Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Muggeridge smashes records to go pole at Monza

Karl Muggeridge blasted his way to pole position in the Supersport at Monza, beating his Ten Kate Honda team mate Chris Vermeulen by nearly a second and going 1.7 seconds under the existing best lap time.

When Karl Muggeridge returned to the pits and looked at the lap times, his first words were quite simple: “Some gap!” said the Australian as he glanced at the timing monitors.

It wasn’t the easiest of qualifying session for Muggeridge as riders hung around waiting for a slipstream partner.

“The hardest part of that was traffic,” he explained. “At one point I had to actually stop on the track because so many people were waiting for a tow, and the problem with that is that your tyres go cold.”

Still suffering from a thumb injury from the first free practice on Friday where he snapped the ligaments in his right thumb, Chris Vermeulen was very happy with second on the grid.

“I did the same time on race tyres as I did on qualifiers because of my thumb injury, I just couldn’t make use of the extra grip.

“The pain is worse on the brakes and that is going to make it hard to pass people in the race. But with the Ten Kate Honda I might get away with using the power to pass riders.”

Kawasaki’s Pere Riba moved back from MotoGP after a disastrous season and has had some teething problems with the new model Kawasaki ZX-6RR. But the Kawasaki France team have been working hard and improvements at the last two rounds saw him qualified third.

“At the beginning of the season I wasn’t happy with the bike,” explained the Spaniard and former Ten Kate rider. “In Japan we made big changes to the chassis and suspension and here in Monza we have made some modifications to in the engine to find more power.”

Alstare Suzuki of Katsuaki Fujiwara edged out Scotsman Iain MacPherson by 0.08 second to snatch the final front row start.



Final World Supersport Qualifying Results:

1. Karl Muggeridge, Honda, 1:51.480
2. Chris Vermeulen, Honda, 1:52.311
3. Pere Riba, Kawasaki, 1:52.570
4. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Suzuki, 1:52.922
5. Iain MacPherson, Honda, 1:53.003
6. Stephane Chambon, Suzuki, 1:53.159
7. Werner Daemen, Honda, 1:53.255
8. Jurgen vd Goorbergh, Yamaha, 1:53.331
9. Alessio Corradi, Yamaha, 1:53.332
10. Fabien Foret, Kawasaki, 1:53.246
11. Sebastien Charpentier, Honda, 1:53.639
12. Robert Ulm, Honda, 1:53.667
13. Simone Sanna, Yamaha, 1:53.742
14. Gianluca Namelli, Yamaha, 1:53.755
15. Christophe Cogan, Honda, 1:53.769
16. Alessandro Polita, Yamaha, 1:53.830
17. Christian Kellner, Yamaha, 1:53.846
18. Barry Veneman, Honda, 1:53.876
19. Jorg Teuchert, Yamaha, 1:54.283
20. Broc Parkes, Honda, 1:54.315


More, from a press release issued on behalf of Ten Kate Honda:

Ten Kate Honda dominate final qualifying at Monza

Karl Muggeridge and Chris Vermeulen showed the dominance of the Ten Kate Hondas by taking the top two grid positions for Sunday’s race at the historic Monza circuit.

Muggeridge blew the opposition into the weeds going almost a full second quicker than Vermeulen and more than a second faster of Pere Riba in third.

But it wasn’t all easy for Muggeridge. “There was so much traffic out there it made it tough,” he explained. “Riders were slowing down in the middle of the track to wait for a tow. It didn’t only mean that the lap was ruined but also let the tyre go cold. The Honda CBR600RR is great and the Pirelli tyres are fantastic here. Getting pole is a real confidence booster for me because it’s taken a few races to adjust to the new bike.”

While Karl’s performance was impressive his team mate Chris Vermeulen’s second on the grid is nothing short of incredible considering his thumb injury.

“Braking is very painful,” said Chris after the session. “My time on qualifying tyres was the same as on race tyres because I couldn’t make use of the extra grip due to my thumb. In the race passing on the brakes will be difficult, but if I can’t pass on the brakes I’ll have to use the power of the Ten Kate Honda instead.”

Team manager Ronald ten Kate was obviously pleased to see both his riders at the top of the timesheet.

“Incredible! I’m literally speechless,” was all he could say at first after qualifying. But then he found words to describe his riders’ efforts. “Being on pole is great but to see Karl smash the best lap record by 1.7seconds is amazing. It shows that we are constantly improving the new bike and that we have two very capable riders. Chris did so well today despite his injury and I’m sure that in the race he’ll be running on pure adrenaline.”


More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki:

FRONT ROW FOR KATS

2003 Supersport World Championship ­ Round 4, Monza, Italy. Final qualifying, Saturday 17th May.
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Katsuaki Fujiwara made a dramatic improvement at Monza today to earn himself a place on the front row of the grid.

Kats posted a lap of 1:52.22 after changing almost everything on his GXSR600 Alstare Suzuki. Fujiwara’s team mate Stephane Chambon also improved his lap times considerably and ended up sixth quickest.

The final qualifying was dominated by the ultra-fast Hondas of Karl Muggeridge and Chris Vermeulen. Both had topped yesterday’s standings and today was just the same. Aussie Muggeridge took nearly a second off his best time yesterday to take pole position ahead of his team mate Vermeulen. Third quickest was Spaniard Pere Riba (Kawasaki), just two tenths of a second faster then Fujiwara.

KATSUAKI FUJIWARA ­ 4th, 1:52.922: We made many changes after yesterday: Suspension, gearbox and the balance of the bike and it all worked much better. This morning I felt under a lot of pressure to qualify better, so now I am much happier that we are on the front row of the grid. It’s very important to be on the front row here and make a good start, because the first chicane is very tight and you don’t want to get caught up in a pack. The Hondas are very fast here and it’s not possible to draft them and then pull out and pass, so tomorrow’s race is going to be very, very hard.

STEPHANE CHAMBON ­ 6th, 1:53.159: We changed many settings from yesterday, including the gearbox and I’m happy that it made an improvement. Yesterday I was struggling a lot with a front-end problem, but today was much better. I don’t really get on with this track, so I know I’m in for a very difficult race tomorrow. A good start is important ­ especially from my second row grid position ­ because the first chicane is so difficult and tight.