Muggeridge’s World Supersport Qualifying Time From Friday Takes Pole

Muggeridge’s World Supersport Qualifying Time From Friday Takes Pole

© 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Ten Kate dominate Supersport qualifying again

With the morning thunderstorms clearing and the track drying, Karl Muggeridge retained his Friday pole for tomorrow’s Supersport race on his Ten Kate Honda.

“Our set up has worked pretty well so far and I’m really happy to put the Honda CBR600RR on pole again,” said Muggeridge, “But we still have some work to do to find just that little bit extra.”

Final qualifying was a two-part session after being red flagged when Riba, Nannelli and Cogan crashed on the slippery surface. But by the mid-point of the session the track was substantially dry, if a little dirty.

Muggeridge’s team mate Chris Vermeulen, still riding with an injured thumb, improved on his time and almost matched his fellow Australian. He was fast enough at 1:30.285 to take second on the grid.

Stephan Chambon is the first of the Suzukis, with an improved time moving him to third on the grid. A crash from MacPherson marred his good session, as he improved from fifteenth in Friday’s session to ninth.

“That was easier than yesterday,” said Vermeulen, referring to the effort of riding with his badly injured right thumb. “I was just trying to get around the circuit while avoiding mud and water and managed a fast lap! The conditions aren’t as quick as yesterday but we’ve worked really hard with WP Suspension and Pirelli Tyres to come up with a great set up. We still have a little more to find so the work isn’t over yet.”

The new boy of the Supersport paddock, Sebastien Charpentier, now riding as a full timer in the Klaffi Honda team, took the final front row start, ahead of Katsuaki Fujiwara and Pere Riba. Jurgen VD Goorbergh and Iain MacPherson complete the second row.


Final World Supersport Qualifying Results (fastest time):

1. Karl Muggeridge, Honda, (1:30.250), 1:30.479
2. Chris Vermeulen, Honda, 1:30.469, (1:30.285)
3. Stephane Chambon, Suzuki, (1:30.314), 1:31.812
4. Sebastien Charpentier, Honda, (1:30.397), 1:31.744
5. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Suzuki, (1:30.506), 1:30.639
6. Pere Riba, Kawasaki, (1:30.599), 1:31.211
7. Jurgen vd Goorbergh, Yamaha, 1:30.637, (1:30.620)
8. Iain MacPherson, Honda, 1:31.132, (1:30.702)
9. Broc Parkes, Honda, 1:30.891, (1:30.715)
10. Robert Ulm, Honda, 1:30.781, (1:30.769)
11. Werner Daemen, Honda, (1:30.823), 1:31.898
12. Alessio Corradi, Yamaha, (1:30.872), 1:32.204
13. Fabien Foret, Kawasaki, (1:30.935), 1:30.960
14. Gianluca Nannelli, Yamaha, (1:31.019), 1:31.591
15. Simone Sanna, Yamaha, (1:31.092), 1:31.662
16. Christien Kellner, Yamaha, 1:31.133, (1:31.111)
17. Jorg Teuchert, Yamaha, (1:31.137), 1:31.242
18. Matthieu Lagrive, Yamaha, (1:31.161), 1:31.678
19. Thierry vd Bosch, Yamaha, (1:31.174), 1:31.607
20. Kenan Sofuoglu, Yamaha, (1:31.189), 1:31.463


More, from a press release issued by Ten Kate Honda:

Ten Kate Honda shine in Oschersleben storms

Rain storms threatened to ruin the final qualifying of the fifth round of the World Supersport championship in Oschersleben, Germany. But as the Supersport field took to the track for their final qualifying session, the rain held off and the circuit dried fast, allowing Chris Vermeulen to move up into second, behind team mate and pole-sitter Karl Muggeridge.

Karl Muggeridge took the third pole for Ten Kate Honda in only five races, relying on the very quick time set in Friday’s session.

“Our set up has worked pretty well so far and I’m obviously really happy to put the Honda CBR600RR on pole again,” said Muggeridge, “But we still have some work to do to find just that little bit extra.”

Chris Vermeulen ignored the pain from his injured thumb to storm into second on the grid as the session came to an end.

“That was easier than yesterday,” said Vermeulen, referring to the effort of riding with his badly injured right thumb. “I was just trying to get around the circuit while avoiding mud and water and managed a fast lap! The conditions aren’t as quick as Friday but we’ve worked really hard with WP Suspension and Pirelli Tyres to come up with a great set up. We still have a little more to find so the work isn’t over yet.”

Team manager Ronald ten Kate confirmed that despite taking the two top grid positions there was still a busy night ahead for the technicians.

“While I am happy to see both my riders at the top again we aren’t resting,” said ten Kate. “The changing conditions made lots of extra work for us here. This isn’t a quick track like Monza, so no one can accuse us of qualifying on top just because of sheer outright speed. This shows that the CBR600RR is a great race bike anywhere, even at a twisting and technical track like Oschersleben.”

The forecast for Sunday, race-day, is sunny. While wet racing may produce thrills and spills, nearly all the riders would prefer to race in the dry.

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