Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin earned the provisional World Superbike pole position Friday at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California with a lap of 1:25.608 on his GSX-R1000. Mladin did his fastest time on his third flying lap and spent the rest of the 60-minute session working on his set up and following Neil Hodgson whenever possible.

Regis Laconi turned a 1:26.017 late in the first qualifying session on his Team Caracchi NCR Nortel Network Ducati 998RS to be second-fastest.

Mladin’s teammate Aaron Yates was second-fastest for most of the timed period but ended up third with a 1:26.045.

Ducati Austin’s Giovanni Bussei was not in the top 15 times until the closing minutes when he posted a pair of 1:26 laps. Bussei’s fastest, a 1:26.061, was good enough for the last spot on the provisional front row.

Pierfrancesco Chili ran as high as second before being shuffled back to fifth-fastest.

World Superbike Championship point leader Neil Hodgson was near the top of the order through most of the session, but crashed in turn three with 4:30 remaining and finished with the sixth-fastest time.

Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom came to life late in the session and came away with a best of 1:26.461 on his Kawasaki ZX-7RR.

Kawasaki’s engine development specialist Theo Lockwood estimates that Bostrom’s 750cc Kawasaki ZX-7RR makes 10 percent less horsepower and 15 percent less torque than his 788cc AMA Superbike. And although the Kawasaki can weigh as little as 350 pounds according to World Superbike rules, Bostrom’s crew cannot get the bike close to the minimum weight limit.

HM Plant Ducati’s James Toseland qualified on the provisional second row with a 1:26.591 on his Ducati 998F02.

Ruben Xaus floundered during the session and finished 11th-fastest.

Toseland’s teammate Chris Walker crashed unhurt in turn three during the session, lost 12 minutes and ended up 12th-fastest with a 1:27.075.

Ten of the top 12 riders in Friday’s World Superbike qualifying session used Dunlop tires.

In addition to having the fastest lap time, Mladin also had the fastest trap speed at 155.62 mph. The next fastest machines of Hodgson and Toseland recorded 151.28 mph.

Friday’s World Superbike Qualifying Results:

1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:25.608
2. Regis Laconi, Ducati 998RS, 1:26.017
3. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:26.045
4. Giovanni Bussei, Ducati 998RS, 1:26.061
5. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati 998RS, 1:26.138
6. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 999F03, 1:26.294
7. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:26.461
8. James Toseland, Ducati 998F02, 1:26.591
9. Lucio Pederchini, Ductai 998RS, 1:26.695
10. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:26.734
11. Ruben Xaus, Ducati 999F03, 1:26.986
12. Chris Walker, Ducati 998F02, 1:27.075
13. Steve Martin, Ductai 998RS, 1:27.098
14. Troy Corser, Foggy Petronas FP1, 1:27.373
15. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:27.720
16. Marco Borciani, Ducati 998RS, 1:27.904
17. Juan Borja, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.025
18. David Garcia, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.194
19. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:28.232
20. Walyter Tortoroglio, Honda RC51, 1:28.232
21. Luca Pedersoli, Ducati 998RS, 1:29.880
22. James Haydon, Foggy Petronas FP1, 1:30.558
23. Jiri Mrkyvka, Ducati 998RS, 1:30.569


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

Foggy PETRONAS Racing riders battle against illness and injury in USA

Foggy PETRONAS Racing’s Troy Corser was struck by chronic food poisoning on the first day of action of round eight of the World Superbike championship at Laguna Seca.

And with team-mate James Haydon still struggling with the injuries that had ruled him out of the previous two rounds, it was an uphill battle for the team’s debut in the United States.

Corser, who blamed seafood eaten at a local restaurant the previous night, was placed on a glucose drip after the first hour-long practice session at the physically demanding Californian circuit. Yet he still managed the 10th fastest time of the morning, of 1:28.207, before the local American wild card riders dominated the afternoon qualifying session when they joined the action after their own AMA practice had been held yesterday. Consequently, Corser was pushed down to 14th, despite having shaved 0.9 of a second off his best time.

Troy said: “I was feeling very weak and dehydrated this morning but the doctors gave me 1.5 litres of fluid after the practice session and I felt better in the afternoon. But I was never really feeling right on the bike all day. I didn’t feel strong and wasn’t muscling the bike into the corners. I had a few ground clearance problems, due to the nature of the circuit, and have been changing the suspension setting. The bike is not handling too bad but any set-up changes seem critical to the tyre selection. So I have been concentrating on tyres and have found a front Michelin which felt much better and a rear which felt more stable. I changed the gearing but it is still not right, so I will also be trying another setting tomorrow.”

