FIM Supersport World Championship Phillip Island, Australia February 26, 2010 Provisional Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Joan LASCORZ (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:34.629 2. Eugene LAVERTY (Honda CBR600RR), 1:34.634 3. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Honda CBR600RR), 1:34.683 4. Katsuaki FUJIWARA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:34.783 5. Michele PIRRO (Honda CBR600RR), 1:34.918 6. Chaz DAVIES (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:34.939 7. Fabien FORET (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:35.233 8. Miguel PRAIA (Honda CBR600RR), 1:35.762 9. Sebastien CHARPENTIER (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:36.039 10. Jason DISALVO (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:36.208 More, from a press release issued by Parkalgar Honda: Strong start for Parkalgar Honda duo PARKALGAR HONDA’S Eugene Laverty is in provisional second place and Miguel Praia eighth after the first qualifying session for the opening round of the World Supersport Championship at Phillip Island in Australia. Searing temperatures meant a hot start to the track action although the forecast for Sunday’s race is provisionally for rain. There is another practice and final qualifying session tomorrow followed by the race at 1330 local time on Sunday, 28th February. For pictures and up-to-date news on Parkalgar Honda, visit www.parkalgarhonda.com. Eugene: “It was a really good day and we worked hard on the settings of my Parkalgar Honda from the test earlier in the week. We made a big change to the bike towards the end when we knew we had the right direction we put more weight on the front and it worked. I’ve done my fastest lap time since coming here and I think we have a good race pace although it will be close with Sofuoglu and Lascorz. There is a clear indication on who the favourites are and it will be important to look after our tyre. I got with the Kawasaki on track and it has good acceleration but all three of our bikes are similar in performance. Tomorrow I am going for a front row start and also to put in a few long runs to check tyre life and longevity.” Miguel: “I worked with Eugene on track and followed him out of the final corner to try and improve my drive down the straight and it helped. I am very pleased to get into the 35s as that was our target today and the temperature was very high so we struggled for grip on the smaller tyre. On the bigger tyre we need to work more on bike set-up for consistency. Second row is my aim for the grid; it is very close between sixth and ninth.” Simon Buckmaster, Parkalgar Honda Team Manager: “It has been hot here today with a track temperature of 54 degrees at one stage. Eugene towed Miguel several times and it certainly helped. There is nothing wrong with Miguel’s set-up and he is doing very well on the provisional second row in eighth, there is a chance he can improve on that either tomorrow or in the race. Eugene has been working on the balance of his Parkalgar Honda and has excellent race pace. It is a strong opening day for Parkalgar Honda but it will be a tough race.” More, from a press release issued Team ParkinGO Triumph BE1 Racing: Team ParkinGO Triumph BE1 Racing kicked off the season with two practice sessions which determined the provisional starting grid of round 1 of World Supersport. The team did improve considerably compared to this week’s testing as Chaz Davies set the sixth fastest time, just three tenths behind the pole position. Sebastien Charpentier finished ninth and adapted the bike to his riding style while Jason Di Salvo found a better feeling with the track improving his position compared to the test. The only bad piece of news was a banal failure of communication between the Spanish and international Federations due to an erroneus license number which prevented David Salom from racing today. The bike livery that the “Four Musketeers” will be racing on this season was also unveiled on this occasion. CHAZ DAVIES | Triumph Daytona 675 | 6th in 1’34.939: “I improved my performance by over half a second compared to the test in the third section but I can do better. We’re trying to get more grip in that section of the track and hopefully finish in row one”. SEBASTIEN CHARPENTIER | Triumph Daytona 675 | 9th in 1’36.039: “I tried out different cycle part solutions today as well. I’m starting to know the bike better. I think I’m on the right path and I’m confident I can further improve tomorrow”. JASON DI SALVO | Triumph Daytona 675 | 10th in 1’36.208: “I did very well in the first lap right away and finished seventh. We then tried to push a little bit more but that setup solution didn’t help us improve although we made a tremendous amount of progress since the test. My goal for tomorrow is to get a better starting position”. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Supersport Duo Out To Enjoy Another Season WSS, Phillip Island, Australia, 27 February 2010 Kawasaki’s official Supersport team has now completed extensive winter tests and intense backroom preparations and racing for points gets underway for real on Sunday 28th February. Katsuaki Fujiwara and Joan Lascorz put in strong testing performances at Phillip Island recently on their Ninja ZX-6R machines, but the effort for 2010 began immediately after the conclusion of last season’s final race at Portimao, in October. The development work on the machine and its overall set-up has been unstinting and consistent, factors which have filled both riders with great confidence to meet the challenges of the new season, beginning with a 21-lap race on Sunday 28th February. Initial practice at PI has gone well, as the whole team hopes the rest of the season will do so as well. Joan Lascorz: “We had a great test last week, finding little improvements all the time. We continue working on our set-up all the time, but we understand how changes make the bike react. We are starting this season ready in every way, and our bikes have more power. So we are full of confidence after many of our performances last year and good winter tests.” Katsuaki Fujiwara: “Our preparations have been very good this winter, in testing and in overall machine development. We are much better than we were at this stage last year. We can take the same settings from track to track and just make small adjustments. I am completely ready and happy to be back racing again.”