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WSBK Qualifying - Lausitzring |
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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.
Qualifying
1. Nieto (Kawasaki) 1m50.681s;
2. Laconi (Kawasaki) 1m54.559s;
3. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1m55.196s;
4. Corser (Yamaha) 1m55.360s;
5. Biaggi (Suzuki) 1m56.746s;
6. Xaus (Ducati) 1m57.271s;
7. Toseland (Honda) 1m57.384s;
8. Haga (Yamaha) 1m57.782s
Ducati Xerox WSBK
Troy Bayliss grabbed third place on the grid for tomorrow's German Round of the World Superbike Championship in an exciting Superpole session held in poor weather conditions at the EuroSpeedway. Troy will start the two races from the front row behind surprise poleman Fonsi Nieto and Regis Laconi. Team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi lines up on the third row of the grid in eleventh place.
Everyone went out on slicks in the first four dry minutes of the session, but the only riders to complete a full lap before the rain fell were the Kawasaki duo. Bayliss stalled his 999 at the end of the pit-lane before setting off on his dry lap, which as a result he was unable to complete, but he then made up for it by being the quickest rider on rain tyres.
"It was pretty hairy out there but the whole day's been a little bit like that to tell the truth" declared Troy. "This afternoon in that session, with 50 minutes and 12 laps to do, for sure I would have been with Fonsi and Regis. I was ready to go right away but I forgot my earplugs and stalled right at the start so I missed that first opportunity to get out there. I honestly thought when it started raining that everyone had put a good lap in except for me and I was just waiting for Tardozzi to have a go at me when I came in! But only a couple of guys had set a good time and I was so lucky. Anyway I didn't do that bad in the rain, it was dodgy for everybody. You had to stick your chin out to put a good lap in and then towards the end of the session it got even worse. Hopefully it'll be a bit nicer tomorrow but I'm feeling comfortable with the rain and in the dry so we're looking forward to having a good day tomorrow".
"It's a pity that my bike wasn't ready with the slick tyres at the start of the session because I would have gone out right away just like all the other guys" commented Lorenzo. "Afterwards I tried to do the laps in the wet but on this track it's very difficult because it's so slippery, you can hardly stay upright and you can see that by the amount of crashes there have been this weekend. Tomorrow's races will be a bit of an unknown factor, especially because of the uncertain weather conditions, but we've worked well throughout the weekend and I'm in a good situation both for the dry and for the wet. The races, at 24 laps, will be long, I'll have to get a good start and try my hardest to get the best possible results".
Kawasaki Racing WSBK
Great result for the Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse team today on Eurospeedway Lausitz circuit in Germany. The Superpole has been disputated with wet procedure (50’ and 12 laps at disposal). Fonsi Nieto conquered the pole position and his team partner gained the second one so they’ll both start from the first row together. The two riders have been great beginning the superpole before the other riders using slick tires and this rewarded the strategy of the team with two chrono that didn’ t improve because of the rain. An important result that increase the morale of the team thinking about two races that won’t be easy because of the weather and track conditions.
FONSI NIETO:
“ I’m really glad for this pole position, we needed it. We used the situation in the best way and I think that both Regis and me deserve this satisfaction. I hope tomorrow the track will be dry during the races because this bike is quite difficult on wet conditions even because we didn’t ride enough on wet situations. I think that we have good possibilities on dry conditions even because we worked in the right direction and the bike improved a lot. Now we have to focus on the round, we are very motivated now and tomorrow we’ll try to take home two important results”.
REGIS LACONI:
“ I’m satisfied but it hasn’ t been easy. At the beginning the track was dry and we started with slick tires but these few drops of rain that started to fall made everything harder and dangerous. I pushed a lot at the beginning, than I almost slipped. I have been good not to fall paying attention without loosing fastness which made me able to be at Fonsi’s side in the pole position. We have been great in catching the right time to start but this is the result we deserve considering the huge work the team is doing. Tomorrow it will be very hard but we’ll do our best as always trying to take home the best result we can”..
Alstare Corona Suzuki WSBK
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi will start tomorrow's pair of Superbike World Championship races from the second row of the grid after qualifying fifth quickest in a 'Wet Superpole' session at Eurospeedway Lausitz. In the afternoon untimed practice it looked as if the track was drying out from the earlier rain, but 10 minutes before the start of Superpole it began to drizzle and so a 'Wet Superpole' was called: That meant all 16 Superpole competitors had 50 minutes in which to complete a maximum of 12 laps to determine the grid positions. Biaggi's mechanics were making some suspension adjustments to his bike and he was unable to go out when the Superpole session started and so lost the opportunity to go out on track that was mostly dry and post a quick time before the conditions worsened. By the time he went out the track was quite wet and he couldn't match the times of the riders who had posted their quick laps right at the beginning.
