FIM Superbike World Championship Assen, Netherlands April 15 Qualifying Session One Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Jakub SMRZ, Czech Republic (Ducati 1098R), 1:36.058 2. Max BIAGGI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:36.287 3. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:36.494 4. Michel FABRIZIO, Italy (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:36.550 5. Tom SYKES, Great Britain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:36.747 6. Troy CORSER, Australia (BMW S1000RR), 1:36.876 7. Leon HASLAM, Great Britain (BMW S1000RR), 1:36.989 8. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:37.024 9. Jonathan REA, Great Britain (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:37.063 10. Noriyuki HAGA, Japan (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:37.106 11. Carlos CHECA, Spain (Ducati 1098R), 1:37.114 12. Joan LASCORZ, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:37.364 13. Leon CAMIER, Great Britain (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:37.373 14. Ruben XAUS, Spain (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:37.424 15. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:37.613, crash 16. Barry VENEMAN, Netherlands (BMW S1000RR), 1:37.716 17. Maxime BERGER, France (Ducati 1098R), 1:37.853 18. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Ducati 1098R), 1:37.899 19. Chris VERMEULEN, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:38.452 20. Roberto ROLFO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:38.487 21. Mark AITCHISON, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:38.713 More, from a press release issued by PATA Racing Team: A good start for Noriyuki Haga, that end the first day of practice gaining a tenth place but overall show himself fast and at ease with the bike on the Assen’s track, where he’s been often a protagonist in thrilling duels. Haga confirmed the good work done during the last round, when in Donington he’s been constantly among the fastest riders both saturday and sunday. A positive signal that attest that the feeling between the japanese rider and the RSV4R is growing and will allow him to face tomorrow day with optimism, knowing to have all the cards to gain a good place on the starting grid. Noriyuki Haga – Aprilia RSV4R #41 – “I’m really satisfied about today’s work. We got to a good base, we’ll try to improve ourselves tomorrow when we’ll try a new solution about the gear and on the front fork. I think this improvements could bring me a step forward and improve my time”. Marco Borciani – team manager – “We are on the right way, only one second apart from the temporary pole position, but overall we are able to repeat a session of fast rounds. I’m confident within sight of tomorrow where I hope to gain a placing among the first rows on the starting grid”. More, from a press release issued by Infront Motor Sports: Smrz bubbles up after fizzing first qualifying session Assen (Netherlands), Friday 15 April 2011 – After his superb FP1 performance this morning, Jakub Smrz (Effenbert-Liberty Racing Ducati) repeated the feat in first qualifying, with a time of 1 minute 36.058 seconds. This leading performance was already under the race lap record pace and only a little over one second from the track best of 1 minute 34.944. The Czech Republic charger held off a trio of fast and furious Italians, led by Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team), Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team) and Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki Alstare), all four separated by just half a second. An excellent fifth place was notched up by Kawasaki Racing Team man Tom Sykes, with early front-runners Troy Corser and Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) in sixth and seventh, after being the leaders of the entire session for some time. The two Irishmen, Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike Team) and Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) were next up, while points leader Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) was uncharacteristically down in eleventh slot. Noriyuki Haga (Pata Aprilia Racing) placed tenth on the dummy grid, with rookie rider Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team) 12th, just behind his countryman Checa. Leon Camier, Biaggi’s team-mate slipped down to 13th, with Ruben Xaus (Castrol Honda) in 14th place. Stand-in rider Barry Veneman (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK) was 16th, one place behind team regular Ayrton Badovini. Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki Racing Team) went 19th in his latest comeback ride, finding a technical issue that prevented him from setting a faster time near the end of the session. One more qualifying session remains on Saturday, then Superpole takes place for the top 16 in combined qualifying. Times: 1. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1’36.058; 2. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’36.287; 3. Melandri M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R1 1’36.494; 4. 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’36.550; 5. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’36.747; 6. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1’36.876; 7. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 1’36.989; 8. Laverty E. (IRL) Yamaha YZF R1 1’37.024; 9. