2007 FIM Superbike World Championship Brno, Czech Republic July 20, 2007 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Noriyuki HAGA (Yam YZF-R1), 2:01.603 2. Troy CORSER (Yam YZF-R1), 2:01.724 3. Max BIAGGI (Suz GSX-R1000K7), 2:01.968 4. James TOSELAND (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:02.200 5. Troy BAYLISS (Duc 999F07), 2:02.295 6. Roberto ROLFO (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:02.315 7. Fonsi NIETO (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:02.523 8. Michel FABRIZIO (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:02.556 9. Regis LACONI (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:02.638 10. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suz GSX-R1000K7), 2:02.990 11. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Suz GSX-R1000K6), 2:03.080 12. Lorenzo LANZI (Duc 999F07), 2:03.111 13. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yam YZF-R1), 2:03.346 14. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:03.545 15. Ruben XAUS (Duc 999F06), 2:03.949, crash 16. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:03.986 17. Jakub SMRZ (Duc 999F05), 2:03.997 18. Jiri DRAZDAK (Yam YZF-R1), 2:05.635 19. Luca MORELLI (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:05.736 20. Christian ZAISER (MV Agusta F4-1000R 312), 2:05.871 More, from a press release issued by Scuderia SC Caracchi: BRNO: HARD RETURN FOR NANNELLI IT has not easy the return to race for Gianluca Nannelli at Brno. The unlucky Italian rider finished quite back in the provisional gird and the pain to the injured knee is a big obstacle for moving on he bike with the same agility that the many “Esses” of the Czech course request. More the warm temperature of this first practice day, with the track temperature superior at 50°C limit, made everything more difficult for the qualifying practice, definitively compromised by a small technical snag. “We knew that it would be a rather difficult week end, and unfortunately it happened.” commented Gianluca Nannelli at the end of the day. “During the morning I tried to find a new feeling with the bike, but I have not jet my automatic reactions. During afternoon qualifying we were doing a positive work, but suddenly I did hear strange noise from the bike and I rejoined the pit. I did restart on the spare bike, but this machine were too stiff for my riding style and was sliding too much, so I’ve been not able to do better as 26th fastest. For tomorrow we’ll evaluate, together with the team, the set up to select. My fitness is in a quite difficult situation, but I’ll use the medicines just for Sunday’s race. It’s a nonsense in this moment to get risks, tomorrow morning we have to find the best set up and during the afternoon qualifying try to improve my grid position.” Jakub Smrz on the 999F05 Superbike has been focused in the difficult setting for a track which is not actually favourable for the Italian twins; his laptime is quite close to the best private record and tomorrow morning, during the decisive session to select the allowed riders to Superpole, he will try to in the group taking part to Superpole. “All today long we focused in the bike setting.” related Jakub Smrz al the end of practices “We selected a few operations to do and we suppose that the bike will be setted for tomorrow morning’s final qualifying session. I’m confident to be able to improve my lap time. By fortune the weather forecast shows that next Sunday, race day, will be a more fresh day, otherwise it would be very hard contest two heats. This is my home track and I want to make a present of my fans with a very good performance.” More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Superbike qualifying hots up in Brno The Automotodrom Brno in the Czech Republic hosted the first day of qualifying for round nine of the 2007 World Superbike Championship today. HANNspree Ten Kate Honda battled against the rising temperature and slippery track surface to complete a successful first session. James Toseland ended the official qualifying with the fourth fastest time while team-mate Roberto Rolfo finished in sixth position. Following a productive Pirelli test at the 5.403km circuit in June, the focus for today was on race distance and finding a good set-up and tyre choice for the hot conditions. Today’s Superbike qualifying took place in 33°C heat, with the track surface rising to an extremely high 50°C. Current series leader Toseland completed a full race distance and secured some impressive lap times in the process. He set the fourth fastest lap with a time of 2’02.200. Team-mate Rolfo also put in a strong performance, holding onto the third fastest time for much of the 45-minute session. He was forced down the table in the dying minutes and eventually finished in sixth with a time of 2’02.315. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager: This has been a very good day for us with both riders up at the front. The most important thing for us today was not to focus too much on a single fast lap, but on race distance. James has already done full distance where he was pretty fast. Tomorrow we will change the set-up and try some different tyres and see how the race distance goes there. All the work we did at the tests in Brno and Vallelunga has been really important for us. The team and the riders did a lot of hard work there so it’s nice to see it paying off here. It’s all good.” James Toseland: “The conditions here are really testing for us all – it’s about as hot as it can get in Europe. I’m really pleased because we have been able to find a good race set-up so early in the weekend. We also have the tyre to suit the conditions as long as the temperature cools down. We’ve got a few improvements to make overnight but we are almost ready to race.” Roberto Rolfo: “I am happy. We worked really hard today. Unfortunately, the test results are not very relevant this weekend because the conditions are so different. The track is very hot compared to the test. During the second session I improved a lot and put in a good fast lap in the middle. Towards the end I tried to go faster again but I got stuck in traffic and it was not so easy. In any case I am looking ahead to tomorrow and hope to improve even further then.” More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra: 2007 Superbike World Championship Round 9, Brno, CZ Friday qualifying, 20th July Circuit: 5.403 kms Weather: Dry, sunny 31-35 C. MAX ON THE PACE! Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra riders Max Biaggi and Yukio Kagayama suffered slightly mixed fortunes at Brno in first qualifying at Brno today, with Max ending up third and Yukio tenth. The temperatures rose to the mid-thirties this afternoon, causing grip problems for all riders, and the conditions were nothing like when the teams tested here less then four weeks ago. Japanese rider Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) posted the day’s fastest lap, with a time of 2:01.603, just one tenth of a second ahead of his team mate Troy Corser. Third is Max, with series leader James Toseland (Honda) fourth. Max – 3rd When we tested here recently the grip level was much better – because the temperatures were lower – but now that it is much hotter, the grip level has dropped drastically. So, at the moment we are looking to try and improve the grip and also see how the tyres will last. I think, that whatever we do, after half race distance things are going to be quite interesting. Whatever set-up we decided to go with is probably going to have to be some kind of a compromise. We started the day with the set-up we found at the test and tomorrow we will try and improve it and get a better feeling for raceday. What I have to do here is be strong from lap one right to the end. I like this track, it’s nice to ride and once you have a good set-up it’s one of the most enjoyable tracks in the world. Yukio – 10th Conditions today were not similar to when we tested here and I’m sure all the riders feel this way today! We began with the set-up from the test here three weeks or so ago, but the feeling was so different, we had to make adjustments straightaway and that wasn’t so easy. This afternoon, I had problems with front and rear grip, so we have to work on improving the feeling and find a good set-up for the race. We have to find tyres that give good grip and will last a race distance and that is not going to be easy. For me today was not about trying to set a good lap time, but trying to find a set-up for raceday because that is more important. Today was physically quite demanding because when the grip level is down, you have to concentrate so much harder otherwise it’s easy to crash! You have to consider every corner carefully and when you do that sometimes you forget to breathe and that was a bit of a problem for me this afternoon. More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: BAYLISS (DUCATI XEROX) FIFTH IN OPENING QUALIFYING SESSION IN SWELTERING BRNO HEAT Brno (Czech Republic), Friday 20 July: Troy Bayliss took fifth place in today’s opening qualifying session for Round 9 of the World Superbike Championship at a sweltering Automotodrom Brno in the Czech Republic. The Australian double world champion was on the pace all day and was quite satisfied with his Friday performance on what has always proved to be a difficult track for the twin-cylinder Italian machines. Team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi had a much tougher day today, the Italian failing to sort out the front end set-up and suffering as a result down in twelfth place. “That was OK. We did a long run and it was better than what we did last year in the race so we’re making some good progress” said Troy. “We’ve got a couple more things to try tomorrow but we know that if we had put a softer tyre in there at the end we could have got a better time. I used the same tyres for most of the session and we’re pretty happy. Conditions are hot and hard out there, there are a few different ideas about what the weather is going to do this weekend but I think it’s going to be hot and I’m just working towards that. We’re struggling for power here, that’s for sure. I was with Rolfo and it’s just disheartening when you lose a few bike lengths out of every corner and then you’ve got to try and make up on the brakes and in the corners”. “It went worse than in the test, I couldn’t even do one good lap” commented Lorenzo. “I had a lot of problems with the front, but behind things are not bad, we sorted things out there and now we just have to do some good laps on the soft tyre. I think that with this tyre it will be possible to stay with the leading group because with the others I’m a lot slower. I didn’t think I was going to struggle that much, the bike is the same as the test but it’s handling differently so now we’ve got a few things to try tomorrow. We’ll change the front around a bit, there shouldn’t be two seconds difference from the test and I’m sure we can at least make a second up with an ideal setting.” More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY A HOT SECOND! Troy set the second quickest lap in first qualifying at Brno in blisteringly hot conditions today. In the afternoon, the air temperature reached a scorching 36 degrees centigrade, which meant that the actual track temperature was over 55 C! In this kind of heat, the tyre performance usually drops and that was exactly what happened today, leaving riders and teams trying to find tyres that will last a race distance and also give good grip. Troy’s team mate Noriyuki Haga posted the fastest time of the day, with a lap of 2:01.606, just a tenth of a second quicker then Troy. Third quickest is Max Biaggi (Suzuki), with series leader James Toseland (Honda) fourth. Troy – 2nd I am reasonably happy with finishing the day second fastest, but not happy because we haven’t really found a good race setting. Also, I’m not getting enough grip and feedback from the tyres. At the moment, the tyre has grip for about five laps, then begins to slide, settles down for about another five laps, then the grip level goes down again. We think it’s because of the high track temperature here today and I’m sure others are having the same problems as us. We began the day with the set-up from the test in Vallelunga, but that didn’t work so we went back to one we found when we tested here three weeks ago. The track feels quite different to when we tested here though; it feels faster, but the lap times are more or less similar! If the conditions stay more or less the same as today we are just going to have to find some compromise between tyre life and grip, but whatever happens the last five or six laps of the race are going to be every interesting for sure!