FIM Supersport World Championship Assen, Netherlands April 24, 2009 Free Practice One (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Joan LASCORZ (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:41.650, crash 2. Cal CRUTCHLOW (Yam YZF-R6), 1:41.869 3. Michele PIRRO (Yam YZF-R6), 1:42.081 4. Eugene LAVERTY (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.164 5. Garry MCCOY (Tri Daytona 675), 1:42.168 6. Anthony WEST (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.427 7. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.428 8. Barry VENEMAN (Suz GSX-R600), 1:42.490 9. Andrew PITT (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.655 10. Mark AITCHISON (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.659 11. Fabien FORET (Yam YZF-R6), 1:42.688 12. Matthieu LAGRIVE (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.738 13. Gianluca NANNELLI (Tri Daytona 675), 1:43.021 14. Miguel PRAIA (Hon CBR600RR), 1:43.032 15. Robbin HARMS (Hon CBR600RR), 1:43.090 16. Gianluca VIZZIELLO (Hon CBR600RR), 1:43.324 17. Katsuaki FUJIWARA (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:43.390 18. Alessandro POLITA (Suz GSX-R600), 1:43.507 19. Massimo ROCCOLI (Hon CBR600RR), 1:43.545 20. Matej SMRZ (Tri Daytona 675), 1:43.766 More, from a press release issued by Parkalgar Honda: Good start for Parkalgar Honda in Assen Parkalgar Honda rider’s, Eugene Laverty and Miguel Praia, completed free practice for round four of the World Supersport Championship at Assen in fourth and 14th places respectively. Joan Lascorz aboard his Kawasaki set the fastest time of the day with a 1min 41.650sec lap time The well known 4.5km track was bathed in sunshine for the first session of the weekend and both riders worked on set-ups they had tested at Valencia. The hard work put in there has certainly paid off with Eugene settling into the front row and Miguel almost achieving a top ten position. The fourth round of the World Supersport Championship at Assen starts at 1320 CET on Sunday, April 26th and can be watched live on www.worldsbk.com. Eugene: “That was a pretty good start. I usually start the first session of the weekend in about 14th place so fourth is much better and where I want to be. The chassis is almost there already and that is thanks to what we learned at Valencia. We were able to come here and have the bike working how I want it almost immediately. I’ll be chasing pole position tomorrow but it has to be all about the race. I want to get plenty of laps in on my tyres and aim for the front row which will set us up nicely for the race.” Miguel: “It was a steady start but it was still good. I’m not feeling 100 per cent at the moment as I have a small cold but already I have improved on my best lap time from last year. I know we have more to come from my Parkalgar Honda and we are close to where we want to be. So far I have not been pushing so I am confident I can improve for tomorrow.” Simon Buckmaster, Parkalgar Honda Team Manager: “That was a very good session and a positive one. We are just building up gradually and I know there is still more to come from both riders and machines. I feel Eugene will be challenging for the front row tomorrow and the win on Sunday. Miguel is within touching distance of the top ten I’m sure he will pull it out of the bag tomorrow. All in all a very positive start.” More, from a press release issued by Team YZF Yamaha: Discovery of a mythical track Doni Tata Pradita used the first free practice session at Assen to discover the track and the settings of the Yamaha R6 in the Supersport class. When most of the riders knew the circuit already in this category, the young Indonesian rider had to do a lot of learning. He finished 29th of the first free practice session, but will for sure do better on Saturday. Spaniard Joan Lascorz was the quickest on his Kawasaki, followed by the Yamahas of Cal Crutchlow and Michele Pirro. Eugene Laverty was the fastest of the Honda riders in 4th position overall in front of the Triumph of Garry McCoy. Doni Tata Pradita: “I am not happy with the result. It’s not really good. I have some problems with the track, in some corners I am very slow. I had the same problems last year in the 250 cc class. In the fast curves at the end of the circuit and in the chicane, I lose about 3 seconds. I wanted to make a good lap time, but every lap was the same. I talked with my coach Steve Martin and I am sure I will do better tomorrow. We need to find also a good suspension setting.” Martial Garcia (team manager): “It has been a hard working session for Doni to discover at the same time the track and the settings in this category.” Le Mans 24 Hours: Congratulations to the Y.A.R.T. Congratulations to the Yamaha Austria Racing Team managed by Mandy Kaintz for the Le Mans victory of Steve Martin, Gwen Giabbani and Igor Jerman. MG Competition is proud to have contributed to this superb result by providing the engine for the victorious Yamaha R1, and the technical assistance with engineer Ludovic Reigner. Special congratulations to Steve Martin from the whole Yamaha YZF Team, and especially from Doni Tata Pradita of whom Steve is the coach on the world Supersport circuits. Assen and the Circuit Van Drenthe It’s a very interesting track, which has great flowing corners. It often rains here but grip levels are very high even when it does rain. Circuit Van Drenthe is 2 km away from Assen and 110 km northeast of Amsterdam. Because England is but a short drive away, British fans flock to the circuit each year. The first Dutch TT was held in 1925 and racing has never stopped at the Dutch “cathedral”, except during the two world wars. The current track is mainly used for motorcycle racing, with only a handful of car races organised here each year. This track had good grip and good drainage. That makes it a great track when it rains because it doesn’t “hold” water. The layout requires inch-perfect lines and that’s why riders often take longer to adapt to Assen than other tracks. Races are often won or lost in the last chicane at Assen. Those willing to be brave on the brakes are hard to beat there but it takes great skill and balance to avoid running