2007 Superbike World Championship
Round 9, Brno, CZ - Friday qualifying
Circuit: 5.403 kms Weather: Dry, sunny 31-35 C.
MAX ON THE PACE!
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra riders Max Biaggi and Yukio
Kagayama suffered slightly mixed fortunes at Brno in first
qualifying at Brno today, with Max ending up third and Yukio
tenth. The temperatures rose to the mid-thirties this afternoon,
causing grip problems for all riders, and the conditions were
nothing like when the teams tested here less then four weeks
ago. Japanese rider Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) posted the day’s
fastest lap, with a time of 2:01.603, just one tenth of a
second ahead of his team mate Troy Corser. Third is Max, with
series leader James Toseland (Honda) fourth.
Max - 3rd
When we tested here recently the grip level was much better
- because the temperatures were lower - but now that it is
much hotter, the grip level has dropped drastically. So, at
the moment we are looking to try and improve the grip and
also see how the tyres will last. I think, that whatever we
do, after half race distance things are going to be quite
interesting. Whatever set-up we decided to go with is probably
going to have to be some kind of a compromise. We started
the day with the set-up we found at the test and tomorrow
we will try and improve it and get a better feeling for raceday.
What I have to do here is be strong from lap one right to
the end. I like this track, it’s nice to ride and once
you have a good set-up it’s one of the most enjoyable
tracks in the world.
Yukio - 10th
Conditions today were not similar to when we tested here and
I’m sure all the riders feel this way today! We began
with the set-up from the test here three weeks or so ago,
but the feeling was so different, we had to make adjustments
straightaway and that wasn’t so easy. This afternoon,
I had problems with front and rear grip, so we have to work
on improving the feeling and find a good set-up for the race.
We have to find tyres that give good grip and will last a
race distance and that is not going to be easy.
For me today was not about trying to set a good lap time,
but trying to find a set-up for raceday because that is more
important. Today was physically quite demanding because when
the grip level is down, you have to concentrate so much harder
otherwise it’s easy to crash! You have to consider every
corner carefully and when you do that sometimes you forget
to breathe and that was a bit of a problem for me this afternoon.
Friday qualifying
1 Haga (J-Yamaha) 2:01.603, 2 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 2:01.724,
3 Max Biaggi (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 2:01.968, 4 Toseland
(GB-Honda) 2:02.200, 5 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 2:02.295, 6 Rolfo
(I-Honda) 2:02.315, 7 Nieto (E-Kawasaki) 2:02.523, 8 Fabrizio
(I-Honda) 2:02.556, 9 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 2:02.638, 10 Yukio
Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 2:02.990,
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