Team Alstare Suzuki Corona
2006 Superbike World Championship
Round 3, Valencia, Spain
Final qualifying
Circuit: 4.005 kms. Weather: Cloudy, then sunny
TROY STORMS SUPERPOLE!
Despite being down at the first split, Troy made up time in
the second and third sections and stormed to a Superpole victory
ahead of his great rival Troy Bayliss (Ducati). Troy didn’t
put a foot wrong after a slightly nervous start and his third
split was absolutely perfect. Third quickest in the 16-rider
shoot-out, is Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati), with Steve Martin fourth
on the Petronas. Troy’s Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra
team mate Yukio Kagayama suffered a fall in the closing stages
of this afternoon’s free practice and was slightly concussed.
Because of that, he and the team decided that he would not
take part in Superpole and so he will start from the third
row of the grid. Team Alstare Engineering Corona Extra rider
Fabien Foret was unable to keep his provisional third row
grid place and will start from the fourth row instead.
TROY 1st, 1:34.992
I knew I was a little behind in the first section of my Superpole
lap because I had run a bit wide in one of the turns and lost
some time. But I knew I was good in the second and third sections,
so I just concentrated on getting them as best I could. The
third section was perfect and I don’t think I could’ve
got round it any faster, so that made me pretty happy.
I did a long run in this afternoon’s free practice and
was on the track so long I might have done a lap or two ore
than intended. So, when I came in to put on a qualifier, it
was too late. For sure the races tomorrow are going to be
much tougher than last year, but a lot will depend on the
weather. If it rains, it’s going to be very difficult
because the track is so slippery - it feels a bit like riding
on ice!
YUKIO 12th, 1:35.670
I would like to tell you about today, but don’t remember
much at all! I crashed in the afternoon and banged my head
a bit and that made me forget what happened today. I also
hit my right arm, but nothing is broken so I think I will
be OK to race tomorrow. I hope I get a good sleep tonight
and feel back to normal tomorrow.
FABIEN 14th, 1:36.502
This was my first Superpole and it has been a good experience,
but I am a little disappointed not to have done better. On
my Superpole lap the grip didn’t feel so good and then
I got a neutral exiting the last turn and had to run a bit
wide. That lost me some time, so maybe I could’ve finished
higher up the grid. Most of my problems here are to do with
the conditions. The bike seems very sensitive to temperature
changes - well that is the tyres seem very sensitive to changes
in temperature. How we set up the bike will depend on the
weather tomorrow, but I hope it will be dry, because this
place is very slippery when it’s wet.
Final qualifying
1 TROY CORSER ((Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:34.992,
2 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:35.175, 3 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:35.203,
4 Martin (Aus-Petronas) 1:35.255, 5 Nieto (E-Kawasaki) 1:35.351,
6 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 1:35.410, 7 Walker (GB-Kawasaki) 1:35.452,
8 Abe (J-Yamaha) 1:35.701, 9 Toseland (GB-Honda) 1:35.784,
10 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:36.115, 12 YUKIO KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:35.670, 14 FABIEN FORET (F-Alstare
Engineering Corona Extra) 1:36.502
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra news
2006 Superstock 600 European Championship
Round 1, Valencia, Spain
Circuit: 4.005 kms. Weather: Overcast
SIMEON WINS!
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Xavier Simeon won the
opening round of the Superstock 600 European Championship
today, completely destroying the opposition in the process.
At the end of the 11-lap race, Xavier took the chequered flag
over five seconds ahead of his nearest rival Nicola Canepa
(Ducati). Third was local favourite Santiago Barragan (Yamaha).
XAVI - 1st
That was a very good race and I enjoyed myself out there today.
The bike was perfect today and it made my job easy. I made
a good start and was involved in a little battle with Canepa
for a while, but once I got away from him I settled down and
ran my own pace. Once I was in the lead, it felt pretty comfortable
and taking the flag at the end was a great way to start the
season. Now, I’m already looking forward to the next
round!
Results
1 XAVI SIMEON (B-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 2 Canepa (I-Ducati),
3 Barragan (E-Yamaha), 4 Pedro (E-Yamaha), 5 Gamell (E-Yamaha),
6 Giugliano (I-Kawasaki)
Points
1 SIMEON (B-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 25, 2 Canepa 20,
3 Barragan 16, 4 Pedro 13, 5 Gamell 11, 6 Giugliano 10,
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