FIM Superbike World Championship Brno, Czech Republic July 24, 2009 Qualifying Practice One (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Max BIAGGI (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:59.982 2. Michel FABRIZIO (Ducati 1098 F09), 2:00.066 3. Carlos CHECA (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:00.205 4. Ben SPIES (Yamaha YZF-R1), 2:00.558 5. Lorenzo LANZI (Ducati 1098R), 2:00.581 6. Troy CORSER (BMW S1000 RR), 2:00.603 7. Shinya NAKANO (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 2:00.648 8. Ruben XAUS (BMW S1000 RR), 2:00.731 9. Broc PARKES (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:00.887 10. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 2:00.958, crash 11. Shane BYRNE (Ducati 1098R), 2:01.017 12. John HOPKINS (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:01.021, crash 13. Jonathan REA (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:01.023 14. Jakub SMRZ (Ducati 1098R), 2:01.031 15. Noriyuki HAGA (Ducati 1098 F09), 2:01.062 16. Tom SYKES (Yamaha YZF-R1), 2:01.070 17. Makoto TAMADA (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:01.385 18. Leon HASLAM (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:01.403 19. Ryuichi KIYONARI (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:01.439 20. Matthieu LAGRIVE (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:01.720 21. Luca SCASSA (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:02.155 22. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:02.346 23. Fonsi NIETO (Ducati 1098R), 2:02.644 24. David SALOM (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:02.691 25. David CHECA (Yam YZF-R1), 2:02.785 More, from a press release issued by Infront Motor Sports: Italian flavour for opening Brno qualifying Two Italians, Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) powered to the top two slots on the opening day of World Superbike qualifying at Brno in the Czech Republic. The multiple world champion was the only rider to dip under the two minute mark, when he set the quickest time of 1 minute 59.982 seconds right at the very end of the session. Less than one-tenth behind was Fabrizio, with both riders confirming their exceptional feeling with the Czech circuit. Third place went to another man with considerable experience of the Brno track, Spain’s Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), while Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike), who has never seen the place before, was fourth quickest. Italian colours were also held high by Lorenzo Lanzi, in fifth place for the private DFX Ducati team, while BMW confirmed its recent Imola testing progress as Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus set sixth and eighth quickest time respectively for the German manufacturer. One illustrious top 10 outsider at the moment is the returning Japanese rider Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), the points leader, who was injured at Donington, preferring to ease back into the pace without taking any risks and guarantee himself a position in Superpole. Haga currently lies in 15th. Kawasaki also showed some progress in the first session, with Broc Parkes placing ninth and Makoto Tamada 17th, but the Japanese rider’s fourth quickest time at the end was annulled because he had started his quick lap after the chequered flag had been shown. While some way down the field for the moment can be found Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and home favourite Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati) in 13th and 14th place respectively. Times: 1. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’59.982; 2. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2’00.066; 3. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 2’00.205; 4. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 2’00.558; 5. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2’00.581; 6. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 2’00.603; 7. Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2’00.648; 8. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 2’00.731; 9. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2’00.887; 10. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2’00.958; 11. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 2’01.017; 12. Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 2’01.021; 13. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 2’01.023; 14. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 2’01.031; 15. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 2’01.062; 16. