FIM Supersport World Championship Losail International Circuit Doha, Qatar February 21, 2008 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Fabien FORET (Yam YZF-R6), 2:03.495 2. Jonathan REA (Hon CBR600RR), 2:03.841 3. Matthieu LAGRIVE (Hon CBR600RR), 2:04.017 4. Joan LASCORZ (Hon CBR600RR), 2:04.343 5. Gianluca NANNELLI (Hon CBR600RR), 2:04.446 6. Craig JONES (Hon CBR600RR), 2:04.766 7. David SALOM (Yam YZF-R6), 2:04.858 8. Barry VENEMAN (Suz GSX-R600), 2:04.880 9. Andrew PITT (Hon CBR600RR), 2:04.996 10. Ivan CLEMENTI (Tri Daytona 675), 2:05.211 11. Mark AITCHISON (Tri Daytona 675), 2:05.217 12. Gianluca VIZZIELLO (Hon CBR600RR), 2:05.264 13. Broc PARKES (Yam YZF-R6), 2:05.301 14. Garry MCCOY (Tri Daytona 675), 2:05.349 15. Vesa KALLIO (Hon CBR600RR), 2:05.445 16. Mirko GIANSANTI (Hon CBR600RR), 2:05.495 17. Andrea ANTONELLI (Hon CBR600RR), 2:05.586 18. Massimo ROCCOLI (Yam YZF-R6), 2:05.715 19. Katsuaki FUJIWARA (Kaw ZX-6R), 2:05.742 20. Arnaud VINCENT (Kaw ZX-6R), 2:05.941 21. Graeme GOWLAND (Hon CBR600RR), 2:06.007 22. Gregory LEBLANC (Hon CBR600RR), 2:06.033 23. Robbin HARMS (Hon CBR600RR), 2:06.139 24. Lorenzo ALFONSI (Kaw ZX-6R), 2:06.406 25. Josh BROOKES (Hon CBR600RR), 2:06.468 26. Miguel PRAIA (Hon CBR600RR), 2:06.751 27. Chris WALKER (Kaw ZX-6R), 2:06.755 28. Ilario DIONISI (Tri Daytona 675), 2:07.246 29. William DE ANGELIS (Hon CBR600RR), 2:07.327 30. Santiago BARRAGAN (Hon CBR600RR), 2:07.681 31. Didier VAN KEYMEULEN (Suz GSX-R600), 2:07.935 32. Luka NEDOG (Hon CBR600RR), 2:08.761 33. Gergo TALMACSI (Hon CBR600RR), 2:09.165 34. Danilo DELL’OMO (Hon CBR600RR), 2:10.891 35. Attila MAGDA (Hon CBR600RR), 2:11.246 36. Josep PEDRO SUBIRATS (Yam YZF-R6), 2:12.619 More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Supersport team tackles strong wind at Qatar The first qualifying practice for the starting round of the 2008 World Superbike Championship has been dominated by windy conditions at the Losail circuit in Qatar. Having already caused some damage to the circuit’s facilities, the wind continued to blow a gale for most of the day, making it hard for the riders to put in fast lap times on the sandy track. Despite the conditions, HANNspree Ten Kate Honda’s new arrival Jonathan Rea put in an excellent performance. Having already been consistently fast during the free practice, the qualifying practice made no difference. Rea made his way up to the front of the field and placed himself at the second spot of the timesheets, securing a fastest lap time of 2’03.841. Andrew Pitt got off to a quick start in the first half of the session but started to endure some problems with his Honda CBR600RR. While Rea managed to get in front of the field, Pitt struggled to keep up and was forced to step back to the 9th position, setting a fastest lap time of 2’04.996. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager: It has been a very difficult day for all the riders here as conditions are almost close to dangerous. There’s a lot of dirt on the track, which keeps blowing and makes cleaning impossible. Luckily the forecast is looking better for tomorrow so we’ll be able to see some faster lap times. I am very pleased with the results of Johnny Rea. Considering it is his first time out here he has already put in a great performance, adapting himself quickly to the machinery and the track. I am quite sure Andrew Pitt will improve his lap times and can be considerably faster in tomorrow’s qualifying but we still have some issues to sort out with his machine. Andrew Pitt, 2’04.996 I had some problems with the braking on the CBR600RR which we have tried to solve with different set ups but it didn’t work out. It looks like we will have to go back to the set-up we had in Philip Island. We tried a different tyre but that didn’t make much of a difference either. Hopefully returning to the set up we have already tested will help me to perform better at tomorrow’s qualifying. Jonathan Rea, 2’03.841 Am quite happy now with the result so far. We still need to do a race distance simulation tomorrow morning with my preferred tires to make sure we are good for the race and not just able to do one lap. Right now am happy, I know the circuit for racing and am able to pass some of the other riders. I am getting much more familiar with the other riders and think we