BIAGGI LEARNS MONZA CIRCUIT
 Team
Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi spent the opening
day of qualifying for this weekend's Monza World Superbike
round learning the circuit, which he has never ridden on a
Superbike.
The Italian posted 11th place initially just behind team
mate Yukio Kagayama, who also spent time working through some
clutch and braking issues in readiness for tomorrow's Superpole.
Series leader James Toseland (Honda) led the way smashing
the lap record by nearly a second. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha)
was second with Karl Muggeridge (Honda) third and Regis Laconi
(Kawasaki) fourth.
Yukio Kagayama - 9th, 1:46.972:
"I am not so happy how today went and I hope we can
improve tomorrow. This morning I had some problems entering
the corners, so we made some changes to the clutch and the
engine braking. Normally this problem is easy to fix but we
were not able to find the solution although we did improve
the chassis feeling and I am sure I can push harder tomorrow."
Max Biaggi - 11th, 1:47.205:
"Monza is a new track for me really, because the last
time I was here was a long time ago. I have never ridden a
Superbike here so I have to learn the track before I can begin
to push hard. Although this track is not difficult to learn,
you have to know the correct braking points if you want to
go fast. It is so important to find your braking points and
it's easy to lose tenths of a second if you don't know what
you are doing. We had a little stability problem today so
we'll make some changes to the bike for tomorrow. I always
ask a lot of myself, so I don't really feel any extra pressure
on me here. This is my first WSBK race in Italy and I want
to do well for my team and all the fans."
Friday WSB Qualifying: 1 Toseland (GB-Honda)
1:45.953, 2 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:46.316, 3 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda)
1:46.462, 4 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 1:46.548, 5 Brookes (Aus-Honda)
1:46.686, 6 Xaus (E-Ducati) 1:46.775, 7 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati)
1:46.918, 8 Rolfo (I-Honda) 1:46.960, 9 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:46.972, 10 Nieto (E-Kawasaki) 1:47.125.
11 Max Biaggi (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:47.205.
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