From a press release issued by FGSport Group:

Laconi Laps Up Superpole at Phillip Island

Regis Laconi (Ducati Fila 999F04) secured his second Superpole in as many attempts after a superb best-of-weekend lap of 1:33.427, sliding and powering his way to the front of the grid for Sunday’s 23-lap Superbike races.

Laconi set his Superpole lap with only Steve Martin (DFX Extreme Sterilgarda) remaining to set-off, by dint of having been the fastest rider in regulation qualifying. Martin took an eventual third best time, but the sensation of the session was his younger countryman, Chris Vermeulen (Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) who went second quickest in only his second outing on the big capacity Honda. His time of 1:34.398 was almost a second slower than Laconi, but a convincing effort all the same.

With Martin third, the last spot on the front row was secured in some style by another SBK rookie, Leon Haslam, the 20-year-old Brit (riding for the Renegade Ducati team) outshone his team-mate, and Valencia race winner, Noriyuki Haga, finishing fourth fastest to the Japanese rider’s fifth.

With a slippery track surface having twice caught out James Toseland (Ducati Fila) in qualifying it could have been expected that the other Valencia race winner would be somewhat circumspect in Superpole, but despite recurring set-up worries, he went sixth fastest overall after a lap of obvious effort.

Home town heroes abound this season is SBK, and another Aussie, 1996 World Champion Troy Corser, rode his Foggy Petronas FP-1 three-cylinder machine to a fine seventh, despite a spectacular crash earlier in the day. Garry McCoy, a force in regulation qualifying, went eighth in Superpole, eliciting a second row start for him and his Xerox Ducati 999RS.

The top ten was filled out by the DFX Ducati of practice sensation Marco Borciani, while Pierfrancesco Chili (PSG-1 Ducati) rode a 999 machine fitted with an experimental single-sided swingarm, to help him overcome some serious problems with machine setup for his unique style.

Muggeridge Secures Second Pole of the Season
In the Supersport World Championship Karl Muggeridge (Ten Kate Honda) relied on his Friday qualifying time of 1:35.994 to beat his peers to the punch and secure his second successive pole position of the season. It was his ninth pole in World Supersport and the Aussie rider now sits equal second in the list of all time pole setters, alongside Fabien Foret, with a total of nine. Muggeridge fell trying to improve his time still further, causing himself no injury.

A bumper day for riders of Australian origin saw the entire four spots on the front row dominated by Muggeridge, followed by Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany), Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Honda) and local wild card Josh Brookes (Honda).

Top Yamaha rider proved to be Fabien Foret (Yamaha Italia) in fifth, one place ahead of another faller Sebastien Charpentier (Klaffi Honda), who was quickest in the morning’s untimed session.

Valencia race winner Jurgen van den Goorbergh went seventh in qualifying, with the first Suzuki eight, thanks to the efforts of Katsuaki Fujiwara – yet another crasher today.

The 22-lap Superbike races and 21-lap Supersport race take place on Sunday 28 March.


More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati Nortel Networks – Scuderia Caracchi:

Second row for Garry McCoy tomorrow at Phillip Island

Garry McCoy will start for the two races of tomorrow’s second round of WSBK Championship at Phillip Island circuit from row two of the grid, after qualifying in eight position. Garry, who earned the third fastest in qualifying, suffered for problems in the final Superpole session, scoring only the eight ranking on the grid.

“I hoped for a better position on the grid, but unfortunately this afternoon my Xerox Ducati Nortel Networks looked to be the same bike as yesterday morning.” – related a bit disappointed Garry back in the pit garage – “The changes done at the front fork don’t give us the hoped result, so it has been a continuous fight against the bike, not steering because it was too light in front, while with the standard fork I felt better. However I’m not really worry for this problem, that’s all experience that we all have to go trough. For tomorrow’s warm up we’ll return to the Friday’s afternoon set up, of course depending of weather conditions. If we’ll be able to find a correct set up, comfortable for me to ride I’m confident we’ll have a positive result tomorrow.”

Also Miguel Praia got a good result, earning the qualifying on this engaging track for tomorrow’s heats.

“I’m quite satisfied of today’s result.” – has been Miguel’s comment – “I’ve been more two seconds faster than yesterday session and I reached the qualifying for the race, that was my main goal. Tomorrow we’ll see, races are long and I’ll take care to do any mistake.”


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

FPR riders bounce back from crashes


Foggy PETRONAS Racing riders Troy Corser and Chris Walker both survived spectacular high-speed crashes on the second day of qualifying for round two of the World Superbike championship at Phillip Island, Australia, today.

