Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Bostrom learns to swim.

World Superbike Championship
First Qualifying, Lausitzring

In a rain soaked first qualifying session at the Eurospeedway, Ben Bostrom took provisional pole position on the L&M Ducati.

Bostrom, not a lover of wet conditions, set the best time of 1:48.335 with just 10 minutes of the session remaining. His timing was near perfect because not long after he crossed the line the rain started to fall again preventing anyone else beating his lap. His seventh and eighth place finishes at Silverstone must have boosted his confidence in the wet.

Neil Hodgson left it even later than Bostrom, putting in his fastest lap on his final run of the session. With just seconds remaining the Englishman knocked out a time of 1:48.725 which placed him just behind the Californian on the front row.

Coming in just behind Hodgson was his countryman and archrival Chris Walker. Hodgson’s former BSB protagonist on the Kawasaki had held provisional pole only to be pushed back to third in the closing stages with a time of 1:48.751.

Defending champion Troy Bayliss rounded off the provisional front row. Bayliss put in a time of 1:48.981 which was just enough to hold off his teammate Ruben Xaus.

Steve Martin, on the privateer DFX Ducati, put in a great performance to hold sixth place overnight. Martin, who did well here last year in the wet, is the outright lap record holder with a time of 1:40.036 set in dry qualifying last year. Martin was also the highest placed rider in the session on Pirelli tyres.

Colin Edwards could only manage ninth place after getting caught out by the rain at the end of the qualifying session just as he was getting an intermediate set up ready.

From a press release issued by Honda:

BOSTROM SETS EARLY PACE IN WET CONDITIONS

Ben Bostrom bounced back from a crash to set the fastest time in Friday afternoon’s opening qualifying session for round seven of the World Superbike championship at a wet Lausitzring in Germany.

Neil Hodgson took the second best time of the session ahead of fellow-Briton Chris Walker with championship leader Troy Bayliss fourth, in the tricky conditions.

Bayliss’s team-mate Ruben Xaus took fifth place while privateer Australian Steve Martin ­ a contender at the Lausitzring round a year ago ­ took sixth on his DFX Racing Ducati. Gregorio Lavilla was seventh, one place ahead of the rider he replaced at Suzuki, Pier-Francesco Chili.

Castrol Honda’s Colin Edwards bounced back from a crash in Friday morning’s free practice to finish the opening day in ninth place. Edwards said: “We were trying different set-ups with the machine this afternoon, planning on a fast lap at the end of the session as the track continued to dry. But then it rained with eight minutes to go and we got caught out.”

Kawasaki privateer Mauro Sanchini, ­ second in the morning’s free practice session, ­ ended the day in 10th place.

Friday’s World Superbike championship qualifying times:
1. Ben Bostrom, USA (Ducati) 1:48.335

2. Neil Hodgson, GB (Ducati) 1:48.725

3. Chris Walker, GB (Kawasaki) 1:48.751

4. Troy Bayliss, Australia (Ducati) 1:48.981

5. Ruben Xaus, Spain (Ducati) 1:49.028

6. Steve Martin, Australia (Ducati) 1:49.815

7. Gregorio Lavilla, Spain (Suzuki) 1:49.951

8. Pier-Francesco Chili, Italy (Ducati) 1:50.212

9. Colin Edwards, USA (Castrol Honda) 1:50.610

10. Mauro Sanchini, Italy (Kawasaki) 1:50.736
11. Peter Goddard, (Benelli) 1:50.962
12. James Toseland (Ducati), 1:51.007
13. Marco Borciani (Ducati), 1:51.069
14. Noriyuki Haga (Aprilia), 1:51.121
15. Broc Parkes (Ducati), 1:51.392
16. Juan Borja (Ducati), 1:52.387
17. Lucio Pedercini (Ducati), 1:52.669
18. Alessandro Antonello (Ducati), 1:52.777
19. Alex Hofmann (Kawasaki), 1:53.853
20. Thierry Mulot (Honda), 1:54.099
21. Serafino Foti (Ducati), 1:54.238
22. Mark Heckles (Honda), 1:54.250
23. Ivan Clementi (Kawasaki), 1:54.637
24. Yann Gyger (Honda), 1:54.835
25. Jiri Mrkyvka (Ducati), 1:56.497
26. Todor Myszkowski (Yamaha), 1:58.723
27. Giuliano Sartoni (Ducati), 2:03.682

