Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Ten Kate out front in Monza qualifying

Despite riding with a badly damaged ligament in his right thumb Chris Vermeulen still managed to get provisional second on the grid during Friday qualifying. His team mate Karl Muggeridge was in a class of his own, streaking ahead into pole and almost a second quicker than Vermeulen.

Vermeulen fell during morning practice while braking for the Ascari chicane. He caught his right thumb as he fell. But he bounced back in timed qualifying and rode through the pain.

“This circuit is all braking,” said Vermeulen after qualifying. “My hand hurts when I put pressure on it so braking is painful. I have to be cautious everywhere because of my thumb, I am riding with a little margin for error.”

Muggeridge, who has successfully fought off some infections that plagued him during the winter, is now back to full health and form and he proved it by being almost a second faster than second-placed Vermeulen.

“I’m really stoked about the time,” said Muggeridge, “Everything is going so well. The bike is really fast and the tyres and suspension are working great.”

It wasn’t all plain sailing for Muggeridge, “There was a lot of crashes in the session and it made it really hard to do a flying lap because you kept coming up against traffic and yellow flags.”

Dutchman Jurgen VD Goorbergh just managed to slot his Yamaha onto the front row in the dying moments of the session, grabbing third in front of Honda mounted Iain MacPherson.

Vermeulen’s championship rival Katsuaki Fujiwara is struggling, he’s twelfth fastest so far but he’ll be keen to improve over the weekend.


Friday’s World Supersport Qualifying Results:

1. Karl Muggeridge, Honda CBR600RR, 1:52.432
2. Chris Vermeulen, Honda CBR600RR, 1:53.382
3. Jurgen vd Goorbergh, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:53.415
4. Iain MacPherson, Honda CBR600RR, 1:53.592
5. Fabien Foret, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, 1:53.638
6. Gianluca Nannelli, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:53.755
7. Simone Sanna, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:53.803
8. Werner Daemen, Honda CBR600RR, 1:53.877
9. Sebastien Charpentier, Honda CBR600RR, 1:53.980
10. Christian Kellner, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:54.157
11. Pere Riba, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, 1:54.162
12. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:54.165
13. Alessio Corradi, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:54.203
14. Stephane Chambon, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:54.268
15. Barry Veneman, Honda CBR600RR, 1:54.285
16. Christophe Cogan, Honda CBR600RR, 1:54.314
17. Robert Ulm, Honda CBR600RR, 1:54.943
18. Antonio Carlacci, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:54.996
19. Matthieu Lagrive, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:55.049
20. Jorg Teuchert, YamahaYZF-R6, 1:55.067


More, from a press release issued on behalf of Ten Kate Honda:

Two Ten Kate Honda Heroes at Monza

Both Ten Kate Honda riders were heroes in the first qualifying session at Monza but for completely different reasons. Karl Muggeridge shaved almost a second off the best lap time while Chris Vermeulen qualified second despite injuring his thumb in a fall during the morning’s free practice.

Karl Muggeridge blitzed the opposition in the session, his best lap of 1m 52.432 really sets the pace for the weekend and is almost a second quicker than the rest of the pack.

“I’m really stoked about the time,” said Muggeridge, “everything is going so well. The bike is really fast and the tyres and suspension are working great.”

It wasn’t all plain sailing for Muggeridge, “There was a lot of crashes in the session and it made it really hard to do a flying lap because you kept coming up against traffic and yellow flags.”

Although he’s almost a second down on his team mate, Chris Vermeulen’s time is no less remarkable. Riding with a torn ligament in his right thumb as a result of the morning’s crash, Vermeulen is suffering intense pain under braking.

“This circuit is all braking and my hand hurts when I put pressure on it. I have to be cautious everywhere because of my thumb, I am riding with a little margin for error.”

Team Manager Ronald ten Kate had nothing but admiration for his riders, “I didn’t expect that after Chris’ crash this morning,” admitted ten Kate. “He almost ran into the back of another rider while braking for the Ascari chicane and crashed trying to avoid him. He’s damaged ligaments in his thumb and is obviously riding in pain. To see him go second just a few hours later shows he’s definitely grown up from a boy to a man.

“As for Karl, it’s obvious that he’s right back in peak form after suffering from some minor health problems in the run up to the season. Now he’s just gone 0.7 seconds under the best lap record here and I think he would have been even faster had he not been held up during another very fast lap late in the session.

“The results show what everybody already knows, Ten Kate Hondas are very fast at Monza!”