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 2’01.070 World Supersport Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) got right down to business in today’s opening free practice session, the championship leader powering to an impressive time of 2 minutes 02.334 seconds around the Brno circuit. Crutchlow’s time was nine-tenths quicker than the previous best lap set by Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) twelve months ago. Second behind Crutchlow, but an abyss of almost 1.5 seconds behind, was team-mate Fabien Foret, while third and fourth quickest were Crutchlow’s title rivals Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda), two and three tenths further down. Katsuaki Fujiwara this time went better than his team-mate Joan Lascorz with fifth time, with the Spaniard two places further back and behind Stiggy Racing Honda’s Anthony West in sixth. Garry McCoy took the ParkinGo Triumph to a positive eighth place, with Gianluca Vizziello (Stiggy racing Honda) and Miguel Praia (Parkalgar Honda) making up the top 10. Times: 1. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 2’02.334; 2. Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 2’03.777; 3. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 2’03.997; 4. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 2’04.089; 5. Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’04.256; 6. West A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 2’04.332; 7. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’04.359; 8. McCoy G. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675 2’04.394 Superstock 1000 The opening Superstock 1000 free practice session was dominated by Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda), the young Frenchman however only able to lap half a second slower than his own record set last year. His rivals were all well down, the closest being Davide Giugliano, making his debut with the Celani Suzuki machine, while points leader Xavier Simeon (Ducati Xerox) was in third, a second off Berger’s pace. Czech rider Ondrej Jezek (MS Racing Honda) took the final ‘virtual’ front row slot ahead of Andrea Antonelli (Yamaha Trasimeno). The third title contender Claudio Corti (Alstare Suzuki) was in difficulty, the Italian struggling with handling problems and unable to go any higher than tenth place, over 2″ slower than Berger. Times: 1. Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 2’04.214; 2. Giugliano D. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2’05.152; 3. Simeon X. (BEL) Ducati 1098R 2’05.341; 4. Jezek O. (CZE) Honda CBR1000RR 2’05.367; 5. Antonelli A. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R1 2’05.814; 6. Barrier S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 2’06.091; 7. Fores J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2’06.115; 8. Barragan S. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 2’06.241 Superstock 600 Quickest time of the day in the opening free practice session went to Danilo Petrucci (Yamaha Trasimeno). The Italian, the only rider under the 2m08s mark, for the moment has the advantage over his two title rivals, Gino Rea (Ten Kate Honda) in third and Marco Bussolotti (Yamaha Trasimeno) in fifth, respectively three and five tenths behind. Second place went to Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Yamaha) with two more Italians Eddi La Marra in fourth and Nico Morelli (both Honda Lorini) in sixth. Times: 1. Petrucci D. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 2’07.915; 2. Guarnoni J. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 2’08.254; 3. Rea G. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 2’08.306; 4. La Marra E. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 2’08.392; 5. Bussolotti M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 2’08.430; 6. Morelli N. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 2’08.734; 7. Kerschbaumer S. (AUT) Yamaha YZF R6 2’08.887; 8. Lonbois V. (BEL) Yamaha YZF R6 2’09.493 More, from a press release issued by Ten Kate Honda: Ryuichi Kiyonari set the 19th fastest time in this afternoon’s opening qualifying session for Sunday’s two 10th round World Superbike championship races at Brno in the Czech Republic. The Japanese Ten Kate Honda Racing rider was sixth fastest after the morning’s opening free practice session at the 5.4km circuit outside the Czech Republic’s second city. However, a problem with his number one machine just before the afternoon qualifying session commenced left Kiyonari with only his number two Honda CBR1000RR on which to make progress. Ryuichi Kiyonari P19, 2’01.439s We had a different setting on the spare machine and, although the feeling was nearly the same, it was different enough to make things a bit more difficult. The setting didn’t really work and we are still quite early in the relationship with Ohlins so it was difficult to know which way to go. But with the test at Imola last week, and today, we are learning more about the new parts each time we go out. I used a similar setting to Imola for this morning’s session and that went OK, so I’m confident that we will go forward again tomorrow and close that small gap to the front. Ronald ten Kate team manager Kiyo-san had a good free practice session this morning, but a problem with his number one bike just before the afternoon session made things difficult. He jumped on his