Troy was sent somersaulting into the gravel towards the end of the morning qualifying session after a gearbox seizure. But the gritty Australian, who escaped with a sore shoulder, made good progress in the afternoon sessions to improve his qualifying grid position for tomorrow’s two races from 12th to 7th with a smooth Superpole lap of 1:35.179 – three tenths of a second better than his previous best of the weekend.

Chris’s preparations for Superpole were disrupted when he crashed at the final corner with just minutes of the final free practice session remaining. He was forced to sprint back to the garage in order to run in a new front tyre before using the spare bike for his Superpole laps, in which he climbed from 14th onto the third row of the grid with a lap of 1:36.179.

Troy said: “I was pretty lucky because if that had happened at the end of the straight I would be feeling very different right now! When the gearbox locked I thought the engine had blown so I sat it up and grabbed the clutch and expected to freewheel. But it just flicked me off for one of those long crashes when you don’t stop cart-wheeling. I fell in front of the bike and thought it was going to hit me.

“We made progress with the set-up and reduced the chatter by decreasing the pressure in the rear tyre – something Chris had tried earlier. I was able to string some consistent laps together in the afternoon, without pushing on the edge and that gave me confidence. I feel that I can do times between 1:35.5 and 1:36. That is not going to put me in the first three but, now that I am on the second row, I might be able to get a tow from the leaders down the straight. It was the first time I have used a qualifier for Superpole and they have a completely different feel – more grip but more movement.”

Chris said: “It has not been the best of days. I am a bit frustrated because I have not been able to better yesterday’s time, although I don’t feel like I have reached the maximum for the bike around here. So I’m hoping for a good start so that I get towed along. The crash was my fault as I turned in a little bit earlier as I was desperate for a good time. The back end broke away and flicked me over the top. I had experienced a few slides at that point, but I wasn’t expecting the back to go so quickly. I have hurt a few ribs around my back but hopefully I won’t be too bruised and adrenaline is normally the best anaesthetic. It was not the ideal preparation for Superpole – it’s always better to have a clean visor and not to have straw up your backside! – but it could have been a lot worse as I did move up a row. If I can find a few tenths in the morning I will be in with a chance of having a good race.”

Saturday Superpole times, World Superbike championship round two, Phillip Island, Melbourne, Australia

1 Laconi 1:33.427; 2 Vermeulen 1:34.398; 3 Martin 1:34.600; 4 Haslam 1:34.838; 5 Haga 1:35.018; 6 Toseland 1:35.034; 7 Corser (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:35.179; 8 McCoy 1:35.190; 9 Borciani 1:35.357; 10 Chili 1:35.472; 11 Pedercini 1:35.944; 12 Walker (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:36.179; 13 Nanelli 1:36.327; 14 Clementi 1:36.420; 15 Fuertes 1:36.432; 16 Sanchini 1:36.501

Free practice: 1 Laconi 1:34.024; 2 Martin 1:34.577; 3 Haslam 1:35.003; 4 Borciani 1:35.104; 5 Chili 1:35.420; 6 Vermeulen 1:35.423; 7 Haga 1:35.488; 8 Toseland 1:35.492; 9 Corser (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:35.544; 10 Walker (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:36.178

Saturday qualifying (best qualifying time in brackets): 1 Martin (DFX) 1:33.932; 2 Laconi (Ducati Fila) 1:34.068; 3 McCoy (Xerox Ducati) 1:35.183 (1:34.494); 4 Haslam (Renegade Ducati) 1:34.789; 5 Borciani (DFX) 1:35.030; 6 Toseland (Ducati Fila) 1:35.125; 7 Vermeulen (Ten Kate Honda) 1:35.239; 8 Haga (Renegade Ducati) 1:35.304; 9 Fuertes (MIR Racing) 1:35.395; 10 Pedercini 1:35.433; 12 Corser (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:35.473; 14 Walker (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:35.927 (1:35.832)


More, from a press release issued by Belgarda Yamaha Racing:


SECOND ROW FOR FABIEN AND JURGEN

Team Yamaha Motor Italia World Supersport riders Fabien Foret and Jurgen van den Goorbergh will start tomorrow’s second round of the championship from the second row of the grid. Both riders were chasing a front row today, but had minor problems when they were their ‘hot’ laps and finished fifth and seventh instead. Australian riders filled the entire first row of the grid after final qualifying ­the first time any nationality has taken all four front row places. Karl Muggeridge (Honda) led the charge, ahead of Kevin Curtain (Yamaha), Broc Parkes (Honda) and Josh Brookes (Honda).

