Qualifying Report Assen 04-27-07

QUALIFYING 1 REPORT - 27/04/2007 Yamaha in provisional second and fifth after a good day at Assen Yamaha have had a good day in the first qualifying session today at the fifth round of the World Superbike Championship in Assen. In sunny, warm and dry weather Haga took provisional second qualifying place and Corser finished in fifth with both riders promising more progress tomorrow. Noriyuki Haga started the afternoon qualifying session in fourth place but went on to top the board in front of Xaus and Toseland with only five minutes to go. Unfortunately, in the dying minutes of the session Toseland came back to take the top slot, pushing Haga down to second. Troy Corser started the afternoon qualifying session in second where he remained for most of the session until Toseland knocked him down into third. Muggeridge and Bayliss also posted faster times putting him in a comfortable fifth slot for tomorrow's second qualifying. Team Yamaha YZF rider Shinichi Nakatomi also had a good day, much preferring Assen's dry conditions to the wet weather experienced at Valencia two weeks ago. Concentrating on getting a good set-up, the young Japanese rider put in 20 laps, doing the second fastest speed of over 285kph and finishing the day in 14th. Toseland currently tops the provisional qualifying grid at his team's home track with Haga only 0.147 seconds behind in second and Xaus in third. Haga currently holds the Superpole record at Assen with a 1'39.009 which he claimed last year. He will be looking to equal this in tomorrow's qualifying and Superpole sessions, especially as this weekend will be his 137th race start with Yamaha. This will equal Fabrizio Pirovano's record with Yamaha. Noriyuki Haga (2nd - 1'39.750 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "I used a soft tyre for this afternoon's session but I know I won't be able to use it for the race because it will be too warm for it to last the race distance. I have already made a tyre choice for tomorrow, though, and we will make some more minor modifications tomorrow to try and get pole position. Second place is okay today but I want to go for pole position tomorrow." Troy Corser (5th - 1'39.938 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "Today has been good for my first day on this bike at this track. We now have a good idea of the direction we need to go in tomorrow. This afternoon we made some changes and found some positive results as well as some negative ones. I also rode both bikes to get as much data as possible, but we didn't have enough time to really try out all the changes we made. Tomorrow will be about finding a good race setting and to continue testing the changes we have made to the gearbox and suspension. I'm feeling good about how it's going, though. We're really close." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "I am quite confident after today's practice and qualifying sessions. We've had a problem free start to the weekend and tomorrow we will focus on deciding which tyres to use for the race. We already have an idea which we will confirm tomorrow." Shinichi Nakatomi - 14th - 1'41.032 - Team Yamaha YZF) "I have had a good day today and so far this weekend everything feels much better than at Valencia. I am very positive for this weekend's result and I am working hard on finding a good set-up. I am certain that tomorrow we will find it."

