From a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

LACONI CLINCHES FOURTH POLE OF THE SEASON FOR DUCATI FILA – FRONT ROW
START FOR TOSELAND

Silverstone (Britain), Saturday 12 June 2004: Regis Laconi clinched yet another pole position, his fourth of the year, for Ducati Fila when he powered his 999F04 around the 5.036 km Silverstone circuit in a time of 1:54.331. Superpole also saw a good performance from team-mate James Toseland, who lines up on the outside of row 1 for tomorrow’s two races with a time of 1:54.976.

“I’m happy with pole, the team has worked really well this weekend. We didn’t have the right feeling with the front, and we worked hard to resolve the problem. Even though it’s still not perfect, I’m happy with it for the race” declared Regis. “It’s always great to set pole and in particular this weekend because every time I used a qualifying tyre I was slower than with the race tyre. Instead my Superpole lap was just perfect! I feel good about tomorrow because my race pace and set-up is excellent and that’s what counts. All the other guys on the front row will be fired-up but I’m sure it’ll be an exciting race.”

“My Superpole lap was a nice one and it’ll good to be starting on the front row for tomorrow’s races, which is important here at Silverstone” commented James. “In the second qualifying session this morning we made a change to the front fork and couldn’t go back so it was a bit frustrating. However I’ve been doing quick times on a race tyre and race set-up all weekend and that’s the most important thing, so I’ll be giving it all for the British fans tomorrow to get my first World Superbike win at Silverstone.”

TIMES: 1. Laconi (Ducati Fila) 1:54.331; 2. Vermeulen (Honda) 1:54.643; 3. Haga (Renegade Ducati) 1:54.812; 4. Toseland (Ducati Fila) 1:54.976; 5. Haslam (Renegade Ducati) 1:55.038; 6. Corser (Petronas) 1:55.113; 7. Ellison (Yamaha) 1:55.276; 8. Martin (DFX Ducati) 1:55.438; etc.

TV COVERAGE: BBC (UK): Sunday 13 June, 1135-1250 SBK 1 (live),


More, from a press release issued by FGSport:

SUPERPOLE QUALIFYING

LACONI WINS SUPERPOLE AS CHILI ENDURES HEARTBREAK

Laconi In 4/6 Time: Regis Laconi (Ducati Fila 999F04) rode his factory machine to an assured Superpole win, after his two main competitors encountered troubles of different kinds. Laconi set the best time of the weekend, 1:54.331, to take his pole position start, in a competition held in glorious English sunshine. It was his fourth win in six attempts. For fastest man in regular qualifying, Pierfrancesco Chili (PSG-1 Ducati), his last pre-warm-up lap was a stillborn affair, as the repairs his pit crew had made to his machine after qualifying came undone and he had to drop out of contention. He will start the races from 16th place, the back of the fourth row.

Honda Progress: The Ten Kate Honda of Chris Vermeulen could well have been on pole, but for a couple of periods of lost traction at key points of the track. Aussie Vermeulen has otherwise found the Honda Fireblade the ideal tool to unlock the secrets of Silverstone, and hopes for much from his return to his old stomping grounds in the UK.

Fast Haga: Noriyuki Haga (Renegade Ducati 999RS) sparked up his weekend with a competitive Superpole lap, running third on the front row in third place. Despite a fraught qualifying Leon Haslam (Renegade Ducati) was running at full pace, ending an impressive day’s work in fifth place. James Toseland (Ducati Fila) one of the favourites for the race eked out a workmanlike fourth spot, an important start from row one.

Foggy Weather: The unique and technologically advanced Petronas FP-1 triple powered previously injured rider Troy Corser to sixth, having recovered from an Oschersleben spine injury sufficiently to compete at Silverstone. His team-mate Chris Walker was last man to qualify for Superpole and thus be the first man away, finishing 13th overall, despite his fractured rib.

Ellis Island: A superb performance from Yamaha privateer James Ellison put him seventh in Superpole, and seventh out of all 23 entrants. The former double European Superstock winning rider is running a necessarily low budget team, and has only one bike to work with. His speed and sheer determination to impress has propelled him into sharp focus this weekend, especially as his machine has a very stock engine set-up.

Other Private’s Progress: The DFX Sterilgarda pairing of Steve Martin and Marco Borciani took eighth and ninth places on the grid, while long-term SBK competitor Lucio Pedercini rounded out the top ten on the first of the 998 spec Ducatis.

