Ducati
duo on top at Valencia
(WorldSBK Release)
DUCATI DUO LEAD THE PACK AFTER ONE DAY AT
VALENCIA
Despite losing most of his right little finger in a race one crash at
Donington Park two weeks ago, Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) proved not only
fit to ride at Valencia but capable of the best ever SBK time on day one.
His 1'34.599 was only just ahead of the previous best, but was
nonetheless set on mass-produced race rubber, as qualifying tires are not
made available to any rider unless and until they qualify for Superpole
on Saturday. A good day for Ducati was a great day for the locals, with
Sterilgarda Berik's Spanish star, Ruben Xaus, scoring second quickest
time on his year-old factory machine.
TOSELAND LEADS THE FOUR-CYLINDER CHARGE
Championship leader James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was
instantly on the pace at Valencia, despite not testing here in the
official sessions in mid-March. The most recent race winner in SBK,
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) was fourth fastest today, only just
ahead of Max Biaggi (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) who is currently second
overall. The Valencia day one top six is rounded out by Troy Corser
(Yamaha Motor Italia) who, like team-mate Haga, has tested at the Spanish
circuit on his all-new 2007 machine recently.
LANZI SEVENTH WITH NEUKIRCHNER ONCE MORE THE STAR PRIVATEER
Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) was seventh in the day one standings, just
over a second from his leading team-mate, but arguably the ride of the
day once more came from Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Germany) who was eighth
quickest. On his home circuit, Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) was
ninth, just ahead of Karl Muggeridge (Alto Evolution Honda) and his
team-mate Joshua Brookes. Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)
went 12th fastest.
WORLD SUPERSPORT - KENAN AGAIN FASTEST MAN
Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) led the day one charge towards
ultimate Valencia Supersport honours, scoring the quickest day one lap of
1'37.521. He was followed, 0.208 seconds behind, by Katsuaki Fujiwara
(Althea Honda) and then Kevin Curtain (Yamaha SSP Racing), who is still
recovering from recent collarbone surgery, after a crash at Donington.
Local rider Pere Riba (Gil Kawasaki) followed up his pole at Donington
with a fourth best time at his home track. With double World Champion
Sebastien Charpentier missing due to pelvic and coccyx injury, he was
replaced by Andrew Pitt at Valencia, and the 2001 champion was
immediately effective, going fifth on the day one leader board. Another
former World Champion, Fabien Foret (Gil Kawasaki) was sixth fastest.
Many riders opted to sit out the first untimed session, held in patchy
wet conditions this morning, and only ride in the actually qualifying
session itself. Barry Veneman (Pioneer Hoegee Suzuki) added another
manufacturer to the front two provisional rows, going seventh fastest.
SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP - BADOVINI AND MV LEAD OFF
Ayrton Badovini (Biassono Unionbike MV Agusta) was the early leader in
dry conditions in the 'big' Superstock class, with a slender 0.177 second
advantage over Michel Pirro (Team Lorenzini by Leoni Yamaha), and a 0.332
gap back to Claudio Corti (Team Lorenzini by Leoni Yamaha). Didier Van
Keymeulen (TTSL MGM Racing Yamaha) went fourth, with Donington race
winner Niccolo Canepa (Ducati Xerox 1098) fifth.
SUPERSTOCK 600 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP - COLUCCI THE RAIN MASTER
Domenico Colucci (Ducati Xerox 749) got the jump on his peers after a
sudden deluge of rain and thunder in the Superstock 600 session at
Valencia, and on a wet rack none came close to his best time of 2'11.412.
French teenager Sylvain Barrier (Yamaha Coutelle Junior Team) scored
second best, with Andrea Antonelli (Team Italia Megabike AX) third,
ensuring there would be three different machines in the top three places.
