NIETO 6TH ON BRNO WSB FIRST DAY
Team Suzuki Alstare rider Fonsi Nieto finished the first
day of qualifying at Brno today for round nine of the World
Superbike Championship with the sixth fastest time and was
the quickest of the Belgium-based squad.
Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner was ninth fastest,
but Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama is still suffering
problems with his left hand and could only manage 11th.
Local hero Jakub Smrz (Ducati) sent the home fans wild by
topping the standings at the end of today's qualifying session.
Second is Aussie Troy Corser (Yamaha) ahead of fellow countryman
Troy Bayliss (Ducati) with Max Biaggi (Ducati) fourth.
Fonsi Nieto - 6th, 1:59.926:
"I'm quite happy today and feel very positive about
tomorrow - as long as the weather stays OK and it doesn't
rain. Today we tried two different styles of bike. We tried
a new style of balance and new-spec engine on one bike and
an old style balance and old-spec engine on the other. At
the end, my preference was for a new-style balance together
with an old-spec engine. We are working a lot on the suspension
and trying to get the front forks to absorb better. The track
has new asphalt and in the afternoon the grip felt similar
to the morning, but the tyre life was better. If it stays
dry I think that the grip will improve some more and the lap
times will come down further."
Max Neukirchner - 9th, 2.00.179:
"I think today went well and we didn't have so many
problems. The track asphalt is a bit strange at the moment
because we used hard tyres and the tyre life was not as good
as when we changed to softer ones! We altered the chassis
set-up in the afternoon to help me keep the line in a corner
and we will continue to work on this. The new asphalt definitely
has more grip and I am sure that the lap times will improve
quite a bit as long as it doesn't rain."
Yukio Kagayama - 11th, 2:00.361:
"The ligaments in my left hand are still giving me some
problems, and my strength there is not yet 100%, but the pain
is less. The track doesn't feel the same as last year and
the new surface reminds me of Qatar - sandy with not a good
feeling. But the lap times are not so bad. We made a little
mistake with the settings in the beginning of the afternoon,
qualifying, but changed them at the end of the session and
improved the feeling. Tomorrow we will make some adjustments
to the front and rear suspension and see if we can the bike
better entering the corners."
Friday WSB qualifying: 1 Smrz (CZ-Ducati)
1:59.125, 2 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 1:59.493, 3 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati)
1:59.517, 4 Biaggi (I-Ducati) 1:59.747, 5 Lanzi (I-Ducati)
1:59.850, 6 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare) 1:59.926, 7 Fabrizio
(I-Ducati) 2:00.024, 8 Canepa (I-Ducati) 2:00.131, 9 Max Neukirchner
(D-Alstare Suzuki) 2:00.179, 10 Xaus (E-Ducati) 2:00.196,
11 Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare) 2:00.361.
SUPERSTOCK 1000:
Team Alstare Suzuki rider Xavi Simeon posted the third-quickest
lap in first qualifying at Brno today behind provisional pole
sitter Maxime Berger (Honda) and Claudio Corti (Yamaha).
Both Berger and Corti tested on the new asphalt at Brno recently,
but Simeon didn't, so he felt happy to secure his position.
Xavi Simeon - 3rd, 2:04.844:
"I wasn't happy this morning because the track didn't
feel so good. In the afternoon session we started with this
morning's tyres and then put on new front and rear tyres and
almost immediately I went five seconds a lap faster! Most
of my rivals tested here recently so I think I have done well
to be third today. The bike feels good and fast and the only
thing we will do is make some small changes to make it faster
in the corners because that's where I'm losing time at the
moment. The new track surface feels very different to last
year and I'm going to have to get used to it very soon so
that we can get a good bike set-up. I had 23 staples removed
from my shoulder a day or so ago and I feel much better as
a result. When I had the plate and the screws inserted, the
doctors told me that I had broken my collarbone in four places,
not three as originally thought. But I don't think three places
or four places makes any difference to me on the track. I
just get on with it!"
Friday Superstock 1000 qualifying: 1 Berger
(F-Honda) 2:04.062, 2 Corti (I-Yamaha) 2:04.311, 3 Xavi Simeon
(B-Alstare Suzuki) 2:04.844, 4 Antonelli (I-Honda) 2:04.854,
5 Roberts (Aus-Ducati) 2:04.895, 6 Pirro (I-Yamaha) 2:045.012.
WORLD SUPERSPORT:
The RES Software Hoegee Suzuki team finished the first practices
respectively in sixth and 21st positions.
Both Barry Veneman and Didier Van Keymeulen are expecting
that after some adjustments, the Suzuki GSX-R600K8 will be
faster during the second practices tomorrow.
Many riders struggled with grip problems during the free
practice in the morning. This had also to do with the new
asphalt on the track. Also Veneman had this problem and he
finished the morning session on the 13th place. After the
mechanics worked hard to find the right settings on the bike,
Veneman was able to ride with the front men, finishing sixth.
Marc Hoegee - Team owner RES Software Hoegee Suzuki:
"This morning we had a pretty hard time, but because
of the new asphalt everybody had to deal with the same problems.
We had to change a lot on the settings from both Suzukis,
but with the different temperature in the afternoon, this
was not the case. We did some small adjustments which had
a positive effect on the settings and so both riders were
able to improve their self a lot."
Barry Veneman:
"Luckily it went much better during the qualifying practice
than it went in the free practice this morning. With new tyres
I could set down some good lap times and also my feeling with
the bike was ok. Still there are some points we have to improve:
I noticed this especially when the tyres started to wear out.
We have to work on this for tomorrow's qualifying. Today I
tried both bikes and I am actually surprised that I had the
best feeling with my second bike. Who knows how things will
go if my first bike is running well."
Didier Van Keymeulen:
"I had some grip problems on the front this morning.
After a few laps, my front tyre was totally done. We were
able to solve this so I had a lot more grip during the qualifying
session. Because of the adjustments we made, we also had to
change some other settings on the front. That is the points
where we have to work on now so the bike runs well tomorrow.
Again we are all standing close together and I expect that
with these adjustments, I have to be able to win several places
tomorrow."
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