Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Ten Kate Honda on top in Oschersleben Supersport Q1

Karl Muggeridge took his Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR straight to the top of the timesheets in the first qualifying session in Oschersleben ahead of Sunday’s round five of the World Supersport championship.

The Australian was straight back into top form again after dominating qualifying at Monza, only to retire early in the race with clutch problems. All teams are struggling to set their machines up to deal with a track that although generally very smooth, does have some big bumps in the wrong places.

“We’ve worked hard on the set up already,” said Muggeridge after qualifying in provisional pole. “The track is bumpy and it’s a challenge to get a set up that suits the turns and yet deals with the bumps. Both Pirelli Tyres and WP Suspension are working overtime with us trying to get the bike to work here.”

Muggeridge’s teammate Chris Vermeulen finished the session fourth, a creditable position given that he’s still carrying a nasty injury to his right thumb.

“This circuit is much more physical than Monza,” explained Vermeulen, “My thumb is better than it was but here it is doing more work. We tried a few things on set up to try to cope with the bumps, but we went in the wrong direction. But at least we know that now and I’m confident for the rest of the weekend.”

Diminutive Frenchman Stephane Chambon left it until the closing moments to put his Alstare Suzuki into second spot ahead of fellow Frenchman, Sebastien Charpentier who is now riding full time for Team Klaffi Honda. Chambon’s teammate struggled with his set up and lies sixth on the provisional grid.


Friday World Supersport Qualifying Results:

1. Karl Muggeridge, Honda, 1:30.250
2. Stephane Chambon, Suzuki, 1:30.314
3. Sebastien Charpentier, Honda, 1:30.397
4. Chris Vermeulen, Honda, 1:30.469
5. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Suzuki, 1:30.506
6. Pere Riba, Kawasaki, 1:30.599
7. Jurgen vd Goorbergh, Yamaha, 1:30.637
8. Robert Ulm, Honda, 1:30.781
9. Werner Daemen, Honda, 1:30.823
10. Alessio Corradi, Yamaha, 1:30.872
11. Broc Parkes, Honda, 1:30.891
12. Fabien Foret, Kawasaki, 1:30.935
13. Gianluca Nannelli, Yamaha, 1:31.019
14. Simone Sanna, Yamaha, 1:31.092
15. Iain MacPherson, Honda, 1:31.132
16. Christien Kellner, Yamaha, 1:31.133
17. Jorg Teuchert, Yamaha, 1:31.137
18. Matthieu Lagrive, Yamaha, 1:31.161
19. Thierry vd Bosch, Yamaha, 1:31.174
20. Kenan Sofuoglu, Yamaha, 1:31.189


More, from a press release issued by Ten Kate Honda:

Ten Kate Honda start Oschersleben weekend on top

Karl Muggeridge took his Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR straight to the top of the timesheets in the first qualifying session in Oschersleben ahead of Sunday’s round five of the World Supersport championship.

The Australian was straight back into top form again but it wasn’t all plain sailing getting into provisional pole.

“We’ve worked hard on the set up already,” said Muggeridge after qualifying in provisional pole. “The track is bumpy and it’s a challenge to get a set up that suits the turns and yet deals with the bumps. Both Pirelli Tyres and WP Suspension are working overtime with us trying to get the bike to work here.”

His team mate and fellow Australian Chris Vermeulen finished the session fourth, a creditable position given that he’s still carrying a nasty injury to his right thumb.

“This circuit is much more physical than Monza,” explained Vermeulen, “my thumb is better than it was but here it is doing more work. We tried a few things on set up to try to cope with the bumps but we went in the wrong direction. But at least we know that now and I’m confident for the rest of the weekend.”

While yet another session has finished with a Ten Kate Honda on top, team manager Ronald ten Kate claims it isn’t as easy as it looks. “Maybe we are making it look easy but believe me, we’re having to put a lot of effort into this,” he said. “The nature of the track, in particular the bumps, are making life difficult for the team and riders. On Karl’s machine we have made good progress since this morning, and Chris’ his thumb is still not 100%. We will now analyse the data we collected today and work hard again before Saturday’s sessions. I am sure we have more improvements we can make.”