Free Practice - Qatar
BAYLISS AND FABRIZIO BATTLE AGAINST THE ELEMENTS
AT THE LOSAIL INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT
Bayliss and Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) faced difficult climactic
conditions today as the 2008 World Superbike championship
officially got underway. Winds of up to 40 km/h meant that
riders were unable to record any particularly fast laps and
the morning practice session was instead used to check the
settings of the new Ducati 1098 F08 machines. The afternoon
qualifying session went ahead in similar conditions at the
Losail International Circuit with both riders attempting to
improve on the times recorded in the morning.
Troy Bayliss 1m59.8s
"I'm reasonably happy with how it went today but we all
found it tough and every lap had to be ridden in a different
way simply due to the conditions. The wind meant that I was
never completely comfortable and there is only so much we
can do to change the settings of the bike because conditions
may be different again tomorrow. Looking at this weekend's
entry list I reckon it's going to be a very competitive championship
this year, we're a strong field and I'm looking forward to
the competition!"
Michel Fabrizio 2m00.9s
"It was very difficult out there today and although sand
on the track wasn't such a problem, I wasn't totally confident
on the bike with the strong winds. Having said that, there
were several of us who were lapping around the 2 minute mark
so we were all having similar problems with the weather I
think. We've changed a few settings on the bike throughout
the day and I hope that we can make better progress tomorrow."
TEMPI: Corser (Yamaha) 1m59.6s; Bayliss
(Ducati Xerox) 1m59.8s; Nieto (Suzuki) 2m00.3s; Haga (Yamaha)
2m00.4s; Kagayama (Suzuki) 2m00.5s; Xaus (Ducati) 2'm00.6s;
Lanzi (Ducati) 2m00.7s; Biaggi (Ducati) 2m00.7s; Gimbert (Yamaha)
2m00.8s; Neukirchner (Suzuki) 2m00.9s; Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox)
2m00.9s
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