FABIEN FORET ­ 5th, 1:36.533

We made many changes yesterday and I think we lost direction a bit. So today we reverted to some settings we found during Monza test and we
were able to improve. I still have a little problem with the front (it feels a bit unstable), but it’s not a big problem. We’ll try and fix this in tomorrow’s warm-up. I’m not too disappointed about being on the second row, but I know that I have to get a good start in the race. I should’ve been on the front row, but on my ‘hot’ lap I accidentally touched the kill switch and the bike cut out briefly. That lost me about a tenth of a second or so and that was enough to put me on row two.

JURGEN VAN DEN GOORBERGH ­ 7th, 1:36.838

Seventh today doesn’t reflect my potential and I don’t like to talk, but I think I can win here. I know that I’m fast in the last corner and as
long as I stay in touch with the fast Hondas, I think I can make my move at the end. As long as that we all stay together I know I have a very
good chance of a win. I missed out on a front row grid place because there were some yellow flags waved ­ due to crashes ­ on my ‘hot’ lap
and so I had to take it a bit cautiously.


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

TROY HAPPY – DESPITE CRASH

Troy ended Superpole final qualifying with the seventh quickest time and will start tomorrow’s pair of 22-lappers from the second row of the grid. And he managed this despite a very heavy get-off in the morning session when he was very lucky to escape any serious injury. Typically, he bounced back in the afternoon session and then rode superbly on his Superpole lap to claim his second row grid place. The crash was a nasty one and was shown repeatedly on the big screens at the circuit, drawing gasps of shock every time it was seen. Factory Ducati rider Regis Laconi took Superpole today, with young Chris Vermeulen (Honda) second, ahead of Steve Martin (Ducati) and Leon Haslam (Ducati).

TROY

I’m pretty pleased to be on the second row – especially after what happened this morning. In that session I had a problem when the bike jumped out of gear and speared me off the track. I went into the gravel quickly and then on to the grass heading towards the tyre wall. Somehow I just managed to turn the bike away from the wall and then get back on to the track and then ride back to the pits. I jumped on the other bike for a few laps whilst the boys checked the bike. A few laps later I came into the pits and went out on the first bike again. The team told me they hadn’t found any problems, so I just went out and ride it. But, after a few laps, the bike locked up on the approach to Siberia and just spat me off before I could do anything about it. I saw sky/track/sky/track/sky track and was really lucky not to hit the tyre wall. As it is, I’ve hurt my right shoulder a bit and also banged my head a little, so I’m going to take it easy tonight. In the afternoon session I wanted to run a race distance, but there was a little misunderstanding (probably because the mechanics were rushing around repairing the crashed bike) and I had to pull in for fuel before I could complete the distance. I went out again and managed to lap consistently quickly and I felt good about that. When Superpole started, I made a determined effort and forgot about everything that had happened before and just rode as hard as I could and ended up on the second row. Now all I need tomorrow is a bike that runs consistently and without any problems. If I have that, I reckon I can get a couple of top five or six finishes.


More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki:

FUJI ON 2nd ROW AFTER CRASH

2004 Supersport World Championship. Round 2, Phillip Island, Australia. Final qualifying, Saturday March 27th. Circuit: 4.445 kms. Weather: Dry, sunny.
Katsuaki Fujiwara will start tomorrow’s World Supersport second round at Phillip Island, Australia from the second row despite a heavy crash in this morning’s qualifying session.

The Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider, who turned 29 today, banged his head in the incident, but is still optimistic of a good result in the 21-lap race, along with team-mates Stephane Chambon and Vittorio Iannuzzo, who will start alongside each other on the fourth row.

History was made today at Phillip Island, with an all-Australian front row of the grid, the first time any nationality has filled the first four places. Karl Muggeridge (Honda) is on pole, ahead of Kevin Curtain (Yamaha), Broc Parkes (Honda) and Josh Brookes (Honda).

KATSUAKI FUJIWARA 8th, 1:36.943:

“Tomorrow will be a very hard race for sure. We’re down on speed to the Hondas and that’s difficult to make up round Phillip Island because it is a fast track, with fast corner speeds, and you need all the top end you can get.. At Valencia it was not such a big problem because it is a slow circuit, This morning, I had a big crash and banged my head a little, so I am going to have an early night. It’s not the way I wanted to spend my birthday, but maybe tomorrow I can celebrate with a good result instead.”

