Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Dennis Noyes

Dunlop technicians were smiling to see the first five places taken by their riders at the end of Friday’s first qualifying session at Magny Cours, the final round of the 2003 World Superbike Chamionship. Britain’s Chris Walker was quickest in qualifying on his HM Plant Ducati followed by Regis Laconi (Ducati), Gregorio Lavilla (Alstare Suzuki) and James Toseland (HM Plant Ducati) with Pier Francesco Chili fifth on his PGS-1 Ducati. Works Ducati riders Ruben Xaus and Neil Hodgson qualified fifth and ninth respectively and both complained of braking problems due to the 17 degree C ambient temperatures that gave them no grip and no feeling under heavy braking with their Michelin tires.

Hodgson attributed his problems directly to the cold conditions. “There is just not enough heat in the tire give traction. It is a problem on the brakes but even more coming out of the corners. The tire is spinning on the exit from the slow tires. We were here last Friday with normal temperatures, but this feels like a different track.”

Xaus crashed in the morning’s free session but came back in the afternoon to finish less than 0.8-second off the pole. “There is a white line across the track that you can’t miss. It was no problem last week so I just forgot about it, but this morning I was changing direction on the left-right at the end of the home straight and as I touched the line with the front end light, it went and I was down. That was because of the cold. Now I have to change my racing line to keep the bike up-right longer. This is Dunlop and Pirelli weather, but we are in France so I expect Michelin to find an answer for tomorrow. I’ve had Fridays as bad as this before, but not worse. We are in trouble. I cannot brake where I want and the rear tire is no good on braking at all meaning I have to brake harder up front, upsetting the balance and getting the rear almost off the ground. The morning sessions are useless in the cold and we have our final qualifying tomorrow in the morning, but our free practice is in the afternoon and that is when I will work hard to find a race tire and race settings.”

Walker attributed his good performance to having had his first private test session since the pre-season. “I feel very comfortable here after having had a two day test. This is the first time I have really gotten anywhere ready to race. I was still learning the bike at Valencia, but today we showed up with the bike sorted and knowing our way around the track. The cold? This is a normal day in British racing. I’m not bothered.”

Regis Laconi was making his last ride for the HM Plant team; he and James Toseland have been signed to ride the works Fila Ducati 999s next year and the Frenchman, still looking for his first win of the year on the on the NCR 998, was very uncomfortable today. “All the work from private testing is thrown away. This is not the same track and the tires we found to work so good now are no good. Suspension is different. We had to start over. Sure I am second, but the bike is not good.”

Lavilla found more problems with the brakes than with the tires. “The bike is worse than last week. I went a little faster but that is because of the pressure of official qualifying. For me the problem is from the brakes. The cold tires do not grip and I have to use different braking points. I can’t use small discs to make heat because the small Brembos are not strong enough but the big Brembos run too cold. I have asked for softer pads.”

The paddock is still waiting for news on Neil Hodgson and Ruben Xaus. Hodgson is still expected to go to MotoGP with the D’Antin Ducati team, but Xaus’ future is in the air. “I have no contract yet. Ducati still want me to go to America but we have no deal yet. Repsol want me in MotoGP and would back me in the D’Antin team if Ducati do not insist on Shell, but Repsol have also talked to me about a MotoGP ride with Honda taking the place Rossi will leave. It is not something I expected or even dreamed of, but if this offer comes it would be hard to refuse. Right now I am still a Superbike rider for Ducati so until Sunday I will concentrate on trying to win here in France. Then we will see. Maybe I should start looking for a SuperTT bike for Las Vegas! It won’t be cold there in November will it?”