KAGAYAMA THIRD AT MISANO
 The
new Misano circuit provided mixed fortunes for Team Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra riders Yukio Kagayama and Max Biaggi during
qualifying for Sunday's World Superbike Championship eighth
round.
Both riders were seeing the new layout for the first time
- the track now runs clockwise instead of anticlockwise -
but Kagayama still managed to put in a superb performance
this afternoon setting the third quickest lap to end on the
provisional front row of the grid.
It was not such a happy return to Italy for his team mate
Max Biaggi who suffered some bike problems in the afternoon
timed qualifying and ended with the 11th fastest lap.
Troy Bayliss (Ducati) was one of many riders who tested here
recently and he used that advantage well finishing with the
day's fastest lap - 1:36.479. Second quickest is another rider
who tested recently, Troy Corser (Yamaha) with Kagayama third
ahead of Ruben Xaus (Ducati).
Yukio Kagayama - 3rd, 1:36.803:
"Considering this is my first time here I am pretty
happy to be third just behind two riders who have tested here
before. It is always a bit difficult when you come to a new
track because you have to learn it before you can go fast.
The new layout is very technical and there are quite a few
bumps, so there is a lot to discover - quickly. I knew about
the bumps beforehand, so I was expecting them, but they were
not as bad as I was led to believe. The grip level of the
track is not bad but, as usual, when the temperature goes
up the grip goes down. We made some improvements to the chassis
setting today and now we have to see if we can make the bike
better tomorrow. I still have to get more knowledge about
the track, but I feel this could be quite a positive weekend
for us."
Max Biaggi - 11th, 1:37.766:
"Today, especially this afternoon was a little frustrating.
First I had to learn the track before I could push hard. The
track is ok, but it is quite bumpy and that is unusual for
a new track, or a track with a new surface. The grip level
is so-so, but my biggest problem this afternoon in timed qualifying
was that my bike cut out a couple of times. I think there
was about seven minutes until the end of timed qualifying
and I wanted to set a quick lap or two, but when I was on
one of my fast laps, the bike just cut out. I managed to restart
it ok, but then it did it again and basically I lost any chance
of improving my lap times. Afterwards I spoke with my mechanics
and they think that maybe a sensor was playing up and it sent
the wrong information and that's why the bike stopped. They
will check everything, look at the data and hopefully they
will find the cause of the problem. It is a pity because I
feel I could've qualified much higher up the grid if I had
not had that problem."
Friday Qualifying: 1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati)
1:36.479, 2 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 1:36.524, 3 Yukio Kagayama
(J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:36.803, 4 Xaus (E-Ducati)
1:36.879, 5 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:37.453, 6 Nieto (E-Kawasaki)
1"37.512, 7 Toseland (GB-Honda) 1:37.522, 8 Fabrizio
(I-Honda) 1:37.594, 9 Laconi (I-Kawasaki) 1:37.645, 10 Lanzi
(I-Ducati) 1:37.692. 11 Max Biaggi (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona
Extra) 1:37.766.
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