FIM Supersport World Championship Losail International Circuit Doha, Qatar February 22, 2007 Final Qualifying Results: 1. Fabien FORET (Yam YZF-R6), 2:01.928 2. Craig JONES (Hon CBR600RR), 2:02.273 3. Matthieu LAGRIVE (Hon CBR600RR), 2:02.554 4. Jonathan REA (Hon CBR600RR), 2:02.617 5. Broc PARKES (Yam YZF-R6), 2:02.636 6. Joan LASCORZ (Hon CBR600RR), 2:02.718 7. Garry MCCOY (Tri Daytona 675), 2:02.770 8. Ivan CLEMENTI (Tri Daytona 675), 2:02.862 9. David SALOM (Yam YZF-R6), 2:02.866 10. Andrew PITT (Hon CBR600RR), 2:02.903 11. Mark AITCHISON (Tri Daytona 675), 2:02.964 12. Josh BROOKES (Hon CBR600RR), 2:02.986 13. Barry VENEMAN (Suz GSX-R600), 2:03.205 14. Gianluca NANNELLI (Hon CBR600RR), 2:03.237 15. Graeme GOWLAND (Hon CBR600RR), 2:03.322 16. Gianluca VIZZIELLO (Hon CBR600RR), 2:03.428 17. Gregory LEBLANC (Hon CBR600RR), 2:03.443 18. Miguel PRAIA (Hon CBR600RR), 2:03.660 19. Katsuaki FUJIWARA (Kaw ZX-6R), 2:03.959 20. Chris WALKER (Kaw ZX-6R), 2:03.994 21. Andrea ANTONELLI (Hon CBR600RR), 2:04.046 22. Robbin HARMS (Hon CBR600RR), 2:04.178 23. Vesa KALLIO (Hon CBR600RR), 2:04.349 24. Lorenzo ALFONSI (Kaw ZX-6R), 2:04.600 25. Mirko GIANSANTI (Hon CBR600RR), 2:04.657 26. William DE ANGELIS (Hon CBR600RR), 2:04.792 27. Didier VAN KEYMEULEN (Suz GSX-R600), 2:04.867 28. Massimo ROCCOLI (Yam YZF-R6), 2:05.093 29. Ilario DIONISI (Tri Daytona 675), 2:05.251 30. Santiago BARRAGAN (Hon CBR600RR), 2:05.550 31. Arnaud VINCENT (Kaw ZX-6R), 2:05.941 32. Luka NEDOG (Hon CBR600RR), 2:06.050 33. Danilo DELL’OMO (Hon CBR600RR), 2:07.323 34. Attila MAGDA (Hon CBR600RR), 2:07.459 35. Gergo TALMACSI (Hon CBR600RR), 2:07.882 36. Josep PEDRO SUBIRATS (Yam YZF-R6), 2:09.188 More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Rea-lly good start for HANNspree Ten Kate Honda World Supersport rookie Jonathan Rea will start his first race in the 2008 series from the front row after qualifying in fourth position at Losail today. The HANNspree Ten Kate Honda rider recorded a fastest lap of 2’02.617 to complete the front row behind pole sitter Fabien Foret and Craig Jones and Matthieu Lagrive respectively. The Ulsterman has impressed aboard the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR during pre-season tests and hopes to be frontrunner in the championship from the outset. Along with team-mate Andrew Pitt, Rea carries the legacy of seven consecutive team wins in the Supersport Championship. Pitt secured tenth position on the grid for a third row start. The Australian has more race experience aboard the machine than his younger counterpart after competing for the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda team for part of the 2007 season. Josh Brookes rounds off the third row aboard the HANNspree Stiggy Motorsport Honda in 12th place. His team-mate Robbin Harms starts from 22nd position on a full grid with 36 riders. The HANNspree Honda Althea team secured 14th and 21st places respectively for the start of tomorrow’s race with Gianluca Nannelli and Andrea Antonelli. The scene is set for the first exciting showdown of the year in the ultra-competitive series. The Supersport race will be screened live on Eurosport tomorrow. More, from another press release issued by Ten Kate Racing: Jonathan Rea claims front row start After a difficult start of the first Supersport-qualifying yesterday, today’s conditions seemed a lot better for the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Team. Most of the hard wind that influenced the sessions yesterday had started to lie down, leaving the track cleaner and allowing some faster lap times to be set. Unfortunately the cards still didn’t seem to be dealt rightly for the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Supersport team. Andrew Pitt managed to put in some consistently fast laps during the free practice in the morning but was struggling to keep the pace in the afternoon’s qualifying session and maintain a position within the top 10. He set his fastest time at 2’02.903, which puts him on the 3rd row on the grid for the first Supersport race of the season. Team mate Jonathan Rea started off consistently until he lost the back of his bike in the last corner before the straight and was high sided all but softly into the Losail gravel. Despite his unfortunate crash Rea managed to fight his way back in the penultimate lap of qualifying and set his fastest lap time at 2’02.617, which sees him leaving from the front row on the starting grid in tomorrow’s race. An excellent achievement for the young British rider who has well shown he is able to perform under pressure. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager; We have been facing yet another tough day in which we had to overcome some setbacks. Despite the adversity, I am happy with Jonathan’s performance who, despite his unfortunate crash, managed to fight back from the middle of the field and claim a front row start for his first World Supersport race tomorrow. He has shown he has the strength and ability to perform under pressure. We are still working on the set-up for Andrew Pitt’s CBR600RR but are confident we will succeed and can get him back on race pace. Andrew Pitt – 2’02.903; Today was another disaster for me. It’s going to be hard tomorrow starting the race from the third row. We are working on one of the bikes, which is not running properly. I just didn’t go fast enough today and will have to do a lot better in tomorrow’s race to make a good start in the championship. Jonathan Rea – 2’02.617; It was quite an event for my first qualifying but I have achieved my aim. I wanted to start from the front row and managed to do so. I have shown that I can be consistent on the race tires and feel really good for tomorrow’s race. I was unhappy with my starts at Philip Island but made a good one here today qualifying. It was a pity that I crashed as we were testing some changes for tomorrow’s race setting. In the end I went faster after the crash then before, which explains to me where I can make my time up tomorrow. More, from a press release issued by Jones storms to second on the grid Parkalgar Honda: PARKALGAR HONDA racer Craig Jones will start from a brilliant second place on the grid for tomorrow’s opening round of the World Supersport Championship at the Losail circuit in Qatar. The hard-riding Brit was sixth fastest yesterday but improved to fifth in morning practice before storming the desert circuit during qualifying to take second place. His confidence is high for the race tomorrow. Portuguese Parkalgar Honda rider Miguel Praia slashed his lap times from yesterday, moving up from 26th to 18th on the grid. He is looking for more steps forward to challenge for the top 15 in the race. French Yamaha racer Fabien Foret is on pole position. The 5.38km long Losail circuit in the Qatar desert hosts the opening round of the World Supersport Championship on Saturday at 1120 CET with coverage widely available on the satellite channel Eurosport. Craig Jones: “On my fast lap I lit up the first two twisty sectors as the quickest rider but lost out on the final one which includes the long straight. I am running different gearing to everyone else which means I’m quicker through the turns but losing a couple of mph on the straight. If the strong wind dies down tomorrow as it is forecast, then my gearing will be perfect. “We made a couple of changes to my Parkalgar Honda and they all worked. I am delighted with the bike as a package and all we need now is the right tyre for the race from Pirelli. I’ll be trying hard for the podium or better tomorrow.” Miguel Praia: “From yesterday I managed to take more than three seconds away from my lap times and increase eight positions in qualifying. I am very happy with this improvement and the support from my Parkalgar Honda team. Craig even towed me for several laps and I learnt a lot from being behind him, which is fantastic. “My aim for today was to break into the top 20 and we have achieved that. For the race I want to fight inside the top 15 and this is realistic if we have some luck.” Simon Buckmaster, Team Manager: “Having lost a little time yesterday, it is great to see both Parkalgar Honda riders make such big improvements. Well done to the whole team for such a professional performance, I am proud of the hard work and effort every member is putting in and we are seeing the fruits of our labour in strong qualifying positions. “Miguel has come on leaps and bounds and is only 1.7secs away from pole position compared with 3.2secs yesterday. He should achieve a top 15 result tomorrow and then build from there for the next round. “Craig is running higher gearing than everyone else and if the wind dies down it will give him an advantage in the race. But even if the wind remains, he is comfortable and can push harder if needed. He is approaching this race and the next at Phillip Island with a view of achieving solid top five points and that maturity is paying dividends you cannot win the World Championship at the opening round but a crash could mean you lose it.” More, from a press release issued by Scuderia Triumph-SC: SCUDERIA TRIUMPH-SC SECURE SEVENTH PLACE IN QATAR QUALIFYING (Losail – Qatar February 22, 2008) Scuderia Triumph SC’s Garry McCoy produced a brilliant qualifying display to secure seventh position and a place on the second row for tomorrows 18 lap World Supersport race in Qatar. McCoy saved his best until the final seconds of the 45 minutes session to post the teams fastest ever lap of the Qatar circuit, putting him a strong position for tomorrows race. After securing his place on the second row McCoy revealed that he is riding with a broken leg following a motocross accident just three weeks ago. The 35 year old Australian broke his right Fibula and is supporting a special hand made removable cast that fits under his boot and leathers. Garry McCoy said: “I was pretty lucky to get that last lap in because as I came on to the straight I could see the guy with the chequered flag ready to start waving it. Today was a good day and every session we’re getting better and I’m definitely happy with how things have ended. We’ve gone quicker than we did in the test despite the windy conditions and everything I’m doing is for the race in terms of set-up. We’ve been putting a lot of laps on each