spare machine which was set up a little differently and it didn’t really work out. We’ll try some more tomorrow and I’m sure we can help Kiyo to improve his position. More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Carlos Checa earned himself a provisional front row start for Sunday’s 10th round World Superbike championship races at Brno by setting the third fastest time in this afternoon’s opening qualifying session. The Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider lapped the 5.4km Czech circuit in a time of 2’00.205s, just two tenths off the time of provisional pole setter, Max Biaggi. Checa’s team-mate, Jonathan Rea, was 13th fastest today as he rode his Honda CBR1000RR Superbike for the first time at the undulating Brno circuit the scene of his maiden World Supersport championship win a year ago. Carlos Checa P3, 2’00.205s Today we have been constantly on the pace near the front. We carried our setting from last week’s Imola test over here to Brno and started pretty much with that this morning. We changed a few things to fine tune the setting but, as a team, we have been quite clear about the direction we need to go in. As long as there is no rain tomorrow, I think we can keep moving forward. We need to work a little bit on finding some more front grip in the first sector but our minds are clear and we are in a good position. Jonathan Rea P13, 2’01.023s The bike is actually working quite well at the moment and we’ve just changed a couple of things after last week’s test at Imola I’m just not sure what I’m looking for from the bike. But I was in a similar position last year with the Supersport team and we managed to sort things overnight. We need to do that again here, so we’ll sit down later to look at what needs improving. I can’t see the front guys going that much quicker, so it’ll be down to me getting a bit closer to the limit, which we’re not near yet. Ronald ten Kate team manager We seem to be quite close to the bull’s-eye with Carlos today. We are not that far off, even though, of course, there is still some work to do. We’re a little puzzled by Johnny’s struggles he seems to be having problems getting into a good rhythm with the track Hopefully a good night’s sleep will sort it as it’s a little like the position he was in last year in Supersport. I think the Friday sessions then could best be described as a waste of fuel! But he made a big step forward on Saturday to win his first World Supersport race on the Sunday. Hopefully, this is just the way he does things at Brno. More, from a press release issued by Stiggy Racing Honda: Stiggy Racing Honda rider John Hopkins was on fine form in the first day of qualifying for the tenth round of the World Superbike Championship and posted the second fastest time in the opening Free Practice at Brno today. The American 13;who missed out 8 races due to an injury 13;concluded a two-day test with his teammate Leon Haslam at the Czech track two weeks ago and used the collected data to clock the second fastest time of 2’01.399s. Hopkins took another 0.4s off his earlier result in the first qualifying practice, but crashed out after a tyre change in the ultimate minutes of the session while pushing for his fastest lap. Haslam struggled to find the right suspension set-up for his machine in the first session, but opened things up in the 60-minute qualifying practice. The Englishman 13;who claimed a podium in the last event at Donington 13;closed the first day of qualifying in 18th place. John Hopkins – 2’01.021s: “In the first session I was struggling a lot with the chattering of the bike. Right at the end we tried something different and then made a big improvement on the set-up and were able to go almost two-seconds quicker as I was able to run it through the corners better and hold the corner speed. We tried a new tyre towards the end of the qualifying session, but as I was trying to set a decent lap time I lost the front in one of the slower corners and had a small crash.” Leon Haslam – 2’01.403s: “I made some progress from this morning. I really struggled in the free practice session, we had a problem with one bike and the other bike was not set up the right way for the conditions at this circuit. We made some progress on the set-up and I have been able to ride at a pretty consistent pace, but we still need to find another second tomorrow and improve the lap times.” Johan Stigefelt – Team Manager: “John started off really well today and immediately felt comfortable on the bike. We tried some different settings on both bikes and made progress through both sessions. John had a small crash this afternoon on his fastest lap, but he is very confident on his potential and to further improve tomorrow. Leon is working hard on finding his set-up on this track. We tested here a couple of weeks ago, but we still need to utilise the test settings. We will analyse the data tonight to see where we can make the improvements. It is a suspension problem more than anything else, and