Team Alstare Suzuki
2006 Superbike World Championship
Round 3, Valencia, Spain
Circuit: 4.005 kms. Weather: Dry, sunny/cloudy 22C
TROY LEADS THE WAY. YUKIO SOLID 5TH. FABIEN IN TOP
TEN!
It was a good day for Team Alstare Suzuki at Valencia, with
reigning champion Troy Corser leading the charge and finishing
quickest after the first qualifying. Troy’s time of
1:34.920 was just over a tenth of a second under the exiting
lap record and only his fellow countryman Troy Bayliss (Ducati)
was able to follow suit. Third quickest today is another Australian
Steve Martin (Petronas), with Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) fourth.
Yukio Kagayama posted the fifth fastest time, without difficulty,
but the big surprise was Fabien Foret who managed to get into
the top ten for the first time. Fabien was ninth quickest
until the closing stages, but was pushed down to tenth by
a late charge by Fonsi Nieto (Kawasaki).
TROY 1st, 1:34.920
I’m pretty happy at this stage and it’s always
good to top the standings. I liked the balance of the bike
today and a lot of that was down to the work we did in the
last two tests. Tomorrow we’ll try a few different ideas
to try and improve tyre life and reduce rear wheel spin. When
the conditions are a little cooler (like this afternoon) the
grip is better, but then of course tyre life is worse. So
we’’ll see what we can improve tomorrow.
YUKIO 5th, 1:35.670
Today was a so-so day, but it was a good so-so day. I’m
not so happy with fifth, because I would’ve preferred
a top four finish instead, but we have another day of qualifying
- and Superpole - tomorrow. I met some traffic on my fast
lap, otherwise I would’ve been on the provisional front
row for sure. There are a couple of points on the track where
I need to improve, but if I can sort them out I think I can
make the podiums.
FABIEN 10th, 1:356.026
My good lap could’ve been better, but I saw a yellow
flag and had to ease the pace a little. But, I’m happy
to finish in the top ten anyway and I think it is a very positive
result for me. Tomorrow we’ll work on suspension and
the injection system and see if we can improve the bike. My
feeling with it is now more comfortable and I enjoyed myself
today.
Friday qualifying
1 TROY CORSER (Aus- Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:34.920,
2 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:34.963, 3 Martin (Aus-Petronas) 1:35.653,
4 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:35.658, 5 YUKIO KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare Suzuki
Corona Extra) 1:35.670, 6 Xaus (E-Ducati) 1:35.721, 7 Abe
(J-Yamaha) 1:35.974, 8 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:35.999, 9 Nieto
(E-Kawasaki) 1:36.004, 10 FABIEN FORET (F-Alstare Engineering
Corona Extra) 1:36.026
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