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WSBK Free Practice - Lausitzring |
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Written by Jeff Feathers
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Friday, 07 September 2007 |
Click the "more" for rider quotes from racing action in Germany and check out the Gallery for images from Eurospeedway.
Free Practice
1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1m38.569s;
2. Corser (Yamaha) 1m38.780s;
3. Kagayama (Suzuki) 1m38.980s;
4. Haga (Yamaha) 1m39.011s;
5. Toseland (Honda) 1m39.086s;
6. Xaus (Ducati) 1m39.127s;
7. Biaggi (Suzuki) 1m39.433s;
8. Fabrizio (Honda) 1m39.487s;
9. Muggeridge (Honda) 1m39.525s;
10. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 1m39.639s.
Ducati Xerox WSBK
Troy Bayliss topped the qualifying timesheets for the Ducati Xerox Team at the end of the first session at the Eurospeedway Lausitz in Germany. The Australian, who set a time of 1m38.569s, was a couple of tenths quicker than his fellow Australian, Troy Corser (Yamaha) and four-tenths ahead of the Japanese duo of Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha). Bayliss's team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi was in tenth position but just one second away from the provisional pole mark.
"It's a pretty good start to the weekend" said Troy. "I'm feeling quite comfortable on the bike and basically we've just been putting some laps on the tyres to see how it looks. We've more or less done race distance at the moment and everything's looking fine. I was quite consistent but we want to try and improve a little bit tomorrow and see how it goes and we're hoping for some good weather of course. Compared to last year I think the track is a bit bumpier and it's actually slightly slower because at the first corner the guys here have stuck down 'witches hats' with tar so you don't cut the corner like we used to. This morning we used the same front and rear for the whole session and this afternoon we did exactly the same right until the end when we just put another fresh race tyre in to set the quickest time".
"All the guys in front of me set their time with a softer front tyre" commented Lorenzo. "Instead I only did the session with race tyres and I'm really pleased. Unfortunately in the last few minutes there was a lot of traffic on the track and I was unable to improve my time. Even though I am just one second away from Troy, I have already lapped quicker than last year despite the traffic on the track and my choice of tyre. I've still got a few more things to try, but I've found a set-up that I like and I only hope that tomorrow and Sunday it's not going to rain!"
Kawasaki Racing WSBK
The Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse team adopted a defensive strategy in this first day of qualification on the german track of Eurospeedway Lausitz. It’s a difficult circuit both for Fonsi Nieto, who signed the 11th chrono, and Regis Laconi, who did the 13th crono, difficult because full of chicanes and slow bends. The Spanish rider focused on the set up of his bike finding some good solutions and he reached a good time considering the traffic he found especially on the hot part of the qualifying session. At the other side Regis accused the same chattering problem that is bothering him from the first round and this strongly conditioned his chronometrical performance.
FONSI NIETO:
“ Jumping on the bike after the vacation time is never easy and honestly today it has been quite hard. After a while I started to improve finding a good race pace and I know that I could do better but I found some traffic on the track. We know that this circuit won’t be easy for our bikes as it hasn’t been easy in Brands Hatch and it won’t be simply the one in Vallelunga too but we’ll do our best to reach the best result we can hoping that it won’t rain otherwise it will be extremely hard”.
REGIS LACONI:
“ I’m not satisfied at all of this first day of qualification. After few laps, just when the tires start to wear the bike accused chattering and it begins to be untreatable causing high gap from the first riders. We’ll do everything we can to solve the problem as always working even harder. Besides this track doesn’ t help us because of all the chicanes and narrow bends and it will be harder if tomorrow it will be raining. We had a lot of work to do and tomorrow we’ll try different solutions of tyre”.
Alstare Corona Suzuki WSBK
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Yukio Kagayama ended the first day of qualifying at the Eurospeedway Lausitz with the third fastest time, despite suffering with sore ligaments in his right knee after his crash at Brands Hatch. Team mate Max Biaggi finished the day with the seventh quickest time but was not pushing his GSX-R1000 hard as he had not found a comfortable set-up in today's two sessions.
