Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Last gasp fast lap from Lavilla in Silverstone qualifying

By Glenn Le Santo

Gregorio Lavilla took provisional pole in the last few moments of the first qualifying session for the sixth round of the Superbike World Championship at Silverstone.

Lavilla’s last-gasp lap demoted Regis Laconi to second spot. Also on a Suzuki, wildcard rider John Reynolds took his Crescent Suzuki into provisional third, just crossing the line in time to record a final fast lap as the clock ticked away the final seconds of the session.

Britain’s Chris Walker took the remaining provisional front-row place. His teammate James Toseland, who became the star of Oschersleben when he took his debut win there, struggled down in seventh. Neil Hodgson was having even more of a struggle, finishing ninth.

World Superbike Championship
Round Six, Silverstone, Great Britain

First qualifying, best laps:

1. G Lavilla, ESP, Suzuki, 1:53.162
2. R Laconi, FRA, Ducati, 1:53.879
3. J Reynolds, GBR, Suzuki, 1:54.281
4. C Walker, GBR, Ducati, 1:54.428
5. G Bussei, ITA, Yamaha, 1:54.607
6. M Rutter, GBR, Ducati, 1:54.648
7. J Toseland, GBR, Ducati, 1:54.682
8. R Xaus, ESP, Ducati, 1:54.692
9. N Hodgson, GBR, Ducati, 1:54.726
10. P Chili, ITA, Ducati, 1:54.786





More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

XAUS AND HODGSON (DUCATI FILA) EIGHTH AND NINTH QUICKEST IN SILVERSTONE FIRST QUALIFYING

Ruben Xaus and Neil Hodgson (Ducati Fila) set eighth and ninth quickest times respectively in Friday’s first qualifying session for the British Round of the World Superbike Championship at Silverstone as both riders struggled to find maximum grip in unusually warm weather conditions.

Neil was fourth quickest at one point with a time of 1:54.726, but then slipped down the timesheets during the last couple of minutes of frenetic action on the Formula 1 circuit.

“I must admit I was a bit surprised to be in ninth place today” declared championship leader Hodgson” but when you put some of the wild cards in that’s what happens. It’s a normal situation really because we are struggling to get the bike set up like we always do on Friday.

“We need a bit more grip so we’re playing around with the settings and trying to find something better” he added. “All we need to do tomorrow is fine-tune what we’ve got because we have already found the right direction”.

Ruben suffered similar problems to Neil but was confident he could improve in tomorrow’s second and final session.

“It was tough today because although the tyres are the same as last year and are working well, the 999 bike is completely different” commented Ruben.

“We haven’t tested at this circuit so it’s difficult to come here and immediately set a good time” he added. “I’m losing time a bit everywhere because the bike doesn’t keep the line. Tomorrow we are going to try and change things a bit. It’s not a question of confidence, it’s a question of finding the right way”.



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

2003 Superbike World Championship
Round 6, Silverstone, Great Britain
Friday 13th June, Friday Qualifying
Circuit: 5.094 kms
Weather: Dry, mostly sunny 21 C.

LEARNING PROCESS FOR TROY
Troy used the first day of qualifying at Silverstone today to learn the track and find a good base set-up for his Foggy FP1. He had never raced at Silverstone before, so used his two sessions today to get an understanding of what is a very technical circuit. At the end of the day, a top fifteen place was more or less what he had expected.

Spaniard Gregorio Lavilla (Suzuki) put in an unexpected quick lap to take provisional pole today. His time of 1:53.162, was an amazing seven tenths of a second quicker then his nearest rival, Regis Laconi (Ducati). Completing the front row is British ‘Wild Card’ John Reynolds (Suzuki), with fellow countryman Chris Walker (Ducati) alongside.

TROY CORSER
This is a bit of a strange track, because there are many corners that either open out or close up on the exit. It’s also a technical track because it is so fast. That is apart from the last chicane – which is a joke. It’s like being on a race circuit, then turning off and going onto a go-kart track! We spent a lot of time in the pits this afternoon trying things and changing the bike’s geometry, so that we can go forward tomorrow. This track is so easy to lose time, if you don’t know it well, so it’s important to be able to put the whole lap together. I don’t think I put it all together until the end of this afternoon, so that’s made me happier about tomorrow.


More, from a press release issued by the World Superbike series organizers:

Round 6 – Great Britain – Silverstone,
12 June – 15 June 2003
Silverstone, 13 June 2003

LAVILLA QUICKEST AFTER THE FIRST DAY OF ACTION

An outstanding lap of 1:53.162 from Gregorio Lavilla (Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000) put him on top of the provisional qualifying sheets after the first day of practice at the recently modified Silverstone circuit. His best single circuit of the classic English track was fully 0.717 seconds faster than the second best man Regis Laconi (Ducati NCR 998RS).