Qualifying 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, James Toseland, Honda, GBR, 1'39.603 2, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 1'39.750 3, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 1'39.765 4, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 1'39.806 5, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 1'39.938 6, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 1'40.092 7, Fonsi Nieto, Kawasaki, ESP, 1'40.201 8, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 1'40.355 9, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 1'40.445 10, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 1'40.480 11, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 1'40.537 12, Max Biaggi, Suzuki, ITA, 1'40.804 13, Michel Fabrizio, Honda, ITA, 1'40.844 14, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 1'41.032 15, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 1'41.109 16, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'41.155 17, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 1'41.273 18, Christian Zaiser, MV Agusta, AUT, 1'43.732 19, Luca Morelli, Ducati, ITA, 1'43.756 20, Dean Ellison, Ducati, GBR, 1'44.869 21, Marek Svoboda, Yamaha, CZE, 1'45.352 QUALIFYING 1 REPORT - 27/04/2007 Parkes takes second in day one qualifying at Assen Parkes showed that he is back on the pace today by taking second place in qualifying following his accident at Donington only a month ago when he broke his right collar bone. And with Steve Martin settling into Curtain's seat while he recovers from the leg injuries he sustained at Valencia, the team is confident of good results this weekend. Parkes started the morning's free practice session focusing on ensuring he was happy with the set-up and trying out several tyre options for the race. In the qualifying session Parkes proceeded to take second place on a flying lap before being knocked down to fourth by Sofuoglu and Charpentier. The session was then red flagged but as soon as it was re-started Parkes went out and re-took second place where he ended up only 0.017 seconds off pole position man Charpentier. Time ran out before the Australian could push any further for first place. Today was Steve Martin's first opportunity to ride the R6 since stepping into Curtain's boots. Martin started the morning's free practice session using Parkes settings which he adapted to suit his riding style. Martin hasn't ridden in the supersport class since 2000 but that didn't stop the highly experienced World Superbike rider taking to the R6 within the first few laps. Yamaha Team Italia rider Massimo Roccoli comes to Assen confident after a win in the national Italian championship last weekend at Mugello. His new-found confidence showed today in both sessions with him finishing in eighth. Broc Parkes (2nd - 1'42.191 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "Today's sessions felt good. We tried two bikes which were set-up quite differently and have found a good direction for this weekend. Tomorrow we will concentrate on riding race distance to see if we can find the right tyre before the second qualifying session in the afternoon. But at the moment everything is going the right way for a good result this weekend. My collar bone is still sore and I'm finding it a bit hard to change direction in some of the fast-change corners but it certainly feels a lot better than it did at Valencia." Steve Martin (13th - 1'43.297 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "I'm happy with what I've achieved today considering I have only been on the bike for less than two hours. The bike is great to ride and I feel I am making solid progress. I didn't manage to get a good run on the tyres today due to the oil flag during the session, but I am confident we will go faster tomorrow. I just need to get to know the bike more and understand what it can and can't do." Massimo Roccoli (8th - 1'43.010 - Yamaha Team Italia) "Last weekend's win for me was a great boost to my confidence and the bike is very fast here. Those two things combined make me very happy and confident this weekend. It is thanks to my race engineer that the bike is so good. I am happy with my position and will look to improve on it tomorrow." Qualifying 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Sebastien Charpentier, Honda, FRA, 1'42.174 2, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 1'42.191 3, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 1'42.482 4, Fabien Foret, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'42.755 5, Vesa Kallio, Suzuki, FIN, 1'42.773 6, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 1'42.875 7, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 1'43.000 8, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 1'43.010 9, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 1'43.040 10, Katsuaki Fujiwara, Honda, JPN, 1'43.167 11, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 1'43.241 12, Gianluca Nannelli, Ducati, ITA, 1'43.245 13, Steve Martin, Yamaha, AUS, 1'43.297 14, Davide Giugliano, Kawasaki, ITA, 1'43.369 15, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 1'43.414 16, Vladimir Ivanov, Yamaha, RUS, 1'43.478 17, Simone Sanna, Honda, ITA, 1'43.539 18, Pere Riba, Kawasaki, ESP, 1'43.578 19, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 1'43.601 20, Lorenzo Alfonsi, Honda, ITA, 1'43.624 21, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 1'43.804 22, Javier Fores, Honda, ESP, 1'44.159 23, Arie Vos, Honda, NED, 1'44.162 24, Yoann Tiberio, Honda, FRA, 1'44.200 25, Gianluca Vizziello, Yamaha, ITA, 1'44.227 26, Joan Veijer, Honda, NED, 1'44.252 27, Miguel Praia, Honda, POR, 1'44.475 28, Chris Peris, Yamaha, CAN, 1'44.789 Yamaha Racing Communications

Thanks Shane. :thumbup

JT :cool: Traction control works

Nitro is going to be out for blood on this one.

I believe he can win one and podium the other . I hope Corser does well also , but at this point I:fork am a huge Haga fan !!

i'm a big haga fan to, but i really want JT to win the championship again this year then move onto motogp, he deserves it:rock