STEPHANE CHAMBON 13th, 1:37.589:

“Maybe it’s better if I don’t make any comment at all! I didn’t know what to think after today’s qualifying because I couldn’t understand what was happening. Starting from the fourth row is not going to easy and I’m going to have to make the best start of my life if I am to get any sort of good result tomorrow. The temperature tomorrow will decide which tyres I will use, but I would prefer it to be cooler than this afternoon. At the moment, my GSX 600R Suzuki and its tyres seem to work better in cooler conditions.”

VITTORIO IANNUZZO 14th, 1:37.998:

“I’m happy to be alongside Stephane on the grid, but wish it could be on the first two rows of the grid instead of the fourth! I tried many different things, but the end results seemed to be the same. I’m not sure how that can be. My problem is that I do not know what the problem is! I haven’t got a good feeling about the front end and that’s hindering my progress. All I know is that I need a really good start tomorrow.”


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

Muggeridge On Pole At Home

Karl Muggeridge will start his home event from pole position, thanks to his best time from the qualifying session on Friday. He will line up on the same row of the grid for the 21-lap race as his team-mate Broc Parkes, who secured a fine third place starting slot, after posting his best lap of the weekend in the final 45-minute official session this afternoon. The front row turned out to be a completely Aussie affair, with Yamaha rider Kevin Curtain second quickest overall, and local wild card Honda rider Josh Brookes slotting into fourth spot.

Muggeridge crashed attempting to improve on his Friday time, but as has been the case all weekend the wind played its part in holding down the lap times for all riders. Muggeridge was the only man into the 1:35 bracket, thanks to his best of 1:35.994, with Parkes only 0.4 seconds down, securing a 1: 36.384.

“I just took off too much a bite,” said Muggeridge of his crash. “I was going in deeper and deeper and just took too big a chunk at one time. I was trying to alter my line to make it tighter due to the wind, trying to keep out of it. As I went in it was pushing hard and the crash happened real early into the corner. I think the set-up for the race is pretty good. Tyre choice is only one for the front, and I think I’ve made my mind up for the rear. There is another one I want to use but I don’t think it will last.”

Parkes, huddled in a debriefing for some time after the end of the session, said, “When I put my hot lap in I nearly crashed, running on under braking. I wasn’t really confident in the bike but towards the end I built some up. In that second session I was fastest man on track but the conditions weren’t as good as yesterday. I’m on the front row but struggling a little bit. In the race things should pan out a bit differently. Normally I would come here and things come easy but it has been harder to go fast now.”

“Really we have had a great start to the weekend,” said Team Manager Ronald Ten Kate. “We have both riders on the front row, with the bonus of pole position. Tomorrow will be a pretty hard race, with 5-6 people likely to battle for the race win – even if there is a big gap in times back to the lower places.”

World Supersport Championship
Round Two – Phillip Island
26- 28 March
Final Qualifying


1. K. Muggeridge, AUS, Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR, 1’35.994
2. K. Curtain, AUS, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’36.164
3. B. Parkes, AUS, Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR, 1’36.384
4. J. Brookes, AUS, Honda CBR600RR, 1’36.425
5. F. Foret, FRA, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’36.533
6. S. Charpentier, FRA, Honda CBR600RR, 1’36.555
7. J. vd Goorbergh, NED, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’36.838
8. K. Fujiwara, JPN, Suzuki GSX 600R, 1;36.943
9. C. Kellner, GER, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’37.278
10. L. Lanzi, ITA, Ducati 749 R, 1’37.300

Vermeulen Takes Superb Second Place in PI Superpole

Chris Vermeulen made another big career step after the Superpole competition at Phillip Island, securing second on his all-new Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR. Seventh overall after regular qualifying, Vermeulen rode assuredly and at full pace to secure second place on the grid, with a lap time of 1:34.398.

This beat his previous best time of 1:35.239 from normal qualifying, and put him second behind convincing Superpole winner Regis Laconi (Ducati), who set a 1:33.427. Vermeulen’s best was firmly ahead of fastest man in regulation qualifying Steve Martin (Ducati) and fourth placed Superpole competitor Leon Haslam (Ducati).

“I’m happy to be on the front row, that was my goal,” said Vermeulen. “The bike is getting better and better, that’s all I can say really. We only had a new bike at the start of the year and we’re getting more and more parts as we go on. Hopefully we’re going to be even more of a threat soon. The move from Supersport to Superbike has not been that hard and things are going well. Regis put in a superb lap, so congratulations to him for that.”

