified in 1’38.429: “The motorbike has improved markedly compared to yesterday, even if we can do more. Unfortunately I hadn’t the opportunity to run a lap without traffic, otherwise I could finish one line ahead. A good start will be crucial tomorrow in order to being in the pack of the first positions, and I have also to be careful to the traffic in the first thin corners”. ALESSIO ALDROVANDI | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 16th classified in 1’38.830: “During the first two days of this round we have worked on the incisiveness, improving step by step. Today we have tried a different solution for the front suspensions but It hasn’t worked the way we have expected so tomorrow I will use the same set-up of yesterday. It will allow me to have a better control on the machines”. More, from a press release issued by PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse: Tamada 12th in Spanish Superpole Valencia, Spain, 5 April 2008 Two dry days of qualifying saw each PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse rider, Régis Laconi and Makoto Tamada, qualify with ease for the Superpole session, with Tamada eventually finishing up 12th on the grid. Tamada had also found himself 12th going into Superpole but on qualifying tyres he set a weekend best of 1’34.930 in the final one-lap contest that determines the front four rows of the grid, putting down a good marker for raceday. Around the 4.005km Valencia circuit in Spain, Laconi was 13th before Superpole and 15th afterwards, earning a fourth row start – one row behind his team-mate. He did not enjoy the same level of gradual improvement in his machine set-up as Tamada at this race and had to fight hard, particularly when running a qualifying spec. The races at Valencia will be run over 23 laps, with the first starting at 12 noon, the second at 15.30 local time. Makoto Tamada: “The biggest satisfaction we can take from today was the battle in Superpole. I’m happy about the progressive improvement that I made together with the team. We worked very well and achieved a balanced machine. I’m sure that the hard work and the continuous support we have from Kawasaki will soon bring us our rewards. I know this circuit and a good start can make the difference, so realize I have to get off the line well and gain some early positions.” Régis Laconi “I cannot say that I’m that happy even though I improved my time a bit. Today, track conditions were different from yesterday and the bike started to chatter again. We have to adapt the bike to make me able to push the way I really want. Right now I cannot do it because as soon as I try to make up a few tenths the bike starts to chatter. Tomorrow we’ll try different solutions during warm-up in order to improve our race times.” More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY AND TEAM STRUGGLING. Troy finished the 16-rider Superpole shoot-out with the eighth fastest time and will start tomorrow’s pair of 23-lap races from the second row of the grid. Today, like yesterday, he and the team struggled with grip problems and, despite what they tried, they couldn’t solve the problem. German Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) took his first ever Superpole win, with a lap of 1:33.804, over a second inside the lap record. Second quickest today is Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki), with Troy Bayliss (Ducati) third and local hero Ruben Xaus (Ducati) fourth. Troy – 8th, 1:34.613 At the moment, the bike just isn’t working and there is not enough grip no matter what tyre we use. We basically can only use one rear, but I really don’t think that the left side of will last the race distance! I crashed this afternoon, because we decided to try a harder front tyre and see how it performed. At the second right-hander, the front just tucked in and down I went without any warning! We don’t seem to be able to get enough feeling from the front and not enough grip from the rear and although we try different things, we are not improving. Nori (Haga) is making the same comments, so I know that it’s not just me. I thought we’d found a good set-up and direction in Phillip Island, but at the moment the bike doesn’t feel balanced and until we can find the solution, we’re struggling a bit.