WSB / WSS Brno - Qualifying 1
QUALIFYING 1 REPORT 18/07/2008
Corser an early contender on day one
Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) enjoyed a competitive
start to his Brno race weekend by scoring second best time
behind local favourite Jakub Smrz, on the recently resurfaced
5.403km Brno circuit.
Corser's early pace has already seen him under the previous
circuit best, with one more qualifying session plus Superpole
on Saturday to determine his final grid position.
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) was held back
in his early laps by a niggling fault with his machine's electronics
package and lost him track time that held back his ultimate
provisional qualifying position to 12th.
The weather conditions remained dry through first qualifying,
despite some dark clouds skirting the track, and both Corser
and Haga would prefer dry conditions for day two, to complete
their pre-race set-up work in consistent conditions.
David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) is in a provisional
Superpole qualifying slot, 14th, one place ahead of his brother
Carlos.
Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) was
17th today, Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) 19th, making
Superpole entry a real possibility for each rider after the
final official qualifying session.
Troy Corser (2nd - 1'59.493 - Yamaha Motor Italia
WSB Team)
"The settings feel reasonably good already and I think
the grip from the track is starting to come in more, with
rubber being put onto the track. I think sand is washing onto
the track when it rains so I hope it doesn't rain tonight.
I think there will be more life from the tyres as well, although
the front tyre is still a bit of a problem for race distance.
But we still have something to try in the set-up of the bike
to help that a little. There is a lot of pressure on the front
tyre here, more than at any other track, maybe. And there
is a lot of heavy braking going into corners here. Up the
steep hill our bike is pretty good compared to the other guys
I was on track with, so I'm quite happy so far."
Noriyuki Haga (12th - 2'00.371 - Yamaha Motor Italia
WSB Team)
"This morning we had problems with the electronics and
that stopped us from making a lot of laps and that has stopped
us from making good lap times. So it has taken time to try
and catch up. We started with different settings from last
year, and we tried another setting this afternoon, and finally
we found a good feeling. Not enough for the race yet, so I
hope tomorrow we find even better settings. For me, the track
feels the same as last year, maybe it is more slippery."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia
WSB Team)
"Troy is up front and Nori can get there two, so we will
see how we go tomorrow. Nori lost some time when we had a
few problems this morning but we are confident because this
is still only Friday. Our tyre choice here is critical, but
we have already found one rear that works well. Now we need
to find a front one. But overall we are OK. The riders feel
different things from the track surface but that is because
they have very different riding styles!"
Circuit Length: 5403
2008 WSB Czech Republic - Brno 18/07/2008
Qualifying 1
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1'59.125
2 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 1'59.493
3 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'59.517
4 Max Biaggi Ducati ITA 1'59.747
5 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'59.850
6 Fonsi Nieto Suzuki ESP 1'59.926
7 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 2'0.024
8 Niccolo Canepa Ducati ITA 2'0.131
9 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 2'0.179
10 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 2'0.196
11 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 2'0.361
12 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 2'0.371
13 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 2'0.384
14 David Checa Yamaha ESP 2'0.388
15 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 2'0.424
17 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 2'0.552
19 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 2'1.170
QUALIFYING 1 REPORT 18/07/2008
Parkes under the outright lap record on day one
The brilliant 2008 qualifying record of Broc Parkes continued
at Brno on the first day of track action, as the Australian
Supersport Superstar slotted in a 2'03.604 to create a new
track best. He beat the previous record by 1.2 seconds, with
one more day of qualifying to go.
Parkes, who is looking for his second win of the year on
Sunday, was 0.318 seconds ahead of second best qualifier Josh
Brookes, with Andrew Pitt third.
The weather conditions at Brno were dry but relatively cool
at 25°C, at a track where the usual temperature is well
over 30°C at this time of year.
Fabien Foret had a drama-filled day, falling in the morning
session and then again in the afternoon, having just completed
his fastest lap.
Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by
Leoni) was only 17th fastest after experiencing problems
matching tyre and suspension choices to the recently resurface
circuit in the first timed session.
David Salom (Yamaha Spain World Supersport) was
18th in the first day rankings, but still less than two seconds
from Parkes' provisional pole.
Broc Parkes (1st - 2'03.604 - Yamaha World Supersport
Team)
"We had a little issue with top end power this morning
but the guys in the team sorted out quite quickly so we were
able to set the best lap time in the qualifying session. The
track is very smooth after being resurfaced but it's still
a bit too new and needs to have a little more rubber on it.
There is a narrow line right now but I think it will improve
all weekend. We used some settings based on the test we did
at Vallelunga recently and they worked out pretty good as
well, even though the temperature is nothing like as much
here as it was in Italy."
Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport
Team)
"Broc did his usual great job and set a very fast lap,
although there are a couple of other riders not too far away
from him. I hope we will find him even more speed for the
races but with a wider margin of safety in his setup. We have
to be happy that despite Fabien's crash and injury he didn't
end up with any more permanent damage. But it's still a very
disappointing day for Fabien and the team. One of his vertebrae
is broken through but there is no nerve damage so the medical
people think it could be two or three months before he is
fit again. It appears he ran into the first corner fast just
after his quickest lap and then just couldn't hold the line
and crashed."
Massimo Roccoli (17th - 2'05.517 seconds - Yamaha
Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni)
"I was searching for a good suspension set-up today but
although the rear is OK, but the front was still a problem.
The front felt light everywhere and the choice of tyres at
the moment is not so good. But after checks with the suspension
technicians we will fix it for tomorrow."
David Salom: (18th - 2'05.582 seconds -
Yamaha Spain) "It has been difficult because we had problems
with the front tyres. The front suspension was not working
so well, so we changed the spring and it was better. We need
to sort out some things because at the point of starting to
accelerate I can't do it the way I want to. I've improved
my time from last year by two seconds, but I'm not happy because
I'm 18th."
Circuit Length: 5403
Weather: Dry
2008 WSS Czech Republic - Brno 18/07/2008
Qualifying 1
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 2'3.604
2 Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 2'3.922
3 Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 2'4.176
4 Craig Jones Honda GBR 2'4.194
5 Mark Aitchinson Triumph AUS 2'4.377
6 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 2'4.552
7 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 2'4.622
8 Matthieu Lagrive Honda FRA 2'4.654
9 Gianluca Nannelli Honda ITA 2'4.663
10 Garry McCoy Triumph AUS 2'4.721
11 Vesa Kallio Honda FIN 2'4.760
12 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 2'4.816
13 Gianluca Vizziello Honda ITA 2'4.910
14 Ivan Clementi Triumph ITA 2'5.089
15 Fabien Foret Yamaha FRA 2'5.151
17 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 2'5.517
18 David Salom Yamaha ESP 2'5.583
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