2006 Superbike World Championship
Round 7, Brno, CZ
Final qualifying, Saturday 22nd July
Circuit: 5.403 kms. Weather: Sunny/cloudy 30-33 C.
TEAM ALSTARE WORKING TOGETHER SUPERBLY.
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra riders Troy Corser and Yukio
Kagayama will start tomorrow’s pair of 20-lap races
alongside each other on the second row of the grid. For Troy
that is a big relief as this morning he was struggling to
get into the top fifteen after suffering problems with wheelspin
and lack of grip. But, in the afternoon untimed session he
tried Yukio’s set-up and immediately began to get more
comfortable with his bike. Troy had missed the recent Brno
test due to illness and the information that Yukio and his
team provided made up for some of that lost time.
Thanks to the info, Troy managed to finish fifth quickest
in the 16-rider Superpole shoot-out. Yukio had qualified fastest
in regular qualifying, but he tried a bit too hard on his
Superpole lap and lost time, finally ending sixth. Noriyuki
Haga (Yamaha) put in an absolute stormer of a Superpole lap
and his time of 2:00.457 was over three seconds quicker then
the lap record!. Second is James Toseland (Honda), with Lorenzo
Lanzi (Ducati) third and series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati)
fourth. Team Alstare Engineering Corona Extra rider Fabien
Foret finished 11th, but his lap time of 2:02.124 is within
touching distance of the front row.
TROY - 5th, 2:01.351
Well I’m much happier this afternoon then I was this
morning or yesterday. Missing the Brno test has made it very
hard for me these two days because we just couldn’t
get the bike working well at all. I wasn’t happy after
this morning’s qualifying, so we decided to try Yukio’s
set-up in the afternoon. He’d been at the tests, so
we thought we might as well give his set-up a go. Normally
I wouldn’t have believed that I would be able to get
on so well with his set-up, but it was a big improvement on
what we’d been getting up until then! It’s not
perfect for me, but it was a big step in the right direction,
so I’ve got to say a big ‘thank you’ to
Yukio and his crew for helping me out. I am happy not to have
been any lower then the second row of the grid and now if
I can get a couple of good starts I feel that I can run with
the leaders for sure. It’s going to be two long, hard
races tomorrow and I’m sure that we’re all going
to suffer tyre problems in the races, so it may be down to
whoever uses their tyres best.
YUKIO - 6th, 2P:01.453
In my Superpole lap, I tried my best , but it was not enough!
It is my style to open the gas hard and maybe, just maybe,
this was not the best thing to do in Superpole. But, the second
row is OK and, as long as I make good starts, I can get good
results. My physical condition is so much better now then
the past few months and I cannot wait for the races tomorrow.
My team have worked unbelievably hard recently (I cannot believe
it!) so I want to get good results tomorrow so that I can
say ‘thank you’ to them.
FABIEN - 11th, 2:02.124
I am quite happy with my Superpole lap and the third row of
the grid is not so bad I think. My bike is working well and
I am also happy because my lap times are not so far from pole.
I didn’t have any big problems today and we spent most
of the time trying to find a good set-up and balance for the
race. Yesterday I was a bit uncertain as to which tyres I
will use for the race, but now I know exactly which ones to
choose. I am hoping to make good starts, run with the leaders
and get a pair of solid top ten finishes.
Final qualifying
1 Haga (J-Yamaha) 2:00.457, 2 Toseland (GB-Honda - 2:01.056,
3 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 2'01.073, 4 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 2:01.207,
5. TROY CORSER (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 2:01.351,
6 YUKIO KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 2:01.453,
7 Pitt (Aus-Yamaha) 2:01.482, 8 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda) 2:01.498,
9 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 2:01.620, 10 Nieto (E-Kawasaki) 2:01.799,
11 FABIEN FORET (F-Alstare Engineering Corona Extra) 2:02.124,
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