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’37.063; 10. Haga N. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’37.106; 11. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1’37.114; 12. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’37.364; 13. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’37.373; 14. Xaus R. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1’37.424; 15. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’37.613; 16. Veneman B. (NED) BMW S1000 RR 1’37.716; etc. World Supersport Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider Florian Marino made the most of his team’s home circuit advantage as he powered to the quickest time in first qualifying. Behind the young Frenchman can be found points leader Luca Scassa (Yamaha ParkinGO), just a fraction away from the top slot. Third place went to Spain’s David Salom (Kawasaki Motocard.com) followed by Sam Lowes on the Parkalgar Honda machine, putting three different types of machinery on the provisional front row. Chaz Davies (Yamaha ParkinGO) was on top slot in the early stages but then could only finish fifth, while the rest of the provisional row 2 is made up of Broc Parkes (Kawasaki Motocard.com), Robbin Harms (Harms Benjan Racing) and Fabien Foret (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda). Gino Rea (Step Racing Honda) and Massimo Roccoli (Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki) rounded out the early top ten, with one qualifying session remaining tomorrow. Times: 1. Marino F. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1’38.945; 2. Scassa L. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’39.121; 3. Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’39.191; 4. Lowes S. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1’39.291; 5. Davies C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 1’39.519; 6. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’39.569; 7. Harms R. (DEN) Honda CBR600RR 1’39.766; 8. Foret F. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1’40.247; etc. Superstock 1000 Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Ducati) made a one second leap forward from his morning time to go to the top slot in Superstock 1000 qualifying. Four-tenths behind was BMW Motorrad Italia STK man Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad Italia STK), ahead of two more Ducatis on the provisional front row, the Barni version of Danilo Petrucci and the second Althea machine of Lorenzo Baroni. Fifth went to Andrea Antonelli (Honda Team Lorini) with Dutchman Roy Ten Napel (Domburg Honda) in a popular sixth. Times: 1. Giugliano D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’39.538; 2. Barrier S. (FRA) BMW S1000 RR 1’39.915; 3. Petrucci D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’40.053; 4. Baroni L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’40.054; 5. Antonelli A. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1’40.100; 6. Ten Napel R. (NED) Honda CBR1000RR; 1’40.178; 7. Massei F. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’40.965; 8. La Marra E. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1’41.014; etc. Superstock 600 Romain Lanusse (MRS Yamaha Racing France) set the provisional pole in the Superstock 600 class, the young Frenchman also recording a new best lap along the way, quicker than the one held by his compatriot Florian Marino. A full second behind Lanusse can be found Italian Bernardino Lombardi (Yamaha Martini Corse), ahead of 2010 Magny-Cours winner Jed Metcher (Yamaha MTM-RT Motorsports Team) from Australia. 15-year-old Italian Francesco Cocco (Yamaha Martini Corse) was next, ahead of Josh Elliot of the WTM Yamaha Team, while so far Joshua Day (Racedays Kawasaki) and Austin DeHaven (Trasimeno Yamaha) are finding the 600 category a tough baptism. Times: 1. Lanusse R. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’41.580; 2. Lombardi D. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’42.653; 3. Metcher J. (AUS) Yamaha YZF R6 1’42.881; 4. Cocco F. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’43.204; 5. Elliott J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 1’43.297; 6. Vd Mark M. (NED) Honda CBR600RR 1’43.306; 7. Calero Perez N. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R6 1’43.308; 8. Duwelz G. (BEL) Yamaha YZF R6 1’43.341; etc. European Junior Cup The first edition of the European Junior Cup, an initiative that sees the participation of youngsters from 9 different nations, made its debut today at the Assen circuit. Tom Busch was quickest in the first free practice session, which gave the rookies a chance to get to know the track on their Kawasaki Ninja 250R machines, the German finishing ahead of Australian Matt Davies and South African Daniel Teixeira. More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: Everything goes according to plan for Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport at the third round of the FIM Superbike World Championship 2011 in Assen (NED). Works riders, Troy Corser (AUS) and Leon Haslam (GBR), finished the first qualifying session on their BMW S 1000 RRs in sixth and seventh. To save their soft tyres for tomorrow’s Superpole, both riders only went out on harder tyres. For a long time Troy and Leon lay first and second. They only slipped back in the classification in