FIM Supersport World Championship Phillip Island Victoria, Australia March 1, 2008 Final Qualifying Results: 1. Andrew PITT (Hon CBR600RR), 1:34.592 2. Josh BROOKES (Hon CBR600RR), 1:35.788 3. Broc PARKES (Yam YZF-R6), 1:35.506 4. Fabien FORET (Yam YZF-R6), 1:35.195 5. Jonathan REA (Hon CBR600RR), 1:35.216 6. Robbin HARMS (Hon CBR600RR), 1:35.241 7. Joan LASCORZ (Hon CBR600RR), 1:35.500 8. Ivan CLEMENTI (Tri Daytona 675), 1:35.541 9. Gianluca VIZZIELLO (Hon CBR600RR), 1:35.625 10. Gianluca NANNELLI (Hon CBR600RR), 1:35.636 11. David SALOM (Yam YZF-R6), 1:35.730 12. Craig JONES (Hon CBR600RR), 1:35.985 13. Mark AITCHISON (Tri Daytona 675), 1:36.101 14. Massimo ROCCOLI (Yam YZF-R6), 1:36.135 15. Katsuaki FUJIWARA (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:36.148 16. Chris WALKER (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:36.267 17. Garry MCCOY (Tri Daytona 675), 1:36.354 18. Didier VAN KEYMEULEN (Suz GSX-R600), 1:36.363 19. Andrea ANTONELLI (Hon CBR600RR), 1:36.449 20. Graeme GOWLAND (Hon CBR600RR), 1:36.457 More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Andrew Pitt put in a great performance today, dominating his home track in the second and final qualifying session on the twisty turns of Phillip Island and took pole position for fellow Australian rider Joshua Brookes. Pitt beat the lap record, set last year by former HANNspree Ten Kate Honda rider Sebastian Charpentier, with a new best of 1’34.592. Jonathan Rea looked well on pace throughout the session and set for a front row start until he lost his 4th place in the last 30 second of the session to Fabian Foret and claimed 5th position which put him on the second row on the grid for tomorrow’s race. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager; It’s a well-deserved bounce back from the Supersport disaster we went through last week. It proves both our riders are very competitive. Andrew Pitt has had a great weekend so far, lets hope he can continue doing so on raceday. Jonathan looked set for a front row start today, considering his injury it would have been well deserved, but 5th positions is a good performance as well. Today, both riders have shown they are class act racers and we are ready for tomorrow’s battle of the island, hopefully bringing home some good results. Andrew Pitt, 1’34.592; I had some good laps in the last session. I obviously had a bit of help from Brookes, when we came out of the pits together he was in front of me and I just caught up with him a few tenths. The team have made the set up of the bike a little better, though I think there’s still room for improvement, specially for the last turn, we’ll have to make it better through there. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race and will hopefully put in a good performance. Jonathan Rea, 1’35.216; My qualifying session was satisfactory. I feel my race pace is quite consistent and I’m looking forward to tomorrows race, I really enjoy the circuit here. I think it’s going to be a dogfight to be up the front tomorrow but I would like nothing better then spoil the Australian party on their home soil and set a good result for the team. More, from a press release issued by Scuderia Triumph-SC: DIFFICULT FINAL QUALIFYING FOR SCUDERIA TRIUMPH-SC (Phillip Island Australia March 1, 2008) The Scuderia Triumph SC team were unable to replicate their impressive day one performance at Phillip Island due to a lack of grip, which prevented Garry McCoy from realising his full potential in the final qualifying session today. After securing a place in the top ten yesterday, McCoy continued to push hard and was able to reduce his lap time to 1m 36.354s, but due to the high level of competition in the World Supersport class, he actually dropped back seven places and will start Sunday’s 21 lap race in 17th position. Italian Ilario Dionisi made the most of the final qualifying session to set a lap time just one second off his more experienced team-mate and move up to 27th on the grid for tomorrows race. Unfortunately the determined 24 year old was held up by other riders on his quick laps, which resulted him being denied a position higher up the grid.. Garry McCoy said: “To be honest I’m still a little lost to what happened in that session as I really struggled for grip. There was a little bit more wind and the temperature had gone up, but as soon as I cracked the throttle on the exit of the turns the rear just started sliding. I tried a different rear tyre but it was exactly the same. The frustrating thing is that it’s been working well in all the other sessions and I was confident of improving my time and position this afternoon. On the plus side I think our package generally works better in a race situation as opposed to pushing for a single fast lap so hopefully we’ll be able to have a better day tomorrow.” Ilario Dionisi: “I feel happy with the bike, but the big problem I had today was getting a clear lap as there is a lot of riders out on track. The tyres for me are working OK and I have made my selection for the race. Now I need to focus on my start tomorrow because I am a long way back, but for sure I will be ‘full gas’ and will be giving it everything I’ve got.” Team Manager Stefano Caracchi commented: “This morning everything worked well and we are still trying to understand exactly what happened this afternoon because we struggled for grip. In the test here in January we had 40 degree track temperatures and the grip was good. This morning the track was 22 degrees and everything was OK but this afternoon it was 38 degrees and our set-up did not work.” More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Racing: Pole position for HANNspree Ten Kate Honda HANNspree Ten Kate Honda’s Andrew Pitt has secured his first pole position of the season at Phillip Island ahead of tomorrow’s race. The Australian