James, who had limited knowledge of the circuit following a 250cc Grand Prix appearance in 1993 and a World Superbike outing dogged by mechanical failure in 1997, was also forced to feel his way back into action on the FP1 – the Malaysian superbike.

James said: “I am not feeling terrible, but I am not feeling great either. My neck is still sore but I have not been able to do any upper body work for the last few weeks, so I do not feel as strong as normal. I feel stiff and not relaxed on the bike but I knew this would be the case. I have had to get to know the circuit again today but felt I was making good progress this morning and I knew where I could take more time off my laps. But we really lost ourselves during the afternoon, both with set-up work and tyre selection.”


More, from a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

MLADIN BLASTS TO WORLD SUPERBIKE PROVISIONAL POLE POSITION AT LAGUNA SECA

Monterey, California, USA (Friday, 11 July) – Australia’s Mat Mladin has made an immediate impact on this weekend’s American round of the Superbike World Championship, by blasting his way to provisional pole position aboard his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000.

Mladin created havoc for the international riders from the start of the one-hour session recording his fastest on only his third full flying lap on the Laguna Seca circuit, in Monterey, California. His time of 1:25.608 stood for the remainder of the session and left his as the only rider to drop into the 1:25 bracket.

His time was made all the more impressive as it was the first time that he had ridden the SWC-spec Suzuki GSX-R1000. The technical rule differences between the two championships means that his Yoshimura Suzuki team have prepared two machines for him to use this weekend.

“We didn’t have any real game plan for when we went out there for that session,” said Mladin. “The bike felt good from the start and the tyres suited the conditions well, so we just rolled off a few quick laps. The SWC spec bike does have some different engine characteristics due to the rule differences, but generally it feels quite similar to the bike that I run in the AMA.”

“It was nice to come away with the fastest time of the session today, but tomorrow is when it will count a lot more with Superpole. We did a lot of laps out there on the same tyre to try and give us some indications of how it will last in the race. There’s still a fair bit to be done with the bike to get it dialled in a bit more, so I think for sure the times will drop lower than today.”

Second fastest in today’s opening qualifying session was Frenchman Regis Laconi (NCR Ducati) who reeled off a 1:26.017 in the final minutes of the session to push Mladin’s teammate Aaron Yates to third after he set a best lap of 1:26.045. Italian Giovanni Bussai (Ducati Austin) rounds out the provisional front row after he moved up the leaderboard with a 1:26.061.

Current World Championship points leader Neil Hodgson slipped from third to sixth on the time sheets after he parted company with his Fila Ducati with just under five minutes remaining in the session.

SWC qualifying continues tomorrow morning, before the top sixteen riders prepare for the grid determining Superpole session later in the afternoon.

Earlier in the day, Mladin had posted the quickest time of the AMA Superbike competitors as they prepare for the 12th round of the AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship race which is scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

Mladin’s time of 1:25.393 was quicker than his pole position winning time set yesterday afternoon (1:25.549) and was under the existing AMA Superbike lap record of 1:25.507.

“This is the race I want to win. This is way more important for the team and myself.”


More, from a press release issued by Scuderia Caracchi NCR Nortel Networks:

Regis Laconi second fastest at Laguna Seca in the first qualifying

Only the local hero Mladin has been able to be faster as Regis Laconi and his Ducati 998RS Caracchi NCR Nortel Network in the debut qualifying day on the 2.24 miles of the twisted Californian track of Laguna Seca. Laconi, who has been the fastest in the morning’s free practice session, made a long work looking for the best set up right for the difficult Californian circuit and looks satisfied at the end of the day, also if a little bit disappointed as a group of slower riders damaged him in a fast lap with soft tyres.

“I’m actually satisfied about the work we have done today.” – confirms Regis at the end of the day – “Laguna Seca is a very difficult circuit and I haven’t been here since 2001’s World Superbike event. Moreover the presence of the AMA Championship riders and their knowledge of the track, with a lot of tests on this circuit, makes everything more and more difficult. Unfortunately in my fastest lap, when at the second split I were a whisker behind Mladin, as I was coming up to approach the Corkscrew a group of slow riders was just parked in front of me, damaging my laptime and so I preferred to join the pit, also if my tyres could allow me a second lap. The final minutes of the session have been ruined by the traffic that didn’t allow to upgrade my time. However I’m satisfied because I ran with a fast rhythm a 15 laps sequence to get good information for the Sunday’s race.”

After a hard recovering work in the last period David Garcia in Laguna Seca look to be in better conditions as the previous events and his confident to be able to finish the race: “This track is very exhausting, with a couple of hard braking points; today I rode for several laps with no stop and I’m satisfied of my result, but the race is long and I’ll have to suffer to end the two legs. Tomorrow we’ll plane with the Clinica Mobile staff a good solution for race day.”


