FIM Superbike World Championship Losail International Circuit Doha, Qatar February 21, 2007 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Troy CORSER (Yam YZF-R1), 1:59.627 2. Troy BAYLISS (Duc 1098F08), 1:59.853 3. Fonsi NIETO (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:00.307 4. Noriyuki HAGA (Yam YZF-R1), 2:00.476 5. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:00.599 6. Ruben XAUS (Duc 1098RS), 2:00.695 7. Lorenzo LANZI (Duc 1098RS), 2:00.724 8. Max BIAGGI (Duc 1098RS), 2:00.744 9. Sebastien GIMBERT (Yam YZF-R1), 2:00.857 10. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:00.904 11. Michel FABRIZIO (Duc 1098F08), 2:00.937 12. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:01.086 13. Carlos CHECA (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:01.409 14. Ayrton BADOVINI (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:01.677 15. Gregorio LAVILLA (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:01.729 16. Jakub SMRZ (Duc 1098RS), 2:01.955 17. David CHECA (Yam YZF-R1), 2:01.984 18. Roberto ROLFO (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:02.004 19. Regis LACONI (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:02.100 20. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:02.256 21. Ryuichi KIYONARI (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:02.494 22. Luca MORELLI (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:02.980 23. Russell HOLLAND (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:03.006 24. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yam YZF-R1), 2:03.542 25. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:03.765 26. Shuhei AOYAMA (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:03.796 27. Makoto TAMADA (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:04.264 28. Loic NAPOLEONE (Yam YZF-R1), 2:06.363 Qualifying Cut-off Time (107% Of 1:59.627): 2:08.002 More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: BAYLISS AND FABRIZIO BATTLE AGAINST THE ELEMENTS AT THE LOSAIL INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT Losail (Qatar), Thursday 21st February: Bayliss and Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) faced difficult climactic conditions today as the 2008 World Superbike championship officially got underway. Winds of up to 40 km/h meant that riders were unable to record any particularly fast laps and the morning practice session was instead used to check the settings of the new Ducati 1098 F08 machines. The afternoon qualifying session went ahead in similar conditions at the Losail International Circuit with both riders attempting to improve on the times recorded in the morning. Troy Bayliss 1m59.8s “I’m reasonably happy with how it went today but we all found it tough and every lap had to be ridden in a different way simply due to the conditions. The wind meant that I was never completely comfortable and there is only so much we can do to change the settings of the bike because conditions may be different again tomorrow. Looking at this weekend’s entry list I reckon it’s going to be a very competitive championship this year, we’re a strong field and I’m looking forward to the competition!” Michel Fabrizio 2m00.9s “It was very difficult out there today and although sand on the track wasn’t such a problem, I wasn’t totally confident on the bike with the strong winds. Having said that, there were several of us who were lapping around the 2 minute mark so we were all having similar problems with the weather I think. We’ve changed a few settings on the bike throughout the day and I hope that we can make better progress tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Qatar Superbike qualifying dominated by strong wind The afternoon qualifying for the Superbike riders saw little change in the circumstances leaving the riders once again struggle with wind and sand. The new Spanish arrival to the team secured the team’s fastest time of 2’01.409, placing him on the 13th place of the timesheets. WSB rookies Kiyonari and Sofuoglu put in a lot of work aboard the ‘work-in-progress’ CBR1000RR Fireblade and gradually reduced their lap times set over the day to end with a final best of 2’02.494 and 2’03.765 respectively. After changing the set-up of the bikes overnight, the team hopes to be able to put in a better performance in tomorrow’ s qualifying session. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager: Today has been a very difficult day for our Superbike riders. Not only the conditions played havoc, but also riding a brand new bike that is still a work in progress proved to be a hard one for our riders. We will analyse the gathered data tonight and make some important changes in order to increase the performance for tomorrow’s qualifying. The potential is in our hands, but we still have to work on finding the right balance. Carlos Checa, 2’01.409; It has been very difficult to put in good lap times on the bike this morning. We still need to understand the bike balance and find consistency in order to improve our lap times. This basically is the last leg of testing for us, considering we missed out on some important pre-season testing. The CBR1000RR is completely new so we’ll just have to continue developing. It will be difficult to get ready for the race on Saturday, but I am confident about the bikes’ potential, we just have to find the best way to make it work for us. Ryuichi Kyonari, 2’02.494 I am not satisfied at all with my performance. Today has been very difficult for me trying to find the right balance on the bike, which makes it even harder to ride in these conditions. We have tried different set-ups to find the best balance, which will hopefully make me faster in tomorrow’s qualifying session. I am facing a difficult task ahead of me but am glad to hear the weather predictions are looking better for tomorrow. Kenan Sofuoglu, 2’03.765 My first qualifying in Superbike was very difficult for me because of the harsh circumstances. If you can control your bike it’s probably easier to control the bike, but right now it’s the conditions that seem to control the bike instead of me. For sure I will need to be a lot faster then this. We will have to change some settings on the bike for tomorrow. With the changing weather conditions I am hoping to be able to put in a better performance. More, from a press release issued by Alstare Suzuki: Despite the incredibly strong winds at the World Superbike Championship opening round at the Doha circuit in Qatar today, Team Suzuki Alstare riders Fonsi Nieto and Yukio Kagayama took strong third and fifth fastest times overall. Max Neukirchner experienced some handling problems but also didn’t want to risk anything in the difficult conditions so he kept things steady to finish 10th. Aussie Troy Corser (Yamaha) ended first qualifying with the day’s fastest lap, 1:59.627, two tenths of a second quicker than his fellow countryman Troy Bayliss (Ducati). Nieto had been fastest in the morning untimed practice session and ended third quickest in the afternoon with Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) fourth. Fonsi Nieto – 3rd, 2:00.307: “I’m happy with the first day of practice here in Qatar and