TOSELAND AND MUGGERIDGE TAKE FRONT ROW STARTS AT MAGNY COURS
James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) scored his best lap
of the weekend to earn a place on the front row at the final
round of the 2006 season. His 1'39.355 lap was the second
best overall, as Troy Corser scored pole. Crucially, Toseland's
rival for overall second in the championship, Noriyuki Haga,
was only fifth fastest, and now starts from one row behind
Toseland. James is two points ahead of Haga currently, and
only has to keep his nose ahead of the Japanese rider in the
23-lap races to secure second in the final points standings.
Eighth away in Superpole, Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate
Honda) jumped to the top of the Superpole ranking with his
1'39.911 lap, over a second faster than he was in regulation
qualifying. He stayed there until Corser set his fastest lap,
and Karl now starts the race from the front row, thanks to
the fourth best time of the session.
Ronald Ten Kate - Team Manager
“With both riders on the front row I am still a happy
man, and all four of our riders, including the two in Supersport,
got on the front row - which I think is quite remarkable.
Both Superbike riders had good laps, just a few mistakes here
and there. We know we had to be very fast to win this Superpole
and we nearly made it anyway. It is important here to have
both riders starting from the front row, because tomorrow
is all about second place in the championship. Now we have
the best starting point possible.”
James Toseland - Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(2nd Position - Fastest Lap 1'39.355 - 25 laps)
“I should stop watching other people's Superpole laps
because at Imola Bayliss went as fast as Valentino Rossi and
now Troy Corser went out here and beat my time! I put a pretty
good lap together, to be fair, second fastest of the weekend,
and second on the grid. So I'm in a good position to put together
a challenge for second place in the championship, which is
the most important thing. Earlier today my rival Haga and
I went out and were fighting for about 25-minutes in practice,
and he ended up a row behind on the grid. The Yamaha gets
off the like OK, but I just need to keep in front of him.
I can't fight for the championship win anymore, so I want
this second place badly.”
Karl Muggeridge - Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(4th Position - Fastest Lap 1'39.911 - 23 laps)
“We've been fortunate this weekend because we tried
a few things on my second bike, after my normal number one
bike developed a gearbox problem. Testing here was a real
benefit to us - it always is when you get the chance before
you come to the race weekend. We had similar weather at the
test but we have learned more about the track and the bike
here than we did at the test. I would love to get on the podium
tomorrow, that's what I'm going for.”
SUPERPOLE:
1. Corser - Suzuki - 1'39.147
2. Toseland - Winston Ten Kate Honda - 1'39.355
3. Lanzi - Ducati - 1'39.773
4. MUggeridge - Winston Ten Kate Honda - 1'39.911
5. Haga - Yamaha - 1'39.914
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