Round 2, Phillip Island, Australia
Final qualifying, 1st March
Circuit: 4.445 kms Conditions: Dry, mostly sunny, 18-20C
FONSI AND MAX ON THE SECOND ROW.
Both Fonsi Nieto and Max Neukirchner will start tomorrow’s
pair of 22-lap races from the
second row of the grid after slightly problematic Superpole
laps. Both had high hopes of front row grid positions before
the 16-rider shoot-out, and will now have to get good starts
if they don’t want to lose touch with the leaders at
the beginning of the two races. Aussie Troy Bayliss (Ducati)
broke the lap record to take Superpole, beating fellow countryman
Troy Corser (Yamaha) in the process. Third was Michel Fabrizio
(Ducati), with Carlos Checa (Honda) completing the front row
of the grid.
Fonsi - 5th, 1:32.711
As you know Superpole is not really my strong point and I
know I lost time in one of the sectors for sure. But fifth
is not so bad and if I can get good starts, I’m sure
I am going to be in with a chance. Tomorrow is going to be
very, very hard and tyre choice and tyre performance is going
to be critical. At the moment, we are not sure which tyres
to use, so we’ll try some adjustments in the morning
warm-up and see if that will help our decision.
Max - 8th, 1:32.767
I am disappointed with my Superpole lap because I made a couple
of mistakes at the start of it and that was that. Although
I was good in the final two sectors, my mistakes in sector
one was enough to lose quite a bit of time. Tyre choice is
very important here and the problem is finding a rear tyre
that has good grip and will last as well! So, we’ll
make a few adjustments in the morning warm-up before deciding
what to do.
Friday qualifying
1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:31.493, 2 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 1:32.011,
3 Fabrizio (I-Ducati) 1:32.164, 4 C.Checa (E-Honda) 1:32.373,
5 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare) 1:32.711, 6 Smrz (CZ-Ducati)
1:32.714, 8 Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki) 1: 32.767,
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