can do a good job tomorrow qualifying. My goal is to be in the front row, if I can make there then I’m sure we can make it for the race. More, from a press release issued by Parkalgar Honda: More to come from front-running Jones PARKALGAR HONDA’S Craig Jones vowed there is more speed to come after finishing the opening day of the 2008 World Supersport Championship qualifying in sixth place at the Losail circuit in Qatar. Teething problems meant the 23-year-old British racer managed only five laps in the opening 45-minute session. Once sorted, he took a measured learning approach in the afternoon to relearn the track and get to grips with his new Honda CBR600RR. Portuguese Parkalgar Honda ace Miguel Praia suffered similar teething problems in the opening session but was able to make progress in the afternoon. A poor tyre selection hampered the 29-year-old’s efforts and he ended up 26th but with clear direction on how to improve tomorrow. Frenchman Fabien Foret on a Yamaha is on provisional pole position. The 5.38km long Losail circuit in the Qatar desert hosts the opening round of the World Supersport Championship on Saturday at 1120 CET with coverage widely available on the satellite channel Eurosport. Craig Jones: “I am pretty happy with my performance this afternoon after a difficult morning meant I only managed two flying laps in the first session. It took me a couple of laps in the afternoon to learn the apexes and the track again and on top of that there was a strong gusting wind playing havoc through the corners. “There is a fair bit more to come tomorrow. The plan is to get back out and up to speed quickly and then start improving from there. Already I think I am a little faster than the timesheets really show as my split times are all good enough for the top three, but because of the wind I never got a chance to post a single good lap. I’m enjoying myself and really looking forward to getting back on track.” Miguel Praia: “The early morning session was not as planned but maybe as expected as it is the first session of the first round of the year. We managed to sort these minor problems quickly and I had a good run in the afternoon, although my choice of tyre could have been better. “My target is to get into the top 20 tomorrow and finish in the top 15 in the race. I am still learning my new bike and have a long way to develop before I am racing at my optimum. Thank you to my team and Craig for all their support, I know we can make fast improvements.” Practice Times: 1: F Foret, FRA, (Yamaha) 2:03.44 2: J Rea, GBR, (Honda) +0.346 3: M Lagrive, FRA, (Honda) +0.522 4: J Lascorz, ESP, (Honda) +0.848 5: G Nannelli, ITA, (Honda) +0.951 6: CRAIG JONES, GBR, (PARKALGAR HONDA) +1.271 26: MIGUEL PRAIA, POR, (PARKALGAR HONDA) +3.256 More, from a press release issued by Pirelli: Foret Goes Fastest On Day One Of New Season Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport Team) made a fabulous start to his 2008 race season by posting the fastest lap of the opening qualifying session at the Losail International circuit in Qatar. The former World Supersport Champion had to fight high winds and a dusty track surface to set a best of 2’03.495, some 0.346 seconds faster than the next best rider. Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) has been the fastest rider of all in pre-season testing, including here in Qatar only a few days ago, but found unexpected issues in the Losail circuit’s many fast corners today. He was 13th overall in the official practice session. One more qualifying session remains for both Foret and Parkes to improve their times tomorrow, before the 18-lap race on Saturday 23 February. Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team rider David Salom was an impressive seventh fastest from the 36 riders in Qatar, making a good job of dealing with the treacherous winds that have plagued the desert circuit since for the past few days. His stand-in team-mate, Josep Pedro, substituting for the injured David De Gea, was 36th on his Qatar debut. