Martin on front row for FPR in Misano
Steve Martin continued his eye-catching Misano display by
qualifying on the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s
sixth round races of the Superbike World Championship.
The Australian finished fourth fastest with an accomplished
Superpole lap, improving his previous best time by nearly
a full second.
Steve was just 0.08 of a second behind pole-setter James
Toseland at the second split, finishing 0.3 seconds off the
pole pace with a time of 1:34.178.
Maintaining his progress from yesterday, Steve went into
the Superpole shoot-out fourth fastest following the morning
qualifying session.
Team-mate Craig Jones managed to put yesterday’s problems
behind him and began to set consistently faster times in the
afternoon free practice.
Team owner Carl Fogarty said: “Steve did better than
I dared imagine – it was a fantastic performance which
demonstrates how hard everyone in the team is continuing to
work. I just hope he can have a good start tomorrow and run
at a pace which will see us in the points.”
Steve said: “It was an excellent end to an excellent
day. We have only been in Superpole three times this year
and we have made the front row on each occasion. Everyone
has done a fantastic job. It wasn’t a perfect lap, but
when you go 0.8 seconds faster you cannot fail to be happy.
I am not going to get too carried away, but I am very happy
with where I am on the grid and a result like that provides
confidence for the races.”
Craig said: “Carl stayed very positive after yesterday’s
nightmare and suggested that I tried Steve’s settings.
Although we have different riding styles, I soon started to
get a feel for it. The bike seemed to turn better and I was
able to get my confidence back. Hopefully I will get a couple
of good starts tomorrow but I will not be going too banzai!”
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