Silverstone - Qualifying 1
BAYLISS (DUCATI XEROX) BOUNCES BACK FROM TWO QUALIFYING
CRASHES TO TAKE PROVISIONAL POLE
Silverstone (UK), Friday 26 May: It was an extraordinary
first qualifying session for Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) at
the Silverstone circuit as he bounced back from two crashes
in difficult conditions to take the provisional pole position.
The 37-year-old Australian, whose last Silverstone race was
in 2002, albeit on the long circuit, ended up with a quickest
time of 1m27.011s to head his closest championship rival Troy
Corser (Suzuki) by a fraction. Fonsi Nieto (Kawasaki) and
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) took the other two top 4 places as
four different manufacturers filled the front row.
"Two crashes in one session, you wouldn't exactly call
that going to plan," declared Troy. "It's a typical
British track, the sort of thing I remember from the British
championship, you always encounter weather like this and it
always makes for strange accidents. The first one was in the
first series of rights before the back straight, I ran a bit
wide but touched the wet ripple strip and it was like soap
on a window. I went down quite hard on my hip but I was OK.
I got going on the second bike and a lot of guys crashed on
damp patches at the same corner, after you come under the
bridge just before Priory. I went in and was looking at Toseland
picking himself up, and then before I knew it the back came
around and flung me through the air and down I went, cracking
my head. James came and helped me up which was nice of him!
I thought my session was finished but the guys had fixed the
first bike which had mowed the grass basically and I got in
a rhythm again and we ended up with the fastest lap which
is what it's all about."
Lorenzo Lanzi also crashed out in the slow Complex part of
the track 25 minutes into the session and was unable to make
the provisional cut-off mark for Superpole.
"It's a pity because for the moment I'm just out of
the Superpole," commented Lorenzo. "I went for a
slide at the start of the session, where Troy, Toseland, Walker,
Borciani and Martin all crashed so I'm in good company! The
conditions of the track were very slippery but at the end
we managed to recover a bit. The only problem was the others
put on new tyres in the last ten minutes and we had used them
half-way through the session so everyone improved at the end.
That's probably the only small mistake we made. Tomorrow let's
hope it'll be dry, I must get into Superpole, I've always
gone well here in the past, it's a track I like a lot so I'm
sure I can do it."
TIMES: 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1m27.011s;
2. Corser (Suzuki) 1m27.068s; 3. Nieto (Kawasaki) 1m27.205s;
4. Haga (Yamaha) 1m27.364s; 5. Toseland (Honda) 1m27.418s;
6. Pitt (Yamaha) 1m27.539s; 7. Kagayama (Suzuki) 1m27.599s;
8. Muggeridge (Honda) 1m27.648s; ... 17. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox)
1m28.290s.
TV COVERAGE.
Eurosport 2 (Europe): Saturday 27 May, 1900 Superpole (highlights);
Sunday 28 May, 1300 Race 1 (live), 1630 Race 2 (live). British
Eurosport (UK): 1730 Superpole (as live); Sunday 28 May, 2015
Race 1 + Race 2 (delayed). ITV (UK): Sunday 28 May, TBA Race
1 (highlights), 1515 Race 2 (live). La7 (Italy): Sunday 28
May, 1810 Races 1 & 2 (as live).
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