Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

DFXtreme Sterilgarda’s Steve Martin claimed the second Superpole of his season and of his career Saturday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Martin did not use qualifying tires during Friday and Saturday timed qualifying, opting inside to work on bike set-up and race tire testing. But in the one-flying-lap Superpole session, the 36-year-old Australian put his Pirelli qualifier to good use, turning a 1:26.912 to top all others.

Fila Ducati’s James Toseland will start second in Sunday’s World Superbike races, after the 23-year-old Brit posted a 1:27.787 in Superpole on his gradually-improving 999F04.

His first time at Laguna Seca, Chris Vermeulen continued to impress, lapping at 1:26.987 on his Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR to earn the third grid spot.

Pierfrancesco Chili will start Sunday’s races from the fourth and final spot on the front row, but the veteran Italian, who led Saturday morning’s qualifying session, was not happy with how the Superpole session played out.

Renegade Ducati’s Noriyuki Haga, the second-to-last rider to go out in Superpole, realized he had a problem with his rear Pirelli before he finished the warm-up. The rear tire lit up while the Japanese rider was straight up and down or if he even brushed the throttle while leaned over. Haga pointed to his rear tire on the front straightaway as he started his flying lap, more or less put his 999RS on cruise control and turned a 1:46.603 Superpole lap. But Haga’s problems continued on his cool-off lap, and he crashed in the turn four area of the track, just before Chili came through on his flying Superpole lap.

With yellow flags waving, Chili backed off just enough that he lost any chance of beating Martin’s time.

Haga was seen walking away from his crash.

Provisional World Superbike Superpole Results:

1. Steve Martin, Ducati 999RS, 1:26.912
2. James Toseland, Ducati 999F04, 1:26.943
3. Chris Vermeulen, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:26.987
4. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati 998RS, 1:27.200
5. Troy Corser, Foggy Petronas FP1, 1:27.441
6. Regis Laconi, Ducati 999F04, 1:27.485
7. Garry McCoy, Ducati 999RS, 1:27.518
8. Leon Haslam, Ducati 999RS, 1:27.597
9. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:28.150
10. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.152
11. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:28.181
12. Gianluca Nannelli, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.295
13. Marco Borciani, Ducati 999RS, 1:28.328
14. Piergiorgio Bontempi, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:29.229
15. Alessio Velini, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:29.605
16. Noriyuki Haga, Ducati 999RS, 1:46.603


More, from a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing:

Corser confident of California challenge for FPR

Troy Corser is confident of mounting a meaningful challenge amongst the front-runners for tomorrow’s two races of the seventh round of the Superbike World Championship at Laguna Seca, California.

Corser, three times a winner at the technical circuit, qualified in fifth place on the grid, with fellow Aussie Steve Martin clinching pole position.

Foggy PETRONAS Racing team-mate Chris Walker made significant progress during the afternoon free practice session but missed out on the chance to improve his qualifying position in Superpole after failing to make the top 16 in the final morning qualifying session.

Troy, a former champion of the American domestic superbike championship in 1994, had qualified fifth fastest in morning qualifying with his best time of the weekend, 1:27.167 – three tenths quicker than his fastest lap at Laguna last year.

But technical difficulties during the free practice session interrupted the continuity of his Superpole preparations and he was unable to improve on his position at the head of the second row.

Troy said: “I feel pretty confident because my times on race tyres are within three tenths of a second of the fastest times. Superpole was a little frustrating because I feel sure I could have got into the 26s on the bike that had an engine problem during the afternoon session. I was hoping to be on the front row but fifth is around where I expected to be as we are still losing a little bit on acceleration, especially through the second split. You need to be in the top three or four here in the first lap as it is easy to lose a lot of time if you are dicing early on.”

Chris said: “The problems we had yesterday cost us too much track time as all we needed to make Superpole was another 0.08 of a second. But I did make a few improvements in the free practice session and we are already in better shape for tomorrow. I could ride around at the pace of the top ten, so I am back to where I should be. I have a couple of things to try in warm-up tomorrow and then I need a couple of Stalker starts! But it is not the easiest start in the world because you go over a blind crest and then through a long hairpin, so there aren’t really any obvious passing places.”

