SECOND ROW FOR BIAGGI: KAGAYAMA OUT
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi will the
team's sole representative in tomorrow's World Superbike Championship
races at Phillip Island in Australia after taking fifth in
today's Superpole.
 His
team mate Yukio Kagayama will be a non-starter tomorrow as
he will still be in hospital in Melbourne after his crash
yesterday afternoon. Although Kagayama suffered no broken
bones in the fall, doctors declared him not fit enough to
take part in the races.
Biaggi's GSX-R1000 was sliding around during his Superpole
lap and the time lost was enough to relegate him to the second
row of the grid.
Superpole was won by Troy Bayliss (Ducati) with James Toseland
(Honda) second, Troy Corser (Yamaha) third and Noriyuki Haga
(Yamaha) fourth.
Max Biaggi - 5th, 1:33.928:
"I experienced quite a few slides on my Superpole lap
and that prevented me from going any faster. If it hadn't
been for the slides, I would've been on the front row for
sure. It's a shame but it's still possible to win from the
second row of the grid here as the first turn is a long way
off. My bike is more or less set-up ok for the race but we'll
make a few small adjustments in the warm-up tomorrow morning
and see if we can improve it. The bike has been suffering
a little from vibration, front and rear, and that hasn't helped
going fast in the turns. Also, the traction could be a bit
better, but it's another area we'll look at in the warm-up.
It would've been good to have a bit more track time today,
but it's the same for everybody and now it's time to think
about the race. I'm still hopeful of a couple of podiums."
Saturday Qualifying: 1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati)
1:32.145, 2 Toseland (GB-Honda) 1:32.198, 3 Corser (Aus-Yamaha)
1:32.605, 4 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:32.879, 5 Max Biaggi (I-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:32.928, 6 Nieto (E-Kawasaki) 1:33.132,
7 Neukirchner (D-Suzuki) 1:33.188, 8 Xaus (E-Ducati) 1:33.367,
9 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 1:33.368, 10 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:33.969.
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