FIM Supersport World Championship Misano, San Marino June 25, 2010 Qualifying Session One Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Honda CBR600RR), 1:39.437, crash 2. Michele PIRRO, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), 1:39.555 3. Roberto TAMBURINI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:39.869, crash 4. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Honda CBR600RR), 1:39.919, crash 5. Gino REA, Great Britain (Honda CBR600RR), 1:40.048 6. Joan LASCORZ, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:40.126 7. Chaz DAVIES, Great Britain (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:40.243 8. David SALOM, Spain (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:40.622 9. Massimo ROCCOLI, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), 1:40.770 10. Matthieu LAGRIVE, France (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:41.098 More, from a press release issued by Parkalgar Honda: Provisional pole for happy Laverty PARKALGAR HONDA racer Eugene Laverty is on provisional pole position for Sunday’s eighth round of the World Supersport Championship at Misano in Italy, one of his favourite circuits. Miguel Praia on the second Parkalgar Honda is 12th after the opening qualification. A further practice and qualification will take place tomorrow before the race on Sunday 27th June at 1330CET. Register for all the news and views from the team by clicking Parkalgar Honda. Eugene: “I was caught out early on by the front tyre – Kenan (Sofuoglu) had exactly the same crash at a different corner. I tried squeezing the brake a little harder than normal and there was little feel from the tyre and it let go. I came back to the pits and made a few adjustments and tried a few different tyres and I think we got it as good as we could for the conditions today. My laps at the end were good but I think we can improve further and get into the 1m38secs bracket. The rear end of my Parkalgar Honda is good and we are working on the front end to help me braking into the corners and entry speed. The first speed trap is after the fast kink and I am a lot faster through there than anyone else. You have to learn to be brave through there and my experience on two-strokes has helped me and now I just love the fast sections on any bike.” Miguel: “It was a good session and it is a shame that on one of my fastest laps I made a small mistake coming out of a corner that for sure cost us time, without that mistake I would have been a lot closer to the second row. It was a good session and much better than the first day at the last round and I am very confident that we can improve further as well. I like the very hot weather and the grip is coming to the track, I am having fun.” Simon Buckmaster, Parkalgar Honda Team Manager: “Four laps into qualifying and Eugene slid off losing the front end and is OK. After that we worked hard for front end feel and made big improvements and there is more still to come. He did two good laps at the end; it wasn’t a single 1m39sec lap but a series of them which is good. Miguel was higher earlier on but moved back at the end it is encouraging and he is in contention. He will have to work hard but he should be able to lap in the 1m40secs bracket he rode better today that his position suggests.” More, from a press release issued by Hannspree Ten Kate Honda: Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider Michele Pirro set the second fastest time in this afternoon’s opening qualifying session for Sunday’s eighth round World Supersport championship race at Misano in Italy. The 23-year-old Italian rider, who regards Misano as his home circuit, was in sparkling form, just one tenth of a second behind fellow Honda-mounted provisional pole sitter, Eugene Laverty. Pirro’s team-mate and current championship leader, Kenan Sofuoglu, who won the last race at Miller Motorsports Park in the US, was fastest in this morning’s first free practice session. However, the Turkish ace settled today for a provisional front row start with the fourth fastest time this afternoon. Michele Pirro P2 I think that’s not so bad for the first day and I had quite a good overall feeling from the bike today. There is a little problem with the balance of the bike, espec ially when I am braking hard into slower corners. It puts too much weight on the front, but I think this is a problem we can find a solution for tonight. I will try for a longer run tomorrow, because at the moment, I can’t do the times on the harder tyre, but I think it will be the only one that lasts for the race. Kenan Sofuoglu P4 The track was very slippery this afternoon and I had a small crash in the qualifying session. We fixed the bike back in the garage and then I tried to settle into a rhythm like I had this morning but I found it very hard. There were some slower riders who wanted to follow me, but they didn’t get the message! It made it difficult to get a string of good laps together, so I decided to wait until tomorrow. Ronald ten Kate team manager To have both riders on the provisional front row is a good way to start the weekend and we kno w from his pole position last year that Michele knows his way round Misano very well. I am very sure that we will see more from him and Kenan tomorrow and we will do everything we can to put them in a position to challenge for podiums in Sunday’s race. More, from a press release issued by ParkinGO Triumph BE1 Racing: It was an intense opening day for team ParkinGO Triumph BE1 Racing, during which newcomer Vittorio Iannuzzo took to the track. Salom, Davies and Lagrive used the two sessions in order to find a good setup, the Italian rider got to know the machine, very much different than the Honda Superbike he has raced on until the Monza round. A positive weekend opening for Chaz Davies and David Salom, who set the seventh and eighth time respectively, while Lagrive was tenth and Iannuzzo sixteenth. All four Triumph riders are confident they can improve their positions tomorrow, when the starting grid will be determined. CHAZ DAVIES | Triumph Daytona 675 | 7th in 1’40.243 : “I like this circuit, although I’ve never raced on it. I got a good feeling with the track, which helped me a lot setting up the bike. I can however improve, especially when entering the corner and I’ll have to be faster in certain sections of the track”. DAVID SALOM | Triumph Daytona 675 | 8th in 1’40.622 : “We worked on both setup and tyres and found a good base setup for tomorrow. I also have to do better in the “Quercia” corner, where I seem to lose a lot of time. I enter it to fast, so I have to push the gas too late and lose time when exiting the corner”. MATTHIEU LAGRIVE | Triumph Daytona 675 | 10th in 1’41.098 : “We tried different cycle part solutions and different types of tyres. I decided to focus more on preparing the race, after not being able to make good use of my starting positions in the past”. VITTORIO IANNUZZO| Triumph Daytona 675 | 16th in 1’42.269 : “Every minute was valuable for me in order to better understand the bike, although I’ve lost some time due to an electronic issue. The Daytona is a very agile machine, but I still have to understand how to make the most of its three-cylinder engine. I also have to learn again how to accelerate, which is different in Superbike, where I’ve raced for the last five years. I’ll keep working on that, and learn the machine by the start of the race”.