FIM Supersport World Championship Magny-Cours, France October 3, 2008 Provisional Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Jonathan REA (Honda CBR600RR), 1:42.849 2. Broc PARKES (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:43.007 3. Barry VENEMAN (Suzuki GSX-R600), 1:43.343 4. Matthieu LAGRIVE (Honda CBR600RR), 1:43.390 5. Joan LASCORZ (Honda CBR600RR), 1:43.445 6. Andrew PITT (Honda CBR600RR), 1:43.601 7. Didier VAN KEYMEULEN (Suzuki GSX-R600), 1:43.710 8. Gianluca NANNELLI (Honda CBR600RR), 1:44.010 9. Josh BROOKES (Honda CBR600RR), 1:44.390 10. Josh HAYES (Honda CBR600RR), 1:44.615 11. Massimo ROCCOLI (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:44.636 12. Miguel PRAIA (Honda CBR600RR), 1:44.636 13. Robbin HARMS (Honda CBR600RR), 1:44.712 14. Julian ENJOLRAS (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:44.788 15. Katsuaki FUJIWARA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:44.790 16. Mark AITCHISON (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:44.874 17. Graeme GOWLAND (Honda CBR600RR), 1:44.886 18. Ivan CLEMENTI (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:45.015 19. Russel HOLLAND (Honda CBR600RR), 1:45.349 20. David SALOM (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:45.608 FIM European 600cc Superstock Championship Magny-Cours, France October 3, 2008 Provisional Qualifying Results (wet conditions, all on Pirelli tires): 1. Dan LINFOOT (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:58.719 2. Marco BUSSOLOTTI (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:58.906 3. Alexander Thomas LOWES (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:59.630 4. Loris BAZ (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:00.680 5. Vincent LONBOIS (Suzuki GSX-R600), 2:01.106 6. Baptiste GUITTET (Triumph Daytona 675), 2:01.751 7. Gino REA (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:01.856 8. Leonardo BILIOTTI (Honda CBR600RR), 2:01.969 9. Daniele BERETTA (Suzuki GSX-R600), 2:02.151 10. William GRARRE (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:02.283 31. Josh DAY (Honda CBR600RR), 2:11.527 More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: HANNspree Ten Kate Honda’s Jonathan Rea grabbed provisional pole position for Sunday’s penultimate World Supersport championship race by setting the fastest time in today’s opening qualifying session at Magny-Cours in France. His team-mate and series leader, Andrew Pitt, sits on the provisional second row with the sixth fastest time of this afternoon’s rain-interrupted session, in spite of a crash late on. Jonathan Rea P1, 1m42.849s There was a bit of rain which broke up the session, but we were on it pretty quickly. I went out soon after the rain cleared off and just built the lap times. It should be a bit warmer tomorrow and faster but the base speed should be 42s, and that’s what we did. It just shows how beneficial our test here last week was, and we’ll just chip away at some race runs tomorrow and build up for Sunday. Andrew Pitt P6, 1m43.601s Well, I guess the story will be that I crashed at the end of that session. But the fact is the bike felt really good and everything was pretty comfortable until that point. I came in and put in a new rear but lost the front on the next flying lap. It was at the first left-hander, so I think it was just a case of not having enough heat on that side of the front tyre. Ronald ten Kate team manager: I know it’s the same for everyone, but those were very tricky conditions. After the test last week, we expected both riders to be immediately up to speed and, apart from Andrew’s crash, that’s what happened. The most important thing is that Andrew’s not injured and the bike is not as badly damaged as I feared. Tomorrow’s forecast is for a full, dry day, and I’m quite sure we’ll have to go a fair amount quicker to be on the front row. More, from a press release issued by Parkalgar Honda: Parkalgar-Honda Latest News – Third row for Parkalgar Honda racers PARKALGAR HONDA riders Josh Hayes and Miguel Praia today took provisional third row starting places for Sunday’s penultimate round of the World Supersport Championship at Magny Cours in France. A wet morning session at the 4.411km track failed to dampen the spirits of double American Formula Extreme Champion Hayes as he completed more laps than any other rider learning the circuit, to post the eighth fastest time. In the afternoon the dry qualifying was interrupted by rain but he still managed to post the 10th best lap despite it being his first time on a dry track. Praia is riding well and despite sitting out much of the wet morning practice, he got up to speed quickly in the afternoon, posting the 11th equal fastest time to place 12th on count-back on the provisional grid, his best qualifying position of the season to date. Honda’s Jonathan Rea took provisional pole position. Both riders have another opportunity to improve in tomorrow’s practice and then final qualifying sessions. The race takes place at 1320 on Sunday, September 28th and can be viewed live on www.worldsbk.com. Simon Buckmaster, Parkalgar Honda Team Manager: “It couldn’t be much harder for Josh just like last time out it rained through practice but at least today he got three-quarters of a dry qualifying session. For him to place 10th with such a lack of track knowledge and time is exceptional. He has said that his Parkalgar Honda is good and he needs to make up the time from within himself he’s determined and I think the only way is up the leader-board from here. “Miguel continues to ride in a rich vein of form and this afternoon he was within a whisker of the top 10. That is his best qualifying position of the year if he can maintain it tomorrow and should hopefully give him the platform to challenge for the top 10 in the race. It’s great for the team that its Portuguese rider is coming good as we go towards the final round of the Championship at our home circuit of Parkalgar in Portimao.” More, from a press release issued by Josh Hayes Racing: (Editorial Note: Josh Hayes will also be posting these updates to his website, www.joshhayesracing.com.) Hey all, Here is an update from the Magny Cours World Supersport event. So this is my second try at WSS, and after what I felt was a disappointing Vallelunga round two weeks ago, I’m hoping to move up a bit. I say disappointing only because I feel like I should have been closer to the front. I hope to show just how strong our American series riders really are! Conditions so far have been quite similar. This morning’s first practice was run under wet conditions, and did I mention COLD! I knew I needed all the laps I could get, so I stayed out the entire session despite frozen fingers and a well shagged rear tire. Several of the slower turns had dry