was dominant at his home track and posted a best time of 1’34.592 to seal the top spot. British team-mate Jonathan Rea will start from the second row in fifth position. It is a strong starting place for the World Supersport rookie who is still carrying an injury following an unfortunate accident during the opening race of the season at Qatar. The HANNspree Ten Kate Honda team is aiming to pick up vital points in tomorrow’s race to kickstart the 2008 season for them. HANNspree Stiggy Motorsport Honda was close to matching the success of its multiple championship-winning counterpart in today’s qualifying session. Josh Brookes also claimed a front row position and will start the race from second place next to Pitt. His team-mate Robbin Harms will start alongside Rea on the second grid in sixth position. The third HANNspree-supported World Supersport team is still struggling to get to grips with the Phillip Island circuit. Riders Gianluca Nannelli and Andrea Antonelli will start from the third and fifth rows in tenth and 19th positions respectively. More, from a press release issued by Parkalgar Honda: Jones digging deep down under PARKALGAR HONDA’S Craig Jones will be digging deep into his reserves to battle for a top six position in the second round of the World Supersport Championship at Phillip Island in Australia after qualifying on the third row in 12th place. The British title contender from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, admits that he has not got to grips with the fast and flowing 4445m track yet. He set his qualifying time on a race tyre while most other riders used a sticky qualifying tyre – which means he has genuine pace to compete for the top six. Parkalgar Honda Portuguese racer Miguel Praia continued his steady improvement in lap time during qualification, ending up 29th. He believes there is more to come once he gels with the circuit. Australian Honda rider Andrew Pitt is on pole position. The racing starts at 0320CET on Sunday, 2nd March, with all the action broadcast on Eurosport or available to watch online at www.worldsbk.com. Craig Jones: “It has been a frustrating couple of days. The Qatar circuit clicked with me and I immediately found a fast line around and was able to get on the podium. Phillip Island is not like that and no matter how hard I am working, it is difficult to find time. No previous testing here is playing against us. “On the positive side we are making a small change to my Parkalgar Honda for the race that will help it through the corners. On a race tyre there are a lot of us close together but I think I can achieve a top five, particularly if I can figure a way around the track. The bike’s great, so I’ve got to dig deep and go for the result.” Miguel Praia: “I am happy with my Parkalgar Honda and think that the improvement in lap time is down to me. My bike will have the same change for the race as Craig’s, which should make me slightly faster, but really the big time gain will come from me understanding the circuit better and riding faster. “My target was top 10 for this race and that will be hard to achieve from 29th on the grid. I am not sure where I can finish but I will be examining the circuit in my mind before the race and will do my best.” Simon Buckmaster, Team Manager: “Phillip Island is a difficult circuit to learn and there is a definite advantage for home based riders or those that have raced here a lot before. Both Parkalgar riders are suffering from a lack of time on track, whether testing or racing. “Craig’s qualification was on a race tyre which indicates he is good for the top six when you compare against other people’s times on similar rubber. We will be making a change to the forks on his bike that will help his CBR600RR turn and hold its line better and that will help. The top six is realistic and compared to last year when he qualified 18th and finished 14th, that would be a big step forward. “Miguel will benefit from the same change to his bike as Craig and then it will be down to him to see how well he can finish. It is a tough Championship and the pace at the front is relentless and he needs to find more performance from within.” More, from a press release issued by Motorcycling Australia: Aussie trifecta at World Suersport’s second qualifier Australian riders Andrew Pitt (Hanspree Ten Kate Honda), Josh Brookes (Hanspree Stiggy motorsport Honda) and Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) have taken the top three positions following the second and final qualifier in the World Supersport class at the Australian round of the 2008 World Superbike Championship. Pitt brought Aussies home with a time of 1’34.592 followed closely by Brookes who clocked 1’34.890. Brookes, who recorded the fastest time in the practice session this morning, was happy to be back on the Phillip Island circuit. “It’s great coming back to Phillip Island,” Brookes said. “I love the place.” Asked if he had a home track advantage Brookes said that with Phillip Island, it was more than that. “It’s not just knowledge of the track it’s loving the track itself, and I really enjoy riding here which makes everything that much easier.” “It’s great to come home, with good fans, a few friends and family members around and to be in a place you love.” Parkes rounded out the Aussie top three with a time of 1’35.059. With one race to go, hopes are high for an Australian taking the chequered flag tomorrow afternoon. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Parkes and Foret earn front row starts A tense final qualifying session held under the warm Australian sun ended with both Fabien Foret and Broc Parkes able to start tomorrow’s 21-lap World Supersport Championship race from the front row. Each rider had to push hard in the latter stages to set their best time of the weekend, with the Yamaha World Supersport Team’s combined efforts putting both its riders on the front row for the first time this season. Foret and Parkes each found a lack of grip from the 4.445km Phillip Island track surface, despite having had a highly positive test in the winter months on their all-new Yamaha YZF-R6 machines. Parkes will start from the third position on the 36-rider grid on Sunday after setting a time of 1’35.059, with Foret on the final front row grid spot, thanks to a 1’35.195. Fast and consistent lap times did not come easily for either rider, as each worked his way through a wide variety of set-up options in search of an ideal match with their potential race tyres. David Salom (Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team) had another strong qualifying experience, going 11th on the grid and earning a third row start. Massimo Roccoli improved on his first day lap time by over a second and promoted himself to 14th on the grid, for a fourth row start. Broc Parkes (3rd – 1’35.089 – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “That was a bit of a mixed session and it took a while to get going. I hoped it would be easier than it turned out to be but we had a few more problems than expected. We had some grip problems and we have been struggling a bit with that all weekend. We have some ideas for the warm-up in the morning, but we were too late today to try them out in the final qualifying. Our grip concerns were mainly mid corner, from the rear. We didn’t try too many soft tyres because we were looking for a good race set-up. Front row for me is good, better than Qatar, and the race is always different from qualifying. There will be a lot of guys in with a chance tomorrow.” Fabien Foret(4th – 1’35.185 – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “Our winter test here was not really exceptional but it was pretty good. However, from the start of this weekend it has been hard to find enough rear grip. I tried many different set-ups, on fresh and used tyres, but there’s not much difference. Because of that we couldn’t really chase the pole time, we needed more grip to do that sort of lap time. Because we had to try so many set-ups today we could not do a lot of long distance runs. So we will see how the weather is tomorrow before we make a tyre choice.” Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team “We need to improve our set up a bit for the race. Our lap times are not so bad, both riders are on the front row, but they say that there is not so much grip from the track. It is difficult to find more grip and keep the steering characteristics we need, but those are our aims in warm-up tomorrow. Neither of our potential race tyres is working as well as we hoped. We tried both tyres at the test in January and both were good for grip and life, but not now. So we have to find a way to get more life out of them.” David Salom – (11th – 1’35.730 – Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team) “We made up time on yesterday all around the track, not just at one or two points, but this afternoon was hard because of the heat and the wind. There was a bit of rear spin this afternoon as well. I think we have chosen a race tyre but only if the temperature stays the same way as today. We will use warm-up to try a couple of things, just to be sure.” Massimo Roccoli – (14th – 1’36.135 – Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) “I used medium compound tyres most of the time, to help me go round the last two high speed corners. That is the most difficult part of the circuit for me so I wanted to be safe there. I will make final set-up changes in morning warm-up, and choose the race tyre then.” More, from a press release issued by GIL Kawasaki: GIL Kawasaki riders Katsuaki Fujiwara and Chris Walker qualified within 0.119 seconds of each other at Phillip Island, the second round of the WSS Championship. Fujiwara and Walker Qualify Together The team’s pre-season test at Phillip Island should have given the Kawasaki duo a degree of advantage over most of their many competitors, but the track conditions so far have been very different than those found in January, making the job of choosing tyres and setting fast times a complicated one. Fujiwara went 15th and Walker 16th, meaning that both riders start from the fourth row of the grid. The 21-lap race may hold far greater rewards than qualifying for each of the Kawasaki runners, as a GIL Kawasaki machine won this race last season. Katsuaki Fujiwara: “Today was a bit better than the first day of qualifying but not as fast as we went in testing. We had a good feeling with the bike then and I made a 1’35.7 lap. This weekend it has been so difficult, even with the same settings as we ran at the test. We are getting a lot of rear tyre spin, it’s difficult to control and that doesn’t help the bike while turning. If there is not so much grip then the suspension does not go through its full travel, and that makes it hard to go faster. I have chosen a race tyre already, if we have the same conditions as today, of course. We should be better over the full race distance than a single lap, so all we need is a good start.” Chris Walker: “Grip has not been my major problem, it is more the feeling from the front. That and the bike not working as well as it could over the bumps. We have had to set the suspension stiffer than it was when I tested here in January, because I have to push much harder in real ‘race’ conditions. We have got rid of our chatter but in the fast sections the bike is being bounced around a bit. At that point I am not able to open the gas. There are a couple of corners where Chris Walker is getting it wrong and a couple of corners where the set-up is not helping me, so I need to dig in a bit. We have definitely made a step forward, and we have qualified a row higher than we did in Qatar.”