Team Alstare Suzuki Corona 2006 Superbike World Championship
Round 1, Losail circuit, Qatar
Thursday 23rd February
Conditions: Wet, 19-21 C.
Cautious start for Team Alstare Suzuki
Team Alstare Suzuki riders Troy Corser, Yukio Kagayama and
Fabien Foret started today’s first day of qualifying
cautiously because of the uncharacteristically wet conditions.
None of the three wanted to take chances in the morning untimed
session, so they waited for an improvement in the weather.
But the afternoon timed session was also blighted by rain,
so they had no choice but to venture out onto the slippery
5.380 kilometre circuit. Towards the end of the session, a
dry line started to appear, but it was too little, too late.
Troy ended the day third quickest behind Bayliss (Ducati)
and Laconi (Kawasaki). Yukio suffered electronic problems
and ended fifteenth quickest and Fabien twenty-eighth.
Troy Corser - 3rd, 2:19.614
I really thought that it would be dry in the afternoon session,
so I decided not to go out in the morning and maybe do something
silly. But then it rained during the lunchbreak and the track
was wet again for our timed session. I’ve ridden round
here in the wet before, so I have an idea of how the track
feels. I took things pretty steadily - I wanted was a top
four finish and that’s what I got. Towards the end,
a dry line sort of appeared, but there were still a few places
with standing water, so there was no point taking any risks.
I haven’t been on a bike for a while so I didn’t
push at all hard.
Yukio Kagayama - 15th, 2:21.234
LIke Troy, I did not go out in the morning - no point. In
the afternoon timed practice, I had some electronic problems
and so I couldn’t get a chance to push so hard. Every
lap I did the conditions felt different to the time before,
so I was very careful. I hope tomorrow will be a dry and I
can get in a lot of laps.
Fabien Foret - 28th, 2:33.307
Today was not a good day to start my Superbike career, because
I wasn’t able to learn a lot. About the only thing I
could learn is which way round the track went! I missed the
morning session because I thought the afternoon would be dry,
but it wasn’t! This track is very slippery in the wet
and I didn’t want to start with a crash, so I was pretty
cautious. I hope tomorrow will be dry and I can begin to push
harder and understand my bike more.
Thursday qualifying
1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 2:17.326, 2 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 2:19.064,
3 TROY CORSER (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 2:29.614,
4 Walker (GB-Kawasaki) 2:19.684, 5 Gimbert (F-Yamaha) 2:19.687,
6 Barros (Bra-Honda) 2:19.834, 15 YUKIO KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 2:21.234, 28 FABIEN FORET (F-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 2:33.307,
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