Foggy PETRONAS Racing pair in close contention at Brands
Craig Jones and his Foggy PETRONAS Racing team-mate Steve
Martin were separated by just three thousandths of a second
after the first day of qualifying for the eighth round of
the Superbike World Championship at Brands Hatch.
Although both were hindered by niggling problems they remain
confident of making the top 16 for Superpole tomorrow morning.
Troy Bayliss once again set the fastest time with a lap of
1:26.681.
Steve once again improved on his best lap on race tyres from
last year but his time of 1:28.232 left him in 22nd place,
with Craig one place higher, although only four tenths off
the top 16.
Craig said: “I am fairly pleased because
I managed to improve my time despite the problems. And once
those problems are solved and out of my head I am sure I can
take some more time off and challenge for Superpole, even
without the improvements that we are going to make overnight.
I had to re-learn Brands Hatch today for riding a superbike.
You constantly have to fight the bike and I have discovered
bumps that I never knew existed. The problems were minor,
such as with the rear wheel speed sensor, but this caused
difficulties with gear changes. I knew I could get into the
mid-27s but wasn’t able to because the problems occurred
when I was out on new tyres.”
Steve said: “I am going quicker on
race tyres than last year but the competition has also moved
on. I am good through the first split but the rest of the
circuit is where the extra power and torque comes into play.
My major problem was that I had a gear shifter problem towards
the end of the afternoon session when I had just put in a
new tyre and was expecting to go faster. So now I am behind
the eight-ball as I have wasted one of my better new tyres
for tomorrow.”
Friday qualifying times, Superbike World Championship
round 8, Brands Hatch, UK: 1 Bayliss 1:26.272; 2
Corser 1:26.494; 3 Haga 1:26.563; 4 Pitt 1:26.702; 5 Muggeridge
1:26.741; 6 Walker 1:26.844; 7 Xaus 1:26.955; 8 Hill 1:26.987;
9 Kagayama 1:27.165; 10 Lanzi 1:27.285; 21 Jones (Foggy PETRONAS
Racing) 1:28.229; 22 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:28.232
Friday free practice times: 1 Bayliss (Ducati
Xerox) 1:26.681; 2 Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:27.091;
3 Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 1:27.291; 4 Haga (Yamaha
Motor Italia) 1:27.329; 5 Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona
Extra) 1:27.531; 6 Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki) 1:25.547; 7 Lanzi
(Ducati Xerox) 1:27.561; 8 Pitt (Yamaha Italia) 1:27.578;
9 Hill (Virgin Mobile Yamaha) 1:27.683; 10 Muggeridge (Winston
Ten Kate Honda) 1:28.040; 18 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing)
1:28.714; 22 Jones (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:29.130
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