FPR battle with the Brno heat
Foggy PETRONAS Racing riders Steve Martin and Craig Jones
refused to wilt in the heat of the first day’s qualifying
at round seven of the Superbike World Championship at the
Czech Republic circuit of Brno.
In sweltering conditions, Steve finished the first day 10th
fastest while Craig was 22nd in an extended field of 31 entrants.
Steve bettered his time on race rubber from the recent test
at the punishing circuit, a second down on provisional poleman
James Toseland, setting a time of 2:03.408 before a freak
downpour ended the session prematurely.
He said: “I was pretty happy with the day and we are
in a lot better position at the end of the first day than
we have been in the past here. I am not getting too excited
but feel pretty comfortable doing very consistent lap times.
If I can maintain that for the race then maybe we can go somewhere.
However, the high temperatures meant the grip was low and
the other riders were doing much faster times at the recent
test. The shower was amazing - I was dry coming past the box
on the start-finish straight and drenched going into the first
corner!”
Craig set his fastest time of the day in the morning free
practice, although his time of 2:04.977 was almost a second
off the pace he achieved at the test.
He said: “The grip was poor so it was a bit of a lottery
to do decent times. Everyone was struggling with grip but
the other bikes have more power and torque to pull them up
the hill. I know the times that I was capable of doing at
the test so I will just stick with the set-up we found at
Lausitzring earlier this week and start to push harder tomorrow
morning when the temperatures should be lower.”
Friday qualifying times, Superbike World Championship
round 6, Brno, Czech Republic: 1 Toseland 2:02.349;
2 Nieto 2:02.723; 3 Lanzi 2:02.847; 4 Haga 2:02.904; 5 Muggeridge
2:03.058; 6 Kagayama 2:03.107; 7 Fabrizio 2:03.112; 8 Walker
2:03.178; 9 Laconi 2:03.389; 10 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing)
2:03.408; 22 (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) Jones 2:05.152
Friday free practice times: 1 Kagayama (Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 2:02.757; 2 Toseland (Winston Ten Kate
Honda) 2:02.821; 3 Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki) 2:02.821; 4 Lanzi
(Ducati Xerox) 2:02.879; 5 Haga (Yamaha Italia) 2:02.920;
6 Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 2:03.011; 7 Muggeridge
(Winston Ten Kate Honda) 2:03.162; 8 Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki)
2:03.244; 9 Pitt (Yamaha Italia) 2:03.372; 10 Barros (Klaffi
Honda) 2:03.513; 17 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 2:04.269;
22 Jones (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 2:04.977
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