Team Manager Ronald Ten Kate was pleased at the level and speed of progress the team has made since the start of their SBK adventure only a scant three months ago. “That’s a great result Chris and all the Superbike team,” he stated. “The bike is improving each time we go out and everything is moving in the right direction. For Chris to start on the front row was important for the race and to be second quickest in Superpole in only our second race is a nice r eward. The races are the most important things and now we hope for two good results on Chris’s home circuit – where he won the Supersport race with us last year.”
World Superbike Championship
Round Two – Phillip Island
26 – 28 March 2004
Superpole Qualifying


1. R. Laconi, FRA, Ducati 999 F04, 1’33.427
2. C. Vermeulen, AUS, Ten Kate Honda CBR1000 RR, 1’34.398
3. S. Martin, AUS, Ducati 999 RS, 1’34.600
4. L. Haslam, GBR, Ducati 999 RS, 1’34.838
5. N. Haga, JPN, Ducati 999 RS, 1’35.018
6. J. Toseland, GBR, Ducati 999 F04, 1’35.034
7. T. Corser, AUS, Petronas FP1, 1’35.179
8. G. McCoy, AUS, Ducati 999 RS, 1’35.190
9. M Borciani, ITA, Ducati 999 RS, 1’35.357
10. P. Chili, ITA, Ducati 999 RS, 1’35.472


More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

LACONI (DUCATI FILA) POWERS TO POLE #2 OF THE YEAR IN AUSTRALIA

Phillip Island (Australia), Saturday 27 March: Regis Laconi (Ducati Fila) took his second pole position of the year in a superb Ducati-Honda battle at Phillip Island as he out-gunned his Ten Kate rival Chris Vermeulen by almost one second. The young Australian was holding the pole right until the very end of the one-lap dash with 1:34.398 but Laconi put in an incredible time of 1:33.427 to clinch the pole.

“For me the championship starts in Phillip Island! After my double zero in Valencia I am so happy to be on pole here in Australia,” declared Laconi. “I like this track , we have worked so well with the team to find good settings on the bike and try to be fast for the race.and we succeeded!”

“Before I wasn’t so quick in this one-lap grid qualifying session, but this year it looks like I am super-fast in Superpole!” he added. “For sure we lost a bit of grip in the afternoon when it got warmer, but it was less windy. We worked on the tyres and the settings but made no big changes from the morning, and the bike is OK for the race.”

James Toseland had a positive day on the second Ducati Fila 999, cancelling out his tenth-place performance yesterday to move up to sixth overall in qualifying, a position he then held in Superpole, and the 23-year-old will start tomorrow’s two races from the second row of the grid.

“It wasn’t a bad lap really in Superpole until the last corner but then there was a massive gust of wind that sent me wide and lost me a couple of tenths of a second. Without that I would have been on the front row for sure,” declared Toseland. ” It’s been a difficult weekend up to now anyway and it could have been a lot worse so I’m happy with the way things have turned out.

“It’s not too bad starting on the second row because things are different in the race and with the tyres after half race distance it’s just a question of hanging in there. I’m happy with my set-up now, because after yesterday’s problems we just went back to what we had here in January to change the main suspension geometry to what we had at the tests and the bike feels a lot more comfortable now,” he concluded.

STARTING-GRID: 1. Laconi (Ducati Fila) 1:33.427; 2. Vermeulen (Honda) 1:34.398; 3. Martin (DFX Ducati) 1:34.600; 4. Haslam (Renegade Ducati) 1:34.838; 5. Haga (Renegade Ducati) 1:35.018; 6. Toseland (Ducati Fila) 1:35.034; 7. Corser (Petronas) 1:35.179; 8. McCoy (Xerox Ducati) 1:35.190; etc.

ROW 3 START FOR LANZI (DUCATI BREIL) AT PHILLIP ISLAND

Phillip Island (Australia), Saturday 27 March: Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Breil) will start tomorrow’s second round of the World Supersport Championship from row 3 of the grid after qualifying in tenth position.

22-year-old Lanzi, from Cesena, Italy, was unable to improve on the time of 1:37.300 he set in yesterday’s opening session, and slipped down from sixth to tenth as the Supersport battle heated up at the front.

But the youngster, who powered his way to a unexpected fourth place finish on his and the 749R’s debut at Valencia one month ago, is convinced he can pull off another positive result in tomorrow’s 21-lap race.

“I hoped for a better position but unfortunately it wasn’t to be,” he declared. “We made a series of modifications this morning but we realised it wasn’t the right way to go so we switched back to yesterday’s settings.”

“We then had a few minor problems in the afternoon and it was only in the last couple of laps that we were able to fit a tyre that was the same as yesterday’s and we immediately improved by one second, but by then it was too late.”

“I’m disappointed about this because I lost out on the second row. It’s still one row better than Valencia, so I feel sure I can get a decent start and get another good result.”