Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn Le Santo

Chris Walker waited until late in the delayed Superbike qualifying session to take provisional pole at Sugo Sportsland in Sugo, Japan.

All the Michelin riders struggled–they haven’t tested in the wet at all during the off-season. But Dunlop riders had no such problems. Regis Laconi, James Toseland and Frankie Chili joined Walker on the provisional front row, all of them using Japanese-produced Dunlops. It was Walker’s first-ever ride on the HM Plant Ducati and his first-ever provisional pole in World Superbike.

Ruben Xaus crashed twice, as did James Haydon, both on Michelins. In at least one of the crashes, both riders were almost upright when they suddenly lost traction and crashed. Xaus was seen kicking his rear tyre after his second crash. Fastest Michelin rider was Hitoyasu Izutsu, normally fast at the Japanese circuit, and he struggled into sixth, behind Gregorio Lavilla.

The session was finally red-flagged with nine minutes left as the fog that had delayed the start for almost four hours descended again. The forecast is for more bad weather on Saturday but fine for Sunday.

World Superbike Championship
Round Three, Sugo, Japan
25-26-27 April 2003-04-25

Friday Qualifying, best lap times:

1. C. Walker, GBR, Ducati, 1:43.829
2. R. Laconi, FRA, Ducati, 1:44.227
3. J. Toseland, GBR, Ducati, 1:44.588
4. P. Chili, ITA, Ducati, 1:45.135
5. G. Lavilla, ESP, Suzuki, 1:45.845
6. H. Izutsu, JPN, Honda, 1:47.545
7. N. Hodgson, GBR, Ducati, 1:48.629
8. A. Watanabe, JPN, Suzuki, 1:48.914
9. J. Borja, ESP, Ducati, 1:49.234
10. K. Nakamura, JPN, Honda, 1:49.533


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

Rain doesn’t stop play for HM Plant Ducati

Bad weather affected the first qualifying session of round three of the Superbike World Championship at Sugo in Japan. However, the HM Plant Ducati duo of Chris Walker and James Toseland might argue that there is no such thing as bad weather. Despite the rain and fog that descended on the Japanese circuit, the British pair put on a magnificent display. Thanks to some skilful riding and the obvious superiority of the team’s Dunlop wets, both riders qualified on the provisional front row of the grid with Walker taking pole and Toseland in third place.

Many riders found the conditions much harder to deal with, most notably factory riders Ruben Xaus and James Haydon – both of whom crashed twice on the wet track. When the final minutes of the second session were abandoned due to poor visibility, the top five provisional places were occupied by Dunlop riders, with wild card Izutsu coming in sixth, ahead of championship leader Neil Hodgson.

Claiming his first provisional World Superbike pole is a great boost for Walker, who struggled to get to grips with the Sugo circuit on his visit last year. However, his best lap on this occasion of 1:43.829 was almost half a second faster than that of his nearest rival.

“I wouldn’t say that I like the wet,” he said. “But I do seem to go pretty well and it really won’t bother me if it rains all weekend. The team has done a great job with the HM Plant Ducati and I’ve got some pretty good wet settings. The Dunlops are working perfectly but the weather is supposed to improve over the next couple of days, which might not leave us with long to find a good dry set-up. I know I’m going to have to work hard to hold onto pole but with a little bit of luck it’s definitely not out of the question.”

Toseland is fast becoming recognised as a serious championship contender and is feeling more at home in the upper echelons of the grid with every round. The 22-year-old from south Yorkshire was happy with his performance in the adverse conditions and expects to maintain the momentum throughout qualifying and beyond.

“It wasn’t exactly the best weather for racing,” said Toseland, “but it seemed to work for us. Dunlop has done a lot of testing at Sugo in all kinds of conditions and it really paid off today. I suppose this means that I should be doing a rain dance for the rest of the weekend because if it stays like this there’s a good chance of two HM Plant Ducati riders making it onto the podium – in fact either of us could win a race. But we’re not pinning all our hopes on the weather and are confident that we’ll go well no matter what happens.”

Qualifying times: 1. C. Walker (HM Plant Ducati) 1:43.829; 2. R. Laconi (Ducati) 1:44.227; 3. J. Toseland (HM Plant Ducati) 1:44.588; 4. P. Chili (Ducati) 1:45.135; 5. G. Lavilla (Suzuki) 1:45.845; 6. H. Izutsu (Honda) 1:47.545; 7. N. Hodgson (Ducati) 1:48.629; 8. A. Watanabe (Suzuki) 1:48.914; 9. J. Borja (Ducati) 1:49.234; 10. K. Nakamura (Honda) 1:49.533


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

Rain and fog halt Foggy PETRONAS Racing progress in Japan

A wet first day of the third round of the World Superbike championship prevented progress for Foggy PETRONAS Racing during their first outing in Japan.

Both Troy Corser and James Haydon had trouble finding grip in treacherous conditions, after the afternoon qualifying session was delayed for an hour because of low-lying clouds over the Sugo circuit.

Neither rider was able to post a qualifying time before the session was red flagged with nine minutes remaining, due to poor visibility. And with further rain forecast for tomorrow, the team was liaising closely with Michelin to find suitable wet weather rubber. Team manager Nigel Bosworth said: “Today’s conditions were not what we needed, to put it mildly!

James was perhaps too eager to go quickly at a new circuit, considering the conditions, and paid the price by crashing. But the fact that Troy did not set a qualifying time for the first time in his career provides an indication of the problems we faced. We desperately need to find a wet weather tyre that works.”

Troy said: “I have never felt like that in the wet. There was no grip and I couldn’t move the bike from dead straight. It was sliding when tipping into a corner, even without getting on the gas. But at least it didn’t happen tomorrow and we are all hoping that it is dry for the rest of the weekend. We needed as much track time as we could get, as it was going to be hard enough here even if the tyres had been great. And it was also the first time we have been out with this new specification engine and throttle connection in the wet. On the positive side I think we made progress by making the gearing longer after the morning session.”

James said: “Unfortunately, due to a number of factors I found the afternoon session very difficult, which resulted in me falling off. But I realise these problems affected us both. This morning went really well, although not as well as it might have done as problems with the bike occurred during the middle part of the session, when the track was at its driest and people were taking up to eight seconds off their best times.”

Friday afternoon qualifying times: Round three, World Superbike championship, Sugo, Japan
1 Walker (HM Plant) 1:43.829; 2 Laconi (NCR) 1:44.227; 3 Toseland (HM Plant) 1:44.588; 4 Chili (PSG-1) 1:45.135; 5 Lavilla (Alstare Suzuki) 1:45.845; 21 Corser (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:59.414; Haydon (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) – no time recorded.