Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra news
2006 Superbike World Championship
Round 7, Brno, CZ
Friday qualifying, 21st July
Circuit: 5.404 kms Weather: Mostly hot and dry 33 C.
Team Alstare steady on day one.
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra riders Yukio Kagayama and
Troy Corser took things steadily at Brno today, finishing
sixth and twelfth fastest respectively. With a limited number
of good rubber available, both riders did not want to use
up their quota and suffer any problems the rest of the weekend,
so they plugged away on hard rubber and didn’t push
hard for fast lap times.
James Toseland (Honda) posted the day’s fastest lap,
with a time of 2:02.349, with Fonsi Nieto (Kawasaki) second
and Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) third. Current series leader Troy
Bayliss (Ducati) finished eleventh quickest today. Team Alstare
Engineering Corona Extra rider Fabien Foret got caught out
by the sudden downpour at the end of today’s timed qualifying
and was not able to go out for a quick lap, ending eighteenth
as a result.
YUKIO - 6th, 2:02.904
I had a good feeling in the morning, but the heat in the afternoon
meant that performance level of the tyre was lower and I could
not go so fast. Recently, we’ve found a new chassis
set-up and I am much more comfortable on the bike. This setting
is very good for race tyres, but it doesn’t always work
so well with qualifying rubber. Also, my physical condition
is much better and that means my results are improving. Up
until Misano, my wrist was maybe up to about 60% only, but
now it is up to about 90%. My back is now also OK and finally
I can start pushing hard without worrying about pain after
five or six laps in a race.
TROY - 12th, 2”03.475
The feeling in the morning was better then the afternoon but
that was because the track temperature was much higher in
the second session. When that happens the grip level goes
down. Because I missed the Brno test earlier on, I spent most
of today getting used to the track and working on a good race
set-up. I wasn’t chasing fast lap times and being 18th
at this stage doesn’t concern me at all. We have a limited
number of soft tyres, so we decided to conserve them for tomorrow
and Sunday. In the afternoon I was on my fastest lap of the
day when I crashed three turns from home. I lost the front
and went down, but it was a slow speed tip-off and I was able
onto get back on the bike and ride it back to the garage OK.
Then, a few moments later, down came the rain and that was
the end of the session. I crashed because we were on a hard
front and I didn’t get enough feedback from it. This
track is going to be a bit of a problem because we’ll
have to make a compromise on our tyre choice for the race,
but I guess we’re all in the same boat.
FABIEN - 18th, 2:04.136
My lap times on race tyres were pretty consistent, so I am
quite happy about that. I spent most of the time concentrating
on my race set and didn’t really get round to a fast
lap until it was a bit late and then the rain came! I’ve
been trying a different riding style here this weekend and
although it’s taking some getting used to, I feel that
if I can master it, then my lap times will improve quite a
bit. I’m happy with the set-up for the race but, at
the moment, I do not know which tyres to use. In the end,
it will be a compromise - the same as usual, but more of a
compromise here.
Friday qualifying
1 Toseland (GB-Honda) 2:02.349, 2 Nieto (E-Kawasaki) 2:202.723,
3 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 2:02.847, 4 Haga (J-Yamaha) 2:02.904, 5
Muggeridge (Aus-Honda) 2:03.058, 6 YUKIO KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 2:03.107, 7 Fabrizio (I-Honda) 2:03.112,
8 Walker (GB-Kawasaki) 2:03.178, 9 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 2:03.389,
10 Martin (Aus-Petronas) 2:03.408, 12 TROY CORSER (Aus-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 2:03.475, 18 FABIEN FORET (F-Alstare
Engineering Corona Extra) 2:04.136,
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