Supersport: Karl Muggeridge gave his Ten Kate squad their fifth pole position of the year, despite suffering a high-speed crash in the opening minutes of the final qualifying session. Muggeridge now ties with WSS legend Paolo Casoli for the most number of career pole positions, on a total of 12. Muggeridge saw a whole raft of riders come close to his best-time, with Fabien Foret (Yamaha) only six thousandths of a second off the pole time of 1:56.715.

Wild card rider, and former WSS race winner, Pere Riba (MSS Kawasaki) was the top Kawasaki qualifier, making it three different bikes in the first three. Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) took his R6 to fourth place on the grid, with Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Honda) still unable to improve his time and thus dropping to fifth and the second row.



More, from a press release issued by MSS Discovery Kawasaki:

World Supersport Championship ­ round six – Silverstone, June 11-13 2004

Saturday June 12 2004

MSS DISCOVERY¹S RIBA BLITZES ONTO FRONT ROW IN TEAM’S WORLD ROUND DEBUT

MSS Discovery Kawasaki’s Pere Riba put in a blistering final lap in Saturday¹s final qualifying session to take third place on the front row of the grid for Sunday¹s sixth round of the World Supersport Championship at Silverstone, GB.

Riba, eighth after the opening qualifying session, was looking comfortable holding a top 10 placing ahead of Sunday¹s race before the talented Spaniard completed an incredible finish to the session, moving from eighth place to third with his final lap of the 3.13-mile circuit.

“I’m very, very happy with that lap time,” said wild card rider Riba. “Everything was working perfect and the machine feels better than it has done at any time this year.

“The ZX-6RR engine feels very strong and is very fast compared to the other machines out there. I was on the limit but everything was working so well ­ the brakes, the front suspension, the rear suspension and the Pirelli tyres.”

Riba added: “The machine feels good on a race set-up and I’m hoping I can be in a position to win tomorrow. It’s great for the team, Stuart (Simmonds) and Nick (Morgan) deserve to be challenging for a win here and we’ve put
ourselves in a really good position.

“The team is working very well and it’s all down to me now to try and make the most of starting alongside the World Supersport Championship regulars. I’m now excited and fascinated to see how the race will develop tomorrow.”

World Supersport Championship final qualifying times:

1 Karl Muggeridge, Australia (Honda) 1m 56.715s

2 Fabien Foret, France (Yamaha) 1m 56.721s

3 Pere Riba, Spain (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) 1m 56.902s

4 Kevin Curtain, Australia (Yamaha) 1m 56.943s

5 Broc Parkes, Australia (Honda) 1m 57.033s

6 Jurgen van den Goorbergh, Holland (Yamaha) 1m 57.148s

7 Sebastien Charpentier, France (Honda) 1m 57.339s

8 Lorenzo Lanzi, Italy (Ducati) 1m 57.595s

9 Alessio Corradi, Italy (Honda) 1m 58.003s

10 Luke Quigley, GB (Suzuki) 1m 58.161s


Silverstone television coverage: World Supersport Championship race, live on Eurosport News, programme starts at 12.00noon.


More, from a press release issued by Ten Kate Honda:

Vermeulen almost takes first Superpole win

Chris Vermeulen (Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) rode with all the flair and self-assurance he has shown since making the move up to World Superbike, but just missed out on securing his first Superpole win after a couple of minor moments.

Starting the single lap of Superpole second last, after qualifying second fastest in regulation qualifying, Vermeulen gave it his all, but when his rear end lost traction exiting the dead-stop final chicane, he lost time to eventual Superpole man Regis Laconi (Ducati). Fastest man in qualifying, Pierfrancesco Chili (Ducati) did not set a lap after his bike expired. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) and James Toseland (Ducati) will share the front row with Vermeulen and Laconi.

The 2003 World Supersport champion stated, “It’s not easy taking a new bike and trying to make it work at each new track we go to but Ten Kate have done a very good job with the bike and it’s gone very well around here – like at Monza. The last chicane, introduced last year, is a little bit of a pain. After running so fast for so long you come into that corner and almost have to stop and turn back on yourself. But everybody has to ride the same track. I’m enjoying it here, and I hope the weather will be good for the race. I would like to say I will win two races tomorrow but I don’t think things will be that easy!”

