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Corser second in Superpole at Phillip Island

Posted by Staff

Saturday, 01 March 2008

QUALIFYING 2 REPORT

01/03/2008

Corser starts home race from the first row

Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) was only one place away from taking the Superpole win at his home track of Phillip Island, after qualifying second quickest in the regular official timed sessions and Superpole itself. On qualifying tyres he was half a second a second faster in Superpole than he had been on race tyres, posting a lap of 1'32.011. He did not get the chance to practice on a qualifying tyre, making his ultimate performance in Superpole all the more impressive.

Corser's battered and bruised team-mate Noriyuki Haga jumped up from 11th to 7th after a gritty Superpole ride, despite not finding the levels of rear traction he expected around the 4.445km circuit in Victoria. He had set second time on a qualifying tyre earlier in the afternoon session, but could not find the same level of drive in Superpole.

In his first Superpole ride Davide Checa (Yamaha GMT94) finished 15th, overcoming a moment of drama as he ran off track at the first corner, losing valuable time. He qualified for Superpole ahead of several riders from official teams, thanks to recent changes in the way the GMT94 team approaches the business of finding a good set-up. It was the first Superpole qualification for the team since moving into World Superbike. Checa's team-mate Sebastien Gimbert matched his first day qualifying performance by going 20th fastest, and he now starts on row five, one row behind Checa.

Shinichi Nakatomi found the Phillip Island track a difficult challenge in qualifying, ending up 22nd fastest with a 1'33.833 lap time.

Troy Corser (2nd - 1'32.011 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"Today the bike was working well, but we had a few problems in that last free practice trying to get the bike balanced. Unfortunately we were unable to use the qualifying tyre before Superpole so basically I was doing a fast lap for the first time using the qualifying tyre. We can't complain too much however, because being on the front row is ideal for tomorrow."

Noriyuki Haga (7th - 1'32.728 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"At the end of the untimed afternoon session, I tried a qualifier for one lap and it worked well. I made a 1'32.3. In Superpole it felt like a different tyre. The left side was not working, because when I opened the gas I had a slide and had to take it easy from then on. That's why I am on the second row. It is disappointing because I felt good for Superpole. We still have a problems dealing with the bumps on the asphalt at this track, but it was better today than yesterday. Tomorrow morning we try another solution and then we will be ready to race."

Massimo Meregalli - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team, Team Manager
"Troy made a good Superpole lap to start from the first row of the grid, but we are more interested in our final performance in the races tomorrow. We tried a new solution for the set-up with Troy today. He thinks it will work in the races and the technicians agree that it should be a good direction to allow both riders to be competitive in the races. In morning warm-up Troy will try two different set-ups to see which one to choose. For race tyres, the choice is already made. Noriyuki's physical condition seems good, he says he is fine, and we have no concerns about him in two races tomorrow. He's just angry that he didn't get onto the front row."

David Checa (15th - 1'34.166 - Yamaha GMT94)
"I was not in Superpole at Qatar but one round later we made it. I did not have so much time to prepare on a qualifying tyre and there is a bit of movement from it compared to the race tyres. I had a scare on the first corner of my Superpole lap when I ran wide and I lost about six tenths of a second right there. I just gave it full throttle a bit too fast. After that I got my rhythm back, but my lap time was lost. We were happy to have got into Superpole and it was a good learning experience. I wanted to be on the third row because a rider always wants more!"

Martial Garcia - Team Manager Team YZF Yamaha
"We could not find the perfect set up for the chassis this weekend because of the bumps on the track. The times are very close between the riders, however, so we have reasonable hopes for raceday."

Circuit Length: 4445
Temp: 20
Weather: Sunny

2008 WSB Australia - Phillip Island 01/03/2008

Superpole

Pos.	Rider	Manu.	Nat.	Total Time
1	Troy Bayliss	Ducati	AUS	1'31.493
2	Troy Corser	Yamaha	AUS	1'32.011
3	Michel Fabrizio	Ducati	ITA	1'32.164
4	Carlos Checa	Honda	ESP	1'32.373
5	Fonsi Nieto	Suzuki	ESP	1'32.711
6	Jakub Smrz	Ducati	CZE	1'32.714
7	Noriyuki Haga	Yamaha	JPN	1'32.728
8	Max Neukirchner	Suzuki	GER	1'32.767
9	Russel Holland	Honda	AUS	1'32.903
10	Regis Laconi	Kawasaki	FRA	1'32.962
11	Ruben Xaus	Ducati	ESP	1'32.983
12	Karl Muggeridge	Honda	AUS	1'33.028
13	Roberto Rolfo	Honda	ITA	1'33.104
14	Gregorio Lavilla	Honda	ESP	1'34.060
15	David Checa	Yamaha	ESP	1'34.166