we will just have to work out how to solve it.” More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: A DETERMINED FABRIZIO (DUCATI XEROX) FINISHES SECOND IN FIRST QUALIFYING AT BRNO; INJURED HAGA GRITS HIS TEETH Brno (Czech Republic), Friday 24th July 2009: the tenth round of the World Superbike Championship got underway today at the Czech circuit of Brno and Ducati Xerox rider Michel Fabrizio immediately got to business, concluding first qualifying in second place. Last week Michel participated in the official Infront Motor Sports test session at Imola and was the most consistently fast of the Superbike riders. He vowed, at the conclusion of those tests, to do all he can to replicate his performance there during each of the remaining race weekends, and in today’s early afternoon practice session Michel got straight down to the task in hand. Immediately one of the fastest, Michel concluded the hour-long circuit in third place, on the Brno track that he cites as perhaps his favourite of all the international Superbike circuits. Team-mate Noriyuki, working to improve traction and feeling with the front of his Ducati 1198, finished eighteenth. Having not ridden since the crash at Donington Park nearly a month ago, which left him with fractures to his right ulna and left scapula, Nitro-Nori got back in the hot seat today and, perhaps not surprisingly, suffered from severe muscle ache in his left upper-arm. The team’s physiotherapist Leigh “Rok” Bryan commented that a certain degree of muscle ache is to be expected as Haga has not been able to use the left arm and shoulder to any great degree in the last few weeks. In the afternoon qualifying session Noriyuki’s physical condition evidently slowed his progress, as the discomfort caused by his scapula meant that he was tiring easily and having difficulty braking. Despite not having any real issues with his 1198, it was this injury that hindered the rider and Haga concluded today’s proceedings in fifteenth place. Michel meanwhile made steady progress and was at the top of the timesheets for almost the entire session before fellow Roman Max Biaggi made a flying lap in the final minute, recording a fastest time less than a tenth of a second quicker than Michel. Times were very close this afternoon and it is worth noting that, Nori’s best time was less than a second off Michel’s pace. Michel Fabrizio 2m00.0s “I’ve made a good start. Max just beat me to the fastest time in the last minute but we expected him to be going well having testing here recently. I’m feeling fairly confident with the set-up of the bike and the tyres for Sunday will be the same that we used here last year I think so we’re sorted there. It should be a good race day as we’ve seen a variety of riders going strong in today’s two sessions; the more, the merrier I say!” Noriyuki Haga 2m01.0s “I have been gritting my teeth today to be honest. It’s the first time I’ve fractured my scapula and I hope to never do it again. It’s very painful, mainly when braking and so I’m losing time through every corner as it’s hard work changing direction. Having said that, this is without any painkillers so maybe I’ll think about taking some for the races. There are no real problems with the bike, just with the rider. Tomorrow we’ll see what we can do to modify the bike in order to facilitate braking.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Yamaha World Superbike Team riders Ben Spies and Tom Sykes ventured out today for their first time on the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic. Both riders spent the first free practice session learning the track layout and testing out the set up of their bike in advance of the afternoon’s qualifying session. Spies showed his usual flair for understanding a circuit in record time, ending the session in third position just two tenths off the leader Max Biaggi. The afternoon’s qualifying session saw similar action as Spies dedicated the session to working out the right tyre choice for Sunday’s two races and fine tuning the set up of his R1. He ended the session in fourth, six tenths off leader Max Biaggi. Tom Sykes worked hard today, he finished the free practice session in 21st after a frustrating session with a technical issue reducing his time on the bike. He came back out in the afternoon’s qualifying and moved up to 8th midway through the session before dropping a couple of places to 16th at the end just behind championship leader Noriyuki Haga in 15th. Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (4th, 2’00.558) “it was a good session for us today. We weren’t out there to go stupid and try and get the fastest lap, I’ve been concentrating on learning the circuit and working on finding the best tyres for Sunday. I think we’ve found the ones we want, the pace seems to be really good on them so I’m happy and the bike set up is pretty much there. We tried to fit as much as possible into today’s session in the dry in case the rain comes tomorrow and I think we achieved quite a lot. Let’s see what the weather brings us tomorrow.” Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (16th, 2’01.070) “The first session of the day wasn’t that great, we had a few problems and I missed some valuable time on track which isn’t ideal as I’m still trying to learn the circuit. For the second session we made some improvements and tried a couple of tyres out. We tried some different settings and I think I found a good rhythm but it was towards the end of the session so not enough time to put on a fresh tyre and make a better time. We’ll only get stronger so we’ll see what happens tomorrow. Weather permitting tomorrow the aim is to improve dramatically on lap times for a good two races Sunday.” Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager “For the first day of learning the circuit I think we did well today. We found a pretty good race pace for both riders and I think we now know which tyres we want for Sunday. I think it is possibly going to rain tomorrow so it was important for us to get some good dry time on the track today to get as much data as possible for the set up for Sunday.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Team Suzuki Alstare Brux rider Yukio Kagayama ended the first day of qualifying at Brno in the Czech Republic with the 10th fastest time, but is hopeful of improvement tomorrow. With regular teamster Max Neukirchner sidelined because of injury, Kagayama is the team’s sole representative this weekend and has to shoulder the burden of testing and qualifying without any help. Italian Max Biaggi (Aprilia) posted the day’s fastest lap with fellow Roman Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) second. Spaniard Carlos Checa (Honda) was third, with American Ben Spies (Yamaha) fourth, making it four different manufacturers on the provisional front row. Yukio Kagayama – 10th, 2:00.958: “Tenth is so-so on day one and I wanted to be further up the standings. But today our bike was not so bad. Normally on Fridays, our bike is OK. The problems sometimes come on Saturdays and often we end up going back to the set-up we found on Fridays. I had a little crash today when I lost the front end after hitting some bumps, but fortunately my body did not suffer any injury. But I want to say sorry to my mechanics because I have given them some work to do! I like this track and have been on the podium here before, so I am hoping for a big improvement tomorrow and a good day on Sunday.” Friday WSB qualifying: 1 Biaggi (ITA-Aprilia) 1:59.982, 2 Fabrizio (ITA-Ducati) 2:00.066, 3 C Checa (ESP-Honda) 2:00.205, 4 Spies (USA-Yamaha) 2:00.558, 5 Lanzi (ITA-Ducati) 2:00.581, 6 Troy Corser (AUS-BMW) 2:00.603. 10 Yukio Kagayama (JPN-Suzuki Alstare Brux) 2:00.958. SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP: Team Suzuki Alstare Brux rider Claudio Corti ended the first day at Brno with the tenth fastest time, but is not happy rounding out the top-ten placings. Corti was unable to find a good feeling with his GSX-R1000 K9 bike, but he and the team will analyse the data and discuss what changes will be made for tomorrow’s two sessions. . Claudio Corti – 10th, 2:06.399:P I am not happy to be only tenth today but I guess it is because I never found a good feeling with the bike and so could not push as hard as I would’ve liked. I had problems in the turns today and didn’t have the confidence to accelerate hard on the exits. Tomorrow we will make some changes to the bike’s set-up and hopefully we will make a significant improvement. Friday Superstock 1000 results: 1 Berger (F-Honda) 2.04.214, 2 Giugliano (I-Suzuki) 2:05.152, 3 Simeon (B-Ducati) 2:05.341, 4 Jezek (CZ-Honda) 2:05.367, 5 Antonelli (I-Yamaha) 2:05.814, 6 Barrier (F-Yamaha) 2:06.091. 10 Claudio Corti (I-Suzuki Alstare Brux) 2:06.399. More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY HAPPY! Troy and team mate Ruben Xaus recorded their best first day of qualifying this season and ended the day with smiles on their faces. Troy found the S 1000 RR easier to ride and was able to use the flowing nature of the 5.403 kilometre track to good advantage in this morning’s free practice and afternoon qualifying session. The recent tests, together with hard work away and at the track, are beginning to pay dividends and the bike is now easier to ride and more consistent. Considering that the bike is still being developed, today’s results have given a lot encouragement to the whole team and now everybody is hopeful that the improvement will carry on throughout the rest of the weekend. Italian Max Biaggi (Aprilia) posted the day’s fastest lap in first qualifying, with fellow Roman Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) second. Spaniard Carlos Checa (Honda) was third, with American Ben Spies (Yamaha) fourth, making it four different manufacturers on the provisional front row of the grid. Troy – 6th, 2:00.603 It’s been a while since I have been able to say that I’m pretty happy, but today, I am pretty happy! The bike