Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Bayliss dominates the driest ‘wet’ Superpole in SBK history

Despite the appearance of the sun for the first time all weekend, the organisers declared the Superpole session ‘wet’ as a precaution against more changes in the weather. Troy Bayliss took full advantage of the allotted 12 laps to smash the circuit’s best lap time and grab pole for Sunday’s two World Superbike races. Despite the Superpole being called wet, the track was fully dry.

Looking as masterful as he has done all season Bayliss put in a time of 1:39.395. Ben Bostrom worked hard to overhaul Bayliss, but could only get his time down to 1:39.552. Colin Edwards took third to become the Honda in a Ducati front row sandwich, lining up alongside Neil Hodgson who grabbed the final front row start.

Ruben Xaus heads the second row, having more success in the 12 lap Superpole format than he’s had this year in the usual single flying lap set up. Frankie Chili continued show he still has what it takes to mix with the rest of the top Superbike riders by finishing the Superpole in sixth, ahead of British youngster James Toseland. Haga put his Aprilia alongside the three Ducatis on the second row with the eighth fastest time of the Superpole. Gregorio Lavilla and Steve Martin finished off the top ten times.


World Superbike Super Pole Results:

1. Troy Bayliss, Ducati 998F02, 1:39.395
2. Ben Bostrom, Ducati 998F02, 1:39.552
3. Colin Edwards, Honda RC51, 1:39.569
4. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 998F01, 1:39.855
5. Ruben Xaus, Ducati 998F02, 1:40.009
6. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati 998RS, 1:40.361
7. James Toseland, Ducati 998F01, 1:40.545
8. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia RSV1000, 1:40.816
9. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:40.865
10. Steve Martin, Ducati 998RS, 1:41.131
11. Juan Borja, Ducati 998RS, 1:41.245
12. Chris Walker, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:42.143
13. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati 998RS, 1:42.143
14. Marco Borciani Ducati 998RS, 1:42.427
15. Broc Parkes, Ducati 998RS, 1:42.685
16. Alex Hofmann, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:43.042

The rest of the grid:

17. Peter Goddard, Benelli Tornado 900, 1:44.829
18. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:45.034
19. Mark Heckles, Honda RC51, 1:45.113
20. Alessandro Antonello, Ducati 998RS, 1:45.185
21. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:45.246
22. Serafino Foti, Ducati 996RS, 1:46.391
23. Thierry Mulot, Honda RC51, 1:46.639
24. Jiri Mrkyvka, Ducati 996RS, 1:48.184


More, from a Castrol Honda press release:

GERMANY POLE POSITION FOR BAYLISS

Troy Bayliss will start Sunday¹s seventh round of the World Superbike championship from pole position after setting the fastest time in Saturday’s Superpole final qualifying at Lausitzring, Germany.

The championship leader was marginally faster than teammate Ben Bostrom in the Superpole competition, held under the 12-lap “wet” rules due to the threat of rain.

Castrol Honda’s Colin Edwards took advantage of the 12 laps – in what ended up being dry conditions – to record five sub 1m 40s laps as he tested a potential rear race Michelin tyre, to take third place.

“Well, I figured that if the tyre wasn’t working good enough after three laps I could come in and still have three or four laps left for a qualifying tyre,” said Edwards.

Neil Hodgson completes the front row of the grid for the two Lausitzring races with Ruben Xaus heading the second row, bouncing back from a crash
earlier in the day. Xaus is joined on row two by Italian Pier-Francesco Chili, young British rider James Toseland and Aprilia’s Noriyuki Haga.

The top seven riders all qualified inside the existing lap record for the 2.65-mile circuit near Dresden.



More, from a press release issued by Troy Bayliss’ publicist:

Round 7, 2002 Superbike World Championship
Euro Speedway, Lausitz Circuit, Germany
Final Qualifying and Superpole Report

BAYLISS ON POLE AT LAUSITZRING FOR GERMAN WORLD SUPERBIKE ROUND

Lausitz, Germany – Defending World Superbike Champion Australian Troy Bayliss, scored his third pole position of the 2002 Superbike World Championship after setting the fastest time during this afternoon’s Superpole session at the Euro Speedway, Lausitz, Germany, who plays host to round seven of the championship this weekend.

Indifferent weather conditions at the German circuit saw officials revert to the ‘wet’ Superpole format rather than the traditional single flying lap format normally held in the dry. The top sixteen riders are allowed a total of 12-laps during the 50-minute session, with their fastest time dictating their starting grid positions for tomorrow’s two 24-lap SWC races.

Even though the session was officially announced as wet, no fewer than seven riders were below Bayliss’ current Superbike lap record (1:40.599), with the top five of those riders also under last years pole winning time set by Neil Hodgson.

After being second fastest at the end of the two regulation one-hour qualifying sessions, Bayliss and his Infostrada Ducati 998F-02 emerged on top of the time sheets with a best lap of 1-min 39.395-secs around the 4.265km circuit. He edged out Americans Ben Bostrom (L&M Ducati, 1:39.552) and Colin Edwards (Castrol Honda, 1:39.569), with British rider Neil Hodgson (HM Plant Ducati) completing the front row of the grid after posting the fourth fastest time with a 1:39.855.

“Even though the officials called it a wet Superpole, conditions turned out to be perfect,” Bayliss said. “I was able to get my fast time in on the second stint out during the session and that allowed us a little bit of scope to try a couple of things later in the session. The lap times this season have been incredible. Everywhere we’ve been, we’ve gone a lot quicker than last year and again this weekend I’m over a second under the lap record that I have here. The one thing that doesn’t seem to change is that every time you look at the time sheets Colin is always there, a tenth of a second or so away. He does give any time to relax and is always on the case. It’s good as it also keeps you focused on what has to be done.

“This track is all about handling,” Bayliss added. “It has a lot of second and third gear corners and a few flip flop style chicanes It’s quite a physical track where you have to muscle the bike around, but you still have to be very smooth. As for tomorrow, I hope that it clears. Every morning I’ve woken up here and it’s been raining, so it would be nice to have a clear day so that we can get in some fast close racing.”

Row two is headed by Bayliss’ Spanish teammate Ruben Xaus (1:40.009) followed by veteran Italian Pierfrancesco Chili (NCR Ducati, 1:40.361), Brit James Toseland (HM Plant Ducati, 1:40.545), Japan’s Noriyuki Haga (Playstation 2 Aprilia, 1:40.816) and Spain’s Gregorio Lavilla (Alstare Suzuki, 1:40.865).

As the defending champion, Bayliss has had a remarkable start to the season, having won nine of the twelve SWC races held so far and leads the championship points chase with a total of 260, 29 clear of former champion Edwards. Sunday’s two SWC races are again expected to be highlighted by the battle of Bayliss and Edwards, while others such as Bostrom and Hodgson are certain to challenge alongside them for the lead positions.