off the track and crashing or hitting another rider. Assen requires a very smooth riding style. The smallest mistake can wreck a whole lap as the rider struggles to make up the time lost on those ultra-quick turns. On a Superbike, it’s hard to keep the front wheel on the ground and that only means more problems for riders each time they exit a corner and get on the gas. The last right-left flick before the final chicane is one of the most difficult sections of the track. Riders are going so fast there that they find it very difficult to push the bike into making the change of direction from right to left, especially when it’s windy. More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Hannspree Ten Kate Honda riders, Kenan Sofuoglu and Andrew Pitt, finished inside the top ten in today’s opening free practice session for the fourth round 2009 World Supersport race at Assen in Holland on Sunday. The session was topped by Spain’s Joan Lascorz as the Ten Kate duo continued their development of Honda’s latest evolution of the multiple championship-winning CBR600RR. Sofuoglu and Pitt seventh and ninth fastest respectively today have a further free practice and a single timed qualifying session tomorrow afternoon to determine final grid positions for Sunday’s 22-lap race at the 4.55km Dutch circuit. Kenan Sofuoglu 7th, 1’42.428s Again, it was not easy today having only one session to try to learn more about this new CBR. We tried a few different set-ups and finally got close to something that allowed us to take third place in Valencia. I am missing something in acceleration out of corners at the moment, but, if we can get the set-up better, this will not be too much of a problem. Andrew Pitt 9th, 1’42.655s The bike is still running wide, like in Valencia, so we’re trying a few different things to get that sorted. The other problem we have is that, once again, there is really only one sensible tyre choice. The alternative is just too hard and not really an option, so we’re having to ride around on old tyres to avoid running through our allocation. Ronald ten Kate team manager We’ve tested both bikes with different set-ups today, which has resulted in a lot of work in the single hour that the Supersport riders get now on a Friday. However, we have found the direction to go and out principal objective in tomorrow afternoon’s qualifying session will be to get both riders on the front row. More, from a press release issued by ParkinGO Triumph BE1 Racing: Garry McCoy finishes day 1 at Assen in fifth place. The Australian rider had a good feeling with the track from the first laps and improved his performance after every pit stop. McCoy hopes to repeat if not improve the result during tomorrow’s sessions, when the starting grid will be decided. Moreover, Gianluca Nannelli set the thirteenth fastest time as he tested both machines and tried out different cycle part solutions. GARRY McCOY | Triumph Daytona 675 : “I tested today the two different kind of tyres we had in order to see what would the bike’s behaviour be. I also tried out different solutions for the back shock absorber setting and scored a pretty good result. Tomorrow we’ll not be changing much but we’ll definitely try to improve my time”. GIANLUCA NANNELLI | Triumph Daytona 675 : “The Misano test was very useful as the bike has improved compared to the previous races, especially on the front chassis. It now turns better into corners and it is easier to drive. Tomorrow we only have to improve direction and get a less fast load transfer. However we’ve done well and I’m confident I can be faster than today”. More, from a press release issued by Stiggy Racing Honda: Supersport Team aims for improvement in Assen Anthony West sacrificed his valuable track on time in the Free Practice session today by spending a lot of time in the garage to solve some issues with his bike. For most of the session he was unable to find the flow with his bike, but managed to open things up in the ultimate minutes. He set his fastest lap in 1’42.247s, 0.7 seconds off the fastest time set by Kawasaki rider Joan Lascorz. Vizziello, mindful of his recent qualifying sessions that left him languishing at the middle of the field, slightly advanced through the sessions. He struggled with the handling of the front of his bike, and finished the first day of qualifying in a best time of 1’43.324s. Anthony West, 1’42.247s: “We did not have the best of starts here today. We had a plan to work with today, but it just got messed up. I had an oil problem with one bike, and then lost the handle bar of the second bike halfway through the session. It messed up the entire practice session, and I could not find a good flow on the bike. When I went out again to improve my time with a different gearbox setting, I missed a gear and ran wide on the track. It was a bad session for me, but at least the last lap worked out all right. We managed to find the right direction after we found ourselves lost earlier in the session. I am confident I can perform a lot better here on this track”. Gianluca Vizziello, 1’43.324s: “My first session was good enough and my position is satisfying for the moment, but we have to make some changes for further improvement. I am 1.6s off the fastest time and I will need to improve in tomorrow’s session to secure a good place on the grid. I had some issues with the front of the bike. It was important for me to make the laps today and find out whether the changes we have made to the bike after we came back from Valencia, were leading to improvement”. Johan Stigefelt, Teammanager: “We slightly struggled through the Supersport session today with both riders. There was a technical problem with Anthony’s number one bike. The crew spent too much time in the garage solving the matter, which left Anthony with a minimum of track-time. When he did go out to set a fast lap, he was hindered by the traffic out there. He only managed to set one fast lap, but he is happy with the set-up and feels secure he can improve his time in the next session. Vizziello had some issues with the front of his bike today, but feels secure that he can improve his time in tomorrow’s qualifying session.”