FIM Supersport World Championship Brno, Czech Republic July 19, 2008 Final Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Broc PARKES (Yamaha YZF-R6) 2:03.203 2. Barry VENEMAN (Suzuki GSX-R600), 2:03.452 3. Josh BROOKES (Honda CBR600RR), 2:03.562 4. Andrew PITT (Honda CBR600RR), 2:03.590 5. Craig JONES (Honda CBR600RR), 2:03.761 6. Mark AITCHISON (Triumph Daytona 675), 2:03.775 7. Jonathan REA (Honda CBR600RR), 2:03.934 8. Vesa KALLIO (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.135 9. Matthieu LAGRIVE (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.368 10. Russel HOLLAND (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.508 11. Gianluca NANNELLI (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.546 12. Didier VAN KEYMEULEN (Suzuki GSX-R600), 2:04.605 13. Gregory LEBLANC (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.670 14. Robbin HARMS (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.676 15. Garry MCCOY (Triumph Daytona 675), 2:04.721 16. David SALOM (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:04.779 17. Joan LASCORZ (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.887 18. Massimo ROCCOLI (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:04.891 19. Ivan CLEMENTI (Triumph Daytona 675), 2:04.903 20. Gianluca VIZZIELLO (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.910 21. Chris WALKER (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:05.115 22. Fabien FORET (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:05.151 23. Katsuaki FUJIWARA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:05.328 24. Danilo DELL’OMO (Honda CBR600RR), 2:05.507 25. Graeme GOWLAND (Honda CBR600RR), 2:05.775 More, from a press release issued by Triumph Italia Be1 Racing: Triumph Italia Be1 Racing comes really close to the first row with Mark Aitchison. The young Aussie records the sixth best time after the second timed session at Brno, just one tenth slower than the former champion Andrew Pitt and his factory Honda. Aitchison has been really quick during the whole session, lapping several times close to his best time; that allows the rider and the team to feel confident for tomorrow’s race with the goal to improve the sixth final place taken fifteen days ago at Misano. On the other hand, Ivan Clementi is going to start form the fifth line. The Italian rider was not able to fix the rear chattering of his bike and that prevented him from getting a better result on a track which usually suits his riding style. MARK AITCHISON | Triumph 675 | 6th best time in 2’03.775: “I would have had the chance to start from the first line but I paid for my lack of experience and I was not able to improve my time further. We found a good setting this morning, then we focused on choosing the best kind of tyres for the race. I recorded my best time during a series of very quick laps; that is really good and I feel confident to be one of the best riders of tomorrow’s race”. IVAN CLEMENTI | Triumph 675 | 19th best time in 2’04.903: “My problem is linked with just two corners where I collect the most of the gap from the bests. I cannot find the right set-up for the fork in order to remove the chattering. Tomorrow morning we will test a different balancing for the bike in order to get a better control which can lead to improve my times”. More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Pitt starts Brno Supersport race from front row HANNspree Ten Kate Honda rider Andrew Pitt secured a front row start in the second day of qualifying in Brno. Pitt set the fastest time in his first lap of the afternoon’s official practice and looked likely to claim his third pole of the season. He focused for the remainder of the session on finding the right tyres and didn’t manage to further improve his fastest time of 2’03.590 0.387s behind pole sitter Broc Parkes. Pitt, who is looking for a continuation of his winning streak, will start Sunday’s race from fourth place on the grid. Jonathan Rea has adapted himself quickly to the new track and topped the time sheets in the morning’s free practice session. In the official practice Rea maintained his pace and secured a second row start in a best time of 2’03.934, the seventh fastest qualifying time. Both riders are confident with their race pace and set-up and aim to convert their starting positions into a top finish for the team. Andrew Pitt, 2’03.590; “I am pretty happy to be on the front row. We probably had pole there for a while and luckily we stayed on the front row. We wanted to come through on the tyre choice and stayed out there and didn’t come back in to put new tyres in again.” “We found the best combination with the tyres and Johnny and I are in a good position to be really strong in the race. I’m looking forward to racing tomorrow.” Jonathan Rea, 2’03.934; “For me the qualifying sessions today were ok. I looked at the race pace of the other riders and we are right in the ball park. I put some race laps together in the session and concentrated on the race set-up.” “We have a good set-up for tomorrow and I’m confident with my tyre choice. I am really looking forward to the race, we have the pace to do well and I’m really confident. I just hope from row two I can make a good start and be there from lap one