FIM Superbike World Championship Monza, Italy May 5 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Noriyuki HAGA (Yam YZF-R1) 1:47.007 2. Troy BAYLISS (Duc 999F06) 1:47.043 3. Troy CORSER (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:47.591 4. James TOSELAND (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:47.751 5. Regis LACONI (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:47.763 6. Alex BARROS (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:47.769 7. Andrew PITT (Yam YZF-R1) 1:47.793 8. Ruben XAUS (Duc 999F05) 1:47.852 9. Michel FABRIZIO (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:48.070 10. Roberto ROLFO (Duc 999F05) 1:48.334 11. Chris WALKER (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:48.530 12. Lorenzo LANZI (Duc 999F06) 1:48.575 13. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Duc 999RS) 1:48.712 14. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:48.828 15. Sebastien GIMBERT (Yam YZF-R1) 1:48.871 16. Ivan CLEMENTI (Duc 999RS) 1:49.226 17. Lorenzo ALFONSI (Duc 999RS) 1:49.357 18. Nicole BRIGNOLA (Duc 999RS) 1:49.475 19. Norick ABE (Yam YZF-R1) 1:49.497 20. Fonsi NIETO (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:49.578 More, from a press release issued by FGSport: MONZA 4th ROUND MAY 5th, 6th and 7th First Qualifying Practice Haga Fastest After Challenging First Day At Monza LIGHT RAIN AFFECTS AFTERNOON QUALIFYING SESSION With just the merest drizzle of rain appearing at the Ascari chicane section of the 5.793km Monza circuit, shortly after the start of the first timed session, the hour long Friday qualifying for the World Superbike riders proved to be a difficult affair. It was headed up by the impressively fast Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia), with a 1’47.007 faster than the previous lap record on race tyres, but only 0.028 from the absolute track best, despite the increasingly damp sections at Ascari and the Parabolica. Closest to Haga was championship leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox), only 0.036 seconds from the rapid Japanese rider. CORSER THIRD QUICKEST WITH TOSELAND ON HIS TAIL Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) was the closest rider to the Haga/Bayliss battle, with the 2005 champion third fastest, just over half a second from Haga’s best. The provisional front row was completed by James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda), riding with a small degree of caution, as the track was damp enough to hold back a full attack. The top five was completed by PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse’s Regis Laconi, pushing hard on the big Kawasaki and making it five different machines in the top five positions. ALEX BARROS IMPROVES TO GO TOP SIX Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda) used his Honda power to record the sixth best lap of the opening day’s qualifying session, finishing only 0.006 seconds from Laconi’s fifth place Kawasaki. An incredibly tight provisional second row was completed by Haga’s team-mate Andrew Pitt and the privateer Sterilgarda Berik Ducati of Spanish star Ruben Xaus. The latter’s 999 was the fastest bike through the speed trap, at a whopping 310kmph. ROOKIES TO THE FORE, EVEN IN TRICKY CONDITIONS Michel Fabrizio (DFX Treme Honda) and Roberto Rolfo (Ducati SC Caracchi 999) are both first year SBK riders, but each local man showed a good grasp of Monza’s early challenges to finish inside the top ten. Two more experienced riders followed them home, with Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) and Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) completing the top 12 places, and the third provisional row. NEUKIRCHNER IN PROVISIONAL SUPERPOLE PLACE Should day two dawn wet for the final qualifying session, then today’s times will count towards Superpole qualification. In those circumstances German youngster Max Neukirchner (Pedercini Ducati) will have already qualified for Superpole, as will the rest of the provisional fourth row, Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France Ipone) and Team Pedercini rider, Ivan Clementi. ABE CONCUSSED AND NANNELLI INJURED Yamaha Motor France Ipone rider Norick Abe, who had two impressive races at Valencia, fell exiting the Ascari chicane and suffered a heavy concussion during his tumble. He is currently in the Monza medical centre, undergoing observation. Gianluca Nannelli, Pierfrancesco Chili’s temporary replacement in the DFX Treme Honda team also fell at Ascari and suffered a light concession, plus an injured hand. WORLD SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) left the first day of qualifying at Monza with a new track best, in what is becoming perennially impressive fashion. In both unofficial practice and timed qualifying Charpentier bettered the previous best, finally running out with a 1’51.061, shortly before the rains started after the end of the 45-minute session. Megabike Honda rider Katsuaki Fujiwara was second fastest and the only other rider within the 1’51 bracket, with his personal best of 1’51.844. Yamaha Motor Germany rider Kevin Curtain scored third quickest effort of the timed session, followed by Winston Ten Kate Honda second rider Kenan Sofuoglu. Another young Supersport sensation, Yoann Tiberio (Megabike Honda) scored fifth best time, ahead of local Yamaha rider, Gianluca Vizziello, on his Yamaha Team Italia R6. With one more session to count towards overall qualification, but with pessimistic