BIAGGI THIRD ON BRNO GRID
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi took provisional
third and team mate Yukio Kagayama 10th in the opening day
of qualifying for Sunday's Brno World Superbike round in the
Czech Republic.
 The
temperatures rose to the mid-thirties this afternoon, causing
grip problems for all riders and the conditions were nothing
like when the teams tested here less than four weeks ago.
Japanese rider Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) posted the day's fastest
lap with a time of 2:01.603, just one tenth-of-a-second ahead
of his team mate Troy Corser.
Max Biaggi - 3rd:
"When we tested here recently the grip level was much
better - because the temperatures were lower - but now that
it is much hotter, the grip level has dropped drastically.
So, at the moment we are looking to try and improve the grip
and also see how the tyres will last. I think that whatever
we do, after half race distance things are going to be quite
interesting. Whatever set-up we decided to go with is probably
going to have to be some kind of a compromise. We started
the day with the set-up we found at the test and tomorrow
we will try and improve it and get a better feeling for race
day. What I have to do here is be strong from lap one right
to the end. I like this track; it's nice to ride and once
you have a good set-up it's one of the most enjoyable tracks
in the world."
Yukio Kagayama - 10th:
"Conditions today were not similar to when we tested
here and I'm sure all the riders feel this way today! We began
with the set-up from the test here three weeks or so ago but
the feeling was so different, we had to make adjustments straightaway
and that wasn't so easy. This afternoon, I had problems with
front and rear grip, so we have to work on improving the feeling
and find a good set-up for the race. We have to find tyres
that give good grip and will last a race distance and that
is not going to be easy.
"For me today was not about trying to set a good lap
time, but trying to find a set-up for race day because that
is more important. Today was physically quite demanding because
when the grip level is down, you have to concentrate so much
harder otherwise it's easy to crash! You have to consider
every corner carefully and when you do that sometimes you
forget to breathe and that was a bit of a problem for me this
afternoon."
Friday WSB Qualifying: 1 Haga (J-Yamaha)
2:01.603, 2 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 2:01.724, 3 Max Biaggi (I-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 2:01.968, 4 Toseland (GB-Honda) 2:02.200,
5 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 2:02.295, 6 Rolfo (I-Honda) 2:02.315,
7 Nieto (E-Kawasaki) 2:02.523, 8 Fabrizio (I-Honda) 2:02.556,
9 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 2:02.638, 10 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 2:02.990.
SUPERSTOCK 1000:
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Xavier Simeon had
his first taste of his Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 at Brno today
and finished a very creditable fifth at the end of the first
qualifying.
Xavier Simeon - 5th:
"Considering that this is my first time here on the
GSX-R1000, I think fifth is not too bad. The very high track
temperature today made it very difficult for the tyres and
it's going to be a hard race on Sunday for sure. I was on
an old tyre for about five laps, but when I switched to a
new one I immediately went about a second and a half quicker!
"At the moment my bike handles well and changes direction
well. The only problem I had today was exiting the turns when
I could not get on the gas as hard as I wanted. Although I
don't know the track so well on this bike, I still think a
podium is possible."
Friday Superstock 1000 Qualifying: 1 Van
Keymeulen (B-Yamaha) 2:06.364, 2 Badovini (I-MV) 2:06.859,
3 Baiocco (I-Yamaha) 2:07.178, 4 Dionisi (I-Suzuki) 2:07.602,
5 Xavier Simeon (B-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 2:07.633,
6 Pirro (I-Yamaha) 2:07.782.
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