FIM Supersport World Championship Monza, Italy May 8, 2010 Final Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda CBR600RR), 1:47.848 2. Eugene Laverty (Honda CBR600RR), 1:47.962 3. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:48.233 4. Michele Pirro (Honda CBR600RR), 1:48.367 5. Fabien Foret (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:48.483 6. David Salom (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:48.523 7. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:48.965 8. Gino Rea (Honda CBR600RR), 1:49.029 9. Chaz Davies (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:49.068 10. Massimo Roccoli (Honda CBR600RR), 1:49.369 11. Matthieu Lagrive (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:49.536 12. Gianluca Vizziello (Honda CBR600RR), 1:49.687 13. Miguel Praia (Honda CBR600RR), 1:50.324 14. Andrea Boscoscuro (Honda CBR600RR), 1:50.857 15. Robbin Harms (Honda CBR600RR), 1:50.926 16. Jason DiSalvo (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:51.063 17. Alexander Lundh (Honda CBR600RR), 1:51.281 18. Danilo Dell’Omo (Honda CBR600RR), 1:51.437 19. Bastien Chesaux (Honda CBR600RR), 1:52.627 20. Imre Toth (Honda CBR600RR), 1:54.801 More, from a press release issued by Parkalgar Honda: Laverty comfortable second on the grid PARKALGAR HONDA racer Eugene Laverty was one of only two riders to get below the 1m 48sec barrier in qualifying for tomorrow’s fifth round of the World Supersport Championship at Monza in Italy and will start the race from second on the grid. Miguel Praia on his Parkalgar Honda improved his lap times from yesterday and will start from 13th knowing he needs to work harder to improve in the race. The race is on Sunday at 1330 CET. Keep up to date with the team at www.parkalgarhonda.com. Eugene: “I am actually happy not to be on pole after recent experiences of taking pole but not winning the races – I prefer to win races. Right at the end of the session I managed two 1m 47secs laps and that is good. We got through good work with our tyres and in the dry cool and wet conditions we are there and ready to race. If it heats up and is dry tomorrow we have a couple of things to try to go faster as well. It will be the same three riders going for the win in the dry with maybe one or two others showing their faces if it is wet. I’m relaxed and looking forward to the race.” Miguel: “We finished pretty much where we expected despite improving my lap times. To be honest, I thought I could have gone a second a lap faster than this but it didn’t happen. I can run these lap times consistently and that should be good enough for the top 10 – especially if I can get with a group and use the slipstream to my benefit; my Parkalgar Honda is quick. I am using this weekend to try and understand how I make the next big step in performance and I will be discussing how to improve my riding with the team.” Simon Buckmaster, Parkalgar Honda Team Manager: “That was an exciting qualifying session and while we were edged by Kenan we are happy with second on the grid; we have taken two poles recently and not won races while won two races from non-pole starts. We expect the top three or four usual suspects to be racing for the victory and Eugene has a great race chance. Miguel has the same Parkalgar Honda bike as Eugene and should be performing better than 13th place – he needs to be more aggressive and work harder to get a good result tomorrow, he has the package and opportunity to be fighting for the top eight. Whether rain or shine tomorrow we are ready for the race.” More, from a press release issued by Hannspree Ten Kate Honda: Kenan Sofuoglu took his second consecutive World Supersport championship pole position at Monza this afternoon after setting the fastest time in the second qualifying session for tomorrow’s fifth round race. The Turkish ace fired his Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR around the 5.777km Monza circuit in a time of 1’47.848s, just over one tenth of a second ahead of fellow Honda-mounted Eugene Laverty. After a wet free practice this morning, the Monza circuit dried out for this afternoon’s 45-minute qualifying session, allowing Sofuoglu’s team-mate, Italian Michele Pirro, to set the fourth fastest time for another front row start to tomorrow’s 20-lap race. Kenan Sofuoglu P1 1’47.848s Today I was very afraid that more rain would come and that we would not be able to improve on our poor provisional qualifying from yesterday. But I was also fast in the wet this mor ning, so we had two good settings for this afternoon. I took the dry one, of course, and after some more small changes, we found a better balance to the bike. The front row was my real goal today so I’m very happy to get pole position again. We have a completely different set up to the Assen race, which I do not want to repeat. That result hurt a lot, but I’m recovered from that now and ready to race again tomorrow, and deliver a result to reward my team. Michele Pirro P4 1’48.367s The feeling with the bike is much better than yesterday, which was quite difficult. I’m very happy with a front row start and even happier for Kenan and the rest of the team for his pole position. We have only really had one dry session here and we changed the bike a bit today by going harder at the front and softer at the rear. We will try one or two more possible solutions in warm-up and aim to get an even better result for the team in the race tomorrow. Ronald ten Kate team-manager Getting both riders on to the front row here is a great result for the whole team and was our number one priority today. This was especially true after we clearly had some issues to resolve overnight because the bike was definitely not working as well as we know it can. But the riders and the team really turned the wheel to get this good result and I think both of the guys can mix it in the slipstreaming battle tomorrow. 2010 World Supersport championship round five Monza, Italy (5.777kmkm) final qualifying results: 1. Kenan Sofuoglu (TUR) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 1’47.848s 2. Eugene Laverty (IRL) Honda 1’47.962s 3. Joan Lascorz (ESP) Kawasaki 1’48.233s 4. Michele Pirro (ITA) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 1’48.367s More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing: First Row Start For Joan, Row Two For Katsuaki WSS, Monza, Italy, 8 May 2010 Joan Lascorz took his Ninja ZX-6R to third place at the fast and thrilling Monza circuit after final qualifying, during a practice period which featured occasional rain and damp track surfaces. Katsuaki Fujiwara went seventh in qualifying, leaving him a useful second row starting place, but still looking for that last edge in his race set-up to allow him to challenge up front. He now hopes to use his powerful machine to get into the leaders’ slipstreaming battle, and stay in the fight with the other top riders. Despite the sometimes-treacherous track surface and a new chicane to get used to at the end of the main straight, Lascorz and his crew found a package he displayed good race pace with. Final qualifying was dry and Joan is confident going into the 16-lap race on Sunday in any conditions, as he goes out to not only defend his championship lead, but go for his second race win of the 2010 season. Joan Lascorz: “No problem for tomorrow and my time is good because no matter what tyre we use we can make a good race pace. With a new tyre or on a tyre with eight laps on it; the time is the same. The real race pace will not be the same as the best times in qualifying. I think we will be three riders at the end of the race and we need to see how the weather is tomorrow to choose the final tyre option.” Katsuaki Fujiwara: “We have not found the best possible set-up this weekend so far, to let me do a fast single lap anyway. We do not have a lot of time left to make improvements in warm-up but we will have time to check the race tyre and the feel from the machine. It will be important to make a good start and get into the top group because slipstreaming is important here.”