JT on pole, awesome lap:rock

QUALIFYING 2 REPORT - 28/04/2007 Yamaha quietly confident of good race pace at Assen The Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team had mixed fortunes in today's Superpole session but are confident of a good race tomorrow following a weekend of consistent lap times and good practice sessions. Having made some adjustment alterations overnight Corser was confident of improving his provisional fifth place from yesterday. This confidence was rewarded with a move up to second place in this morning's qualifying session. A small mistake on his Superpole lap saw Corser slip to sixth position. Haga's Superpole lap was looking good for a front row start until he almost lost the front tyre going into Mandeveen and had to take to the grass. He remained on board and re-joined the circuit but was unable to push for the remainder of the lap due to dirty tyres. Haga had been running in sixth place going into the Superpole session but had to accept the near miss putting him on the fourth row for his 137th race start with Yamaha. Shinichi Nakatomi had less success in today's qualifying when setting changes made prior to the morning's session failed to improve the rider's position. Even though Nakatomi managed to go almost half a second faster compared to yesterday's qualifying, he dropped to 17th overall as other teams made more progress than the Team Yamaha YZF squad. James Toseland will start in pole position with team mates Lanzi and Bayliss in second and third respectively. Biaggi rounds up the front row. Troy Corser (6th - 1'39.422 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "Superpole was disappointing, there's no denying it. I made a small mistake on the back part of the circuit and went into one corner a bit fast and ran a bit wide. But the second row is okay, I'm confident in the lap times so I just need to get a good start tomorrow. I'm happy with the race set up and I have done several long runs on the tyres in free practice so I am comfortable with those." Noriyuki Haga (15th - 1'41.093 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "I lost the front tyre at Mandeveen corner in the middle section of the lap and I had to pick the bike up to save it. Up until that point the bike had been feeling good, though we still need to make some suspension modifications - the data from the Superpole lap will help us with that. I am not thinking about the race win tomorrow right now, I just want to focus on getting our set-up completely sorted and adding to my championship points." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "I am still confident despite our Superpole results because we have been in the top five in practice all weekend. It will be okay for Troy because he starts from the second row and had more opportunity to push through to the front row. It will be more difficult for Nori but we have performed miracles in races before now. We will make some more adjustments overnight and I am sure we will be ready to race tomorrow." Shinichi Nakatomi (17th - 1'40.824 - Team Yamaha YZF) "I am disappointed today after such a good start yesterday. We just need to continue working on our set-up tomorrow morning to see where we can make improvements. Seventeenth is not a good start but we must focus on finishing in the points now." Superpole Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, James Toseland, Honda, GBR, 1'38.603 2, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 1'39.226 3, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 1'39.256 4, Max Biaggi, Suzuki, ITA, 1'39.320 5, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 1'39.411 6, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 1'39.422 7, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 1'39.648 8, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 1'39.928 9, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 1'40.057 10, Fonsi Nieto, Kawasaki, ESP, 1'40.288 11, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 1'40.328 12, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 1'40.376 13, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'40.561 14, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 1'40.674 15, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 1'41.093 16, Michel Fabrizio, Honda, ITA, 1'41.213 Qualifying 2 Pos., Rider, Nat., QUAL I, QUAL II 1, Troy Bayliss, AUS, 1'39.806, 1'39.245 2, Troy Corser, AUS, 1'39.938, 1'39.386 3, James Toseland, GBR, 1'39.603, 1'39.391 4, Ruben Xaus, ESP, 1'39.765, 1'39.567 5, Lorenzo Lanzi, ITA, 1'40.445, 1'39.655 6, Noriyuki Haga, JPN, 1'39.750, 1'40.111 7, Fonsi Nieto, ESP, 1'40.201, 1'39.955 8, Jakub Smrz, CZE, 1'40.355, 1'39.956 9, Max Neukirchner, GER, 1'40.537, 1'39.987 10, Karl Muggeridge, AUS, 1'40.092, 1'40.280 11, Regis