More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Neil Hodgson and Ruben Xaus (Ducati Fila) recorded sixth and eleventh quickest times respectively at Laguna Seca as multiple AMA champion Mat Mladin set the pace in first qualifying for the U.S. round of the World Superbike Championship.

Hodgson was looking to improve on his third quickest time behind the two American Suzuki riders when he lost the front of his Ducati 999 at turn 3 minutes before the end of the session.

“I just lost the front, it was one of those things,” declared Neil. “I had a too hard front tyre. I need to find more grip, that’s the main problem because I’m a second off the pace I was doing last year. Tomorrow morning I’m going to concentrate on getting the bike set-up well and then in the afternoon I’ll do my long run. I don’t think pole position is going to be possible here so it’s not worth stressing myself over it.”

Ruben Xaus had a crash at turn 3 in the morning’s free practice session, but felt much happier with the set-up of his Ducati 999 later in the afternoon qualifying session.

“This morning I fell off on a new front tyre because I didn’t pay attention on my warm-up lap and crashed,” commented Ruben. “The feeling with the bike came better this afternoon when I put a new softer rear tyre towards the end. I just need more laps and time on the bike, because we lost some time with a technical problem this afternoon. My first split is the best but the first right corner here needs a good feeling in the front and we’re not there yet. We always find a good set-up on Sundays, but I’m not that far away from the guys at the front.”


More, from a press release issued by HM Plant Ducati:

HM Plant Ducatis prepare for race day

James Toseland and Chris Walker have qualified provisionally on the second and third rows of the grid respectively for the eighth round of the Superbike World Championship at Laguna Seca. However, both of the British HM Plant Ducati riders are confident that they can improve on their initial positions after an incident-packed first day at the 3.61km Californian circuit.

“After a break of three weeks since the last round of the series at Misano, I was eager to get back on the bike again,” said 22-year-old Toseland who currently lies third in the championship behind the factory Fila Ducati riders Neil Hodgson and Ruben Xaus. “I see this as a key race in the championship chase, and with this in mind, I am determined to get the best possible race set-up for Sunday.

“Therefore, I wouldn’t read too much in today’s times as the team has been concentrating on fine-tuning the HM Plant Ducati for one of the most demanding circuits we visit all year. I’m happy with the progress that we made today and there’s just a few things to try out on Saturday morning before we finalise the optimum settings.”

Team-mate Walker fell off in the afternoon session but was able to make it back to the pits to complete the first qualifying period one second in arrears of the provisional front row of Matt Mladin, Regis Laconi, Aaron Yates and Giovanni Bussei. “That was hard work out there, but I’ve only got myself to blame,” said the Nottingham star who is competing at Laguna Seca for the second time after his debut in 2002.

“I made some quite good progress in the free practice session, but managed to slip off in qualifying. Then, to make matters worse my spare HM Plant Ducati developed some technical problems which hampered my progress further still. However, we’ve already had tougher hurdles to overcome this season and therefore I am pretty sure that we’ll be OK for race day – when it matters most!”


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

TROY 14TH DESPITE SICKNESS

Despite suffering the effects of diarrohrea and dehydration, Troy managed to complete 36 laps today and ended up fourteenth quickest. Something Troy had eaten the night before disagreed with Troy and spent most of the night back to and from the toilet. In between today’s two sessions, Troy went to the Clinica Mobile and to aid his recovery. Hopefully, Troy will get a good night’s sleep tonight and will be able to push a lot harder tomorrow.

Today’s qualifying session was dominated by local ‘wild card’ riders Mat Mladin and Aaron Yates. The two Suzuki Yoshimura riders finally ended up in first and third positions, split by Regis Laconi (Ducati) towards the end of the session. Fourth was another ‘wild card’ and former WSBK competitor Giovanni Bussei. Bussei replaced Anthony Gobert on the Austin Ducati and
has made an immediate impact on the AMA championship.

I was up for most of last night and it wasn’t very pleasant! It must have been something I ate, but I’m surprised because I had exactly the same meal in the same restaurant two nights OK and I was OK then. I couldn’t eat any breakfast this morning and I was obviously very dehydrated, so that’s why I went to the Clinica Mobile and was put on a drip today. I feel a bit better now and hopefully I’ll be OK tonight and get some decent sleep. Considering how I felt today, I’m not unhappy with how it’s gone today. We’re having
some ground clearance problems here today because of the nature of the circuit. But we’re pretty much as high as we can go on the bike and now
it’s not so easy to turn. Also, we have to change the gearbox internals because the gearing is not right and we still have to find a good tyre. I
didn’t race here last year of course, so I’ve got a lot of catching up to do. Let’s hope I’m back to 100% tomorrow – you need to be here because it
is such a physical track.