Uphill battle of Brands for Foggy PETRONAS Racing
Foggy PETRONAS Racing riders Steve Martin and Craig Jones
face an uphill battle in tomorrow’s eighth round races
of the Superbike World Championship races after a troublesome
day’s qualifying at Brands Hatch.
Steve was denied a Superpole position in the dying stages
of the morning session when Frankie Chili nudged him out of
the top 16 by less than a tenth of a second, although he was
one of the few riders to show a marked improvement on their
Friday times.
Craig’s qualifying push was also hampered by technical
issues, a problematic gearbox reducing his track time and
he will start from 24th on a grid headed by championship leader
Troy Bayliss.
Craig said: “I have had problems with
the gearbox today and had to qualify on my number two bike,
which I wasn’t as comfortable with. I was able to get
back on that number one bike in free practice and immediately
took quite a bit of time off, but wasn’t really able
to get into a rhythm. The problems have made things doubly
difficult but I am hoping that circuit knowledge will stand
me in good stead for tomorrow. And if we can make some improvements
for morning warm-up I am sure I will be able to put some decent
race times together.”
Steve said: “It has been a frustrating
weekend as we have been up against it with reliability. I
was disappointed not to make Superpole but I know that I gave
it everything I had. In the afternoon I wanted to do 15 laps
on one tyre, 10 on another and a couple on the hardest tyre.
But my bike had an engine problem on the out-lap of the free
practice session and I was forced to use the second bike,
which has been slower all weekend. Tomorrow is now going to
be a big gamble on tyres, although I have been able to put
some consistent laps together on race tyres when things were
going okay. But tomorrow is another day and it will be giving
110 per cent as ever.”
Superpole results, Superbike World Championship, round eight,
Brands Hatch, UK: 1 Bayliss 1:25.449; 2 Haga +0.408; 3 Muggeridge
+0.452; 4 Toseland +0.484; 5 Corser +0.551; 6 Pitt +0.842;
7 Laconi +0.874; 8 Walker +1.093; 9 Kagayama +1.111; 10 Hill
+1.131; 11 Lanzi +1.345; 12 Nieto +1.365; 13 Xaus +1.401;
14 Fabrizio +1.598; 15 Gimbert +1.653; 16 Chili +2.609
Saturday qualifying times (best time bracketed):
1 Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1:26.572 (1:26.272); 2 Haga (Yamaha
Italia) 1:26.376; 3 Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki) 1:26.433; 4 Corser
(Alstare Corona Suzuki Extra) 1:26.606 (1:26.494); 5 Kagayama
(Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:26.601; 6 Toseland (Winston
Ten Kate Honda) 1:26.635; 7 Hill (Virgin Mobile Yamaha) 1:26.665;
8 Pitt (Yamaha Italia) 1:27.212 (1:26.702); 9 Muggeridge (Winston
Ten Kate Honda) 1:27.361 (1:26.741); 10 Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki)
1:26.920 (1:26.844); 17 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:27.767;
24 Jones (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:28.548 (1:28.229)
Saturday free practice times: 1 Corser 1:25.730;
2 Haga 1:26.052; 3 Bayliss 1:26.062; 4 Toseland 1:26.394;
5 Walker 1:26.428; 6 Xaus 1:26.596; 7 Muggeridge 1:26.628;
8 Fabrizio 1:26.731; 9 Hill 1:26.780; 10 Kagayama 1:26.824;
21 Jones 1:28.243; 26 Martin 1:29.570
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