weather predictions being made for the rest of the weekend, Friday’s times may be the ones which determine the shape of the final grid. SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) headed off the opening qualifying challenge of Valencia race winner Alessandro Polita (Celani Suzuki) at Monza, running to a best time of 1’52.431. Ilario Dionisi (Team Trasimeno Yamaha) was third fastest, well down on the leading duo. Local rider, albeit with a season long remit in the PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse team, Denis Sacchetti, was fourth fastest. The top 11 riders were all Italian, proving his important local knowledge is for the big bike riders at Monza. EUROPEAN 600 SUPERSTOCK CHAMPIONSHIP Andrea Antonelli (Junior Team Italia Honda) took provisional pole in the 600cc Supersport class, ahead of proven Superstock entity in 2006, Xavier Simeon (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra). Lightspeed Kawasaki rider Davide Guigliano posted the third fastest time, in a field of 35 entrants. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Corser On Front Row At Monza Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra’s Troy Corser put his GSX-R1000 into provisional third place for Sunday’s fourth-round World Superbike Championship round at Monza in Italy. Although the rain didn’t fall heavily in this afternoon’s timed qualifying session, it was enough to make the track slippery in places and make the riders exercise caution. The morning untimed session had taken place in the dry, but the heavy cloud cover threatened rain later in the day. When timed qualifying began, all the riders tried to get out on the track and put in a fast time before the light drizzle turned to rain and the first 10 minutes saw heavy traffic. Most of the fast times were set in this period, with reigning champion Corser posting a lap of 1:47.591 – the third quickest. Corser’s team mate Yukio Kagayama’s right hand was giving him problems in the three Monza chicanes and that, together with the rain in the afternoon, was enough to prevent him from pushing hard. He finished with the 14th fastest time as Fabien had a disappointing day and could only manage 26th best time of the day. Troy Corser – 3rd, 1:47.591: “The conditions this afternoon were pretty tricky and a lot depended on how brave you wanted to be on a damp track! We changed the set-up from the morning and the lap times came pretty comfortably in the afternoon, but there was no point risking anything and crashing, so I just took it fairly steadily. When the afternoon qualifying began we all had the same idea – to get out quickly and put in a fast lap. This track is the kind of place where you need to find another fast rider so that you can pull each other along, but throughout the session I couldn’t find anybody to do that with me. ” Yukio Kagayama – 14th, 1:48.828: “I don’t have much to say really because I didn’t push hard at all today. My right hand is still sore from the crash in Valencia and it was difficult for me to change direction in the chicanes. The slightly wet conditions made it hard for all of us and I didn’t want another crash so I rode steadily.” Fabien Foret – 26th, 1:50.711: “I am very disappointed with myself today and I just couldn’t relax on the bike in the afternoon when it was wet some of the time. The problem was that it wasn’t wet all the time, but it was difficult to know how hard to push and where. I would like to forget about today and start afresh tomorrow when I hope it will be dry. Friday Qualifying: 1 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:47.007, 2 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:47.043, 3 Troy Corser (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:47.591, 4 Toseland (GB-Honda) 1:47.751, 5 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 1:47.763, 6 Barros (Bra-Honda) 1:47.769, 7 Pitt (Aus-Yamaha) 1:47.793, 8 Xaus (E-Ducati) 1:47.852, 9 Fabrizio (I-Honda) 1:48.070, 10 Rolfo (I-Ducati) 1.48.334. 14 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)N 1:48.828. 26 Fabien Foret (F-Alstare Engineering Corona Extra) 1:50.711. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Xerox Team: Bayliss Second Quickest For Ducati Xerox Team In Opening WSBK Session At Monza Monza (Italy), Friday 5 May: Troy Bayliss set the second quickest time for the Ducati Xerox Team in the opening World Superbike qualifying session at the Autodromo di Monza. The 37 year-old Australian, who knocked four-tenths of a second off his own circuit lap record, set way back in 2002, was just a fraction behind provisional poleman Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha). “I haven’t been to Monza for four years but the first exit hit the memory button and I remembered the place pretty well. Also the bike felt pretty good straightaway” declared Troy. “After the first session I was a couple of tenths under my old lap record from 2002 so it was nice to go faster than that. This afternoon we tried a few things but the track wasn’t in great condition because there was a bit of rain, but I did a race simulation and was really fast. I had Nori sitting on me the whole way which made me go a little faster because he was in the slipstream but honestly I expect a few more people to do that pace if they are with me as well. It’s only Friday anyway so we’ll see what tomorrow brings”. Team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi, who was riding a World Superbike machine for the