FIM Superbike World Championship Valencia, Spain April 4, 2008 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:34.806 2. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:34.932 3. Carlos CHECA (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:35.042 4. Troy BAYLISS (Duc 1098 F08), 1:35.060 5. Michel FABRIZIO (Duc 1098 F08), 1:35.080 6. Lorenzo LANZI (Duc 1098 RS08), 1:35.085 7. Jakub SMRZ (Duc 1098 RS08), 1:35.262, crash 8. Regis LACONI (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:35.278 9. Troy CORSER (Yam YZF-R1), 1:35.424 10. Noriyuki HAGA (Yam YZF-R1), 1:35.548 11. Ryuichi KIYONARI (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:35.550 12. Makoto TAMADA (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:35.598 13. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:35.634 14. Roberto ROLFO (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:35.756 15. Sebastien GIMBERT (Yam YZF-R1), 1:35.766 16. Fonsi NIETO (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:35.766 17. Ruben XAUS (Duc 1098 RS08), 1:35.892, crash 18. Gregorio LAVILLA (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:35.939 19. David CHECA (Yam YZF-R1), 1:36.066 20. Carmelo MORALES (Yam YZF-R1), 1:36.070 21. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yam YZF-R1), 1:36.088 22. Russell HOLLAND (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:36.150 23. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:36.268 24. Max BIAGGI (Duc 1098 RS08), 1:36.305 25. Sergio FUERTES (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:36.711 26. Ayrton BADOVINI (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:36.749 27. Loic NAPOLEONE (Yam YZF-R1), 1:37.288, crash 28. Diego LOZANO ORTIZ (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:37.381 29. Luca MORELLI (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:37.660 30. Shuhei AOYAMA (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:37.958 More, from a press release issued by FGSport Group: Two Suzukis lead the way in Valencia 1st Qualifying Two Suzuki GSX-R1000 machines headed the field in the opening qualifying session for the Spanish WSBK Round at Valencia, but it was German Max Neukirchner with a time of 1m34.806s and his Japanese team-mate Yukio Kagayama, rather than Fonsi Nieto, who were up at the front. The Alstare duo were the only riders to dip under the 1m35s mark. Nieto, currently lying second in the championship, was surprisingly down in sixteenth position after struggling with rear tyre grip. Carlos Checa took third quickest time on the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda, the Spaniard closely followed by four twin-cylinder Ducati 1098 machines. The factory Xerox pairing of Troy Bayliss and Michel Fabrizio were fourth and fifth, separated by two-hundredths of a second, with Lorenzo Lanzi (RG) and Jakub Smrz (Guandalini) next up. Régis Laconi (Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse) made progress on the ZX-10R machine, notching up the eighth quickest time, ahead of the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB pairing of Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga. Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati) has so far struggled with his injured left wrist in the two sessions today and is down in 24th position. More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: BAYLISS FOURTH AND FABRIZIO FIFTH IN FRIDAY SUPERBIKE QUALIFYING IN VALENCIA Valencia (Spain), Friday 4th April: During the morning’s practice session the Ducati Xerox Team worked hard to put the new Ducati 1098 F08 on the right track and the results of afternoon qualifying were extremely promising with Bayliss and Fabrizio taking fourth and fifth position respectively. Neither had ridden the new machine at the Ricardo Tormo circuit before today, as the team did not participate in the test session held here two weeks ago. After the month long break both riders therefore expected it to take a little time to get back into the rhythm and find the right set-up for the F08 at this particular track, so the team is positive about the work and results achieved here today. Troy Bayliss 1m35.0s “Today has gone pretty well. It’s been five weeks since I was last on the bike so it was bound to take a bit of time to get back into it but everything is working well and even though we missed the recent test at this track, I am happy so far with the progress we’ve made during the day. There a few small things regarding the set-up that I think we’re still missing and that would allow me to be more comfortable on the bike but those are issues I hope we can resolve tomorrow. My fastest time today could have been better if it wasn’t for traffic on the track but overall I have to say that I’m reasonable satisfied with our performance.” Michel Fabrizio 1m35.0s “I’ve had a month away from the bike so it was clear it was going to take a while to get on the right track but we seem to have got there this afternoon. This morning we tried different things and various tyre combinations. The problem is