The flat and generally quick track hosts an SBK race for the second year, with a modified chicane on the entrance to the last Woodcote corner making significant differences in lap time compared to last year. The track is running around five seconds per lap slower than the previous version, despite a slight decrease in overall length from 5.094km to 5.036km.

The top wild card rider proved to be multiple British Champion John Reynolds (Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000) in third, making it a superb day for the Japanese manufacturer. The local contingent on the overnight front row was completed by SBK regular Chris Walker (HM Plant Ducati).

A surprise fifth fastest performance from Italian privateer Giovanni Bussei proved the worth of the four-cylinder 1000cc concept in SBK, with the UnionBike R1 rider in fifth place on his Yamaha. Local ace Michael Rutter (Renegade Ducati) was sixth as a wild card, with regulars James Toseland (HM Plant Ducati) and Ruben Xaus (Ducati Fila 999) filling the second provisional starting row.

Having dominated the championship thus far, Neil Hodgson (Ducati Fila 999) struggled through a bout of ‘flu and less than perfect bike set-up to go ninth, 1.564 seconds from pole position.

Pierfrancesco Chili rounded out the top ten, while Troy Corser took the Foggy Petronas FP-1 to 15th. James Haydon, his team-mate has been forced to miss his home round due to suffering a compressed spinal disc in an Oschersleben crash.

One more day of Superbike qualifying remains, with Superpole determining the grid positions of the final 16 in qualifying.

In the World Supersport Championship class the first day of qualifying went the way of Stephane Chambon (Alstare Suzuki GSX-R600) who displaced the fast Ten Kate Honda of Karl Muggeridge in the last few minutes of the session.

Significant levels of close and competitive action have been a mark of Supersport action throughout its short but glorious history, and this time around it was the Broc Parkes (BKM Honda) and World Supermoto Champion Thierry van den Bosch (Yamaha Motor France) who split the last few hundredths on the stopwatches to get to the provisional front row.

In a good day for Supersport rookies, Simone Sanna took his Yamaha Belgarda R6 to fifth overall. One of the most experienced riders in the warring Supersport pack is Pere Riba, who finished his first day ever at Silverstone in sixth place on his Kawasaki, making it four different makes of machine in the top six.



More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service:

LAVILLA ON PROVISIONAL POLE

2003 Superbike World Championship, Round 6, Silverstone, GB. Friday qualifying, 13th June.

Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Gregorio Lavilla amazed all his rivals this afternoon, by putting a tremendous lap of 1:53.162 to take provisional pole position. His lap came virtually out of the blue and was a staggering seven tenths of a second faster then second quickest Regis Laconi (Ducati).

Gregorio and the team had struggled until thirty minutes or so from the end of the timed qualifying. Then Gregorio asked for some dramatic changes to his Alstare Suzuki GSXR1000 and went out on a race tyre to try the new settings. Immediately he found the bike more to his liking, so came into the pits and fitted a qualifying tyre. Within two laps, he had blown away the opposition and topped the leaderboard by a huge margin.

Third quickest today was another Suzuki rider – John Reynolds, with fellow countryman Chris Walker (Ducati) alongside. ‘Wild Card’ Vittorio Iannuzzo finished the first day of qualifying in twentieth place. Silverstone is a very technical and fast circuit, so Vittorio used today to familiarise himself with the track and try and find a good set-up for his Alstare Suzuki GSXR1000.

Lavilla – 1ST, 1:53.162:
We were having a bit of a difficult time today and there was only half an hour left when I came into the pits and asked for some changes. I asked for the forks, spring and swing-arm of one bike to put onto the other and my mechanics did a brilliant (and very quick) job and made the changes. I went out on a normal race tyre and found I could go quickly straightaway. So I came back and put on a qualifier and that worked very well. I was pushing quite hard, but not at the maximum, so I was a bit surprised to find I had gone so fast! I hadn’t changed my way of riding at all. The GSXR1000 is very sensitive to changes and it’s not easy understanding it sometimes. It is quite a complicated bike, but I feel I’m understanding the bike better and better each time I go out. I know that when I find the way, I can go fast. Now let’s see what happens tomorrow.

VITTORIO IANNUZZO – 20TH, 1:56.665:
It’s not an easy track and it’s quite fast in places. My bike is good, but it’s a GSXR1000 with a kit and so not as quick as Gregorio’s. But I aim to improve tomorrow and I’d like another top ten finish on Sunday.