the last part of the session, when other riders switched to soft tyres to improve their lap times. Troy Corser: Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:37.583 min (P4)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice: 1:36.876 min (P6) “This Friday was fine, and this morning we had a good setting for the bike, based on last year’s settings and the test in Valencia. I was happy and comfortable with it. For this afternoon we made a few changes and went quite a bit quicker. At the beginning of the session we did a long run to get some laps on the tyre. That was quite consistent, so I am pretty happy with that as well. The setting of the bike is okay considering we only ran on hard tyres. I am happy. Of course it would be nice to be a bit further up the grid, but today it’s not so important as it’s only Friday. Everything is working the right way.” Leon Haslam: Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:37.606 min (P5)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:36.989 min (P7) “It was a pretty good Friday. It’s nice to be back at Assen, and I am feeling very confident on the bike. We made some progress in Valencia last week, so we were kind of making a set up with what we had there. I am feeling pretty confident. We were doing nearly the whole session with only one tyre. In Valencia we had a few new chassis parts, so setting them up for a new circuit was the priority today. Right now we need to concentrate on doing race runs. I am looking for tomorrow.” Rainer Bäumel (Head of Race Operations): “We are very happy with today, as everything is going according to plan. We have not used soft tyres so far, but saved them for tomorrow and today only ran on race tyres. I am pretty confident because, while everybody was on race tyres, which was until the last quarter of an hour, we were in front. So I think tomorrow will be even better for us.” More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing: A SATISFACTORY START FOR THE ALTHEA RACING TEAM AT THE TT CIRCUIT ASSEN Assen (The Netherlands), Friday 15th April 2011: the Althea Racing team and rider Carlos Checa worked hard today at the TT Circuit Assen, closing the free practice session in second place and first qualifying in eleventh, after carrying out some useful tyre tests. Conditions remained fairly stable at the Dutch track today (track temperature 22ËšC, air temperature 16ËšC) and in the first practice session for the Superbikes, times dropped dramatically during the 60-minute session. Carlos immediately found good pace, positioning himself in the top three where he remained for the duration of the session, while continuing to lower his lap times with each exit he made. The Althea Racing flagbearer closed the practice with the second fastest time overall, despite losing a few tenths through the second section of the track. In the afternoon, having studied the track conditions (less than hot), Carlos and his technicians decided to lap with the harder tyre solution, while many other riders went with the softer rubber to make the fast laps. Team Althea instead concentrated on understanding tyre performance, to better understand what direction to take if conditions on Sunday are similar to today’s. Satisfied with the work carried out, Carlos wil tomorrow concentrate in improving times. Today he closed in eleventh position, with a best time of 1m37.1. Carlos Checa “This afternoon we worked a lot with the harder tyre available to us. We saw that conditions were not warm enough for the softer solution to be useful. We had tried the soft this morning but you could see that after some laps the bike began to move a lot, telling us that tyre would be better for using in higher temperatures. We wanted to carry out this test and now we have a better idea of what to use if conditions on Sunday are as today. This morning I was up front and I think we have the pace to be in the leading group on Sunday too. Starting on the front row is quite important at Assen because it’s a track where passing is pretty difficult.” More, from a press release issued by Castrol Honda: Rea ninth, but confident after opening Assen qualifying Jonathan Rea set the ninth fastest time in this afternoon’s first qualifying session at Assen in Holland in preparation for Sunday’s two third round World Superbike championship races on Sunday. Provisional pole position was taken by Czech rider Jakub Smrz as Rea’s Castrol Honda team-mate Ruben Xaus was 14th fastest for a provisional fourth row start for the two 22-lap races around the 4.452km Assen circuit. With lower track temperatures at Assen this afternoon, Rea and Xaus spent much of the session testing tyre combinations to ensure durability in Sunday’s races, opting to keep back some of their allocation of softer rubber. Jonathan Rea P9 We’re satisfied enough with today because we concentrated a lot on track temperature versus tyre combination today. With today’s conditions, some options aren’t working as well as others after about 15 laps and that’s where the races will going to won and lost, I think. It was the correct decision to go down that route today and, while we haven’t used so many tyres, we’ve got through a lot of work. The tyre we used at the end of this afternoon’s session wasn’t going to bring a lap time anyway and we hadn’t finished our race simulation. So I don’t think our position reflects where we