Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn Le Santo

Edwards continues to push Bayliss hard

Colin Edwards said in a press conference before the Assen round of the World Superbike Championship that he still believed he could win the title. “Sure I can win it,” said the Texan.

He knows that to pull off one of the biggest U-turns in World Superbike history he needs to do just what Troy Bayliss did at the start of the season, win everything. By taking provisional pole at Assen after a run of five race wins, Edwards is sending a clear signal to Bayliss.

Edwards repeated his domination of the morning’s free practice session by leading the one-hour qualifying session from start-to-finish on his 1000cc SP-2 (RC51) Honda.

“All I wanted to achieve today has been achieved,” said Edwards, second in the World Championship points standings, 29 points behind Troy Bayliss. Edwards added, “We concentrated on race set-up and got used to the changes in the track layout and it’s all worked out well for us.”

Edwards continued, “It would have been nice to throw a rear Superpole tire in for a fast lap but we just wanted to make sure the dry race setting was OK in case it is dry for Sunday’s races.

“I don’t mind the changes to the circuit. There’s a few more than I first thought but we’ve got on OK today and the new motor feels as good as it did in Germany last weekend.”

Ruben Xaus showed it’s too early to write him off by going second-fastest, just 0.046-second back from Edwards. Neil Hodgson was third-fastest with Frankie Chili taking the final provisional front-row position. Championship points leader Bayliss had to be happy with fifth-fastest, with Noriyuki Haga on his shoulder in sixth.

With rain already starting to fall at the historic Dutch track, these times could be the final qualifying times.


Friday’s World Superbike qualifying times:

1. Colin Edwards, Honda RC51, 2:01.996
2. Ruben Xaus, Ducati 998F02, 2:02.012
3. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 998F01, 2:02.402
4. Pier-Francesco Chili, Ducati 998RS, 2:02.677
5. Troy Bayliss, Ducati 998F02, 2:02.964
6. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia RSV1000, 2:03.288
7. Ben Bostrom, Ducati 998F02, 2:03.414
8. James Toseland, Ducati 998F01, 2:03.567
9. Juan Borja, Ducati 998RS, 2:04.175
10. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki GSX-R750, 2:04.377
11. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati 998RS, 2:04.416
12. Broc Parkes, Ducati 998RS, 2:04.603
13. Marco Borciani, Ducati 998RS, 2:04.616
14. Hitoyasu Izutsu, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 2:05.157
15. Chris Walker, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 2:05.207
16. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 2:05.882
17. Steve Martin, Ducati 998RS, 2:06.129
18. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 2:06.524
19. Peter Goddard, Benelli Tornado 900, 2:06.759
20. Serafino Foti, Ducati 996RS, 2:08.148
21. Thierry Mulot, Ducati 996SPS, 2:08.414
22. Alessandro Antonello, Ducati 998RS, 2:09.084
23. Jeronimo Vidal, Honda RC51, 2:10.588
24. Jiri Mrkyvka, Ducati 996RS, 2:10.725
25. Mark Heckles, Honda RC51, 2:11.119


From HM Plant Ducati:

Warming up at Assen

HM Plant Ducati riders Neil Hodgson and James Toseland have qualified comfortably for the penultimate round of the Superbike World Championship at Assen. Hodgson set a best time of 2:02.402 to claim an overnight position of third on the grid. Team-mate James Toseland made a solid start to his Dutch campaign by qualifying eighth fastest.

The only riders to go quicker than Hodgson were factory riders Colin Edwards (Honda) and Ruben Xaus (Ducati). Edwards claimed provisional pole with his 17th lap of the session. This provoked Hodgson on the HM Plant Ducati to up his pace for the final few circuits.

“The new track layout has actually made it a lot harder to lap Assen quickly,” explained Hodgson. “It takes a lot more effort to get the bike to change direction and I had a few scary moments out there. It took me a while to get to grips with the place again but I’m really beginning to attack the track now. I still have a few more tyres to try out before the race but I clocked a strong time and third on the grid is a good place to build from. I can tell that there’s still more to come from me here.”

James Toseland’s initial qualifying performance has placed him on the second row of the provisional grid but only 0.3secs separates him from fifth placed Noriyuki Haga.

“I’m pretty happy with my time but realise that there’s still room for improvement,” said the 21-year-old Yorkshireman. “The only riders faster than me so far are Neil, the full factory guys and Frankie Chili, who’s a bit of an Assen specialist, so I can’t really complain.”


More, from Ducati Corse:

Xaus (Ducati Infostrada) hits top form in first Assen qualifying – Bayliss (Ducati Infostrada) fifth – Bostrom (Ducati L&M) seventh.

