Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Bayliss shows he’s the boss in the Laguna Seca sunshine

The man of the moment in World Superbike racing, Troy Bayliss, piled on the style to win a big battle for provisional pole here at Laguna Seca, California, this afternoon.

Despite a concerted challenge from both Bostrom brothers and Matt Mladin and Neil Hodgson, Infostrada Ducati Troy Bayliss grabbed the provisional pole at the last moment with a scorching lap time of 1:25.127. Bayliss dipped inside Anthony Gobert’s long standing record lap time of 1:25.185 set in 1999. But because Bayliss’ time was set in qualifying, Gobert’s lap record remains on the books for now.

For a short while it looked like the wild card riders might pull off a surprise, with Mat Mladin on the Suzuki and Eric Bostrom on the Kawasaki both setting fast laps. Officially Eric Bostrom is a regular, because he’s actually still filling in for the injured Hitoyasu Izutsu. But as the last minutes ticked away the World Superbike regulars rallied with Ben Bostrom taking provisional second at 1:25.233 and Neil Hodgson third with 1:25.721 both on Dunlop shod Ducatis. Mladin was relegated to fourth in front of Eric Bostrom. All the wild card riders are using Dunlop tyres with Xaus, Bayliss and Edwards the only riders fielding Michelins.

Noriyuki Haga was sixth fastest in the session ahead of another wild card, Aaron Yates. Meanwhile Colin Edwards, who everyone had expected to do well back home in America, languished in eighth on 1:26.121. Nicky Hayden plummeted to 12th as the session matured, that was after setting an early pace fast enough to get him into the top three on the time sheet.

There were plenty of incidents, Hodgson retired with smoke pouring from his HM Plant Ducati early on, returning to the fray on his spare bike. Bayliss was also out on his number two bike, having parked his stricken Infostrada Ducati early on. Mladin made an unsporting gesture during qualifying, which may yet get him into trouble with the race organisers. He used a one-finger salute to inform Ruben Xaus of exactly what he thought of the Spaniard using the racing line on an out lap!

On Saturday there’s another timed qualifying session followed by Superpole in the afternoon.

Friday’s World Superbike Qualifying Times:

1. Troy Bayliss, Ducati 998F02, 1:25.127
2. Ben Bostrom, Ducati 998F02, 1:25.233
3. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 998F01, 1:25.721
4. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:25.834
5. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:25.875
6. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia RSV1000, 1:26.015
7. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:26.025
8. Colin Edwards, Honda RC51, 1:26.121
9. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati 998RS, 1:26.141
10. Doug Chandler, Ducati 998RS, 1:26.315
11. James Toseland, Ducati 998F01, 1:26.390
12. Nicky Hayden, Honda RC51, 1:26.420
13. Steve Martin, Ducati 998RS, 1:26.637
14. Ruben Xaus, Ducati 998F02, 1:26.770
15. Chris Walker, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:26.955
16. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati 998RS, 1:26.961
17. Miguel Duhamel, Honda RC51, 1:27.218
18. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:27.317
19. Marco Borciani, Ducati 998RS, 1:27.471
20. Peter Goddard, Benelli Tornado 900, 1:28.030
21. Broc Parkes, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.452
22. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:28.588
23. Serafino Foti, Ducati 996RS, 1:28.771
24. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R7, 1:28.826
25. Alessandro Antonello, Ducati 998RS, 1:29.395
26. Bertrand Stey, Honda RC51, 1:30.304
27. Mark Heckles, Honda RC51, 1:30.501
28. Mark Miller, Honda RC51, 1:30.649
29. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:30.663
30. Jiri Mrkyvka, Ducati 996RS, 1:30.980