Toseland brings home pole position for HANNspree Ten Kate
Honda
 World
Superbike Championship leader James Toseland secured his first
pole position of the 2007 series today in a thrilling Superpole
session. The British rider will start tomorrow's 22-lap race
on the top spot for HANNspree Ten Kate Honda after proving
his skill with a blistering one-lap dash.
Toseland has been consistently quick during the free practice
and qualifying sessions at the hot and sunny Assen Circuit.
He entered this afternoon's Superpole session as the third
fastest rider and rode a near-perfect lap to secure an impressive
time of 1'38.603. In doing so, the 26-year-old set a new Superbike
fastest lap for the Assen circuit, beating the previous record
held by Troy Bayliss.
Roberto Rolfo improved on yesterday's lap times to qualify
in the top sixteen for Superpole at HANNspree Ten Kate Honda's
home track. The Italian worked hard aboard the CBR1000RR and
put in a good lap to secure eleventh place on the grid for
tomorrow's race. Rolfo is aiming for two top ten positions
to bring in those all-important points for the team.
Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager:
"We have seen James be consistently fast this weekend,
but to see him doing such a great lap on the Superpole is
just amazing. We know that he is not usually the best qualifier
around but he comes through in the race. However, it seems
for the home round he wanted to give us all a present and
that's what he did. The main aim for James is always to be
on the front row - the pole position is a big bonus. Tomorrow
we have a hot race ahead, not only because of the temperatures
but also because the race pace of the top five is so close.
As for Roby, he is climbing back up the grid and we hope he
can bring two top ten finishes tomorrow. On the whole, this
has been a great day for HANNspree Ten Kate Honda"
James Toseland:
"The main aim for today was to get on the front row
so I'm feeling very pleased with the bonus of pole position.
It's the third one of my career so it feels pretty special.
We've been setting some fast times during the qualifying so
I knew we were in with a chance of the pole, but I didn't
want to focus on it too much. By the end of the second split
I knew it was going to be a good lap, but to get the top spot
is great. I'm happy to give the team a good result, but of
course the result that counts is tomorrow's race so now I'll
concentrate on that."
Roberto Rolfo:
"I am a happier today because I feel I have improved
compared to yesterday. In the qualifying this morning I was
riding a lot more smoothly. In my Superpole lap I made a mistake
on the brakes and I lost some time, but the lap in general
was not too bad. I am not completely happy because I want
to further up near the front but compared to the last race
it's a lot better. I think the race setting we have at the
moment is not too bad. We will do a bit of extra work in the
warm-up tomorrow so hopefully the race will go well."
Superpole:
1 J. Toseland 1'38.603
2 L. Lanzi 1'39.226
3 T. Bayliss 1'39.256
4 M. Biaggi 1'39.320
5 R. Xaus 1'39.411
6 T. Corser 1'39.422
7 M, Neukirchner 1'39.648
8 Y. Kagayama 1'39.928
9 K. Muggeridge 1'40.057
10 F. Nieto 1'40.288
11 R. Rolfo 1'40.328
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