FIM Supersport World Championship Nurburgring, Germany June 13, 2008 Provisional Qualifying Results (dry conditions, all on Pirelli tires): 1. Broc PARKES (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:00.743 2. Craig JONES (Honda CBR600RR), 2:01.529 3. Mark AITCHISON (Triumph Daytona 675), 2:01.659 4. Andrew PITT (Honda CBR600RR), 2:01.797 5. Jonathan REA (Honda CBR600RR), 2:01.909 6. Fabien FORET (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:01.951 7. Matthieu LAGRIVE (Honda CBR600RR), 2:02.154 8. Barry VENEMAN (Suzuki GSX-R600), 2:02.157 9. Jose David DE GEA (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:02.363 10. Didier VAN KEYMEULEN (Suzuki GSX-R600), 2:02.386 More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Supersport squad happy with opening day at Nurburgring Despite the cold weather conditions HANNspree Ten Kate Honda rider Andrew Pitt is happy with his provisional fourth place on the grid after the opening day of qualifying at the German Nurburgring. Pitt set the second fastest time in the morning’s free practice session before the rain halted the session halfway and the remaining part of the session was finished in wet conditions. In the afternoon’s qualifying session the riders profited from improved track conditions and continued to make progress in the set-up of their bikes. Pitt was well on the pace throughout the 45 minute session and claimed a provision front row start, closely followed by Rea who concludes the session in fifth spot. Andrew Pitt: “I am happy with the progress we made on the first day. We still have a little issue with the gearing, but overall everything is working well at the moment.” “We’ve had some dry time and did a couple of laps in the rain. The circuit and tires feel good in the rain. The pace is quite good, we’ll just need to work on fine tuning the gearing tomorrow morning.” Jonathan Rea: “When we got here we were guessing on the race setting for the bike and the gearing. The setting of the machine is ok, I just need to make a couple of more laps to familiarise myself with the track.” “I made a mistake on my fastest lap, but hopefully tomorrow I can push towards the front. I am really eager to set a good result here, there seems to be no track specialist at the moment which gives us a good chance to shine.” Results QP 1: 1 B. PARKES 2’00.743 2 C. JONES 2’01.529 3 M. AITCHISON 2’01.659 4 A. PITT 2’01.797 5 J. REA 2’01.909 More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Parkes fit again and fast on first day of qualifying Yamaha World Supersport Team rider Broc Parkes soared to the top of the first day qualifying list at the Nurburgring in Germany, setting a time over 0.7 seconds faster than the next best rider. His team-mate Fabien Foret went sixth quickest, after making a small mistake on his final fast lap of the day. The first WSS session, free practice held this morning, was conducted in dry but cool conditions, a lucky break for all as rain came and went in the run-up to this the sixth round of the championship. Parkes had also been fastest in that session, putting some degree of circuit knowledge to good use. Times were slashed in the marginally warmer official afternoon session, as Parkes led the field into the second period of qualifying. A good day one time is a real advantage as the immediate weather forecast is for unsettled conditions tomorrow, making for a high risk of a wet final qualifying session. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) could not find a way into the top ten on day one, but the still-injured David De Gea (Yamaha Spain World Supersport) overcame his slow healing right leg fracture to secure an early ninth place on the provisional grid. David Salom is racing back in Spain this weekend instead of his regular slot on the WSS Starting grid, with Aussie rider Jeremy Crowe taking his place and finishing a respectable 20th. Broc Parkes (1st – 2’00.743 – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “I have been here before, running on the national circuit, and that was definitely a help this morning. The bike is working well on a pretty good set-up and we tried a few things through the session to make it even better. We found a good suspension setting and near the end we put a new tyre in and made a good lap time. I think tomorrow we should go about a second faster, because it was a bit windy at the end of the session. It has been a good first day and the bike is getting to where I want it.” Fabien Foret (6th – 2’01.951 – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “A busy day because of the weather changing and I need to find a better reference point on the track, for braking and so on. I guess that is the same for everyone. I need to set things up a bit better but we are not so far away from everyone except Broc. He knows part of the track and made a very fast lap. I am not so worried about this I am more concerned to be faster than the other ones. I made a mistake on the last corner of my fastest lap so maybe there could have been an even better time.” Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) “Broc is fit and feeling well and we are happy that it is dry. Broc knows the way round because he has raced on the shorter national track here, so that is why he has been up to speed quite so fast. Fabien feels well too and we must be pleased with the first day. Our target time is not clear because no bikes have raced on this layout but I would imagine that around two minutes would be a realistic target and Broc is basically there. But like normal, race pace is going to be slower.” Massimo Roccoli (14th – 2’03.218 seconds – Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) “I found very little grip and drive from the track surface today and we paid the price in the lap time. Tomorrow, if it is dry, we will try different gearing and new suspension settings to find the missing time.” More, from a press release issued by Triumph BE1 Racing: Mark Aitchison sets the third best time at the end of the first timed session of the Supersport world championship sixth round at Nurburgring, Germany. Today’s result could be considered definitive due to the rain expected for today which might influence the second timed session. However the Aussie rider is determined to defend his position also thanks to the ability to manage the qualifying effectively as he has showed recently. On the other hand Ivan Clementi had more difficulties to find the feeling with the track especially due to the bumps caused by the F1 near the bend entering. MARK AITCHISON | Triumph 675 | 3rd provvisional time in 2’01.659: “I’m really happy, both for me and the team. I have liked the track at first sight and I’ve found immediately a good set-up and excellent lines which allowed me to be quick since the first timed session. The bike has improved again respect to Monza and the work done by the team during the break has shown to be meaningful. I would like to congratulate all my mechanics. Although rain is expected for tomorrow, I hope the day will be dry because I want to improve my time and the set-up in order to get everything ready for the race and have what it takes to power to a big performance”. IVAN CLEMENTI | Triumph 675 | 22nd provvisional time 2’04.072: “The track suits my riding style and I really like it. Unfortunately the bumps caused by the F1 cars are giving me a lot of problems, chiefly the chattering entering the bends. I will try to find a set-up for the front in order to ‘follow’ the bumps. I would like to recover position in order to get back some satisfaction after the stop in Monza”.