Team mate Yukio Kagayama sat out most of Superpole and did not record a time because of a sore hand and will start form the fourth row of the grid. Fonsi Nieto (Kawasaki) took advantage of the best conditions at the start of the session and set the fastest time with team mate Regis Laconi second, Troy Bayliss (Ducati) third and Troy Corser (Yamaha) fourth.
Max Biaggi - 5th, 1:56.746:
"I couldn't go out at the start of the Wet Superpole because my team was doing some suspension changes on my bike after the untimed session and the bike wasn't ready, so I missed out on making a lap or two when the conditions were not so bad. By the time I went out, the track was pretty wet and slippery. This place is a bit strange because there is a big variation in grip, maybe because of the rubber put down by cars. You have to really concentrate in every turn or you will crash. We didn't have much time to find a perfect set-up when it was dry but we're not far off so I hope that the races will be dry. I am comfortable in the wet, so that will not be a big problem either, but I think everybody would prefer it to be dry tomorrow."
Yukio Kagayama - 16th, No time:
"When I crashed this morning I hurt my hand and when Superpole was declared wet there was no point risking any further injury, so I did not post a lap time. I will go the Clinica Mobile and see if they can do something to improve it, but at the moment it is quite painful. I intend racing tomorrow but I will have to see how it is the morning."
Yamaha Motor Italia WSBK
Today's World Superbike qualifying sessions were all about the weather as rain, standing water and excess rubber on the track turned the EuroSpeedway circuit into a slippery customer. But Corser and Haga persevered and were rewarded with fourth and eighth qualifying positions respectively.
This morning's final qualifying session was declared wet and unfortunately 11 riders fell foul of the track conditions during the hour. Corser, Haga and Nakatomi were all victims during the session but without injury. Corser and Haga both re-joined the session but Nakatomi sat the remainder out. With lap times 20 seconds slower than yesterday there was no change to the rider order from the first qualifying session.
Superpole was confirmed as a wet session meaning that, instead of the usual single flying lap, the top 16 riders had a 50 minute session and a maximum of only 12 laps in which to post their fastest time. Although the session was declared wet there were dry patches on the track, making set-up choice challenging for everyone. Corser went straight out at the start on his dry set-up hoping to make the most of the drying track but the rain started again, forcing him back to the pit box for a change of tyres.
Haga was forced to go out on his second bike following a late crash in free practice just before Superpole and he struggled during the session due to a knee injury he picked up in the crash. Corser will start tomorrow in fourth while Haga starts in eighth.
Corser will start his 270th WSB race tomorrow on the front row accompanied by Nieto, Laconi and Bayliss. With rain forecast for the rest of the weekend all eyes will be on the weather reports tomorrow morning.
Troy Corser (4th - 1'55.360 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"Today has been challenging to say the least! It was unfortunate that the weather deteriorated during Superpole as we had to change the bike settings mid-session which cost time and effort. The track is very slippery, more than it should be when it's wet, and it's not consistently slippery. You just can't push it because there are patches in weird places caused by all the car tyre rubber that's still down on track. It's not so bad in practice but in the race it could prove dangerous; if someone comes off the bike's likely to take everyone else out like skittles. I feel that more should've been done to remove the car rubber; they should've been ready for the rain."
Noriyuki Haga (8th - 1'57.782 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"I'm sore after two crashes today; the second was the worst and I've hurt the inside of my left knee. My biggest concern today though, is that I haven't found the right rear tyre for the wet. I tried three and none of them are right. Every other aspect of the set-up can be fine but without the right rear tyre it is useless; it puts more pressure on the front which you just can't do in these conditions without crashing. There's also lots of rubber on the track making it even more difficult."
Team YZF Yamaha WSBK
Shinichi Nakatomi will start his 40th race in 15th position tomorrow after a good Superpole session. Following his crash in this morning's qualifying, the Team Yamaha YZF rider was in 16th but managed to improve by one place in Superpole.
Shinichi Nakatomi (15th - 2'05.278 - Team Yamaha YZF)
"I don't like the rain so today has not been good for me! But I am pleased to qualify in 15th here in such bad conditions. The bike is set-up well and I hope tomorrow is drier." |
