The following is from Ducati… The second qualifying session of the weekend, held this morning, saw all three Ducati Xerox riders improve on the times they set yesterday, to qualify for Superpole in third (Bayliss), seventh (Fabrizio) and eighth place (Canepa). Superpole was action packed from the offset, with an immediate flying lap by Kiyonari, the first rider out, which really set the pace, as the next seven riders to exit were unable to beat his fast time. Niccolo’ Canepa, participating in his very first Superpole here this afternoon, was the first of the three Ducati Xerox riders to go out and completed a near perfect lap to take eventual sixth place on tomorrow’s grid. Michel Fabrizio followed him out, beating the times set by the entire field up until that point. The final group of three riders included Troy Bayliss who really made his Superpole lap count to take pole position for the fourth time this season. Troy Bayliss 1m58.3s “Brno has always been something of a bogey track for me but I hope that this weekend we are finally turning that around. The new surface of the track has really improved the grip which is great news. This morning went well and then in Superpole this afternoon, when I saw Corser’s time, I knew I was going to have to put in a really fast lap to be able to beat it and I managed that, but then Max (Biaggi) went out and I was worried he might in turn beat me. I hope tomorrow stays dry and then we’ll see but I have to say it would be pretty special to have a win here this time around.” Michel Fabrizio 1m58.8s “It’s a circuit that I really like and so I’m happy to get a place on the first row here. We have to see tomorrow whether I can make the good start that I need to really be in the running. We did a long-run this morning and it seemed to go ok but it’s obviously going to be hard tomorrow and I’ll no doubt have to fight once again against the two Troys and Biaggi!” Niccolo’ Canepa 1m59.3s “As it’s the first time that I’ve ever taken part in Superpole I have to say I’m really pleased with my performance. During my Superpole lap I made a small mistake and if it weren’t for that I’d have been a couple of tenths faster I think but I can’t complain with a place on the second row for tomorrow’s race. We’re still planning to make a few more little changes this evening to try during the morning’s warm-up as we could still improve our race pace but for now, I’m more than happy.” The following is from Suzuki… Team Suzuki Alstare rider Fonsi Nieto finished seventh quickest in Superpole and will start tomorrow’s pair of 20-lap races from the second row of the grid. His team mate Yukio Kagayama will be just behind on row three, with Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner alongside him. Ducatis dominated the front row of the grid, with Troy Bayliss taking his fourth Superpole of the year. His fellow countryman Troy Corser (Yamaha) is second, with Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) third and Max Biaggi (Ducati) fourth. Fonsi – 7th, 1:59.360 I am happy because today I found a good rhythm over a lot of laps on race tyres and was still going consistently fast at the end of eighteen laps. I made a little mistake in Superpole in the last sector, but the second row of the grid is OK here. So far the weekend has been going well. I am happy with the bike and I don’t think we’ll make any changes in the warm-up tomorrow morning. Every time we go out, the grip improves and I think there will be even more grip tomorrow. Whatever happens, I am going for the podium in both races. Max – 9th, 1:59.497 My Superpole lap was bit funny because I didn’t make any mistakes, felt good on the bike but the time was not good! It was strange because I had a feeling like that in the free practice this afternoon when I was on race tyres. For me the grip was better in the morning than the afternoon when I had a bit of a front end chatter. The third row of the grid is not so good, but the first corner is quite far from start so as long as I can get off the line quickly, I have a chance to be in the lead group straightaway. If I can make two good starts, there is no reason why I cannot get on the podium. Yukio – 10th, 1:59.537 I am not so happy to be on the third row of the grid, but I think that is because my Superpole lap was not so good. I made a little mistake in sector two, lost some time and that was that. I got into a turn a bit too hot, braked a bit too hard and then lost my drive exiting the corner. My biggest problem at the moment is getting the best settings for the electronics. When you have good settings, you can push very hard, but we have not yet found the ideal solution. We will try some changes in the warm-up tomorrow morning and see if we can find the best compromise for this track. The following is from FGSport… Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) grabbed Superpole for round 9 of the WSBK championship with a blistering record lap of 1 minute 58.345 seconds at the newly-resurfaced Automotodrom Brno circuit. Today’s pole was the 22nd of the points leader’s career, and his fourth this season, a result that takes him past Carl Fogarty in the all-time pole classification into second behind Troy Corser on 42. Bayliss’s chief rival today in Superpole was in fact Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB), who was just one tenth of a second down. Third quickest was Bayliss’s Ducati Xerox team-mate Michel Fabrizio, while fourth went to another Italian Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati), quickest overall in qualifying. Troy Bayliss: “It hasn’t always looked good on this track for us, especially last year, and it’s been a bit of a bogey track for me as well. I’ve never really had great results here in the past and I’d love to turn that around. When I saw Corser’s lap I knew I had to do a good one to beat that and when Max was out, I would have given him a real pat on the back if he had gone faster than that.” Troy Corser: “There’s always a risk when you go out before the end of the Superpole and set the quickest time, especially when Bayliss is around because I know he’s going to grit his teeth and try and get there. But we’ve got a really good set-up for race tyres tomorrow, we’ve done a pretty good race distance and it’s all looking really good.” Michel Fabrizio: “I really like this circuit and I’ve always gone well here. We’ve done a great job during the weekend and my race pace is pretty good. I wanted to go even better in Superpole but unfortunately there’s a ‘granddad’ alongside me who always pulls out something special. But third is a good result and I’m really satisfied.” Max Biaggi: “I really like the Brno track and love racing here. I think we’ve learnt a lot this weekend and for today fourth place is OK. I wanted to go faster a little bit but it didn’t happen. My team and I have done a good job to get on the front row of the grid, which is good because we’re going to have to start well and be up at the front tomorrow.” The biggest mover today was Ryuichi Kiyonari (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who powered to fifth place and a row 2 start in Superpole after qualifying for the one-lap dash in sixteenth. The Japanese rider will be accompanied by WSBK rookie Niccolò Canepa (Ducati Xerox), Spain’s Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki Alstare) and Czech star Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati). Bayliss’s chief rivals in the championship failed to emerge, Max Neukirchner (Alstare Suzuki) and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) both qualifying on the third row, while Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) is even further behind on row 4.
