2007 FIM Superbike World Championship Assen, Netherlands April 28, 2007 Superpole Results: 1. James TOSELAND (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:38.603 2. Lorenzo LANZI (Duc 999F07), 1:39.226 3. Troy BAYLISS (Duc 999F07), 1:39.256 4. Max BIAGGI (Suz GSX-R1000K7), 1:39.320 5. Ruben XAUS (Duc 999F06), 1:39.411 6. Troy CORSER (Yam YZF-R1), 1:39.422 7. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Suz GSX-R1000K6), 1:39.648 8. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suz GSX-R1000K7), 1:39.928 9. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.057 10. Fonsi NIETO (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:40.288 11. Roberto ROLFO (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.328 12. Jakub SMRZ (Duc 999F05), 1:40.376 13. Regis LACONI (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:40.561 14. Josh BROOKES (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.674 15. Noriyuki HAGA (Yam YZF-R1), 1:41.093 16. Michel FABRIZIO (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:41.213 More, from a press release issued by Team YZF Yamaha: Progressing well Shinichi Nakatomi has done some good testing sessions and he is only 1.6 seconds away from the best qualifying time. This nice progression is a good sign for the races tomorrow. The first qualifying practice session on Friday went pretty well. Shinichi Nakatomi was only 1.4 seconds behind the provisional pole position. This shows a clear progress and a good shape. The second qualifying practice session did not go so well and Nakatomi did not qualify for Superpole for only two thousands of a second. The pole position was won by the leader of the World Championship James Toseland, riding a Honda of the local Team Ten Kate, in front of the two Ducati team mates Lorenzo Lanzi and Troy Bayliss. Shinichi Nakatomi: “Today we changed the setting and it was not so good. So we shall go back to the settings we used on Friday.” Martial Garcia (team-manager): “I am a little bit sad that we did not qualify for Superpole. But we are only 1.6 seconds away form the best qualifying time and this shows that our performances are better. With a time of 1:40.824, we are very close to our 2006 time (1:40.630), which is not the case for most of the other riders.” Qualifying results: 1- Toseland (Honda), 2-Lanzi (Ducati), 3-Bayliss (Ducati), 4-Biaggi (Suzuki), 5-Xaus (Ducati) –¦17-Nakatomi (Yamaha) World Championship standings: 1-Toseland (Honda) 151 points, 2-Biaggi (Suzuki) 138, 3-Haga (Yamaha) 124, 4-Corser (Yamaha) 101, 5-Bayliss (Ducati) 90 –¦18- Nakatomi (Yamaha) 12 More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Toseland brings home pole position for HANNspree Ten Kate Honda World Superbike Championship leader James Toseland secured his first pole position of the 2007 series today in a thrilling Superpole session. The British rider will start tomorrow’s 22-lap race on the top spot for HANNspree Ten Kate Honda after proving his skill with a blistering one-lap dash. Toseland has been consistently quick during the free practice and qualifying sessions at the hot and sunny Assen Circuit. He entered this afternoon’s Superpole session as the third fastest rider and rode a near-perfect lap to secure an impressive time of 1’38.603. In doing so, the 26-year-old set a new Superbike fastest lap for the Assen circuit, beating the previous record held by Troy Bayliss. Roberto Rolfo improved on yesterday’s lap times to qualify in the top sixteen for Superpole at HANNspree Ten Kate Honda’s home track. The Italian worked hard aboard the CBR1000RR and put in a good lap to secure eleventh place on the grid for tomorrow’s race. Rolfo is aiming for two top ten positions to bring in those all-important points for the team. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager: “We have seen James be consistently fast this weekend, but to see him doing such a great lap on the Superpole is just amazing. We know that he is not usually the best qualifier around but he comes through in the race. However, it seems for the home round he wanted to give us all a present and that’s what he did. The main aim for James is always to be on the front row – the pole position is a big bonus. Tomorrow we have a hot race ahead, not only because of the temperatures but also because the race pace of the top five is so close. As for Roby, he is climbing back up the grid and we hope he can bring two top ten finishes tomorrow. On the whole, this has been a great day for HANNspree Ten Kate Honda” James Toseland: “The main aim for today was to get on the front row so I’m feeling very pleased with the bonus of pole position. It’s the third one of my career so it feels pretty special. We’ve been setting some fast times during the qualifying so I knew we were in with a chance of the pole, but I didn’t want to focus on it too much. By the end of the second split I