Haga
fastest during day one at Losail
THREE MANUFACTURERS IN THE TOP THREE AT
LOSAIL
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) proved to be the fastest rider in the
first session of the weekend at Losail, after carving 0.6 seconds from
the previous best lap of the 5.4km circuit.
A close session saw James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) ride to
within 0.037 seconds of Haga, and edge out SBK ‘rookie’ Max Biaggi (Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) to third. Biaggi was the early pacesetter, proving
an instant hit when the first competitive laps were played out under the
hot sun in the Qatari desert.
The overnight front row four was completed by 1996 and 2005 World
Champion Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia), in his first competitive SBK
ride for his new employers.
LANZI AHEAD OF BAYLISS AFTER OPENING SHOTS ARE FIRED
Given his speed during testing, the biggest surprise of the day was
reserved for the news that Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) was not only not
the fastest rider, but also that he was also outperformed on the day by
his team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi. The top two Ducati riders were fifth and
sixth respectively. Former Qatar race winner Yukio Kagayama (Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) earned seventh fastest time, and the big seven were
the only ones within a second of provisional pole. The second row was
completed by multiple SBK race winner of years gone by, Ruben Xaus (Team
Sterilgarda Ducati), a welcome sight in the top eight. British rider Dean
Ellison (Team Pedercini 999RS) was 18th from 23 entrants.
ROLFO TOP TEN WITH NIETO FASTEST KAWASAKI RIDER
Roby Rolfo (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) is far enough along his Honda
learning curve to be ninth fastest after the first day of qualifying, and
also did well enough to ace the top Kawasaki rider on show, Fonsi Nieto
(PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) who was tenth. Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse)
was only 13th but is almost sure to make improvements on day two. The
private riders placed well behind the best of the officially supported
machines, as Michel Fabrizio (DFX Corse Honda) and Max Neukirchner
(Suzuki Germany) completed the overnight third row.
BROOKES ON THE PACE WITH MUGGERIDGE UNLUCKY
Alto Evolution Honda rider Josh Brookes scored 14th best time on his
CBR1000RR, but a double bike failure for his fellow Aussie and Alto
Evolution rider Karl Muggeridge prevented him from setting even a single
qualifying lap. The last two riders into the top 16 today were lone
Yamaha YZF Team rider Shinichi Nakatomi and DFX Corse Honda rider Steve
Martin. New SBK inductee Jakub Smrz (Team Caracchi Ducati SC) was a
battling 17th, one place up on Ellison.
WORLD SUPERSPORT
Katsuaki Fujiwara (Althea Honda) proved he was back on top form at one of
his favourite circuits by taking the fastest time in the opening
qualifying session. His time of 2’03.258 was less than 0.2 seconds from
the previous fastest lap. The early formbook was also written by the
irrepressible Gianluca Nannelli (Team Caracchi Ducati SC 749R) who was
second; only 0.219 seconds from Fujiwara and his new Honda CBR600RR.
The Hannspree Ten Kate Honda pairing of Kenan Sofuoglu and Sebastien
Charpentier filled the overnight front row, while the still-developing
GIL Kawasaki of Fabien Foret, the 2002 Champion, scored a more than
creditable fifth place in a line-up of 34 riders.
Kevin Curtain (Yamaha SSP Racing) was the R6 filling in a Kawasaki
sandwich, as he edged out Pere Riba (GIL Kawasaki) for seventh, just
0.691 seconds from Fujiwara after only one day of action. Curtain’s
team-mate Broc Parkes was eighth, the last rider less than a second from
Fujiwara.
Despite the first unofficial practice session for Supersport being twice
stopped and delayed to clean up the track surface, the afternoon timed
session went ahead as planned, with only one rider from the 34 possibles
outside the qualifying limit.