that other teams already have a point of reference from which to work but we have come here with a new bike and we also missed the tests held here a couple of weeks ago, so we had to work hard today so as to get closer to the right bike set-up. I’d say that I’m very happy with how we’ve performed, and I’m also pleased that I’m back to full fitness too so we’ll see if we can continue to improve tomorrow.” TIMES: Neukirchner (Suzuki) 1m34.8s; Kagayama (Suzuki) 1m34.9s, Checa (Honda) 1m35.0s, Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1m35.0s; Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1m35.0s; Lanzi (Ducati) 1m35.0s More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Corser and Haga make up ground on day one Having missed the official FGSport tests in March the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team had to work particularly hard on the first day of the Valencia race weekend to set times just inside the top ten of the 30 riders who entered this third round of the 2008 season. Corser’s best time was only 0.618 seconds from fastest man Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) and put him ninth in a session where the top 15 riders qualified within a second of provisional pole. Haga was tenth, only 0.124 seconds from Corser, as each attempted to match their machine’s settings and initial tyre choices against the unpredictable Valencia track surface. Both Corser and Haga are proven race winners at this challenging stadium-style circuit, and with their experienced team behind they fully expect to find fully competitive race set-ups for Sunday’s two 23-lap Superbike races. The GMT94 team had received new parts in time for the Valencia race allowing them to run 4 kilo’s lighter compared to previous race and therefore closer to a Superbike spec than the Endurance machines they have been running up to now.Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) finished 15th in the first timed session and should he keep this position or better it in tomorrow’s session, he will qualify for Superpole. His team-mate David Checa was only 1.260 seconds from pole but finished the opening day 19th. In a remarkably close opening qualifying session, run on race tyres throughout, Team YZF Yamaha rider Shinichi Nakatomi finished 21st fastest, but only 1.282 seconds from provisional pole. Troy Corser (9th – 1’35.424 – Yamaha Italy WSB Team) “The engine feels not so bad even on the first day and we just need to get the chassis settings right. We haven’t got it quite there yet, but that is to be expected after only two sessions. The grip from the track is about normal for Valencia on the first day of practice and I think it will get better as the weekend goes on. We are really starting from day one and some other people are further along. I’m not worried, because I know the track and I know what to do, so we just need to get it right tomorrow.” Noriyuki Haga (10th – 1’35.548 – Yamaha Italy WSB Team) “We have found it a little bit more difficult than we expected to find a set-up right away because in some parts of the circuit we have a little bit less grip than others. We should have had more grip in the timed session than we did in the morning session but right now we don’t. That is because of the combination of the setting and the tyres. We have to check suspension settings one more time tonight to let us move on tomorrow.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “For me, all we are missing is the two day test. Because of that the gap between our two riders and the rest is what we could expect. I am not worried about it and I know there is enough left in the bike and set-up changes for us to catch up tomorrow. Troy and Nori are close on times and we are not so far from the leading rider.” More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY UNFAZED BY NINTH. Troy finished the first day of practice and qualifying at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in ninth place today, but was not bothered about only setting the ninth quickest time. Yesterday’s glorious weather did not repeat itself today and the sun only made brief appearances throughout the day. German Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) posted the day’s fastest time, with Japanese rider Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) second and local favourite Carlos Checa (Honda) third. Troy – 9th, 1:35.424 Considering that this is the first day at the track and most of my rivals tested here recently, I don’t think it’s been a bad day. At the moment the set-up of my bike is not ideal and although we improved it a bit in the afternoon, we still have more work to do. I’ve been struggling a little getting the bike round the track, so we were concentrating on improving the bike instead of chasing lap times. Because the set-up is not ideal, we are suffering some grip problems, but that should all be sorted out tomorrow. More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Checa on the pace in first Valencia qualifying The first qualifying session ahead of the third Superbike round in Valencia saw the first 10 places on the timesheet with less then a 0.7 margin between them. HANNspree Ten Kate Honda rider Carlos Checa secured a third place in 1’35.042 the only rider capable of keeping his pace consistent, lapping 35’s on race tires for more then 15 laps. His sights are set on equalling this result tomorrow in the second qualifying ahead of the Superpole. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager; Checa managed to put in some consistently fast lap times today. We will now mainly focus on fine tuning the setup and some electronics we want to test ahead of Sunday’s race. Kiyonari hasn’t managed to equal the times set in the last test yet, but part of this can be explained by all the test work he has been conducting on a different bike and different tires in Japan and Australia over the last two weeks. I think he will quickly manage to adapt to this machine again and continue his way to the front of the field. Carlos Checa, 1’35.042; Today we tested the performance of different tires after a couple of laps. There are still some areas in which we make some improvements but I am very confident ahead of Sunday’s race as we are getting better every time. The lap times are consistently improving which leaves us to concentrate on the small details and find out where we can gain that little bit more. We’ll mainly focus on the race distance tomorrow and improve the lap times in the second qualifying. Ryuichi Kiyonari, 1’35.550; I am getting better compared to the first races in Qatar and Phillip Island, but my lap times are not fast enough yet compared to the times I set in the test two weeks ago. We are still working on finding the right tires, the machine setting is fine and we only had to make little changes to the set up. My target for tomorrow is to further improve my lap times, but more importantly to keep them consistent. Kenan Sofuoglu, 1’36.268; The hard times just seem to continue for me. My goal is to improve my lap times and get closer to the top but I find it hard to keep the concentration while I’m riding the bike. It’s a learning curve and I’m still trying to control the power. For the first time I feel like I’m slightly improving my use of the rear brake. Results first Qualifying practice: 1 M. NEUKIRCHNER 1’34.806 2 Y. KAGAYAMA 1’34.932 0 3 C. CHECA 1’35.042 4 T. BAYLISS 1’35.060 5 M. FABRIZIO 1’35.080 3 6 L. LANZI 1’35.085 7 J. SMRZ 1’35.262 8 R. LACONI 1’35.278 9 T. CORSER 1’35.424 10 N. HAGA 1’35.548 11 R. KIYONARI 1’35.550 23 K. SOFUOGLU 1’36.268 More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Media Service: Team Alstare Suzuki riders Max Neukirchner and Yukio Kagayama dominated the opening day of qualifying for the Spanish World Superbike third round in Valencia. German Neukirchner set the fastest time of 1:34.806 on his GSX-R1000 with Japanese rider Kagayama a close second on 1:34.932. Fonsi Nieto suffered grip problems and finished down the order in 16th place, but knows that a big improvement is possible tomorrow. Max Neukirchner – 1st, 1:34.806: “I am very happy today, not so much because I was the quickest but because we found a good bike set-up. We started with the set-up from when we tested here in March and then found a new way to make the bike more stable both in the front and the rear. It’s been quite cool today and we know that we have more problems when the temperature rises, so I guess I am hoping that it stays much the same.” Yukio Kagayama – 2nd, 1:34.932: “Today we carried on our work and I think everything is getting better. We began with the set-up from our last test and tried to find some small improvements. I didn’t have any big problems today, just a little rear end problem in the afternoon. My physical condition is not 100%, but that’s probably quite good because it means that I wasn’t pushing too hard!” Fonsi Nieto – 16th, 1:35.766: “I am not very happy today with the lack of rear grip and I couldn’t go faster because of this mainly. But the good news is that we have some ideas what to do about the problem and that’s what we’ll be working on in the morning tomorrow. I didn’t feel that the track conditions were good for me today but I know I can make a big improvement tomorrow.” Friday WSB Qualifying: 1 Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki) 1:34.806, 2 Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare) 1:34.932, 3 Checa (E-Honda) 1:35.042, 4 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:35.060, 5 Fabrizio (I-Ducati) 1:35.080, 6 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:35.085. 