Superpole results, Superbike World Championship, round 7, Laguna Seca, USA: 1 Martin 1:26.912; 2 Toseland +0.031; 3 Vermeulen +0.075; 4 Chili +0.288; 5 Corser +0.529; 6 Laconi +0.573; 7 McCoy +0.606; 8 Haslam +0.685; 9 Clementi +1.238; 10 Pedercini +1.240; 11 Sanchini +1.269; 12 Nannelli +1.383; 13 Borciani +1.416; 14 Bontempi +2.317; 15 Velini +2.693; 16 Haga +19.691

Saturday qualifying times: 1 Chili (PSG-1) 1:26.782; 2 Haga (Renegade Ducati) 1:26.831; 3 Vermeulen (Ten Kate Honda) 1:27.103; 4 Laconi (Ducati Fila) 1:27.142; 5 Corser (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:27.167; 6 Borciani (DFX) 1:27.243; 7 Martin (DFX) 1:27.282; 8 Toseland (Ducati Fila) 1:27.417; 9 Pedercini (Team Pedercini) 1:27.501; 10 Haslam (Renegade Ducati) 1:27.739; 17 Walker 1:28.422

Saturday free practice times: 1 Chili 1:27.109; 2 Haga 1:27.130; 3 Toseland 1:27.241; 4 Vermeulen 1:27.364; 5 Martin 1:27.436; 6 Haslam 1:27.525; 7 Laconi 1:27.664; 8 McCoy 1:27.701; 9 Corser 1:28.081; 10 Pedercini 1:28.300; 12 Walker 1:28.481


More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

TOSELAND MOVES TO THE FRONT IN SUPERPOLE WITH SECOND QUICKEST TIME – ROW 2 START FOR SIXTH-PLACED LACONI

Laguna Seca (USA), 10 July 2004: James Toseland (Ducati Fila) put in his most impressive Superpole performance of the year to set second quickest time in the final qualifying session for round 7 of the World Superbike Championship at a sunny Laguna Seca, California.

Australian Steve Martin (DFX Ducati) edged Ducati Fila’s 23-year-old British rider out by just three-hundredths of a second to take the top slot, while France’s Regis Laconi (Ducati Fila) could only manage sixth quickest time and will start tomorrow’s races from row 2 of the grid.

Toseland was one of the best improvers in the crucial Superpole session, the 23-year-old knocking half second off his morning qualifying
time to take the second grid slot.

“I always enjoy racing at Laguna Seca and I feel I’m riding really good around here” he declared. “We’ve made steady progress all weekend, it’s all suddenly come good and we’re second on the grid. The tyres are working really well, I’ve got the bike settled in and I’m feeling more confident than I’ve ever done with it so hopefully this is the start of something
good. The races are going to be interesting and close, there have been ten guys in a second all weekend so it’ll be fantastic to watch and I’m looking forward to getting two podiums instead of the one last year.”

Third quickest in qualifying, Laconi slipped down to sixth after Superpole but is still confident of getting good results in tomorrow’s two races.

“I didn’t do a particularly good Superpole lap, after going a bit wide in the first corner and if you lose immediately you do a bad lap. I tried to push hard but we always seem to be losing a little bit in the final split. For tomorrow we will try different gear ratios because I think we are losing there, we are too much on the limiter. The bike’s general set-up is fine, and I am really satisfied with the tyres I have chosen so I am sure of doing a couple of good races tomorrow.”


More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati Nortel Networks – Scuderia Caracchi:

Row two start for seventh-placed Garry McCoy

Garry McCoy was today one of the best improvers in the always exiting Superpole session, rising from his 13th morning’s qualifying time up to seventh position in the starting grid. For tomorrow’s races, 28 laps for 100,856 kms, the Australian rider of 999RS Xerox Ducati Nortel Networks will start from the second row.

