Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Chambon fastest as Supersport returns to Kyalami

By Glenn LeSanto

The World Supersport Championship returned to Kyalami for the first time since 1999 and was greeted by beautiful sunshine. Stephane Chambon took advantage of the sun to set the fastest time in Friday’s qualifying session.

Britain’s Jamie Whitham again looked fast in qualifying, not a thing that he’s been known for in the past. But he was pushed down into provisional third on the grid by his teammate Paolo Casoli.

Reigning champion and winner of the previous race, Andrew Pitt, took the final place on the provisional front row, qualifying fourth fastest.

Chris Vermeulen continued to shine with a provisional fifth place in a session that featured more than its fair share of yellow flag waving. One incident saw Supersport regular Stefano Cruciani lose his front end while riding on the inside of local rider Arushen Moodley. Both riders crashed heavily, wrecking their machines. Thankfully the two of them were
later declared fit to ride again this weekend.

World Supersport Championship
Friday Qualifying, 5 April 2002
Best Times

1. Stephane Chambon, FRA, Suzuki, 1:46.647
2. Paolo Casoli, ITA, Yamaha, 1:46.943
3. Jamie Whitham, GBR, Yamaha, 1:47.277
4. Andrew Pitt, AUS, Kawasaki, 1:47.296
5. Chris Vermeulen, AUS, Honda, 1:47.530
6. Christian Kellner, GER, Yamaha, 1:47.577
7. James Ellison, GBR, Kawasaki, 1:47.823
8. Jorg Teuchert, GER, Yamaha, 1:47.985
9. Trevor Crookes, RSA, Ducati, 1:47.991
10. Piergiorgio Bontempi, ITA, Ducati, 1:47.998


More, from a Fuchs Kawasaki press release:

WORLD SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 3 – KYALAMI, SOUTH AFRICA
5 APRIL 2002 – FRIDAY PRACTICE & QUALIFYING

PROVISIONAL FRONT ROW FOR ANDREW PITT AT KYALAMI

Reigning Champion, Andrew Pitt secured a provisional front row start for Sunday’s 25-lap Supersport race at Kyalami this afternoon, overcoming a stomach bug to post the fourth quickest lap of the opening qualifying session on his Fuchs Kawasaki ZX-6R.

‘I’m pretty happy to have finished fourth this afternoon, because I’m definitely not feeling 100%,’ said Pitt. ‘I’m starting to feel better after picking up this stomach bug, but I still feel a little weak on the bike and I was suffering cramps, brought on by dehydration, during the latter part of the session. I’m sure my condition will have improved even more by tomorrow, and I’m hoping to be back to full fitness come race day. I just need to make sure that, when I am fully fit, I’ve qualified far enough up the grid to get away with the leading group in the race.’

For James Ellison, the day certainly ended better than it started. Having struggled to post a fast lap during the opening free practice session this morning, the 20-year-old British rider stormed his way to seventh place, and the provisional second row, during this afternoon’s 45-minute first qualifying session.

‘The track was real dusty this morning, so I didn’t want to push it too hard,’ said Ellison. ‘We were also working on suspension settings and, judging from the way the bike felt this afternoon, we’re definitely moving in the right direction. The new qualifying rubber we got from Dunlop for this weekend is good for two flying laps, rather than just one like the previous tyres, and this is a big improvement. There’s less pressure when you know you’ve got two laps in which to set your best qualifying time and it’s always easier to put in a quick lap off the back of another – it allows you to settle into a rhythm.’




And a Ten Kate Honda release:

Troubled start for Ten Kate Honda at Kayalami

The Ten Kate Honda team struggled during the first qualifying session at Kyalami. Fabien Foret finished the session down in 13th place, not a position he is at all accustomed to. His team mate Iain MacPherson was one place further down the timesheet in 14th.

“The track is completely new to the team,” explained Team Manager Ronald ten Kate. “We’ve not raced or even tested here before so we have no
experience and no data to work on at all. The feeling is not good for us; we are not used to seeing our riders so far down the time sheet. But we remain confident that we can come good in the next session. We are working very hard with our partners at Pirelli and WP Suspension to arrive at a good race and qualifying set up and I am sure that both riders will improve their grid position before the race on Sunday.”

Fabien Foret spent his time trying to learn the track, which he had never even seen before this weekend. “It’s a challenging circuit and I have to learn it before I can go fast,” said Foret, who won the opening race at Valencia. “Unfortunately, even when I felt I knew my way around a bit I didn’t get much chance to really do any quick laps today. There were yellow flags and even red and yellow oil flags waving every time I tried for a fast lap, forcing me to back off which was very frustrating. But I will be pushing as hard as possible tomorrow to get a faster time.”

Iain MacPherson has raced at Kyalami before; in fact he holds the current World Supersport lap record around the South African circuit. “I don’t have Fabien’s excuse about being new to the circuit, I know the track well and I know I can be fast here. I did better in the morning’s free practice session than in actual qualifying, but we changed a few settings for qualifying and it looks like we went the wrong way. But I know the team will work hard to resolve the problems ready for the final qualifying session.”

Chris Vermeulen, who rides a Ten Kate Racing prepared Honda CBR600FS for the Van Zon Honda TKR team had a much better qualifying session, finishing in provisional fifth on the grid.