tyre so I actually think that we are pretty close to the front guys. We’ll have to see tomorrow. I’m actually happy to be here at all because up until a few days ago I didn’t know if I was going to be able to because of my leg. I was riding in Australia and caught my tow under a tree root which just ripped my leg sideways and broke my Fibula. It’s not actually too bad, it’s more the cast itself, which is digging in and pinching especially when I’m exiting right hand corners. It’s a bit annoying but it will be alright tomorrow.” Italian Ilario Dionisi continued his impressive transition to life in the highly competitive World Supersport class by slashing nearly two full seconds off his day one lap time. Despite the huge improvement in lap time Dionisi unfortunately dropped down the provisional grid to 29th spot, but remains confident in his bike set-up for tomorrow’s race. Ilario Dionisi said: “Today I have a better feeling with the bike and the team so as a result I have been able to lap nearly two seconds faster. I had a small problem with my number one bike which meant that I had to set my fastest time on the number two machine, but it’s not such a big problem because the bike is moving in the right direction. Everything is still very new for me, but today I was able to follow some other riders and learn some different lines. Up until now my experience has been on the 1000cc Superstock machines so I still have a lot to learn with lines and corner speed when I am riding this bike.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Foret Takes Pole On New YZF-R6 At Losail Fabien Foret marked the first competitive appearance of the new Yamaha YZF-R6 in fine style by taking pole position and a new track best lap time of 2:01.928. This is also Foret’s first race for his new squad, doubling the pre-race satisfaction felt by both team and rider. Broc Parkes made the improvements in set-up he required to challenge at the front today, and scored fifth best time, with a 2:02.636. Foret was relaxed in his approach to the final qualifying session, taking almost half a second off his day one time, which had earned him the provisional pole spot going into the final qualifying session today. Foret proved to be 0.345 seconds faster than the next nearest challenger in qualifying. Parkes felt a degree of relief as he approached the kind of form he had shown in pre-season testing, and improved his lap time by well over two seconds when compared to a difficult day one. David Salom (Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team) secured a top ten grid placing after two strong days on track at the tricky Losail circuit, giving a boost to his hardworking team and his own confidence. His temporary team-mate, Josep Pedro secured a in his first visit to Qatar. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) has had a luckless weekend so far, with technical issues preventing him from maximising his track time. The proven WSS race winner could only qualify in 28th place on the starting grid. Fabien Foret (1st – 2’01.928 – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “I didn’t make any mistakes in my fast lap and I also did a 2’02.0 near the end, which was very close to my best. I was not taking too many risks, and I am happy that the work we did in the winter is now paying off. I was not always very, very fast in testing but I was pretty consistent, working hard to find the right settings – and now we see the reward. I am happy, especially because I am in a new team this year, and we have a new bike. The bike is already very good so we will be going out to make a strong result tomorrow in the race.” Broc Parkes (5th: – 2’02.636 – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “A lot better today. We came from behind and I was hoping to get a front row start after the weekend we have had. It was a little bit unexpected to find ourselves the way we were yesterday, after winter testing had been so good, but we have a good set-up now and we are getting closer to where we want to be. I’m optimistic for the race and I’m really looking forward to it now.” Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team “It’s good to have both Fabien and Broc at the front of the field at the end of qualifying, good for all the team. Fabien has gone faster now than Broc did in testing so we are obviously working in a good direction. And Fabien was not finding it hard to do the lap times; it was coming relatively easy for him. Now we have to look towards doing well in the race itself and keep our heads down, keep working hard. There is no point in making real changes in set-up now, we just have to make sure that the riders can fight from the first to the last lap, because they have to.” David Salom (9th – 2’02.866 – Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team) “The weather conditions and some improvements in our suspension set up and electronics system allowed us to go faster today, and it’s great to be in the top ten out of 36 riders. We have not made a final tyre choice yet, we will wait for the warm-up to make a decision, because the track may be different again tomorrow.”