More, from an Aprilia press release:


BAD WEATHER UPSETS NORIYUKI HAGA’S PLANS

Lausitz (Germany), Friday 7 June 2002 – Rain again on the Superbike World Championship. After the downpour at the Silverstone races a couple of weeks ago, bad weather has turned up again in Germany. The red flag went up twice to interrupt the free practice session in the morning when dirt was washed onto the track by torrential rain. In the afternoon, the rain stopped and the sessions resumed on a wet track. The bad weather in Germany has created some problems for Noriyuki Haga who, unlike his rivals, has never before raced on the circuit where the Superbike was first held last year. During the qualifying sessions, the Japanese kept up third place for a long time but then slipped back to fourteenth. It is not a real concern since, even in the case of rain during the qualifying sessions, access to the Superpole is in any case ensured.

GIACOMO GUIDOTTI commented: “We were hoping it would be fine so we could carry on with our set-up work. With a bit of sunshine, Noriyuki Haga could also have learnt a bit more about this track that he doesn’t yet know. Right at the very end, the tarmac was drier than at the beginning, so we put on an intermediate in front and a slick at the rear, but Noriyuki went under the chequered flag before he could complete the timed lap.”

NORIYUKI HAGA said: “During my best lap, I came up against a really slow rider right inside the last chicane: the track’s narrow there and it was impossible to get past so I lost a lot of time – possibly as much as a second. In the end, if I’d managed to make the lap with a slick at the rear, I’d have moved up several places – but it’s only Friday and there’s plenty of time to catch up lost ground.”

More, from a HM Plant Ducati press release:

Hodgson second quickest at EuroSpeedway

HM Plant Ducati/GSE Racing riders Neil Hodgson and James Toseland have qualified well for Sunday’s Superbike World Championship races at the EuroSpeedway in Lausitz. Despite unfavourable conditions affecting his lap times, Hodgson managed to make himself the second fastest man around the 4.27km circuit when he recorded a 1:48.725. Toseland’s time of 1:51.007 – the 12th quickest of the day – was sufficient to earn a provisional entry into Saturday’s Superpole competition.

Friday’s practice and timed qualifying session were conducted in less than ideal conditions. Although not as severe as the weather that dictated many a performance during the last round of the championship at Silverstone, the German rain was still enough to make most riders err on the side of caution.

“One thing that I learned here last year is that you have to watch it when it rains,” said Hodgson. “Water seems to take ages to clear from the track and, even quite some time after it has stopped raining, it can be more than a little tricky to put in fast laps. After this morning’s wet practice session we knew that there was no way that the track would be completely dry for qualifying, so we just had to play it by ear. I took it fairly easy out there – there was no point in pushing too hard at this stage. Bostrom, Haga and Edwards all crashed today and I didn’t want to go down that route too. It looks like the weather might get worse as the weekend progressed. If it does, I can live with second place on the grid. If it clears up, I have the Superpole record here, so I’m sure that I can deal with that too.”

After going third quickest in the morning practice session, James Toseland was equally philosophical about his qualifying prospects: “To be 12th on the provisional grid isn’t exactly ideal, but neither is it a problem. The track was drying during the timed session and everyone was struggling to stay upright at one point or another. It was still very wet in places and then drying in others, but a wet tyre was still the only real option. I think that we all could have gone faster, but at least I was in control out there. The HM Plant Ducati and Dunlop tyres combination felt really solid, so I’m ready for whatever the weekend throws at me.”