Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Foret in front again

By Glenn LeSanto

Fabien Foret snatched the provisional World Supersport pole right at the end of the first qualifying session at Phillip Island on Friday, with a blistering 1:35.528 lap.

The Flying Frenchman had languished in the middle of the timesheet for much of the session, an unfamiliar position for Foret, who was pole-sitter at Valencia after dominating qualifying. The team blamed going in the wrong direction on set-up for Foret’s struggle to lead the session. Foret’s fastest lap was his last flying lap.

“Although we have already tested here during the pre-season tests our set-up is quite different this weekend,” explained Ten Kate Honda team manager Ronald ten Kate. “It is much warmer this weekend. After this morning’s free practice we made some changes to the set-up and unfortunately we went in the wrong direction. But we worked it out and Foret was able to resume his familiar position at the top of the timesheet.”

Jamie Whitham had led for much of the session but was pushed back to fourth fastest as Foret, Pitt and Bontempi all set last-gasp fast laps.

Friday’s World Supersport qualifying times:

1 Fabien Foret, France (Honda) 1:36.553
2 Piergiorgio Bontempi, Italy (Ducati) 1:36.728
3 Andrew Pitt, Australia (Kawasaki) 1:36.817
4 James Whitham, GB (Yamaha) 1:36.882
5 Iain MacPherson, GB (Honda) 1:36.999
6 Stephane Chambon, France (Suzuki) 1:37.050
7 Jorg Teuchert, Germany (Yamaha) 1:37.091
8 Chris Vermeulen, Australia (Honda) 1:37.115
9 Christophe Cogan, France (Honda) 1:37.249
10 James Ellison, GB (Kawasaki) 1:37.393



More, from a Castrol Honda press release:

HONDA’S FORET ON TOP IN AUSTRALIA

Honda’s Fabien Foret led the way with the fastest lap in Friday’s opening qualifying session for round two of the World Supersport Championship at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia.

Foret–winner of the opening round of the series in Spain two weeks ago–was in dominant mood aboard his Ten Kate CBR600 as he clipped 1.2 seconds off the existing lap record.

Ducati’s Piergiorgio Bontempi was second fastest with defending World Champion Andrew Pitt third and Briton James Whitham, the Phillip Island lap
record holder, fourth to complete the provisional front row of the grid for Sunday’s 21-lap race.

Foret’s teammate Iain MacPherson was fifth fastest with former World Champions Stephane Chambon and Jorg Teuchert sixth and seventh respectively.


Yet more, from a Fuchs Kawasaki press release:

WORLD SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 2 – PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA
22 MARCH 2002 – FRIDAY PRACTICE & QUALIFYING

PROVISIONAL FRONT ROW START FOR PITT AT PHILLIP ISLAND

Fuchs Kawasaki rider, and defending World Champion, Andrew Pitt, secured a provisional front row start at his home circuit of Phillip Island this afternoon; finishing the first 45 minute qualifying session third fastest, after briefly holding pole position during the closing stages.

Suspension problems during this morning’s free practice session left Pitt down in ninth place on the timesheet but, by the time the bike was wheeled out for qualifying proper, the problems had been rectified and normal service was quickly resumed. Pitt waited until there were just four minutes of the session remaining before stealing provisional pole, with the Australian eventually having to settle for third on the provisional grid following fast laps from Foret and Bontempi in the dying minutes.

‘We had quite a few problems setting the bike up this morning but, I’m happy to say, the team managed to get everything sorted for this afternoon,’ said Pitt. ‘The bike still feels a little hard over the bumps, but that’s something we should be able to dial out quite easily. Although anywhere on the front row would do me for the race, I’ll definitely be looking for pole position during tomorrow’s qualifying session. I topped the timesheets briefly today and, with slight refinements to the bike overnight, there’s no reason why I can’t stick it on pole tomorrow.’

Relatively inexperienced in World Supersport terms, James Ellison demonstrated that’s he’s finding his feet fast in this ultra-competitive series. The 20-year-old British rider waited until the final two minutes of the qualifying session before posting his fastest time; jumping up the timesheet from 16th to 10th in the process.

‘I matched my fastest time from pre-season testing this afternoon, so I’m pretty happy with my qualifying position,’ declared Ellison. ‘I managed to hook onto the back of Andrew as he came round to start a flying lap and I thought I’d tuck in behind him and see where he was quicker than me. It almost didn’t work, as I got better drive out onto the start and finish straight and had to roll it off slightly to avoid overtaking him. Qualifying top ten has really given me a real confidence boost this afternoon, but I won’t be resting on my laurels and I’ll definitely be looking to improve tomorrow.’