Assen Qualifying
DUCATI XEROX MEN FOURTH AND NINTH IN FRENETIC FIRST
QUALIFYING SESSION AT ASSEN
The opening qualifying session for the Dutch Round of the
World Superbike championship at Assen saw both Ducati Xerox
Team riders close to the front-runners' pace but down in fourth
and ninth place at the end of the day.
Troy Bayliss was the quicker of the two in 1m39.806s, just
two-tenths of a second slower than provisional pole sitter
James Toseland (Honda), while Lorenzo Lanzi was a further
six-tenths of a second down with 1m40.445s. Such was the frenetic
pace of the leading ten riders that the Italian eventually
ended up in ninth place.
"We have changed the bike a lot from when we were here
last year, trying the settings from 2006 and giving the bike
I've had this year a bit of a go and they are both completely
different" declared Troy. "We've also been testing
the hardest tyre Pirelli has got because we thought it would
be the only one that was able to do any good for the race.
Right at the last moment we put a soft tyre to do a lap and
I decided to stay out, I did eight laps and my time looked
good so we've got a few things to think about tonight. Despite
the fact that I'm missing quite a bit in the second split
and missing a bit of feeling with the back and I'm struggling
to touch the gas the way I want and not feeling as comfortable
as I should be, I'm looking forward to tomorrow and feeling
good in general".
"The track conditions changed a lot from this morning
because the temperature warmed up and I was unable to improve
as much as I would have liked" declared Lorenzo. "In
the qualifying session I went well while I was using the race
tyre then I put on a softer compound to try and move up a
few positions, but unfortunately I could only record the same
time. However I'm pleased with my race pace and I've already
got an idea of the tyres to use Sunday, I did a lot of laps
to test them and try and get the best setting. Even though
I'm only ninth I'm close to the times of the top guys and
am quite pleased with everything so far."
Times: 1. Toseland (Honda) 1m39.603s; 2.
Haga (Yamaha) 1m39.750s; 3. Xaus (Ducati) 1m39.765s; 4. Bayliss
(Ducati Xerox) 1m39.806s; 5. Corser (Yamaha) 1m39.938s; 6.
Muggeridge (Honda) 1m40.092s; 7. Nieto (Kawasaki) 1m40.201s;
8. Smrz (Ducati) 1m40.355s; 9. Lanzi (Ducati) 1m440.445s;
10. Brookes (Honda) 1m40.480s.
TV Coverage : Eurosport (Italy) Sunday 29
April, 1200 race 1 (live), 1830 race 2 (delayed). Eurosport
2 Saturday 28 April, 1715 Superpole (as live). La7 (Italy)
Saturday 28 April, 1550 Superpole (live); Sunday 29 April,
1145 race 1 (live), 1520 race 2 (live). RAI2 (Italy) Sunday
29 April, 1730 races 1 + 2 (highlights).
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