Championship leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati Infostrada) set fifth quickest time in Friday qualifying for the twelfth and penultimate round of the World Superbike Championship at Assen (Netherlands) today as team-mate Ruben Xaus (Ducati Infostrada) challenged Honda’s Colin Edwards for the provisional top slot. Ben Bostrom (Ducati L&M) was two places behind the Australian in seventh.

Bayliss (Ducati Infostrada) set a time of 2’02.964 in his 21 laps but was confident he could still grab that all-important front row grid position tomorrow for Sunday’s two races. “Fifth position is not exactly where I wanted to be on Friday, but I don’t want to risk going for a really quick lap around here until I feel 100% confident with the bike,” declared Troy. “We’re not so good in the new part of the circuit at the moment, where there are a lot of changes in direction and where we’re missing a bit of grip, but I feel sure that we can get some more off the time tomorrow and secure a front row grid position, which is important for this race. It was important to set a good time today, because although the weather was ok, it doesn’t look too good for tomorrow and I don’t want to be caught out if the rain comes.”

Xaus (Ducati Infostrada) was right on the pace throughout the session, ending up second in 2’02.012, just a fraction off Edwards’ time. “I got some traffic so I lost a little bit of time but being in second position is good,” declared Ruben. “If tomorrow is wet we can’t get anything else out of the set-up so we’re just waiting and hoping that the weather will be as ok as today. I had a problem with my knee-slider coming loose again and this made me lose a bit of time, so I only did a few laps with my race tyre. I’m feeling very positive about this weekend, I like the track, I’ve got a good set-up and feel confident on the gas so we’re already looking forward to the races.”

Bostrom (Ducati L&M) found things tough going in the early part of the session, but bolted on a softer tyre towards the end to notch up seventh quickest time in 2’03.414. “Qualifying was tough today, for some reason this is a difficult track for me,” commented Ben. “I’m looking for a good result and we’re just having to keep working at it all weekend. It’s important to get the bike dialled in early because it’s a real physical track and we didn’t really do that today. If you’re off just a little bit at this circuit, you have to work real hard during the race. We’ve still got some way to go on the set-up before we can get things sorted out and push for a front-row grid position.”More, from Playstation2-FGF Aprilia:

NORIYUKI HAGA HELD UP BY FALL

Assen (Holland), Friday 6 September 2002 – Noriyuki Haga sixth quickest in the first qualifying for the Netherlands GP, the twelfth round of the Superbike World Championship. The Japanese ace of the Playstation2 – FGF Aprilia Team was held in check by a slide during the first few minutes of the session. Haga got up immediately without injury but he had lost the best bike in the accident. Even so, he made an excellent performance with the second RSV: firmly up with the leading group, he ended just a short distance from provisional pole leader Colin Edwards (Honda).

Today’s sessions took place on a perfectly dry track, even though under a overcast sky. Light showers are forecast for tomorrow, and this might just complicate matters for the teams and riders.

NORIYUKI HAGA (Playstation2 – FGF Aprilia Team rider) – “The track has been changed in the fastest stretch, though the Veslag corner seems to me to be almost exactly as it was last year! The bike’s really fast and the tyres felt good too. If I hadn’t fallen, I’d have got a better qualifying time, but I’m not worried as I can see we’ve got great potential and I’m sure I’ll be able to put up a good fight. The slide? I went too fast into a right-hander and the steering gear suddenly blocked.”

GIACOMO GUIDOTTI (Technical Manager of the Playstation2 – FGF Aprilia Team) – “Haga came off on the second lap, just after he’d posted a highly respectable time on the first. We lost the bike with the most effective settings: the other one was set up differently, but it was still useful to try it out. Dunlop have brought a new rear tyre, for which we have high hopes, but Haga only did one lap on them, so we’ll have to give them a better test tomorrow.”


More, from Benelli:

Benelli 18th fastest at Assen on Friday

Peter Goddard rode the Benelli Sport to 18th in first qualifying at Assen today. On a circuit that favours horsepower Goddard struggled to keep pace with the rest of the field.

“Put simply we’re not fast enough for this circuit,” admitted Peter. “The Benelli handles really well which is why we did well at Oschersleben – a handling circuit. But at Assen you’re nobody if you don’t have plenty of
horsepower. There’s a forecast for rain, which might actually help us as it would remove the horsepower advantage that some bikes have over us.”

Unfortunately the tight schedule of the last few weeks hasn’t allowed the Benelli Sport team time to make further modifications to the Benelli
Tornado. However, the team hopes to develop the machine further between now and Imola.

“We have several new parts waiting for us back at the workshop,” explained Goddard. “There’s more power inside the Tornado waiting to come out!”

The qualifying session was dominated by Colin Edwards, a man on a mission at the moment. The American is 29 points behind leader Troy Bayliss and he’s pushing the Australian hard to try and steal the championship away from his iron grip.