2006 Superbike World Championship,
Round 2, Phillip Island, Australia
Final qualifying, Saturday 4th March
Circuit: 4.445 kms. Weather: Dry, sunny 25-27 C.
TROY LEADS THE ALSTARE CHARGE.
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Troy Corser had to
settle for second best in Superpole qualifying at Phillip
Island this afternoon. The man who pipped him in today’s
one lap shoot-out was his fellow countryman Troy Bayliss (Ducati)
and now the stage is set for a titanic battle in tomorrow’s
pair of 22-lap races. Third quickest is James Toseland (Honda),
with Steve Martin (Petronas) fourth.
It was a mixed day for Alstare Suzuki riders Yukio Kagayama
and Fabien Foret. Yukio crashed in regular qualifying and
bruised his right hand and the base of his spine. Then, on
his Superpole lap, he ran wide exiting Siberia, went over
the white line and hit the dirt. Somehow he stayed on the
bike, but he lost time in the process and ended up with only
the twelfth fastest time overall. Fabien continued his Superbike
learning process, but failed to make Superpole by the narrowest
of margins.
TROY - 2nd, 1:32.373
We struggled a bit yesterday with grip and the clutch, so
we made some adjustments to the set-up and changed the clutch
today. It was definitely an improvement - though not perfect
yet. I think we’re all going to have some sort of grip
problems tomorrow if the weather stays as hot as it has been
these two days. Most of us are all on the same tyres, so it’s
going to be a very long, hard day tomorrow. I would’ve
liked to win Superpole - in front of all the Aussie fans -
but being on the front row is what counts. There are quite
a few guys in with a chance, so it’s going to be a fantastic
day’s racing for all the fans.
YUKIO - 12th, 1:34.111
We changed the front and rear set-up from yesterday, but I
don’t think there was any improvement, so we will probably
go back to our original set-up tomorrow. A couple of mistakes
today for me. First a crash in the last corner and I hurt
my hand and the bottom of my back. Then, in Superpole , I
ran wide and nearly lost it when my bike went on to the dirt.
Because of that I lost time andthat means I am on the third
row of the grid. I need a very good start otherwise I will
get held up in a group and I don’t want that to happen.
I hope my back is not too sore tomorrow because I need two
good races and many points.
FABIEN - 18th, 1:34.513
We made some changes to the front end this morning and the
bike felt a bit better. But, in the afternoon, we could not
make any improvement, so we’ll try another change in
the tomorrow morning’s warm-up. The bike is very sensitive
and I am not finding it so easy to ride as fast as I would
like, but I am confident that I will get there. We’ll
try and make it handle better over the bumps and be a bit
easier to ride. At the moment I am still learning about the
difference between a Supersport bike and a Superbike and I
think I must change my style of riding if I want to make good
progress.
Final qualifying
1 Bayliss (Aus-DucatI) 1:32.159, 2 TROY CORSER (Aus-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:32.373, 3 Toseland (GB-Honda) 1:33.003,
4 Martin (Aus-Petronas) 1:33.206, 5 Barros (Bra-Honda) 1:33.373,
6 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda) 1:33.571, 7 Pitt (Aus-Yamaha) 1:33.598,
8 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:33.631, 9 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:33.791, 10
Walker (GB-Kawasaki) 1:33.928, 12 YUKIO KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:34.111, 18 FABIEN FORET (F-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:34.513,
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