From press release:

Brave Benelli Battles On

Despite a difficult winter during which the Benelli company struggled with problems in the Italian motorcycle market, Benelli Sport is back contesting the World Superbike championship.

The team’s first day back in the Championship after their debut year in 2001 was not a happy one. Rider Peter Goddard was forced to retire from the free practice and the afternoon’s qualifying session after engine problems.

“We have had to take some risks in order to get more power,” admitted Team Owner Andrea Merloni, “unfortunately this resulted in some unexpected problems with the engine. We are not sure yet if the problems are due to our changes or just down to bad luck. But we’ll be trying our hardest again on Saturday and we shall soon know if we have been heading in the right direction.”

Australian Peter Goddard, who scored points in last year’s Championship on the Benelli Tornado Superbike was obviously very disappointed with his day. “Sadly, I didn’t get much in the way of track time today,” commented Goddard.

On the bright side, Benelli showed a pre-production version of the Tornado road bike. The motorcycle was spotted by the SBK organizers, and Benelli officials were asked to wheel it into the SBK paddock show area, where it wowed the crowds. When asked for comment on the machine, onlookers typically responded with “that is the most beautiful motorcycle in the world,” or a similar comment. Some encouragement at least then for the Benelli Sport team on a difficult day. The road bike will be officially launched at the Monza World Superbike round in May.


Foret Takes Supersport Pole

Fabien Foret took the first pole position of the new season for Ten Kate Honda. The flying Frenchman put his Honda CBR600FS (F4i) at the front of the pack with a fastest lap of 1:37.674, nearly a second faster than fellow Frenchman Stephane Chambon.

The Ten Kate Honda team manager was smiling again after watching Foret take a comfortable pole position in the Spanish sunshine. “I thought Foret’s lap time was very impressive,” declared Ronald ten Kate. “The conditions were quite different today compared to when we tested here just over a week ago. This meant we had to search for a new set up, and despite the less than ideal conditions Foret was still very fast.”

Fabien was relaxed after the session. “I’m happy with my time,” declared Foret. “But the important thing to me is the race. Of course it is great to be on pole but I am not letting it go to my head. I will try to win the race, but the important thing for me is to finish in a good position so I can fight for the championship.”

Ronald ten Kate was also pleased with the progress of his new team member Iain MacPherson. “Iain is settling down in his new job. But we are not putting any pressure on him to go fast immediately. I am confident he will get quicker and quicker as he gets used to the Pirelli tires, the WP suspension and the Honda CBR600FS.”

Iain confirmed his manager’s feelings. “The more I ride the bike the more I like it,” said MacPherson. “The Honda allows me to open the throttle much harder much earlier than I could on the Kawasaki last year. If I’d ridden that the way I can ride this Honda I would have high-sided it for sure. The tires are fantastic and I’m very happy with the WP suspension. I’m really happy in my new job; the team is so friendly and extremely helpful. I know I will go faster as I get more laps under my belt.”

MacPherson qualified in tenth place on the grid with a best lap of 1:39.121

Final World Supersport qualifying times:

1. Fabien Foret, France (Ten Kate Honda), 1:37.674s
2. Stephane Chambon, France (Suzuki) 1:38.539
3. Alessio Corradi, Italy (Yamaha) 1:38.730
4. Stefano Cruciani, Italy (Yamaha) 1:38.777
5. Jorg Teuchert, Germany (Yamaha) 1:38.833
6. Chris Vermeulen, Australia (Van Zon Ten Kate Honda) 1:38.877
7. Christian Kellner, Germany (Yamaha) 1:38.877
8. Andrew Pitt, Australia (Kawasaki) 1:39.013
9. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan (Suzuki) 1:39.029
10.Iain MacPherson, GB (Ten Kate Honda) 1:39.121