Troy Bayliss (Ducati) took provisional pole with a lap of 1:38.569 in the closing stages of this afternoon's timed qualifying. His fellow countryman Troy Corser (Yamaha) is second quickest, two-tenths-of-a-second behind with Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) fourth.
Yukio Kagayama - 3rd, 1:38.980:
"The bike is not so bad here today and the only problems I had today was a small brake problem and some pain in my right knee. The brake problem happened when I was hard on the brakes and the bike did not feel as stable as I would've liked. But we will work on this small problem and I am sure that it will be better tomorrow. After Brands Hatch, I went home to Japan and while I was there I saw a doctor about my knee and he told me that I had damaged some ligaments in my right knee. So I knew that it might get a bit sore once I was back on the bike. Today I had a little problem when I tried to change direction quickly so I will have some physiotherapy and see how much I can improve it. At the moment I don't think it's going to affect my riding too much and my intention is to forget about it, qualify well and fight for the podiums on Sunday."
Max Biaggi - 7th, 1:39.433:
"Today was OK. I did not find the best set-up so I was not confident enough to push the bike hard. Conditions today were not so good; in the morning parts of the track felt damp and although it was dry in the afternoon, it felt cold and certainly not like when we all tested here in June. We started the day with more or less the same set-up as we had used in the last two rounds to see how it would work here. But didn't work really well so tomorrow we will go in the same direction as when we tested here. In the end I think that our set-up will probably be something between the two. I feel sure that we will improve tomorrow and hopefully we will find a good set-up for the races."
Yamaha Motor Italia WSBK
Today was back to work for the World Superbike Championship following the summer break and the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team wasted no time in getting back into the swing of things. Within a short space of time both Corser and Haga had found their usual form to take provisional second and fourth respectively in the first day of qualifying at the EuroSpeedway track in Germany.
The morning session was uneventful with all riders taking it steady in the damp conditions. Haga finished third with a 1'39.773 and Corser ended the free practice session just behind in fourth. With the conditions improved for the afternoon session both riders went out intent on progress. Corser went fastest within the first seven minutes although Haga took the top slot briefly before Corser re-took it, knocking his team mate to second. The positions remained unchanged until Kagayama slid in between the Yamaha riders with 15 minutes to go. Then in the last minute Bayliss claimed the provisional pole pushing Corser into second and Haga into fourth.
With a mixed weather forecast for tomorrow all eyes will be on the skies for tomorrow's final qualifying session and tyre choices will become all important.
Troy Corser (2nd - 1'38.780 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"Today has gone well with everything feeling pretty good. We've spent the day trying different set-ups and just making small changes with the engine balance. We've got some small adjustments to make for the tyres; the front is too hard and the rear is too soft at the moment but we're confident we can resolve it tomorrow. I've also been testing a new brake lever today, which feels different but I like it. It's good to be back on the bike again after the break and I'm pleased to find that we're further ahead today than I thought we'd be."
Noriyuki Haga (4th - 1'39.011 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"Today I have worked on engine settings and balance, although the real focus has been tyres because the weather forecast for tomorrow is mixed and we need to make quick progress in that area. I've found a front tyre but I've still got a couple of rear options to test. I've found a nice soft rear that'll do race distance but if it rains on Sunday that'll be no good. This morning was just spent getting used to the bike and riding again after a nice rest but I'm back in the saddle now!"
Team YZF Yamaha WSBK
Team Yamaha YZF rider Shinichi Nakatomi had a good day back at the office. Following his crash during the last race weekend at Brands, Nakatomi found out he had broken five ribs and has been spending the summer break resting and recovering. He started well this morning in free practice and went on to take two seconds off his time in this afternoon's qualifying to finish in 15th.
Shinichi Nakatomi (15th - 1'40.745 - Team Yamaha YZF)
"I'm happy with my result today and the feeling of the bike. I feel we have more improvements to make during tomorrow and I'm hoping to climb higher up the starting grid for the race. It's been good to have a few weeks to rest and recover after Brands and my injuries are feeling better, even if I'm still not 100%." |