knew it was going to be a good lap, but to get the top spot is great. I’m happy to give the team a good result, but of course the result that counts is tomorrow’s race so now I’ll concentrate on that.” Roberto Rolfo: “I am a happier today because I feel I have improved compared to yesterday. In the qualifying this morning I was riding a lot more smoothly. In my Superpole lap I made a mistake on the brakes and I lost some time, but the lap in general was not too bad. I am not completely happy because I want to further up near the front but compared to the last race it’s a lot better. I think the race setting we have at the moment is not too bad. We will do a bit of extra work in the warm-up tomorrow so hopefully the race will go well.” More, from a press release issued by Scuderia SC Caracchi: AT ASSEN VERY GOOD SMRZ IN SUPERBIKE, SOME PROBLEMS FOR NANNELLI IN SUPERSPORT Another warm and sunning day at Assen for the second and final practice day for the fifth round of World Superbike and Supersport series. The Team SC riders had different results from this day, excellent in Superbike Jakub Smrz, while some problem troubled the Supersport’s work of Gianluca Nannelli. Jakub Smrz has been today too very fast in Superbike, confirming the 8th position after official qualifying, just one thousandth of second behind the seventh classified. Unfortunately in Superpole he lost some position and tomorrow he will start from the third row. In the first sector of the lap “Kuba” has been not very fast, and that was crucial for the final result, as well in the last two splits Jakub has been on the contrary very fast, at the same level of the leaders, and recovered several position. But most important is, looking at the race, the fast pace that he hed in the final free practice session during the afternoon. “I’m rather satisfied today for my result.” said Jakub Smrz at the end of the day. “Of course I would like to keep the grid position scored after the qualifying sessions, when I had a seven tenth of second gap from the leader Bayliss, but we know that the Superpole session is a lottery and everything can happen. I’m actually happy because I got a very good pace in race condition and the bike has a good set up for the race tyre. A good start will be crucial because we are in a very close time difference and it’s easy to foresee a hard race battle!” In Supersport the practice Saturday of Gianluca Nannelli ended actually in a not amazing way. The final result is 19th fastest on the grid, after a very hard final session with some package trouble, despite the team work in to find a solution. “I’m very disappointed for today’s result.” has been the comment of Gianluca Nannelli at the end of practice. “The track with a higher temperature was completely different as yesterday and this morning too, and it was impossible to keep the bike when cornering. We made several changing with the team to solve the problem, but also if we improve our lap time of a second, our rivals have made better and better. The problem is always the very twisted first split, after the finish line, so also at the start for the race it could be easy to get quick a gap from the leaders. Now we’ll see with the engineers to find a solution that could allow us to fight tomorrow for a dignified position. We do not wave the white flag, but we know that it will be not easy. As always the positive signals come in the fast sector and from the top speed, where our bike is always on the top.” More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: BOTH DUCATI XEROX MEN AIM FOR VICTORY WITH FRONT ROW STARTS IN ASSEN QUALIFYING Assen (Netherlands), Saturday 28 April: Ducati Xerox Team riders Lorenzo Lanzi and Troy Bayliss will be aiming for victory in tomorrow’s Dutch Round of the World Superbike Championship after clinching front row starts in this afternoon’s one-lap Superpole dash for pole. Lorenzo’s lap of 1m39.226s was six-tenths of a second behind the poleman James Toseland (Honda), who set the new circuit best lap, but it was good enough to earn him the second slot on the grid. Troy Bayliss, quickest in both today’s second qualifying and free practice session, had to settle for third place on the grid with a time of 1m39.256s, just a fraction behind his Italian team-mate. “Today we worked really well, I was able to do a lot of laps both in the morning’s qualifying session and in the afternoon’s free practice and physically I feel on top form” said Lorenzo. “I didn’t complete a long-run because we already have a clear idea of the choice of tyres and I think it will be the same for all the riders. To be honest I thought that my Superpole lap wasn’t enough for the front row, I reckoned on doing at least 1m39s but I made a small mistake that slowed me a bit. The track conditions had clearly got worse because everyone, except for James, was slower than the times set with the