lines which ran onto the straights for about 25 yards, then it would be wet, causing some hair-raising moments! All of the faster sections and the braking zones were plenty wet though. Did I mention it was cold? 10 degrees Celsius and 7 degree track temp (that’s 50 and 46 for us westerners). Whew”¦ A little brisk. Several regulars decided to skip out on most of the session because many of them tested here recently; but I managed 24 laps, being P2-P3 much of the session. I could not improve much at the end because the tire was worked and I did not want to waste time coming in for new rubber. I still felt ending up 8th wasn’t too bad. Qualifying, luckily, started in dry conditions and again I tried to get out early and get to work learning a new circuit. I had quite a few brake markers and turn in points to figure out. The back straight leads to a first gear hairpin, so it’s pretty crucial to get that figured out pretty quickly. It again started to rain about 15 minutes into the qualifying session, so I came in to figure out what would happen next. Fortunately, the rain stopped and we were able to get in the last 12 or so minutes on a dry track. I was lucky to get out close to Josh Brookes and tagged along with him for 3-4 laps and found enough time to get 10th on the grid. I’m fairly happy with the result, considering 16 dry laps on a new track. The Parkalgar team has been extremely kind, and a pleasure to work with. They have allowed me to try settings from my Erion Hondas, which has definitely helped me get a better feel for the machine, learn about the tires, and learn the track quickly because I can focus on learning the track rather than adapt to an unfamiliar machine. As for right now, the weather forecast looks to be more of the same tomorrow, with possible sunshine and 15 degrees C (60 degrees F) for Sunday. I’m hoping for a lucky run of dry track tomorrow so I can continue to learn and get up to speed. Cheers, Josh Hayes More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Parkes second fastest as Foret returns Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) overcame the less than ideal conditions and 10°C track temperatures in the first qualifying session at Magny-Cours to record the second fastest time of the day. His best was only 0.158 seconds from provisional pole, and despite the cold track conditions, the best times were only just off lap record pace. This race marked the return of legendary Yamaha WSS rider Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport Team) who secured a qualifying position of 26th as he stepped onto his R6 machine for the first time since his crash at the Brno round. The bad weather that has followed World Supersport this season continued once again, with occasionally wet track surfaces and an all-pervading cold robbing the track of consistency of grip. Unlike some other teams in the championship, the Yamaha World Supersport squad did not test at this venue recently, making the first day showings an impressive display. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) finished an encouraging 11th on day one, while David Salom (Yamaha Spain World Supersport) was 20th. Broc Parkes (2nd – 1’43.007 – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “It’s good for a first day because we didn’t test here and Ten Kate did, so it’s always a good feeling when you can just wheel out the bike and be on top. The Yamaha always works well here and I like the track, so we just need to get as much time on the track as we can and get ready for Sunday. I’m happy for the first day.” Fabien Foret (26th – 1’46.914 – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “Not too bad but not the best track conditions I could expect before I got back on the bike. It was cold and there were some wet patches around, so that was not good for my confidence. I need to get some more reference points on the track to get more confidence. Everything is a bit sluggish now and it is like I have restarted. If the weather is good tomorrow and I can work from the first thing in the morning, we should be better.” Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) “We did not have ideal track conditions to set-up the machines, especially as we have not tested here, but Broc likes the track and was fast right away. That’s great. The Ten Kate guys were testing here but it seems we can compete straight away without testing. Let’s wait and see tomorrow what we can do. I will not say anything about weather for tomorrow because it seems very unpredictable! Fabien has no pain but it will take some time for him to get back into it. Small things matter when you come back and he has to get used to the speed again. Nothing can simulate that and the co-ordination you need to ride fast. But he qualified and tomorrow is another day. I can say that he has come back to be ready for next year more than be ready for the next race in Portimao.” Massimo Roccoli (11th – 1’44.636 – Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) “This morning I only had four laps because of the wet track, but it was important because I rode with a wet set-up, just to test it. In the second session, I rode with a dry set-up and it went better lap-by-lap. With a new clutch fitted tomorrow we will be able to make more improvements, if the weather is OK of course!” More, from a press release issued by Triumph Italia Be1 Racing: Mark Aitchison and Ivan Clementi recorded respectively the sixteenth and eighteenth provisional time after the first timed session of the penultimate WSS round which is taking place at Magny Cours, France. The day has been influenced by bad weather once again; both cold track (road surface 44.6°F) and rain restrained Be1 Racing’s raiders to capitalize the morning free practice in which Triumph 675 made its debut on the French ground. Aitchison and Clementi was forced to defer the work on the bike fine-tuning to the afternoon timed session. In all likelihood the provisional ranking will be subjected to several alteration tomorrow since the weather is expected to be better and all the riders will be able to improve their times markedly. IVAN CLEMENTI | Triumph 675 | 18th provisional time in 1’45.015: “This morning we did not have the opportunity to work and so we did not make any step forward about the bike fine-tuning. On the contrary we have reached a good level in the afternoon although we must improve the traction. Our gap from the top-10 is thin and I’m sure that I will be able to cut off my time tomorrow”. MARK AITCHISON | Triumph 675 | 16th provisional time in 1’44.874: “I’m pretty satisfied with the job done today despite it is our first time on this track. We have set a good balancing and now we will have to choose wisely the tyres in order to get good performance even on a cold track”.