YUKIO THIRD, WITH FONSI AND MAX IN THE TOP EIGHT.
 Team
Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama finished the first day
of qualifying at Assen with the third fastest time of the
day, less then three tenths of a second outside the lap record.
Team mate Fonsi Nieto ended with the fifth fastest time and
Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner, recovering from a broken
collarbone, finished eighth. Provisional pole went to Aussie
Troy Bayliss (Ducati), with Japanese rider Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha)
second.
Yukio - 3rd, 1:40.036
Today was not so bad and I didn’t have any big problems.
We started with one of the bikes with the Valencia set-up
and one different. But we soon found that the Valencia set-up
didn’t work so well, so we concentrated on getting the
other one to work at this track. We worked a lot on the electronics,
the chassis and improving the rear stability so that the bike
is smoother and more comfortable to to ride. Assen is a track
where you have to have a smooth bike if you want to go fast,
so this is our first goal.
Fonsi - 5th, 1:40.195
I’m really happy with how today went. The bike is working
well - much better then Valencia - even though the set-up
is more or less the same! I found a good rhythm and everything
was OK, except when I tried to do some quick laps at the end
of qualifying, the red flag came out two times and I wasn’t
able to get in a clean lap. I am happy because I did my fastest
lap on tyres that had already done thirteen laps. Tomorrow,
I hope to do a good Superpole, get a good grid position and
challenge for the podium in both races.
Max - 8th, 1:40.409
This morning I think we went in the wrong direction, but in
the afternoon we made the bike a bit stiffer and it was much
better. I had a bit of a problem with the bike keeping a good
line today, but I think we know what to do tomorrow and hopefully
we will make progress. I didn’t have any problems with
my shoulder today, so I think it’s going to be OK for
the weekend.
Friday qualifying
1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:39.677, 2 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:40.009,
3 Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare) 1:40.036, 4 Smrz (CZ-Ducati)
1:40.064, 5 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare) 1:40.195, 6 Tamada
(J-Kawasaki) 1:40.278, 8 Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki)
1:40.409,
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