first time at the high-speed Monza circuit, was relatively satisfied with his twelfth-quickest time but confident there was more to come as he gains more experience with the track. “It’s the first time for me on this track with a Superbike, so I spent much of the day on a learning curve” commented Lorenzo. “It wasn’t easy because this is a very fast track and you have to have a keen eye. In the afternoon I was improving but then it started to rain. I stayed out and in the last quarter of an hour I was the only rider to lap at a quick pace, together with Corser. I didn’t improve much but all the others had done their times in the first ten minutes when I didn’t have the right choice of tyres on. All things considered I’m quite satisfied. I did a lot of laps despite the light rain and I’m in Superpole which is always a good thing. Tomorrow let’s hope it doesn’t rain, but if it does, it’ll rain for everyone”. TIMES: 1. Haga (Yamaha) 1m47.007s; 2. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1m47.043s; 3. Corser (Suzuki) 1m47.591s; 4. Toseland (Honda) 1m47.751s; 5. Laconi (Kawasaki) 1m47.763s; 6. Barros (Honda) 1m47.769s; 7. Pitt (Yamaha) 1m47.793s; 8. Xaus (Ducati) 1m47.852s; “¦ 12. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 1m48.575s. TV COVERAGE. Eurosport (Pan European): Sunday 7 May, 1400 Race 1 (as live); 2300 Race 2 (delayed). La7 (Italy): Sunday 7 May, 1615 Races 1 & 2 (as live). More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: Toseland On Provisional Front Row At Monza James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) and Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) found light smatterings of rain to be the main problem in the opening session of qualifying action at Monza, when a smattering of light rain first fell at the Ascari chicane, to be followed by spits on other parts of the track. The difficult conditions claimed a few riders as the speeds increased, but Toseland still managed to set a best of 1’47.751, less then a second from the existing fastest lap, and good enough for an overall fourth best ranking. He is now guaranteed a Superpole start if the final timed session on Saturday morning proves to be fully wet. Muggeridge, making his return to competitive action after a recent back injury, qualified 22nd fastest, finding that the changeable conditions of the opening qualifying session at the fastest circuit of the year detrimental to his good early pace in the dry untimed morning session. Weather forecasts for the rest of the Monza weekend indicate further rains are a high possibility over race weekend. Ronald Ten Kate – Team Manager “That was a difficult situation due to the conditions on the track. It was hard to do the first qualifying like that. James did very well to get into the top four, and this morning, when it was fully dry Karl was going really well. He was even mixing it with the top ten guys. In the afternoon those conditions didn’t help him get his confidence back. But the performance he showed this morning was very good. Let’s hope it will be dry tomorrow, at least for one of the session, to get things worked out for his set-up and get him even further up the field.” James Toseland Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (4th position 1’47.751) “A pretty good qualifying session but I just had to be careful with the rain. There wasn’t enough to wet the track but just enough to make you think about it. Fourth on the grid is pretty good but the weather outlook for the weekend doesn’t look so good. We have good dry settings, just a couple of little things on the bikes, and the package is very strong here, so all things are pretty good. Around here is not so bad in the wet, quite a lot of grip.” Karl Muggeridge Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (22nd position 1’49.764) “Not the way I wanted to finish the day. It started OK but with some spots of rain out there I just didn’t feel comfortable on the bike. I tried and tried and then I missed the gap when the track was driest. I should have gone quicker then. At this point I just have to see what tomorrow brings. The forecast is rain, which won’t help!” More, from a press release issued by Team Klaffi Honda: After Not Riding At Monza For Years Barros Finishes 6th In Qualifying For Alex Barros it is nearly a new race track, because his last ride at Monza is years ago. But no problem for Alex. Already in the free practice session this morning he did a 1’48.168 lap time and finished 8th. In the first qualifying in the afternoon only 8 riders are faster than 1’48. Alex achieves position 6 with a 1’47.769 lap time. Alex Barros: “The weather was a little bit tricky today. It didn’t look so promising. Everybody expected some rain and so all the riders tried to do some fast laps already in the beginning of the qualifying session. When there were first rain drops some of the corners became immediately slippery. Additional to this the surface of the track is also not so rough. Position 6 today is quite okay and don’t forget I’m a newcomer on the track. I did some mistakes but I like this ultra fast track very much. We have a very high potential and if it will be dry tomorrow the chances are really good.” Team Manager Klaus Klaffenböck: “The first day at Monza was promising. The engine of the Klaffi Honda Fireblade works very well and Alex achieved an impressive top speed today. The conditions for the weekend are perfect. Only the weather is something you can not calculate. May be it