Round 2, Phillip Island, Australia
Saturday 3rd March
Circuit: 4.445 kms. Conditions; Dry, sunny/cloudy.
SECOND ROW FOR MAX. YUKIO A NON-STARTER.
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi will the
team’s sole representative in tomorrow’s races
at Phillip Island. Max’s bike was sliding around during
his Superpole lap and the time lost was enough to relegate
him to the second row of the grid. His team mate Yukio Kagayama
is a non-starter tomorrow as he will still be in hospital
in Melbourne after his crash yesterday afternoon. Although
Yukio suffered no broken bones in the fall, the doctors there
declared him not fit enough to take part in the races tomorrow.
Superpole was won by Troy Bayliss (Ducati), with James Toseland
(Honda) second, Troy Corser (Yamaha) third and Noriyuki Haga
(Yamaha) fourth.
MAX - 5th, 1:33.928
I experienced quite a few slides on my Superpole lap and that
prevented me from going any faster. If it hadn’t been
for the slides, I would’ve been on the front row for
sure. It’s a shame, but it’s still possible to
win from the second row of the grid here as the first turn
is a long way off. My bike is more or less set-up OK for the
race, but we’ll make a few small adjustments in the
warm-up tomorrow morning and see if we can improve it. The
bike has been suffering a little from vibration, front and
rear, and that hasn’t helped going fast in the turns.
Also, the traction could be a bit better, but it’s another
area we’ll look at in the warm-up. It would’ve
been good to have a bit more track time today, but it’s
the same for everybody and now it’s time to think about
the race. I’m still hopeful of a couple of podiums.
Friday qualifying
1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:32.145, 2 Toseland (GB-Honda) 1:32.198,
3 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 1:32.605, 4 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:32.879,
5 Max Biaggi (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:32.928, 6 Nieto
(E-Kawasaki) 1:33.132, 7 Neukirchner (D-Suzuki) 1:33.188,
8 Xaus (E-Ducati) 1:33.367, 9 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 1:33.368,
10 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:33.969
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