Second consecutive front row for Martin and FPR
Steve Martin will start from the front row of the grid for
the second consecutive time on the PETRONAS FP1 after qualifying
fourth for tomorrow’s Superbike World Championship third
round races at Valencia, Spain.
The stylish Australian was just a quarter of a second off
the 1:34.992 pace set by fellow countryman Troy Corser, as
Steve repeated his qualifying performance from the previous
round at Phillip Island.
Having qualified for Superpole in fourth place, as only a
handful of riders bettered their qualifying times from yesterday
on a greasy morning surface, Steve recovered from a problematic
afternoon free practice session to deliver a typically composed
and impressive flying lap of 1:35.255.
And Foggy PETRONAS Racing team owner Carl Fogarty heaped
praise on the achievement in an increasingly competitive championship.
He said: “I think Steve’s performance on the
bike has been incredible and is a reward for the whole team’s
consistent effort. It is going to be tough in the races, because
more powerful bikes will hold him up in the corners, but on
a lap with a clear track he is as fast as anyone out there.”
Steve said: “It’s unbelievable to be on the front
row for two consecutive races this year and, considering the
problems we had last year, I don’t think anyone expected
that. I’m wrapped! It goes to show that everyone connected
with the project is still putting in 100 per cent effort.
We still have the challenge of the races ahead of us so I
need the best start possible. Then hopefully I will have a
good enough set-up to enable me to stick in there and get
bags of good points. My Superpole lap could possibly have
been a bit quicker, although not enough for pole position,
as I had a couple of moments that were symptomatic of the
grip problems I had experienced in the afternoon session,
so we will have a think about that tonight. The weather forecast
is not too good for tomorrow and, although nobody wants to
race in the wet, it would be more of a lottery. But I have
raced well here in the wet before, so anything can happen.”
Team-mate Craig Jones also enjoyed an encouraging day, bettering
yesterday’s time by nearly a second and finishing the
morning qualifying session in 17th place with a lap of 1:37.623,
which resulted in a starting grid position of 27th when set
against the faster times from yesterday’s first qualifying
session.
He said: “The morning was probably my best session
of the season so far and I am starting to get closer to the
front and also to Steve’s times. We have worked really
hard on the set-up and managed to make quite a lot of progress
towards getting a good feeling. I was hoping we could take
it a step further this afternoon but we lost a lot of grip
as the temperature rose. We just need to have a good think
now and put all the settings together for the race.”
Superpole results, Superbike World Championship,
Valencia, Spain: 1 Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona
Extra) 1:34.992; 2 Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1:35.175; 3 Lanzi
(Ducati Xerox) 1:35.203; 4 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing)
1:35.255; 5 Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki) 1:35.351; 6 Laconi (PSG-1
Kawasaki) 1:35.410; 7 Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki)1:35.452; 8 Abe
(Yamaha France) 1:35.701; 9 Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda)
1:35.784; 10 Haga (Yamaha Italia) 1:36.115; 11 Pitt (Yamaha
Italia) 1:36.214; 12 Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)
no lap; 13 Xaus (Sterilgarda Berik) 1:36.362; 14 Foret (Alstare
Eng Corona Extra) 1:36.502; 15 Rolfo (Duccati SC Caracchi)
1:36.786; 16 Barros (Klaffi Honda) 1:36.887
Qualifying results: 1 Corser 1:34.920; 2
Bayliss 1:34.963; 3 Walker 1:35.522; 4 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS
Racing) 1:35.653; 5 Haga 1:35.658; 6 Kagayama 1:35.670; 7
Xaus 1:35.721; 8 Lanzi 1:35.999; 9 Abe 1:35.974; 10 Nieto
1:36.004; 27 Jones (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:37.623
Saturday free practice, Superbike World Championship,
Valencia, Spain: 1 Kagayama 1:34.754; 2 Corser 1:35.044;
3 Laconi 1:35.375; 4 Abe 1:35.526; 5 Xaus 1:35.562; 6 Bayliss
1:35.668; 7 Nieto 1:35.686; 8 Lanzi 1:36.109; 9 Toseland 1:36.155;
10 Haga 1:36.205; 17 Martin 1:36.626; 29 Jones 1:38.437
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