SECOND ROW FOR MAX.
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi will start
tomorrow’s pair of Superbike World Championship races
from the second row of the grid after qualifying fifth quickest
in a ‘Wet Superpole’ session. In the afternoon
untimed practice, it looked as if the track was drying out
from the earlier rain, but ten minutes or so before the start
of Superpole it began to drizzle and so a ‘Wet Superpole’
was called. That meant all sixteen Superpole competitors had
fifty minutes in which to complete a maximum of twelve laps
to determine the grid positions. Max’s mechanics were
making some suspension adjustments to his bike and he was
unable to go out when the Superpole session started and so
lost the opportunity to go out on track that was mostly dry
and post a quick time before the conditions worsened. By the
time Max went out, the track was quite wet and Max could not
match the times of the riders who had posted their quick laps
right at the beginning. His team mate Yukio Kagayama sat out
most of Superpole and did not record a time because of a sore
hand and will start form the fourth row of the grid. Fonsi
Nieto (Kawasaki) took advantage of the best conditions at
the start of the fifty minute session and set the fastest
time, with team mate Regis Laconi second, Troy Bayliss (Ducati)
third and Troy Corser (Yamaha) fourth.
Max - 5th, 1:56.746
I couldn’t go out at the start of the Wet Superpole
because my team were doing some suspension changes on my bike
after the untimed session and the bike wasn’t ready.
So I missed out on making a lap or two when the conditions
were not so bad. By the time I went out, the track was pretty
wet and slippery. This place is a bit strange because there
is a big variation in grip, maybe because of the rubber put
down by cars. You have to really concentrate in every turn
or you will crash. We didn’t have much time to find
a perfect set-up when it was dry, but we’re not far
off, so I hope that the races will be dry. I am comfortable
in the wet, so that will not be a big problem either, but
I think everybody would prefer it to be dry tomorrow.
Yukio - 16th, No time
When I crashed this morning, I hurt my hand and when Superpole
was declared wet, there was no point risking any further injury,
so I did not post a lap time. I will go the Clinica Mobile
and see if they can do something to improve it, but at the
moment it is quite painful. I intend racing tomorrow, but
I will have to see how it is the morning.
Final qualifying
1 Nieto (E-Kawasaski) 1:50.681, 2 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 1:54.559,
3 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:55.196, 4 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 1:55.360,
5 Max Biaggi (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:56.746, 6 Xaus
(E-Ducati), 16 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)
- No time,
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