16 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare) 1:35.766. SUPERSTOCK 1000: Team Alstare Suzuki rider Xavi Simeon finished the first day of qualifying at Valencia with the sixth fastest time, but was disappointed not to finished higher up the order! He was not happy with the balance of the bike and frustrated that he could not get anywhere near the times he did when he tested here in March. Italian Claudio Corti (Yamaha) set the fastest time in qualifying today, with a lap of 1:37.5613. Second was Davide Giugliano (Suzuki) with Alessandro Polita (Ducati) third. Xavi Simeon- 6th, 1:38.466: “I had problems with the balance of the bike and for some reason it did not seem to want to turn. At the moment, we don’t understand why, because we are using the same set-up we found when we tested here in March and that worked very well. Although the bike is the same, it feels different and we are not sure why at this moment. The team and I will sit down together and figure out what’s going on and then come up with some ideas what to do in tomorrow’s practice and qualifying.” Friday Superstock 1000 Qualifying: 1 Corti (I-Yamaha) 1:37.512, 2 Giugliano (I-Suzuki) 1:37.602, 3 Polita (I-Ducati) 1:37.897. 6 Xavi Simeon (B-Alstare Suzuki) 1:38.466. More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki: Team Suzuki Alstare news 2008 Superbike World Championship Round 3, Valencia, Spain Friday 4th March Friday qualifying, 4th April Circuit: kms. Conditions: Mostly cloudy, 16-19C SUZUKI ALSTARE 1-2! Suzuki Alstare riders Max Neukirchner and Yukio Kagayama ended the first day of qualifying superbly in first and second places at the Ricardo Tormo circuit today and are already looking forward to tomorrow’s qualifying and Superpole. Fonsi Nieto suffered grip problems and finished down the order in sixteenth place, but knows that a big improvement is possible tomorrow. Max – 1st, 1:34.806 I am very happy today, not so much because I was the quickest but, because we found a good bike set-up. We started with the set-up from when we tested here in March and then found a new way to make the bike more stable both in the front and the rear. It’s been quite cool today and we know that we have more problems when the temperature rises, so I guess I am hoping that it stays much the same. Yukio – 2nd, 1:34.932 Today we carried on our work and I think everything is getting better. We began with the set-up from our last test and tried to find some small improvements. I didn’t have any big problems today, just a little rear end problem in the afternoon. My physical condition is not 100%, but that’s probably quite good because it means that I wasn’t pushing too hard! Fonsi – 16th, 1:35.766 I am not very happy today with the lack of rear grip and I couldn’t go faster because of this mainly. But the good news is that we have some ideas what to do about the problem and that’s what we’ll be working on in the morning tomorrow. I didn’t feel that the track conditions were good for me today, but I know I can make a big improvement tomorrow. Friday qualifying 1 Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki) 1:34.806, 2 Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare) 1:34.932, 3 Checa (E-Honda) 1:35.042, 4 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:35.060, 5 Fabrizio (I-Ducati) 1:35.080, 6 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:35.085, 16 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare) 1:35.766, More, from a press release issued by Team Pedercini: Team Pedercini is satisfied with its rider’s perdomance today on the opening session of the WSBK Spanish round at Valencia. During the month break Ayrton Badovini and the team worked hard to fix the problems came out in the first two round of the season. Everything seems to be solved as today Badovini took the 26th time at the end of the qualifying, showing all his potential. The team is not worried about the back-line position because gaps are really thin here in Valencia and they feel confident that Badovini will improve his position tomorrow. Vittorio Iannuzzo will be kept far from the tracks for a month at least although he is recovering quite fast from the bad injured happened at Phillip Island. Yoann Tiberio and Alessio Aldrovandi scored the 9th and the 13th times at the end of the first seasonal qualifying session for Superstock1000. They have spent the first two sessions working on the balance of the motorbike and the suspensions settings. Both the riders feel confident to better their positions on the starting grid tomorrow. AYRTON BADOVINI | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 26th time in 1’36.749: “Everything seems turning in the right way and the problems we run into in Australia was fixed. Today we have focused our work on the relation between electronics and mechanics instead of recording a fast time. By doing so, tomorrow we will have the opportunity to get a good position for the starting grid”. ALESSIO ALDROVANDI | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 13th time in 1’38.830: “Today we have worked hard on the motorbike and we have tried several setting solutions. I’m on the right way but first I need to fix some chattering problems entering the corners”. YOANN TIBERIO | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 9th time in 1’38.671: “I’ve run quite fast during the afternoon although I’m not totally satisfied about my performance. Tomorrow morning I will attempt to better my time and I will carry on the work for the race. The motorbike is new and there’s a lot of work to do”.