|
Bayliss and Fabrizio battle the elements |
|
|
|
|
Posted by Staff
|
|
Thursday, 21 February 2008 |
BAYLISS AND FABRIZIO BATTLE AGAINST THE ELEMENTS AT THE LOSAIL INTERNATIONAL
CIRCUIT
Losail
(Qatar), Thursday 21st February:
Bayliss and Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) faced difficult climactic conditions today
as the 2008 World Superbike championship
officially got underway. Winds of up to 40 km/h meant that riders were unable
to record any particularly fast laps and the morning practice session was
instead used to check the settings of the new Ducati 1098 F08 machines. The
afternoon qualifying session went ahead in similar conditions at the Losail
International Circuit with both riders attempting to improve on the times
recorded in the morning.
Troy
Bayliss
1m59.8s
"I'm
reasonably happy with how it went today but we all found it tough and every lap
had to be ridden in a different way simply due to the conditions. The wind meant
that I was never completely comfortable and there is only so much we can do to
change the settings of the bike because conditions may be different again
tomorrow. Looking at this weekend's entry list I reckon it's going to be a very
competitive championship this year, we're a strong field and I'm looking forward
to the competition!"
Michel
Fabrizio
2m00.9s
"It was
very difficult out there today and although sand on the track wasn't such a
problem, I wasn't totally confident on the bike with the strong winds. Having
said that, there were several of us who were lapping around the 2 minute mark so
we were all having similar problems with the weather I think. We've changed a
few settings on the bike throughout the day and I hope that we can make better
progress tomorrow."
TEMPI:
Corser (Yamaha) 1m59.6s; Bayliss
(Ducati
Xerox) 1m59.8s;
Nieto (Suzuki) 2m00.3s; Haga (Yamaha) 2m00.4s; Kagayama (Suzuki) 2m00.5s; Xaus
(Ducati) 2'm00.6s; Lanzi (Ducati) 2m00.7s; Biaggi (Ducati) 2m00.7s; Gimbert
(Yamaha) 2m00.8s; Neukirchner (Suzuki) 2m00.9s; Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox)
2m00.9s
from Ducati Xerox press
|