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) worked hard to find the right suspension settings and choose a race tyre in the windy conditions, hoping to improve on his 18th fastest time today on the second day of qualifying. Fabien Foret (1st – 2’03.495 – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “We worked very hard this winter and now we are seeing the benefits. The conditions are very difficult, for me and for everyone. I tried to be safe and yet push at the same time, trying to manage the wind. It difficult for us to set the bike up in these conditions as the wind is not constant, it changes lap-by-lap. I still have a little bit of chatter but we can improve tomorrow. We are there now and it has been a good start today.” Broc Parkes (13th – 2’05.301 – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “We are obviously having problems with the bike right now but we couldn’t work out what was wrong in this session. I should maybe have hopped on my spare bike and had a go, but we concentrated on my number one bike. We ended up quite a long way out. I think there is something wrong that we will find and tomorrow will be OK.” Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team “Fabien was very impressive and as fast as the tests last week, and that was also held in not ideal circumstances. We have different tyres now and everything is reacting a little bit different. Broc is having the opposite experience because all the tests have been great and now he is missing a lot of time compared to his testing pace. He did a 2.02.9 a few days ago here. Both our guys can be fast but everything has to be good, and right now Broc is losing a lot of time in fast corners.” David Salom (7th – 2’04.858 – Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team) “We have many years of hard work behind us all and this good result on the first day is down to the whole team. The Team manager has set up a great team and we have good suspension and telemetry people who are doing a good job. They are helping me to take advantage of everything I have. It is a team effort.” More, from a press release issued by Scuderia Triumph-SC POSITIVE START SCUDERIA TRIUMPH-SC IN QATAR (Losail Qatar February 21, 2008) The Scuderia Triumph-SC team got their 2008 World Supersport campaign off to a positive start today with both riders posting ever improving lap times at the Losail International circuit in Qatar. The experienced squad had to deal with uncharacteristically high winds in excess of 40kph, which caused blustery conditions that blew sand on the racing line. Australian Garry McCoy suffered some small teething problems during the morning Free Practice session which limited the amount of laps he was able to complete. McCoy and the Scuderia Triumph-SC team worked hard to resolve the technical issues and in the opening qualifying session, the former GP and WSB winner began to up the pace, finally setting the 14th fastest time of the day. New signing Ilario Dionisi made a solid debut in the World Supersport class to finish ahead of a number established stars, despite it being his first ride on the bike and Middle Eastern track. Dionisi ended his first day in the World Supersport class in 28th position out of the 36 strong field. Garry McCoy said: “I’m happy with the time given that it was our first day. The windy conditions have been pretty tough, but that’s the same for everyone. The problem is that the wind has been inconsistent so one lap it’s trying to blow up off the track and the next lap it’s not a problem. At this tage we’re not changing so much on the bike because the conditions aren’t so good. I want to keep the bike the same and get progressively faster until we’re back to doing the sort of times we did in testing when the conditions were a lot better. We’ve got a plan if the wind continues, but if the conditions improve I know we can go a lot faster.” Ilario Dionisi said: “This is the first time for me at Qatar and the first time for me on a Triumph. Considering I’ve never ridden this bike before I am satisfied with my performance today. I like the feeling of the chassis and the engine and it is already working around this track which is very technical. Last year I raced in the 1000cc Superstock class so now I have to get used to the change from the 1000 to the 600 and I hope that with time my results and my reading will improve.” Team Manager Stefano Caracchi added: “For the first day the result it’s not bad. With this strong wind nobody get any risk. The bike looks to be OK, I’m confident that tomorrow we’ll improve our result.”