is now definitely more easy to ride and it is also much more consistent. Now I can feel what is going on when I push hard and so I don’t waste time concentrating on what might or might not happen – I can just ride! The recent tests were very good and we found a good direction. Everything seems as if it is coming together and when the bike is like it was today, it gives you a big boost about what could be ahead. For me, today the bike has been probably been the best it has been all season and I can really ride the racetrack now. We’ve got to keep on pushing and improving and it would be great to go into the summer break with good results. As long as the bike continues this way, I can’t see any reason why Ruben and I cannot finish with results on Sunday that’ll make the whole team smile. More, from a press release issued by Team Sterilgarda: It was an intense day 1 for team Sterilgarda trying to find the right setup who saved the last few minutes of the session aiming to get the fastest time possible. Shane Byrne finished eleventh, a result he hopes to improve tomorrow when changes will be made to the bike after the briefing between rider and team technicians. Moreover, this is one of the few tracks the 2008 BSB champion is familiar with despite the fact that he last raced here five years ago. SHANE BYRNE | Ducati 1098R | 11th in 2’01.017: “We had some difficulties early on today. We made a bad decision and I couldn’t go fast. However, by the end of the session we made a significant change suspensionwise and from that moment on I could ride more easily and I set faster times as well. We were almost a second faster with worn out tyres than with the previous setup and with new tyres on. We’re doing a good job, I’m confident for tomorrow and will hopefully qualify in the first two rows”. More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsports: BEST FIRST DAY OF QUALIFYING OF THE SEASON FOR TEAM BMW MOTORRAD MOTORSPORT. Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport riders Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus ended the first day of qualifying at Brno with their best results of the season and are now hoping for further improvement this weekend. Troy finished sixth quickest overall and Ruben eighth but, more importantly, both riders looked happy with the day’s proceedings and are now eager to push harder tomorrow. Today’s results have not come about by accident, they are the result of continuous hard work and development since Valencia, together with recent successful tests in Italy. Italian Max Biaggi (Aprilia) posted the day’s fastest lap, with fellow Roman Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) second. Spaniard Carlos Checa (Honda) was third, with American Ben Spies (Yamaha) fourth, making it four different manufacturers on the provisional front row. Troy – 6th, 2:00.603 Today I think the bike has probably been the best it has been all season and that’s very encouraging and positive. Today I can feel the track easily and because there are no real hairpins – which kill us normally – we can use the flow of the track to our advantage. The bike feels more consistent now and that’s because of the ongoing development and the step up we made in the recent tests. The bike is now easier to ride and I can push it hard, but when I do push hard, I am not getting the problems I had before. Ruben and I have been waiting for the bike to be like this and we both hope that the improvement will continue so that we can end this weekend with some really positive results. Ruben – 8th, 2:00731 The bike is definitely easier to ride today and that’s because of the step forward we made during the recent tests and all the hard work the team have put in since the season began. I had to swap to my spare bike (because of a clutch problem) towards the end of today’s qualifying and although the tyres were different and set-up was not the same, I was able to put in quick laps straightaway. If I had been able to use my normal bike, I feel pretty sure that I could’ve gone two or three tenths of a second quicker and that would’ve put me in about fourth place. It’s good to have a bike that’s more rideable and this gives me more time to do what I want. We shouldn’t get too carried away though, because this track suits our bike better than lots of other tracks, and the important thing is that we continue to improve tomorrow, so that we can push hard for good results on Sunday. Rainer Baeumel (BMW Motorrad Motorsport Team Manager) Today is no overnight sensation. It is the result of work that began after Valencia, carried on since and then the improvements we made in our recent tests. It has been our objective to improve the rideability of the bike since the start of the season and we have now done that. Now we ned to keep up the pace and improve again because everybody will go faster tomorrow. It’s good to see Troy and Ruben smiling again and now we would like to end Sunday with good results and then enjoy our summer break.