actually are today, although there’s still some work to do in the first and middle sectors with the long corners at the back of the circuit. We’ve got some ideas and I was rushing into some corners, which ruined the exit. But we’ve got good data from last year that we can use so it’s not rocket science for us. We’re not out of the ball park and tomorrow I think we can improve our time and our position quite easily, so there’s no drama. Ruben Xaus P14 We started well this m orning and everything was looking OK but it’s a sensitive machine and at the level, on the limit, small changes can make a big difference. The track temperature was much lower this afternoon and we lost a lot of grip and references from this morning. I think we tried to change too many things this afternoon and I got a bit frustrated at the end. We tested different tyres this afternoon but we don’t have so many quantities of the better front tyre. I’m closer to the front in times and because the bike is still quite new, I need fewer changes to understand what changes are happening. We just need to put in different tyre options and gas it to settle into rhythm. It’s no big deal really, so tomorrow should be better Ronald ten Kate team manager Last year Assen was our test track so we had done a lot of laps prior to the race. Now we need to do all that work during the weekend and instead of rushing into sin gle quick lap times, we’ve concentrated on race settings, especially tyre wear. With the temperature here we’re just on the limit between two options. We’ve found a clear direction there which leaves us some of the softer option to use tomorrow, so I’m quite happy that everyone in the team is working calmly and correctly and moving forward. Tomorrow we’ll try to get both riders further up the grid. Ruben got a bit caught out by the conditions being in between tyres and changes to the bike. He’s still in a learning curve on the bike but for sure we can improve things for him after a good look at the data this evening. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Alstare: 2011 Superbike World Championship Round 3, Assen, NL Friday qualifying, 15th April Circuit: 4.542 kms Conditions: Dry, sunny/cloudy 16C (air), 18-24C (track) MICHEL HAPPY WITH FOURTH Team Suzuki Alstare rider Michel Fabrizio ended the first day of practice and qualifying at Assen with the fourth quickest time and was happy with the job he and the team had done. Conditions were good throughout the day, though the morning sun did give way to grey clouds in the afternoon. Michel finished first practice in 16th place, but improved superbly to fourth in the afternoon timed session. Czech rider Jakub Smrz (Ducati) dominated both sessions today, ending with a lap of 1:36.058 – three tenths of a second inside the lap record set by Jonathan Rea last year. Second quickest was reigning champion Max Biaggi (Aprilia), with Marco Melandri (Yamaha) third, less than a tenth of a second ahead of Michel. The top six bikes today were all different manufacturers and just one and a half seconds separated the top thirteen. Michel – 4th, 1:36.550 I am quite happy, because I think we did a very good job today. We didn’t panic after the morning session, when we were sixteenth, but just went about our job professionally and got our reward as a result. We didn’t even use a soft tyre until the end of this afternoon’s qualifying, so I am particularly happy. I have a good feeling with my bike and my lap times have been pretty consistent when I did a bit of a long run his afternoon. Unfortunately, I am not at 100%, because I have stomach upset. My son was ill at the start of the week and he gave me his bug. It doesn’t affect me too much, but of course, I would prefer to be in the best condition possible. Assen is a very technical track and it’s hard to shave off those last fractions of a second. I prefer the ‘old’ Assen, but I guess most of us do. It’s very important to be on the first row of the grid here, because the first turn is a bit of a funnel and you do not want to get held up there. If you don’t get through it, in the front or up with the leaders, its very hard to get back into contention. This is my first time here on the Suzuki and the feeling is very different to racing a twin. This bike changes direction much more easily and is less physical. The last chicane used to be very hard – especially at the end of a long race – but my Suzuki is going through it very well and so I am really looking forward to the races. More, from a press release issued by Team Pedercini: Sunny conditions today in Assen for the third round of the Superbike World Championship and the first round of the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup. On the first day of Assen Superbike qualifying, Roberto Rolfo and Mark Aitchison were trying out different settings to find the best overall race set-up for Sunday’s 22-lap race. During morning practice Rolfo was twentieth (1’39″932) while Aitchison (1’39″980) finished in twenty first position. In the afternoon qualifying session both riders continued to improve on their bikes’ set-up and best lap times, but they did not improved their morning’s positions finishing again in twentieth (1’38″487) and twenty first places (1’38″713). Superbike Friday free practice : 1) Smrz (Ducati) 2) Checa (Ducati) 3) Rea (Honda) 4) Haga (Aprilia) . “¦.”