Team Manager Ronald Ten Kate said, “We were almost there. Chris made a little mistake in the stadium section, then a bigger one coming out of the last chicane. We are pretty close and also pretty happy with the set-up. Superpole is just one flying lap, not a real race; that is for tomorrow. I think tracks like Silverstone suit the bike, the way it is now at least, but for next year we want to have it ready and capable of winning at every track on the calendar.”


More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Belgarda:

Yamaha Racing
Yamaha Italia World Supersport Team Newsletter
Date: Saturday, 12th June 2004
Circuit: Silverstone, m. 5.036
Final Qualifying
Weather: dry, sunny Temperature: air 19° C track 37° C
Crowd: 15.000

FORET AND JURGEN READY TO ROLL
Team Yamaha Racing Italia riders Fabien Foret and Jurgen van den Goorbergh are well-poised and ready to challenge for podium places in tomorrow’s race at Silverstone. Fabien will start from the front row of the grid, with team mate Jurgen just behind on row two. Had it not been for a slip-up on his quick lap in final qualifying, Jurgen would have also been on the front row, but the second row will be good enough for the quick-starting Dutchman. Series leader Karl Muggeridge (Honda) is on pole for tomorrow’s 19-lapper with Foret, Riba (Kawasaki) and Curtain (Yamaha) alongside on the front row.

FABIEN FORET – 2nd, 1:56.721
We made some changes to my Yamaha this morning and began going faster then yesterday. The bike is really fast and I’m having fun. The most critical thing tomorrow will be the grip. At the moment, the tyres on our bike seem to work better when the temperature is hot, whereas the Hondas don’t seem to be so sensitive to change. So, I’m hoping for a very sunny and hot day tomorrow and a good finish – preferably at the top of the podium.

JURGEN VAN DEN GOORBERGH – 6th, 1:57.148
Friday wasn’t so good for us, but today we managed to improve quite a bit and that makes me happy. I had a front row place in my hand until my fairing hit the kerbstones and I fell off. But it was at one of the slowest places on the track and I didn’t even do any damage to my leathers. Without that, I would’ve been on the front row I think. Last year, I was second here, so I’ll be looking forward to a win tomorrow.

Final qualifying
1 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda) 1:56.715, 2 FORET (F-YAMAHA RACING ITALIA) 1:56.721, 3 Riba (E-Kawasaki) 1:56.902, 4 Curtain (Aus-Yamaha) 1:56.943, 5 Parkes (Aus-Honda) 1:57.033, 6 VD GOORBERGH (NL-YAMAHA RACING ITALIA) 1:57.148, 7 Charpentier (F-Honda) 1:57.339, 8 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:57.595, 9 Corradi (I-Honda) 1:58.003, 10 Quigley (GB-Suzuki) 1:58.161


More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist:

2004 World Superbike Championship
Round 6, Silverstone (UK) , Saturday 12th June, Final Qualifying
Circuit: 5.036 kms, Weather: dry, sunny/cloudy, 19°C

TROY HAPPY WITH ROW TWO
Troy finished qualifying and Superpole today with sixth quickest lap and will start tomorrow’s pair of 20-lappers from the second row of the grid. At a circuit as fast as Silverstone, Troy knew that getting on the front row would be difficult, but he was pleased enough with his Superpole lap and a place on row two. Frenchman Regis Laconi (Ducati) took pole, with a lap of 1:54.331, ahead of Chris Vermeulen (Honda), Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) and James Toseland (Ducati). There was drama on the Superpole when Frankie Chili – who had been fastest in regular qualifying – experienced a technical problem on his Superpole lap and failed to complete the timed lap. So, it looks like Chili will start from the fourth row of the grid and will face an uphill task if he is to get amongst the top points scorers.

TROY -6th, 1:55.113
My Superpole lap was about as fast as I could go. I got every corner right and there was no more to come. I’m pretty happy with my laps on race rubber because I know I can do consistent laps, though we shall have to wait and see if they’re going to be fast enough. I want to try one of the faster engines in the morning warm-up tomorrow and see if we can improve the set-up from today. All weekend, we’ve been lacking in top speed and acceleration out of the turns and that has hurt us a lot. I’m just going to ride as hard and fast as I can and see how many points I can pick up. It’s going to be a tough day.