and challenge the fight for a race.” More, from a press release issued by Scuderia Triumph-SC: GARRY McCOY INJURED IN PRACTICE SESSION AT BRNO (Brno Czech Republic 2008, July 19) The main event of the second practice day at Brno Automotodrom for Triumph-SC Team has been the very bad accident occurred to Garry McCoy during the second free practice session in the morning. About ten minutes to the finish Garry, who was running very fast, so that at first split he recorded the fourth fastest, found on his line outing a corner in the downhill sector, the Pitt’s Honda running slowly along the track edge. McCoy, heavy engaged to grab a fast lap, tried to spare the unexpected obstacle, but he touched with the front brake lever to Honda’s back. The 675 Daytona of the veteran Aussie has been throw to the protections along the track. The crash has been very hard, the bike front has been disintegrated while Garry crashed against the wall with the left part of his back. Broken ribs and a heavy internal thoracic trauma. The rider was conscious, able to manage the action of first aid rescue along the track. After the first control by Clinica Mobile people McCoy has been translated by medical helicopter to Úrazová Nemocnice Hospital in Brno-Trnitá for more controls to verify the presence of injuries at lung and pleura level. The following controls did show also a fracture at the sixth loin vertebra, without any damage at neurological level, as well a left lung contusion, so Garry has been transported, following his request, to Private Klinik in Wien, where an orthopaedic specialist well known by Garry is working. Ruggero Scambia clearly increased his performance, as well the grid position did not change too much: “I increased more as 3 seconds my lap time, but that wasn’t enough and I remained in the back of the grid. But now the gap from most of my rivals is possible to manage and if I’ll have a good start I could look for a result able to give me trust for next events.” No glory in 600 Superstok race for Robbie Stewart, 25th at the finish after a bad start that put him il the last position at the end of the first lap: “I don’t know how to say, the bike runs well, but i had a slow start and then I was not able to have a good pace. Just in the final laps I started to ride better, but it was too late.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Parkes takes fifth pole position in a row Broc Parkes consistently brilliant performances in qualifying in the 2008 season continued at the Brno meeting when he took a remarkable fifth consecutive pole position. His pre-race successes at Assen, Monza, Nürburgring and Misano grew to five after Parkes scored a 2’03.203 second lap towards the end of a busy afternoon session. Parkes’ lap was a new absolute track best, on a circuit which had been resurfaced earlier in the season. The expected rains stayed away during the second day of track action, allowing Parkes to lead Barry Veneman, Josh Brookes and Andrew Pitt on the front row of the grid. Fabien Foret is recovering from a day one crash that saw him crack his C6 and C7 vertebrae, and suffer a concussion. Latest medical reports indicate that Foret will be out of action for two months, but should make a full recovery. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) slipped one place to 18th on the grid on day two of qualifying and David Salom (Yamaha Spain World Supersport) went 16th. Broc Parkes (1st – 2’03.203 – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “It’s a great feeling to have had five pole position rides in a row and I’m happy with the final results of all the work we did in qualifying. Our bike is working really well on fresh rubber, as usual. I think that the rate of wear from the tyres will be the same for everyone in the race tomorrow, and the pace will be pretty even between the top guys. Maybe it will be a case of managing the tyres in the last few laps. But on the new track surface, we’ll have to wait and see.” Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) “Broc is simply brilliant at getting pole positions and five in a row is really something special. What can we say, qualifying fastest is what he is really good at right now and the desire to succeed is also in his guts at the moment. He kept his patience to wait until we got to know all the information we needed for the race, even though another rider went faster near the end. Only then did Broc go out and take pole. That is the best thing about his practice performances, his willingness to work for a good race set-up.” Massimo Roccoli (18th – 2’04.891 seconds – Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) “Today wasn’t a good day because although the bike was very good, the engine has had another step of evolution and was very competitive, I didn’t ride as aggressively as I needed to. Our tyre strategy was excellent but I think it is simply a problem of my confidence to go as fast as I know I can.” David Salom: (16th – 2’04.779 seconds – Yamaha Spain) “I’ve been riding very comfortably and the faster I went the more comfortable I felt. My best lap time is very good, faster than last year’s pole position. I’ve improved my best time from last year by three seconds and the bike, team and me have all improved too.”