Laconi, FRA, 1'41.155, 1'40.377 12, Max Biaggi, ITA, 1'40.804, 1'40.378 13, Joshua Brookes, AUS, 1'40.480, 1'41.172 14, Michel Fabrizio, ITA, 1'40.844, 1'40.480 15, Roberto Rolfo, ITA, 1'41.109, 1'40.666 16, Yukio Kagayama, JPN, 1'41.273, 1'40.822 17, Shinichi Nakatomi, JPN, 1'41.032, 1'40.824 18, Christian Zaiser, AUT, 1'43.732, 1'42.102 19, Dean Ellison, GBR, 1'44.869, 1'43.662 20, Luca Morelli, ITA, 1'43.756, 1'44.438 21, Marek Svoboda, CZE, 1'45.352, 1'44.901 QUALIFYING 2 REPORT - 28/04/2007 First and second row starts tomorrow for Yamaha in World Supersport Both Parkes and replacement rider Steve Martin put in excellent performances today to take third and sixth qualifying places respectively on the grid for tomorrow's race. Having both done two long runs during this morning's free practice session to test out two tyre options for tomorrow, the riders went into the second qualifying session of the weekend confident of their setting choices. In qualifying Parkes lost his provisional second place that he achieved yesterday in the early stages of the session but sliced off over 0.4 seconds to take third qualifying slot in the last five minutes of the session - his highest qualifying position so far this season. This puts Broc in an ideal position to fight for the race win tomorrow and move up the championship standings board. Martin put in a strong show in only his second day on the YZF-R6 and came up from 13th, where he started the day, to sixth position. The ex-World Superbike rider has not ridden in the Supersport series since 2000 but has adapted to the team and the bike with speed and ease. He is replacing fellow Australian Kevin Curtain while he recuperates from the leg injury he suffered at Valencia two weeks ago. Just in front of Martin, Massimo Roccoli continued his positive weekend by securing fifth qualifying place this afternoon. The young Italian's confidence has been boosted by his win in the national championship at Mugello last week as well as finding a good set-up during the day. Broc Parkes (3rd - 1'41.595 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "This is my best qualifying result so far this year. I'm happy because it means I can get on the pace from the very start tomorrow rather than having to battle through the field first. This morning we did two long runs trying two tyre options for tomorrow but we have yet to decide which to use. We will now sit down and look over the data gathered and make the choice." Steve Martin (6th - 1'41.684 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "I'm pretty happy with sixth considering this is only my second day on the bike. We have constantly made steps forward this weekend so far and if we keep doing that then tomorrow will be even better. I was going for the front row, naturally, but second row is okay. The team has made the transition for me really easy and that has helped enormously. We are in a good position for tomorrow's race." Massimo Roccoli (5th - 1'41.672 - Yamaha Team Italia) "Last week's win has been a huge boost to my confidence. I found my race set-up very quickly and I feel my bike is very competitive. I must thank my chief engineer Vanni Lorenzini for this. Today I did my best lap time with the rear tyre that we will use tomorrow so I am very optimistic. I normally get a good start and I am confident that will be the case tomorrow." Qualifying 2 Pos., Rider, Nat., QUAL I, QUAL II 1, Kenan Sofuoglu, TUR, 1'42.482, 1'41.144 2, Sebastien Charpentier, FRA, 1'42.174, 1'41.192 3, Broc Parkes, AUS, 1'42.191, 1'41.595 4, Fabien Foret, FRA, 1'42.755, 1'41.618 5, Massimo Roccoli, ITA, 1'43.010, 1'41.672 6, Steve Martin, AUS, 1'43.297, 1'41.684 7, Andrew Pitt, AUS, 1'43.040, 1'41.761 8, Katsuaki Fujiwara, JPN, 1'43.167, 1'41.835 9, David Salom, ESP, 1'43.000, 1'42.043 10, Vladimir Ivanov, RUS, 1'43.478, 1'42.322 11, Vesa Kallio, FIN, 1'42.773, 1'42.348 12, Pere Riba, ESP, 1'43.578, 1'42.388 13, Barry Veneman, NED, 1'42.875, 1'42.392 14, David Checa, ESP, 1'43.241, 1'42.433 15, Davide Giugliano, ITA, 1'43.369, 1'42.510 16, Craig Jones, GBR, 1'43.414, 1'42.531 17, Joan Lascorz, ESP, 1'43.804, 1'42.547 18, Lorenzo Alfonsi, ITA, 1'43.624, 1'42.748 19, Gianluca Nannelli, ITA, 1'43.245, 1'42.779 20, Javier Fores, ESP, 1'44.159, 1'42.803 21, Arie Vos, NED, 1'44.162, 1'42.812 22, Sebastien Gimbert, FRA, 1'43.601, 1'42.948 23, Joan Veijer, NED, 1'44.252, 1'43.231 24, Gianluca Vizziello, ITA, 1'44.227, 1'43.233 25, Chris Peris, CAN, 1'44.789, 1'43.385 26, Simone Sanna, ITA, 1'43.539, 1'43.426 27, Miguel Praia, POR, 1'44.475, 1'43.795 28, Julien Enjolras, FRA, 1'45.525, 1'43.893 29, Gilles Boccolini, ITA, n/a, 1'43.930 30, Yoann Tiberio, FRA, 1'44.200, n/a Yamaha Racing Communications

:rock tough day today, wsb & bsb, bbq & beer, wish me luck:drunk: