Tough task for Foggy PETRONAS Racing at Assen
Foggy PETRONAS Racing riders Craig Jones and Steve Martin
face an uphill battle to qualify for Superpole after a challenging
opening day to the ninth round of the Superbike World Championship
at Assen, Holland.
Craig made huge strides forward during the afternoon qualifying
session, bettering his free practice time by more than three
seconds on his first meaningful visit to the circuit.
Steve was hampered in learning the new shorter circuit lay-out
when a series of mechanical problems denied him essential
track time.
He finished 22nd in the standings with a time of 1:42.443,
with Craig just half a second behind with a time of 1:43.052.
Troy Bayliss set a blistering pace with a lap of 1:39.336
in cool, overcast conditions.
Craig said: “It’s hard to come
to a new circuit and set a bike up from scratch, and the fact
that there is a new lay-out meant we didn’t even have
any data from last year. So I didn’t really know what
I wanted the bike to do early on. But I took more than three
seconds off my time in the afternoon and we have a direction
to follow overnight. I want to continue learning tomorrow
because the further up the grid I can get the better the chance
I will have in the race, and this looks like a circuit with
a lot of passing opportunities.”
Steve said: “We have had a lot of
problems throughout the day and I have had to walk back to
the garage on two occasions. I am not going to make excuses
about the new lay-out, because I know the lay-out as well
as Bayliss does and he is two seconds a lap quicker. But it
is important to get into a rhythm and that has been difficult
over the last few meetings. I think I can go quicker tomorrow
but it will be asking a lot to make Superpole.”
Friday qualifying times, Superbike World Championship
round 9, Assen, Holland: 1 Bayliss 1:39.336; 2 Lanzi
1:39.888; 3 Fabrizio 1:40.171; 4 Toseland 1:40.242; 5 Barros
1:40.415; 6 Pitt 1:40.474; 7 Kagayama 1:40.567; 8 Xaus 1:40.581;
9 Haga 1:40.612; 10 Muggeridge 1:40.746; 22 Martin 1:42.443;
26 Jones 1:43.052
Friday free practice times: 1 Bayliss (Ducati
Xerox) 1:40.692; 2 Barros (Klaffi Honda) 1:41.227; 3 Haga
(Yamaha Italia) 1:41.417; 4 Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki) 1:41.518;
5 Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:41.541; 6 Lanzi
(Ducati Xerox) 1:41.563; 7 Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)
1:41.594; 8 Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 1:41.704; 9
Xaus (Sterilgarda Berik) 1:41.805; 10 Fabrizio (DFX Treme)
1:41.985; 18 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:43.136; 27 Jones
(Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:46.831
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