2006 Superbike World Championship
SBK Round 10 – Lausitz (Germany) - First Qualifying
MUGGERIDGE AND TOSELAND ON PROVISIONAL SECOND ROW
But for late session traffic on the Lausitz circuit Karl
Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) may have ended day one
of qualifying on the provisional front row, and not the second,
but fifth overall on the first official time sheets demonstrated
the pace at which Muggeridge has adapted to the tight and
twisty Lausitz circuit. James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda)
experienced some technical obstacles in the early stages,
but still qualified eighth fastest on his number two machine.
Championship leader Troy Bayliss headed the timesheets, with
2005 champion Troy Corser behind. One more qualifying session,
and then Superpole, takes place on Saturday, with the dry
but cool Friday conditions expected to improve overnight.
Ronald Ten Kate – Team Manager
“Fairly happy with the results of today, and Karl is
doing great around here, especially on his race set-up. He
seems to be consistently fast and improving continuously.
That’s good to see. James was having a good time earlier
this morning but later on he had a bit of a setback. We still
have some issues to resolve on the bike but I am sure the
crew will be capable enough to fix it for tomorrow. It is
quite important here to be at least on the second row, minimum,
but even better on the front row. It’s just so tight
and twisty around here so you need to be in the front at the
very start. We need to work hard on the settings, as always,
but we should be OK for tomorrow.”
Karl Muggeridge – Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(5th Position – Fastest Lap 1’38.948 –
23 Laps)
“We’re just trying to improve the handling characteristics.
Our outright speed is OK and our lap-by-lap is pretty good,
we’re just trying to get some more life out of the tyres.
The climate change tomorrow, when it is supposed to be warmer,
should help. If it doesn’t, then we will keep working
away. It was frustrating today sometimes, because very time
you wait to the end to try and go quicker you find traffic,
and some guys just sit in the middle of the track. It was
difficult to find a clear section but things are generally
going the way we want them to.”
James Toseland – Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(8th Position – Fastest Lap 1’39.347 –
23 Laps)
“We didn’t have a perfect setting at the beginning
of the timed session, and then right at the end we tried something
now, so no big problems. This morning we had a problem with
the gearbox, which is now solved. We are slowly getting the
bike to where we wanted it to be and now it’s pretty
good.”
FIRST QUALIFYING:
1. Bayliss - Ducati - 1'38.331
2. Corser - Suzuki - 1'38.550
3. Kagayama - Suzuki - 1'38.869
4. Pitt - Yamaha - 1'38.871
5. Muggeridge - Winston Ten Kate Honda - 1'38.948
8. Toseland - Winston Ten Kate Honda - 1'39.347
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