“I got a good feeling with the new qualifying tyres and finally I’m fine in the timed lap.” – commented Garry McCoy. “The bike set up is fine and I’m satisfied with the tyres we’ve chosen for tomorrow’s races. This morning we had to test some new tyre, but we hadn’t the attended results. So we returned to yesterday’s set up, which gave us good results and during the afternoon’s free practice session I recorded good lap time for a long lap sequence, so I’m quite satisfied. For tomorrow’s races I’m looking for a good result; this is a demanding track and doesn’t allow to overtake easily, but after this afternoon’s prectice I’m confident in a good result.”

Miguel Praia repeated his yesterday’s performance, but when he was going to use the soft tyres for a fast lap an exhaust broken forced him to stop and he lost some grid position.

“It’s a pity because I was improving my feeling with this track.” – said a bit disappointed Miguel Praia at the end of the day. “Just when we would select the qualifying tyres to improve my yesterday lap time I broke the exhaust and I must join the pit. However I repeated exactly the lap time I recorded yesterday with soft tyres using race tyres, so I’m sure of running a satisfying race tomorrow.”


Vermeulen Third After Superpole

Chris Vermeulen (Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) continued the upward trend of rookie rider, team and bike in the World Superbike Championship, securing third best Superpole time on his very first visit to the American venue.

In finishing third he not only beat his regulation qualifying best, after setting a single flying lap of 1:26.987, but also replicated his earlier third best qualifying position. His Superpole time was only 0.075 seconds slower than eventual pole position rider Steve Martin (Ducati) and 0.043 off second best rider James Toseland (Ducati).

Vermeulen, enjoying the Californian sunshine and the abilities of his ever improving machine, stated. “We made a big leap forward at Silverstone and we’ve carried on the progress here. I had never seen this circuit before and my team has never been here. We’ve gone quite well all weekend so to be on the front row of the grid? I think we’re all happy. We’ll just have to see how the race turns out. I’m still learning the track and I overshot the Corkscrew twice, one of the other blind corners as well, but I enjoy the place and I’m having fun.”

Team Manager Ronald Ten Kate said, “Really we have to be pleased with the speed of our progress, especially at a circuit we have only ever seen on TV before. I think it says a lot about Chris, the technical guys in our team and the Honda CBR1000RR. We have worked hard this weekend as usual and we have already seen some results of that. We are looking forward to the race and getting the best results possible.”


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

TROY JUST MISSES OUT ON THE FRONT ROW

Final qualifying ended with Troy fifth fastest after the Superpole shoot-out today. It should’ve been the front row, but Troy’s number one bike suffered an engine problem ten minutes or so before the end of the afternoon untimed qualifying and so he had to use his spare bike instead.

Troy had only done about ten laps on his number two bike, so had to be a bit cautious on his Superpole lap. In the end, he finished it with a time of 1:27.441 – nearly three tenths of a second slower then his best lap in regular qualifying. Superpole was won by Steve Martin (Ducati), with a time of 1:26.912, ahead of James Toseland (Ducati), Chris Vermeulen (Honda) and Pierfrancesco Chili (Ducati).


TROY -5th, 1:27.441

That was a bit disappointing because I really believed that I’d be able to do a 1:26 lap in Superpole today. But my number one bike had an engine problem towards the end of the last session before Superpole and the team
had to work frantically to put the clutch from that bike into the number two bike. I couldn’t use the number two bike as it was because it had a new type of clutch in it and I didn’t feel we’d done enough laps on it to use in Superpole.

Obviously, I didn’t know the bike so well, so I was a bit cautious on my Superpole lap and couldn’t get into the 1:26’s. Otherwise, I’m pretty happy with the tyres for the race. I’ll use the hardest front and then decide between one of two rears – depending on tomorrow’s warm-up and how hot it is. At the moment, I’d prefer the conditions to be a bit cooler, but I’ll take whatever comes.