soft tyre half an hour before. I’m really pleased with my result and ready for the races tomorrow.” “The front row of the grid is a good place to be here at Assen, but everyone wants to be fastest and today I just didn’t put my lap together very well and made a little mistake in the end” commented Troy. “But you’ll see tomorrow I’m sure we’ll have a couple of good races, we did a lot of laps on the race tyre today and it’s going to be very interesting. It’s been very warm, but the track’s in quite a good condition with some rubber down. If it was ten degrees cooler it would be a bit faster as well but it is what it is. We’ve got a couple of tyres picked out, the situation is normal with one tyre that everybody likes but it’s going to be touch-and-go for the race, and there’s one where basically you’re a few tenths slower per lap, so we’ll have to wait and see tomorrow to see what everybody decides to go on.” Starting-grid: 1. Toseland (Honda) 1’38.603; 2. Lanzi (Ducati) 1’39.226; 3. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1’39.256; 4. Biaggi (Suzuki) 1’39.320; 5. Xaus (Ducati) 1’39.411; 6. Corser (Yamaha) 1’39.422; 7. Neukirchner (Suzuki) 1’39.648; 8. Kagayama (Suzuki) 1’39.928; 9. Muggeridge (Honda) 1’40.057; 10. Nieto (Kawasaki) 1’40.288. More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra: 2007 Superbike World Championship Round 5, Assen, NL Circuit: 4.555 kms Weather; dry, sunny Final qualifying, Saturday 28th April FRONT ROW FOR MAX! HUGE IMPROVEMENT ALSO FOR YUKIO. Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi rode a superb Superpole lap at Assen today and ended up with a position on the front row of the grid. He had been twelfth in regular qualifying but the changes he and the team made to the engine braking and balance of the bike made the bike more comfortable to ride this afternoon and he was able to push much harder in Superpole as a result. His front row grid place means that he will not have to work his way through the field, as he did in Valencia. He knows that a good start is vital at Assen and that is what he will try and do in tomorrow’s pair of 22-lappers. His team mate Yukio also struggled in normal qualifying, partly due to the fact that he is working on the development of a completely different ignition system. He just scraped in to the 16-rider Superpole shoot-out, after final qualifying, but then the improvements made to the Magneti Marelli system allowed him also to push much harder in the untimed afternoon session and Superpole. Series leader James Toseland (Honda) took Superpole (his first of the season), with Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) third, Troy Bayliss (Ducati) third and Max fourth. MAX – 4th, 1:39.320 We had some problems during the first three sessions and we did a lot of work to get the engine braking and the balance of the bike right. The bike is not perfect yet and it is better in some parts of the track then others, but at least I am finding it easier to ride then on Friday. Also, Superpole is still a relatively new thing for me and I think I am beginning to understand how to attack it better. Of course, the level of grip is so much different on a Superpole lap to when you are on race tyres and that’s another thing to understand. It shows that, on race rubber, we have to try and get more traction. It felt a bit strange sitting around in the pits watching another eleven riders go out and try and beat my lap time. In Superpole anything can happen – just look at Haga today and Corser in Donington. Having now ridden on this new Assen layout, I can say that I prefer the ‘old’ Assen. That was a real challenge and it had a lot of very high-speed turns, so it was great fun to ride. The new design has slowed us up and it’s difficult to use full power. Now it’s important to have a well-balanced bike, with good throttle response. I’m happy to be on the front row, because this is not an easy track for overtaking and you certainly do not want to get held up at the start. YUKIO – 1:39.928 My Superpole lap was so-so, because I made a few little mistakes, but considering I had only just managed to get into Superpole after normal qualifying, to get on the second row of the grid is good and that makes me a happy. This afternoon was so much better then Friday. We made some changes to the settings and improved the bike. The grip level is now better and I have a better feel for what is going on, but it is not enough. I am working a lot on developing another ignition system and, like all things at the start, there have have been many things to work on and try and improve. But I think this system has good potential and each time out we learn something more. Sometimes this kind of situation can be a bit frustrating, but this is part of my job and I want to do it well. Tomorrow I am hoping that I can get a good pair of starts and follow with good results. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Yamaha quietly confident of good race pace at Assen The Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team had mixed fortunes in today’s Superpole session but are confident of a good race tomorrow following a weekend of consistent lap times and good practice sessions. Having made some adjustment alterations overnight Corser was confident of improving his provisional fifth place from yesterday. This confidence was rewarded with a move up to second place in this morning’s qualifying session. A small mistake on his Superpole lap saw Corser slip to sixth position. Haga’s Superpole lap was looking good for a front row start until he almost lost the front tyre going into Mandeveen and had to take to the grass. He remained on board and re-joined the circuit but was unable to push for the remainder of the lap due to dirty tyres. Haga had been running in sixth place going into the Superpole session but had to accept the near miss putting him on the fourth row for his 137th race start with Yamaha. Shinichi Nakatomi had less success in today’s qualifying when setting changes made prior to the morning’s session failed to improve the rider’s position. Even though Nakatomi managed to go almost half a second faster compared to yesterday’s qualifying, he dropped to 17th overall as other teams made more progress than the Team Yamaha YZF squad. James Toseland will start in pole position with team mates Lanzi and Bayliss in second and third respectively. Biaggi rounds up the front row. Troy Corser (6th – 1’39.422 – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “Superpole was disappointing, there’s no denying it. I made a small mistake on the back part of the circuit and went into one corner a bit fast and ran a bit wide. But the second row is okay, I’m confident in the lap times so I just need to get a good start tomorrow. I’m happy with the race set up and I have done several long runs on the tyres in free practice so I am comfortable with those.” Noriyuki Haga (15th – 1’41.093 – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “I lost the front tyre at Mandeveen corner in the middle section of the lap and I had to pick the bike up to save it. Up until that point the bike had been feeling good, though we still need to make some suspension modifications – the data from the Superpole lap will help us with that. I am not thinking about the race win tomorrow right now, I just want to focus on getting our set-up completely sorted and adding to my championship points.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “I am still confident despite our Superpole results because we have been in the top five in practice all weekend. It will be okay for Troy because he starts from the second row and had more opportunity to push through to the front row. It will be more difficult for Nori but we have performed miracles in races before now. We will make some more adjustments overnight and I am sure we will be ready to race tomorrow.” Shinichi Nakatomi (17th – 1’40.824 – Team Yamaha YZF) “I am disappointed today after such a good start yesterday. We just need to continue working on our set-up tomorrow morning to see where we can make improvements. Seventeenth is not a good start but we must focus on finishing in the points now.” More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: SECOND ROW FOR TROY. A couple of small mistakes on his Superpole lap was enough to drop Troy to the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s pair of 22-lap races at Assen. But he is happy enough with the set-up of his R1Yamaha and ready to attack right from the start of both races. Series leader James Toseland (Honda) took Superpole (his first of the season), with Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) third, Troy Bayliss (Ducati) third and Max Biaggi (Suzuki) fourth. TROY – 6th, 1:39.422 The free practice session this afternoon was pretty good and we also found a good, consistent tyre. I made a couple of little mistakes on my Superpole lap when I went in a bit hot at the end of the back straight and recovering cost me some time. But I’m feeling comfortable on the bike, after we changed the gearing and a few other small details. Today the wind was a bit gusty in places and that made me be a bit careful, but apart from that the conditions have been pretty good so far. I know that I have to get a good start in both races tomorrow, because Assen is more or less a one-line track and overtaking is not so easy here. You need to be in the top three going into turn one, otherwise you can get held up a lot. Ideally I would like to be in the lead, because then there’s a good chance of being able to pull away from the rest and leave them to hold each other up. I think it’s going to be two long, hard races tomorrow and I hope my luck and the tyres are good until the end. See ya, Troy