think that what we did today was a good result. It was hard today because of the very strong wind and, because the wind was not consistent, it made things quite difficult today. I’m particularly happy because Corser, Bayliss and Haga all tested here recently, so to be up with them today is very satisfying. Both the wind and the sand make it easy to miss your line and once that happens, you lose time. We did a lot of good work on the bike today and hope to carry that on tomorrow. I hope that the wind is not so strong and we can make good progress throughout the day.” Yukio Kagayama – 5th, 2:00.599: “The wind today was unbelievable! I don’t think I’ve ever raced in such strong winds before and certainly not winds that stayed at the same strength all day. It made many parts of the track a problem, especially the second last corner for me. I think the wind pushed me off line five times in five laps at that turn and that meant that I lost time. Also, I was hit in the visor many times by small stones and that made life a bit interesting! For tomorrow, I think we’ll keep the same chassis set-up but make some adjustments to the engine and the electronics to make the bike smoother and easier to ride. I just hope the wind is not so bad!” Max Neukirchner – 10th, 2:00.904: “It was very windy out there today and I had many problems in many parts of the track because of that. It was not easy braking for the turns because sometimes the wind was behind you, sometimes across you and sometimes in your front! The last four turns were a particular problem for me and I know that I lost quite a bit of time there. But despite all that we did some good work today and found a good direction for the bike. Unlike most of the other riders here, this is my first time at the track since the race last year, so I have some catching-up to do. I hope the wind is not so strong tomorrow so that I can push harder and improve my time.” Thursday Results: 1 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 1:59.627, 2 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:59.853, 3 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare) 2:00.307, 4 Haga (J-Yamaha) 2:00.476, 5 Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare) 2:00.599, 6 Xaus (E-Ducati) 2:00.695. 10 Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki) 2:00.904. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Corser On Provisional Pole with Haga Fourth Troy Corser set the early pace at the first round of the 2008 World Superbike season in Qatar, posting a first day qualifying time of 1’59.627 on race tyres and getting to within half a second of the current lap record. Corser’s fellow Yamaha rider Noriyuki Haga secured a provisional front row position of fourth, despite falling heavily two-thirds of the way through the hour long qualifying session. Conditions at Losail were problematic for all riders, with a strong and gusting wind blowing down the kilometre-long main straight, holding down top speed potentials and making corner entry a challenge. With both riders inside the top four places, the experienced Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team made the best use of their recent testing experiences in Qatar, and few changes were made to the machine settings since that test at the 5.380km Losail circuit. Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) was on strong form on day one, setting ninth fastest time, with his team-mate Davide Checa (Yamaha GMT94) 17th. Final qualifying and then Superpole qualifying take place tomorrow, Friday 22nd, before Saturday’s pair of 18-lap Superbike races. Troy Corser (1st – 1’59.627 – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “Having the test so soon before the race was good because we got a really strong engine setting with the bike. The chassis feels quite good but it is difficult to know how well things are working, just because of the wind. That is probably the windiest conditions I have ever ridden in.. It wasn’t so bad that we shouldn’t have been out there, but today was all down to how much you wanted to push. I didn’t really change too many settings from the test, just left it to get today out of the way. We just need the wind to die down for tomorrow. The track grip is comparable to what we had here at the test. I think the wind is blowing as much sand off the track as it is blowing sand back on. The only real problem is that the worst direction for the wind to blow here is down the main straight, like it was today. The bike and the team are working well so it’s been a positive start.” Noriyuki Haga (4th – 2’00.476 – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “It was difficult to make the best lap times in these conditions, but the feeling with the bike was very good. Unfortunately I had a big highside at turn one, on water coming from the bike. I landed straight on top of my head. I think before the crash I was half a centimetre taller. I am in a lot of pain but I will rest tonight and be better tomorrow. Top four is a good result for the first day. Our target point for tomorrow is make some changes in suspension, but I think we have the package right now anyway.” Massimo Meregalli – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team, Team Manager “We are happy with that for a first day. We have to consider that we had a test here recently, so we should expect good results. Troy’s time was great given the conditions and we know we have two very strong riders in all circumstances. We feel for Nori after his crash, we can see he is in pain, but we also know him and he is strong. Now we will look that the bike and see if there was a problem.” More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY STARTS ON TOP! Troy ended the first day of qualifying for the opening round of this year’s Superbike World Championship with the quickest lap of the day, despite the very strong winds that battered the Losail circuit. The winds had been strong yesterday and continued the same way today causing problems for all the 28 riders. Second quickest today was another Aussie, Troy Bayliss (Ducati), with Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki) third. Troy’s team mate Noriyuki Haga finished fourth quickest, ahead of Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) and Ruben Xaus (Ducati). TROY 1st, 1:59.629 The tests we did here recently went really well and we found a good bike set-up, so we were in the ballpark right from the start of the day. I did find that the engine felt differently today then it did at the tests and that was because the electronics were a bit different – not as good, for me anyway. So to do the lap time I did makes me happy really. Today there was so much wind and it was so inconsistent. Every lap was a bit different and you really had to keep your wits about you or you’d easily crash! Also, exiting the turns was a problem sometimes because the bike would wheelie and then the wind would push it off course! For me, it was the worst wind conditions I’ve ever experienced, even considering how Phillip Island can be sometimes! Today I was happy with me and the bike, but not happy with the conditions. Hopefully it will improve tomorrow and then for raceday.