2nd ROUND – PHILLIP ISLAND (AUSTRALIA)
FIRST QUALIFYING
CORSER (YAMAHA) HEADS THE FIELD IN PHILLIP ISLAND
FIRST QUALIFYING
Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) heads the field after
the first qualifying session for the Australian Round of the
World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island. The 36-year-old
Australian, who stands to become the record holder for Superbike
rider presence this weekend, set a time of 1 minute 32.336
on his Yamaha YZF-R1 to clinch the overnight pole. Fellow
Aussie Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) was a shade slower at 1’32.374
on his Ducati 1098, with team-mate Michel Fabrizio another
tenth behind in third.
“The track is a bit bumpier each time we go out, even
compared to the winter tests we did here” commented
Corser. “I’m happy enough with that but we’ve
still got work to do on the settings for race day. It’s
only Friday but I’m pretty happy with the performance
on this first day”.
“Maybe because of the rain yesterday, there’s
still not fantastic grip on the track, but we tried a few
different things to deal with it. We only made a few small
changes between the free practice and the afternoon qualifying
and things are going well, but I’m looking forward to
tomorrow and Superpole”, said Bayliss.
“I was really happy with that, we didn’t change
much between the morning and the afternoon session. We’ve
been working mainly on the tyre set-up and for the moment
it’s all good. It’ll all depend on the weather
on Sunday but so far, so good”, declared Fabrizio.
Half-way through the session, the standings had an unfamiliar
look about them, as Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati) headed
Max Neukirchner (Alstare Suzuki), but the Czech rider crashed
out shortly before the end and the German slipped down to
fourth ahead of Smrz. Max Biaggi was sixth on the Sterilgarda
Ducati 1098, ahead of team-mate Ruben Xaus, who crashed, while
Regis Laconi showed some progress in eighth on the PSG-1 Kawasaki
machine. Spaniards Fonsi Nieto (Alstare Suzuki), race 2 winner
in Qatar, and Carlos Checa (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) made
up the top 10. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) currently
lies in thirteenth place.
World Superbike – Q1
1. Corser T. (Yamaha) 1'32.336
2. Bayliss T. (Ducati) 1'32.374
3. Fabrizio M. (Ducati) 1'32.570
4. Neukirchner M. (Suzuki) 1'32.808
5. Smrz J. (Ducati) 1'32.827
6. Biaggi M. (Ducati) 1'32.827
7. Xaus R. (Ducati) 1'32.827
8. Laconi R. (Kawasaki) 1'33.188
9. Nieto F. (Suzuki) 1'33.269
10. Checa C. (Honda) 1'33.283
11. Holland R. (Honda) 1'33.340
12. Muggeridge K. (Honda) 1'33.489
13. Haga N. (Yamaha) 1'33.588
14. Lavilla G. (Honda) 1'33.718
15. Kiyonari R. (Honda) 1'33.995
World Supersport
Andrew Pitt put his Qatar setback behind him by posting the
quickest time in the opening Supersport qualifying session
at Phillip Island. The 32-year-old Australian got down to
a time of 1’35.426 on his HANNspree Ten Kate Honda machine,
a fraction ahead of another Aussie, round 1 winner Broc Parkes
(Yamaha World Supersport). Yamaha team-mate Fabien Foret from
France was a tenth slower in third, with Joshua Brookes (HANNspree
Stiggy Motors Honda) making it three home riders in the top
4. Italians Gianluca Vizziello ((Berry Racing Honda) and Ivan
Clementi (BE1 Racing Triumph) were next up and the only other
riders to record sub 1’36 times. The new 675 triple
machines again made a positive impact, with both Clementi
and Garry McCoy (SC) running well throughout the session.
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