becomes a real roulette on Sunday.” More, from a press release issued by Beowulf Racing: Damp Start For Beowulf’s Henderson At Monza 2006 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, Rd 2 Monza, Italy Qualifying session 1, Fri 5th May At the end of a damp and dismal opening qualifying session (weather-wise), Beowulf Racing’s Nick Henderson lies in 27th place for Sunday’s second round of the 2006 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup at the Italian circuit of Monza. Despite several off-track excursions, the Australian admits to liking the historic track but his progress has been hindered not only by the weather but braking and suspension problems as well. Italian Claudio Corti (Yamaha) currently tops the time sheets although Henderson is confident about closing the gap tomorrow if the weather will co-operate just a little more! After the first round of the series at Valencia a fortnight ago, Henderson commented he was looking forward to the high-speed turns of the 3.6-mile Italian track. During this morning’s free practice session, Nick had no trouble blasting the Beowulf Suzuki to a top speed of 176mph, but problems with his brakes meant that he overshot several chicanes. A further heart-stopping moment occurred when another rider braked suddenly in front of Henderson, forcing him to travel the length of the back straight on the grass although he was able to keep his machine upright and rejoin the session. At the end of the practice, Nick lay in 31st place with a time of 1:57.956. Henderson also has to contend with the fact that eight riders from the series were here at a national Italian Superbike round last weekend, gaining valuable additional track time. With the rain just beginning to spit down lightly as the gate opened for this afternoon’s first timed qualifying session, Nick decided to circulate the track very much on his own rather than with a pack of other riders and risk being involved in a multi-bike pile-up. The weather kept changing during the 45-minute session, sometimes being clear, sometimes spitting and towards the end raining lightly. This led to several periods of inactivity as riders pitted and waited for conditions to improve and the session ended with not a single rider on the track. Although Henderson appeared to be one of the most stable riders on the circuit, he later revealed he had been fighting against a rear suspension problem. Despite this, he recorded a best lap time of 1:57.220 to bag 27th place on the timesheet out of a field of 37 riders. Claudio Corti, who won the Superstock 600 race at Monza last year, tops the list with a time of 1:52.431. “I’m more at home here than at Valencia, that’s for sure” said Henderson afterwards. “The Suzuki can handle the fast corners really well, but you have to brake so heavily for the chicanes. The trick to a fast lap seems to be to do a bit of slipstreaming and I’ll need to work on that tomorrow. Realistically, I think I can drop two seconds in tomorrow’s sessions which still doesn’t take me where I want to be but should be good enough for the front four rows to start Sunday’s race, and we’ll take things from there.” Saturday will consist of a further free practice session and a second timed qualifying period, lasting 30 and 25 minutes respectively. Sunday’s race will be an 11-lap affair which, weather permitting, should serve up the usual frantic battle this Italian circuit is famed for. To learn more about Nick Henderson and Beowulf Racing visit www.beowulf-racing .com From another a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Pirovano Sets GSX-R Cup Pace Wild Card entry Fabrizio Pirovano proved that he is still the ‘Master of Monza’ in the opening qualifying session for the Suzuki GSX-R European Cup at Monza. Pirovano, who retired from top-level competition a few years ago, used his considerable circuit knowledge to post the day’s fastest lap. But he didn’t have it all his own way throughout the 45-minute qualifying session, because he was pushed hard by Belgian Xavier Simeon – winner of the opening round in Valencia. Qualifying took place on a damp track and the conditions were far from ideal for the regular Suzuki Cup riders – many of whom had never ridden at Monza before. Pirovano has won in the wet at Monza – in his World Superbike and Supersport days – but Simeon certainly did enough to give him a real fright until the last few minutes of the session. Third quickest today is Italian Simone Castellani ahead of Frenchman Anthony Delhalle and Spaniard Augustin Perez. German Phillip Hafeneger rounded out the top six. Fabrizio Pirovano – 1st, 2:04.991: “I just couldn’t resist the opportunity to race here again and have been looking forward to it since the start of the season. Monza is a very special place for me because it is my home circuit and also because of all the successes I have had here. It can be quite a hard track in the wet and you have to know where you are going in order to put in a fast lap. That’s where my circuit knowledge came in. “But the young kid – Simeon – was a real threat this afternoon. He made me go faster and faster and it was only in the closing stages that I was able to pull out a bit of a gap. As a ‘Wild Card’ I know I will not score any points if I win the race on Sunday, but I would still love to win it because Monza is my track.” Friday GSX-R Cup Qualifying: 1 Pirovano 2:04.991, 2 Simeon 2:05.528, 3 Castellani 2:07.085, 4 Delhalle 2:09.189, 5 Perez 2:11.253, 6 Hafeneger 2:11.769.