Qualifying 2

Pos.	Rider	Nat.	QUAL I	QUAL II
1	Troy Bayliss	AUS	1'32.374	1'32.127
2	Troy Corser	AUS	1'32.336	1'32.151
3	Michel Fabrizio	ITA	1'32.570	1'32.227
4	Carlos Checa	ESP	1'33.283	1'32.447
5	Ruben Xaus	ESP	1'32.827	1'32.478
6	Jakub Smrz	CZE	1'32.827	1'32.511
7	Max Neukirchner	GER	1'32.808	1'32.543
8	Max Biaggi	ITA	1'32.827	1'32.565
9	Fonsi Nieto	ESP	1'33.269	1'32.737
10	Regis Laconi	FRA	1'33.188	1'32.831
11	Noriyuki Haga	JPN	1'33.588	1'32.837
12	Russel Holland	AUS	1'33.340	1'32.908
13	Karl Muggeridge	AUS	1'33.489	1'33.060
14	David Checa	ESP	1'34.050	1'33.237
15	Gregorio Lavilla	ESP	1'33.718	1'33.269
20	Sebastien Gimbert	FRA	1'34.659	1'33.715
22	Shinichi Nakatomi	JPN	1'34.446	1'33.833

QUALIFYING 2 REPORT

01/03/2008

Parkes and Foret earn front row starts

A tense final qualifying session held under the warm Australian sun ended with both Fabien Foret and Broc Parkes able to start tomorrow's 21-lap World Supersport Championship race from the front row. Each rider had to push hard in the latter stages to set their best time of the weekend, with the Yamaha World Supersport Team's combined efforts putting both its riders on the front row for the first time this season.

Foret and Parkes each found a lack of grip from the 4.445km Phillip Island track surface, despite having had a highly positive test in the winter months on their all-new Yamaha YZF-R6 machines.

Parkes will start from the third position on the 36-rider grid on Sunday after setting a time of 1'35.059, with Foret on the final front row grid spot, thanks to a 1'35.195. Fast and consistent lap times did not come easily for either rider, as each worked his way through a wide variety of set-up options in search of an ideal match with their potential race tyres.

David Salom (Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team) had another strong qualifying experience, going 11th on the grid and earning a third row start. Massimo Roccoli improved on his first day lap time by over a second and promoted himself to 14th on the grid, for a fourth row start.

Broc Parkes (3rd - 1'35.089 - Yamaha World Supersport Team)
"That was a bit of a mixed session and it took a while to get going. I hoped it would be easier than it turned out to be but we had a few more problems than expected. We had some grip problems and we have been struggling a bit with that all weekend. We have some ideas for the warm-up in the morning, but we were too late today to try them out in the final qualifying. Our grip concerns were mainly mid corner, from the rear. We didn't try too many soft tyres because we were looking for a good race set-up. Front row for me is good, better than Qatar, and the race is always different from qualifying. There will be a lot of guys in with a chance tomorrow."

Fabien Foret (4th - 1'35.185 - Yamaha World Supersport Team)
"Our winter test here was not really exceptional but it was pretty good. However, from the start of this weekend it has been hard to find enough rear grip. I tried many different set-ups, on fresh and used tyres, but there's not much difference. Because of that we couldn't really chase the pole time, we needed more grip to do that sort of lap time. Because we had to try so many set-ups today we could not do a lot of long distance runs. So we will see how the weather is tomorrow before we make a tyre choice."

Wilco Zeelenberg - Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team
"We need to improve our set up a bit for the race. Our lap times are not so bad, both riders are on the front row, but they say that there is not so much grip from the track. It is difficult to find more grip and keep the steering characteristics we need, but those are our aims in warm-up tomorrow. Neither of our potential race tyres is working as well as we hoped. We tried both tyres at the test in January and both were good for grip and life, but not now. So we have to find a way to get more life out of them."

David Salom - (11th - 1'35.730 - Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team)
"We made up time on yesterday all around the track, not just at one or two points, but this afternoon was hard because of the heat and the wind. There was a bit of rear spin this afternoon as well. I think we have chosen a race tyre but only if the temperature stays the same way as today. We will use warm-up to try a couple of things, just to be sure."

Massimo Roccoli - (14th - 1'36.135 - Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni)
"I used medium compound tyres most of the time, to help me go round the last two high speed corners. That is the most difficult part of the circuit for me so I wanted to be safe there. I will make final set-up changes in morning warm-up, and choose the race tyre then."

Circuit Length: 4445
Temp: 22
Weather: Sunny

2008 WSS Australia - Phillip Island 01/03/2008

Qualifying 2

Pos.	Rider	Nat.	QUAL I	QUAL II
1	Andrew Pitt	AUS	1'35.426	1'34.592
2	Joshua Brookes	AUS	1'35.788	1'34.890
3	Broc Parkes	AUS	1'35.506	1'35.059
4	Fabien Foret	FRA	1'35.674	1'35.195
5	Jonathan Rea	GBR	1'36.392	1'35.216
6	Robbin Harms	DNK	1'36.941	1'35.241
7	Joan Lascorz	ESP	1'36.501	1'35.500
8	Ivan Clementi	ITA	1'35.920	1'35.541
9	Gianluca Vizziello	ITA	1'35.808	1'35.625
10	Gianluca Nannelli	ITA	1'36.565	1'35.636
11	David Salom	ESP	1'36.581	1'35.730
12	Craig Jones	GBR	1'37.340	1'35.985
13	Mark Aitchinson	AUS	1'38.678	1'36.101
14	Massimo Roccoli	ITA	1'37.152	1'36.135
15	Katsuaki Fujiwara	JPN	1'37.680	1'36.148

Yamaha Racing Communications

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