Final qualifying
1 Laconi (I-Ducati) 1:54.331, 2 Vermeulen (Aus-Honda) 1:54.643, 3 Haga (J-Ducati) 1:54.812, 4 Toseland (GB-Ducati) 1:54.976, 5 Haslam (GB-Ducati) 1:55.038, 6 TROY CORSER (AUS-PETRONAS FP1) 1:55.113


More, from a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing:

Walker defies pain during Silverstone qualifying for FPR

Chris Walker overcame the agony of three fractured ribs to qualify in 13th place for tomorrow’s races in the sixth round of the Superbike World Championship at his home circuit of Silverstone.

Both he and team-mate Troy Corser bettered their weekend’s previous best by half a second in the Superpole one-lap shoot-out for the top 16 grid positions, with the Australian producing another faultless lap to qualify on the second row in sixth.

Chris, who survived a fire on his bike yesterday morning, high-sided at the Priory section just two laps into the morning’s qualifying session. While receiving painkilling injections in the medical centre he slipped to 16th place in the standings and his place in Superpole was in doubt.

But he rushed back to the garage with 10 minutes remaining and was able to fight off the challenge of David Garcia to retain 16th. The gutsy 32-year-old completed 15 laps of the afternoon free practice before posting his best time of the weekend of 1:56.118 during Superpole. That was enough to improve his qualifying position to 13th, with Regis Laconi claiming pole position, and was a tantalising three hundredths of a second off a third row start.

Chris said: “I didn’t want painkillers for the afternoon session because my arm felt like someone else’s when I went back out in the morning. I am desperate for a good start tomorrow and hopefully the adrenaline will kick, which is always the best painkiller. The last section, with the slow last chicane, is causing me the most difficulty and I was having chatter on the qualifying tyres, but only in the slow corners, where it is not the end of the world. But I have missed so much track time during these two days that I am struggling for set-up and, because I can’t ride very hard, it was hard to tell whether our changes were working or not.”

Troy, having qualified for Superpole in fifth place, was also able to improve his previous best lap, set during afternoon free practice despite also suffering a slow crash when his foot-peg clipped the kerb through the tight final chicane, by half a second. He finished just over a tenth of a second off the front row and was second fastest only to Laconi through the final split.

Troy said: “My Superpole lap was about as fast as I could do, as I got every corner right. I maybe got on the gas a little too early coming out of the final chicane and, while I got more drive I also had more spin. But I am pretty happy on race tyres and know I can do consistent lap times. Whether those times will be fast enough we will have to wait and see. I am hoping to go out on an engine which is slightly faster in the warm-up tomorrow and see if we can improve the set-up for it from today.”

Superpole results, Superbike World Championship round five, Oschersleben, Germany: 1 Laconi 1:54.331; 2 Vermeulen +0.312; 3 Haga +0.481; 4 Toseland +0.645; 5 Haslam +0.707; 6 Corser +0.782; 7 Ellison +0.945; 8 Martin +1.107; 9 Borciani +1.471; 10 Pedercini +1.741; 11 McCoy +1.742; 12 Sanchini +1.759; 13 Walker +1.787; 14 Clementi +2.047; 15 Nanelli +2.236; 16 Chili DNF

Saturday free practice times: 1 Haga 1:54.584; 2 Laconi 1:55.083; 3 Haslam 1:55.133; 4 Vermeulen 1:55.133; 5 Martin 1:55.316; 6 Chili 1:55.360; 7 Toseland 1:55.666; 8 Corser 1:55.694; 9 Sanchini 1:55.801; 10 Ellison 1:56.006; 18 Walker 1:57.209

Saturday qualifying times (Best qualifying time in brackets): 1 Chili (PSG-1) 1:54.794; 2 Vermeulen (Ten Kate Honda) 1:54.796; 3 Laconi (Ducati Fila) 1:54.799; 4 Haga (Renegade Ducati) 1:56.113 (1:55.522); 5 Corser (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:55.839; 6 Toseland (Ducati Fila) 1:55.870; 7 Martin (DFX) 1:55.892; 8 Nannelli (Team Pedercini) 1:56.360 (1:55.932); 9 McCoy (Xerox Ducati) 1:55.939; 10 Borciani (DFX) 1:55.977 (1:56.738); 16 Walker (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:56.678 (1:56.621)