¦..20) Rolfo (Kawasaki) 21) Aitchison (Kawasaki) Superbike Friday qualifying session : 1) Smrz (Ducati) 2) Biaggi (Aprilia) 3) Melandri (Yamaha) 4) Fabrizio (Suzuki)”¦”¦. 20) Rolfo (Kawasaki) 21) Aitchison (Kawasaki) Roberto Rolfo: “I’m less than happy with today’s results but, on the other hand, I’m satisfied with the improvements we have made during both free practice and the qualifying session. I worked very hard with my team to improve my bike’s set up. My Ninja is working better now with respect to the last two races in Donington, but at this track it is very difficult for us to find the right setting. Today we did not use the soft tyre and in the final minutes of the qualifying session I found a good rhythm with used tyres. Tomorrow I want to continue to work with my technicians and do my best to enter the Superpole “. Mark Aitchison: “Today with my team we have focused on making only small changes with our bike and trying to understand the effects of each change. At the moment with very little testing and practice time for me, this is the best way to work. This afternoon I have found a good direction and felt relatively comfortable on the bike. We tested some different tyre options and small setting changes with the front fork, so I’m confident we are ready to make improvements during tomorrow’s second qualifying run. I feel relaxed and I’m looking forward to riding tomorrow”. More, from a press release issued by Supersonic Racing Team: The first day of testing at Assen for the Supersonic Team took place with a mild climate and beautiful sunshine. Maxime Berger ran in the past very good results in the Superstock 1000 category and began to work this morning on the set-up of his Ducati 1198, to adapt the bike to the technical and fast Dutch track. During the free practice this morning Maxime preferred to work with its engineers in anticipation of Sunday’s races and ended the session in eighteenth place with a time of 1’39 “047. In the afternoon qualifying session Maxime continued the work but unfortunately, when the team mounted a soft rubber tyre to attempt a faster lap, Maxime found slower riders on track and it slowed down his times.Nevertheless, the young Frenchman improved his time (1’37 “853) and ended on the seventeenth place. It was a positive day with significant progress that promises a good qualifying tomorrow morning for superpole. Maxime Berger: “The first day of testing did not go bad. My lap time is still not yet very good, but today we worked hard in finding a few solutions about things that have not proven right. We also worked on the tires. We fitted a softer tire at the end of qualifying, but I found traffic and I could not improve my time. For tomorrow we need to change somethings on the bike because I have a problem in some corners. Today I learned a lot and I must say that at this circuit, the difference between stock and Superbike is truly remarkable. Tomorrow will be better and we will to continue on this way with the help of my team.” Danilo Soncini (Team manager): “Maxime and my crew have worked hard but unfortunately, the lap time from Maxime is not very good because when we put a soft rubber tyre, Maxime found traffic on track and after just five laps the tire was worn out. We still have some problems at some parts on the track, but I am optimistic because if we can solve these problems we can certainly fight for many positions. I know that Maxime likes Assen and that he becomes more familiar with his Ducati, we aim to get into Superpole and achieve a good grid position.” More, from a press release issued by Alitalia Aprilia: A NICE SECOND PLACE FOR MAX BIAGGI STARTS OFF THE APRILIA ALITALIA RACING TEAM’S WEEKEND AT ASSEN. SOME PROBLEMS, ON THE OTHER HAND, FOR LEON CAMIER IN THE FRIDAY PRACTICE SESSIONS. Assen, 15 April 2011 The first day of practice on the Assen TT Circuit produced excellent results for team Aprilia Alitalia. In fact, reigning champion Max Biaggi’s second place was obtained after an important session searching for the best set-up, to confirm that the team’s work played out in the best possible way. In view of Superpole and the races on Sunday Max intends to work specifically on the details, those details that can make the difference on such a technical track. Leon Camier, mindful of the podium he earned here last year during his début on the Aprilia RSV4, was instead disappointed by today’s results. His second practice session was not very consistent and therefore kept the young English rider from finding the right pace. In any case Leon is still positive, motivated to put forth his best effort on the track tomorrow in order to get back into the positions that count. Max Biaggi is satisfied with a job well done today: “I’m feeling very positive because we have already identified the path we need to take, choosing between the two bikes which had different characteristics. The final time shows that there is still work to be done mainly on the details, and it is fundamental that we improve them in view of qualifications. Assen is a particular track because it doesn’t have any reference points. You have to create them metre by metre. Now I need to collect my thoughts, run through the feelings I had in the various turns and take all of that to my mechanics so that we can set up tomorrow’s sessions”. On the other hand there were a few problems for Leon Camier: “The second session today didn’t go as I’d hoped. Just when I really needed to get some laps in a problem with the tyres and a silly technical problem forced me to interrupt my pace coming out of the turns. That means I couldn’t keep up my times on the lap, in spite of some good runs. Tomorrow we’ll have to work hard, both to get ready for the two races and for Superpole”. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Melandri and Laverty get down to business on the Dutch track Yamaha World Superbike riders Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty experienced the historic Assen TT race track on their YZF-R1’s for the first time in this morning’s free practice session. Sunshine and a dry track proved ideal conditions to try the machine’s basic set up. The two Yamaha riders got straight down to business in order to find more suitable settings ahead of the aftrenoon’s first Qualifying session. Melandri encountered discomfort with the handling of his machine and lack of grip on the Dutch track. Hard work throughout the afternoon saw a huge improvement, allowing him to put in a series of consistently fast laps and complete the session in third place. The Italian also tested various tyres solutions looking for the optimum set up ahead of tomorrow’s second qualifying and subsequent Superpole sessions Teammate Laverty took advantage of the first practice session to regain confidence and feeling on his bike following the difficult weekend in the last round of the championship in Donington. Once satisfied this was accomplished he proceeded to work on various machine settings and tyre life to find a suitable solution for the day ahead tomorrow. Marco Melandri Yamaha World Superbike Team “We had a relatively difficult morning, experiencing a lack of grip and suffering with the handling of the bike. The team and I worked hard all afternoon. The crew did a great job trying resolving the problem and we made significant progress. There’s still some fine tuning to be done and we need to find the most competitive tyre for the race on Sunday . Tomorrow I’m going to concentrate on qualifying, I’m aiming to secure a front row position on the grid and I think we can do it.” Eugene Laverty Yamaha World Superbike Team “This morning was important for me to regain confidence on the bike. We had a very tough race weekend in the last round of the championship but I’m satisfied that I managed to put that behind me in today’s free practice session. We made progress this afternoon, improving on the chassis and finding more suitable tyres. I completed a longer run, almost a race run and put in respectable times. Completing the session in eighth is pretty good considering we spent the day working on the setting, so overall I’m relatively satisfied.” Andrea Dosoli Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager “I’m quite happy with the start to the weekend in Assen. After improving on the set up of the bike both Marco and Eugene tried out some softer tyres and managed to put in faster laps. There’s still some work to be done but I’m confident that we are going in the right direction. It’s very important that both riders have good results in tomorrow’s qualifying and Superpole sessions, securing grid positions in the front two rows.” More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: Troy finished the first day of practice and qualifying at Assen with the sixth quickest time and is looking forward to tomorrow. The recent tests in Valencia allowed Troy and the team to try things out away from the pressures of a race weekend and that has allowed the bike to take another step forward. Hopefully, tomorrow’s two sessions will show more improvement still and Troy can chase a front row grid position. Czech rider Jakub Smrz (Ducati) dominated both sessions today, ending with a lap of 1:36.058 – three tenths of a second inside the lap record set by Jonathan Rea last year. Second quickest is reigning champion Max Biaggi (Aprilia), with Marco Melandri (Yamaha) third and Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki) fourth. The top six bikes today were all different manufacturers and just one and a half seconds separate the top thirteen riders. Troy – 6th, 1:36.876 The bike is feeling easier to ride and the power delivery is smoother. The recent tests gave us a decent amount of time to try things, without worrying about getting a good set-up for a race. In a race weekend, we make quite a few changes, but often do not have the time to see how these changes affect the bike over a long distance. Valencia allowed us to do that. Now the tyres seem to be holding up pretty well. We were on the hardest tyres all day – front and rear – and that’s something that we don’t normally do. We didn’t even use any soft tyres today – and that makes me happy because I have a feeling that they’ll not last a race distance. If it gets a lot hotter, then we’ll probably have to give the soft tyres a go. I’m also happy because we’ve pretty much already got a race set-up. Our bike works well here, particularly accelerating onto the long straights. The bike is still physical to ride but, because the power delivery is smoother, it feels less physical. It is responding to changes better now and it’s easier for our technicians to work out what’s going on and then come up with ideas to make progress. So, all in all, things have gone well here today and I’m looking forward to more of the same tomorrow.