MUGGERIDGE AND TOSELAND SCORE SECOND ROW STARTS AT ASSEN
Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) put in a blitzing
personal weekend best lap in Superpole at Assen, securing
sixth place on the grid, one place ahead of his team-mate
James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda). Muggeridge had a
more incident free Superpole lap than his fellow squad member,
after qualifying tenth in regulation qualifying, and thus
edged him out by only 0.022 seconds. Toseland, who was second
fastest on race tyres after the two pre-Superpole qualifying
sessions, had to survive a few moments in his single flying
lap of the new-look Assen, finishing seventh fastest.
The threatening Assen weather held off and Superpole was
declared dry, and was taken by Troy Corser, from Noriyuki
Haga, Toseland’s most immediate championship rival.
The shortened 2006 season Assen track distance of 4.555km
means that the Assen races on Sunday will now consist of 22
laps.
Ronald Ten Kate – Team Manager
“To be honest I was hoping for front row starts from
both the riders, because for sure, in the last free practice
on race tyres it looked like we would be in for something
really good. But there were some mistakes in the laps of both
of the riders, so we have to be happy with the second row.
The race set-up is almost there, but we still have to resolve
some small problems. We can run constant laps, and if it is
dry tomorrow I’m sure they can both ride right at the
front.”
Karl Muggeridge – Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(6th Position – Superpole Lap 1’39.543 –
42 Laps)
“The bike is working a lot better now and we have found
a reasonable setting. We just need to work out which tyre
to use. We know that the bigger 200 tyre will work better
for durability, but the smaller one is good, yet doesn’t
last so well. I would like to run the skinny one but we’ll
have to make a decision. Maybe it will be wet anyway, as there
are high odds of rain for tomorrow."
James Toseland – Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(7th Position – Superpole Lap 1’39.565 –
44 Laps)
“I had a bit of a slide and wheelie out of the first
section and I had to apply the rear brake, which lost me maybe
a couple of tenths down the back straight, but the rest of
the track was pretty good until the last chicane. I changed
direction too aggressively and on the camber the whole bike
lifted up, so I lost another tenth or two there, which cost
me a front row start. We have been pretty consistent on race
tyres, we need to be a little bit quicker, maybe three or
four tenths, but if we can find that tomorrow, which I think
we can, then I will be quietly confident. I’m just not
on that front row that I have been used to now.”
SUPERPOLE:
1. Corser - Suzuki - 1'38.965
2. Haga - Yamaha - 1'39.009
3. Kagayama - Suzuki - 1'39.176
4. Bayliss - Ducati - 1'39.304
5. Barros - Honda - 1'39.419
6. Muggeridge - Winston Ten Kate Honda - 1'39.543
7. Toseland - Winston Ten Kate Honda - 1'39.565
|
