HomeNewsWSBK Bayliss takes provisional pole at Assen
Bayliss takes provisional pole at Assen
Posted by Staff
Friday, 25 April 2008
From DucatiSBK
BAYLISS (DUCATI XEROX TEAM) TAKES PROVISIONAL POLE AT ASSEN TT CIRCUIT
Assen
(The Netherlands) Friday 25th April: Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) and his Ducati 1098 F08
took provisional pole in this afternoon's qualifying session at Assen's TT
Circuit. Despite a bad fall while training on his bicycle in Montecarlo two days
ago, Bayliss was the only Superbike rider to lap in under 1m40s today. Dry
conditions meant that all riders were nevertheless recording some very quick
times with the 19 fastest riders behind Bayliss all lapping within a second of
each other. Fellow Ducati Xerox Team rider Michel Fabrizio had a
fall on his first lap out during the morning's practice session but was unhurt
and subsequently able to make strong progress in the afternoon, to conclude the
first qualifying session in seventh position.
Troy
Bayliss
1m39.6s
"It's
the first time we've been here on the 1098 but we started out pretty confident
and feel that we have progressed in the right direction during this morning's
practice and then in qualifying this afternoon. There are a few things we want
to test tomorrow morning if we have dry weather. I feel pretty good on the bike
and am quietly confident so if we can make a few modifications to make my riding
a bit more smooth then I'll be very happy. Everyone is riding well today and the
track always makes for close racing, with guys in all the classes going pretty
quick. It would be great to have a dry weekend but here you never can tell -
we'll see how we go."
Michel
Fabrizio 1m40.3s
"This
morning, just a few moments into the session, I was exiting a curve and just
didn't see a wet patch on the track in time. It was a shame I fell because then
I only had the second bike to use for the rest of the session and we had spent
less time preparing that machine. This afternoon went a lot better, as I went
back to riding the first bike and I'd say we're going well, although it was a
shame we had the two red flags right at the end of the qualifying session, as I
think I could have gone faster. Anyway tomorrow we'll try a few different things
but I can say that I am satisfied with my performance
today."
