SpidermanSS
02-21-2008, 09:11 AM
Troy Corser set the early pace at the first round of the 2008 World Superbike season in Qatar, posting a first day qualifying time of 1'59.627 on race tyres and getting to within half a second of the current lap record. Corser's fellow Yamaha rider Noriyuki Haga secured a provisional front row position of fourth, despite falling heavily two-thirds of the way through the hour long qualifying session.
Conditions at Losail were problematic for all riders, with a strong and gusting wind blowing down the kilometre-long main straight, holding down top speed potentials and making corner entry a challenge.
With both riders inside the top four places, the experienced Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team made the best use of their recent testing experiences in Qatar, and few changes were made to the machine settings since that test at the 5.380km Losail circuit.
Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) was on strong form on day one, setting ninth fastest time, with his team-mate Davide Checa (Yamaha GMT94) 17th.
Final qualifying and then Superpole qualifying take place tomorrow, Friday 22nd, before Saturday's pair of 18-lap Superbike races.
Troy Corser
Troy Corser (1st - 1'59.627 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"Having the test so soon before the race was good because we got a really strong engine setting with the bike. The chassis feels quite good but it is difficult to know how well things are working, just because of the wind. That is probably the windiest conditions I have ever ridden in.. It wasn't so bad that we shouldn't have been out there, but today was all down to how much you wanted to push. I didn't really change too many settings from the test, just left it to get today out of the way. We just need the wind to die down for tomorrow. The track grip is comparable to what we had here at the test. I think the wind is blowing as much sand off the track as it is blowing sand back on. The only real problem is that the worst direction for the wind to blow here is down the main straight, like it was today. The bike and the team are working well so it's been a positive start."
Noriyuki Haga
Noriyuki Haga (4th - 2'00.476 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"It was difficult to make the best lap times in these conditions, but the feeling with the bike was very good. Unfortunately I had a big highside at turn one, on water coming from the bike. I landed straight on top of my head. I think before the crash I was half a centimetre taller. I am in a lot of pain but I will rest tonight and be better tomorrow. Top four is a good result for the first day. Our target point for tomorrow is make some changes in suspension, but I think we have the package right now anyway."
Massimo Meregalli - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team, Team Manager
"We are happy with that for a first day. We have to consider that we had a test here recently, so we should expect good results. Troy's time was great given the conditions and we know we have two very strong riders in all circumstances. We feel for Nori after his crash, we can see he is in pain, but we also know him and he is strong. Now we will look that the bike and see if there was a problem."
Circuit Length: 5380
2008 WSB Qatar - Doha/Losail 21/02/2008
Qualifying 1
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 1'59.627
2 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'59.853
3 Fonsi Nieto Suzuki ESP 2'0.307
4 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 2'0.476
5 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 2'0.599
6 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 2'0.695
7 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 2'0.724
8 Max Biaggi Ducati ITA 2'0.744
9 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 2'0.857
10 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 2'0.904
11 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 2'0.937
12 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 2'1.086
13 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 2'1.409
14 Ayrton Badovini Kawasaki ITA 2'1.677
15 Gregorio Lavilla Honda ESP 2'1.729
17 David Checa Yamaha ESP 2'1.984
24 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 2'3.542
QUALIFYING 1 REPORT 21/02/2008
Foret Goes Fastest On Day One Of New Season
Fabien Foret
Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport Team) made a fabulous start to his 2008 race season by posting the fastest lap of the opening qualifying session at the Losail International circuit in Qatar. The former World Supersport Champion had to fight high winds and a dusty track surface to set a best of 2'03.495, some 0.346 seconds faster than the next best rider.
Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) has been the fastest rider of all in pre-season testing, including here in Qatar only a few days ago, but found unexpected issues in the Losail circuit's many fast corners today. He was 13th overall in the official practice session. One more qualifying session remains for both Foret and Parkes to improve their times tomorrow, before the 18-lap race on Saturday 23 February.
Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team rider David Salom was an impressive seventh fastest from the 36 riders in Qatar, making a good job of dealing with the treacherous winds that have plagued the desert circuit since for the past few days. His stand-in team-mate, Josep Pedro, substituting for the injured David De Gea, was 36th on his Qatar debut.
Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) worked hard to find the right suspension settings and choose a race tyre in the windy conditions, hoping to improve on his 18th fastest time today on the second day of qualifying.
Fabien Foret (1st - 2'03.495 - Yamaha World Supersport Team)
"We worked very hard this winter and now we are seeing the benefits. The conditions are very difficult, for me and for everyone. I tried to be safe and yet push at the same time, trying to manage the wind. It difficult for us to set the bike up in these conditions as the wind is not constant, it changes lap-by-lap. I still have a little bit of chatter but we can improve tomorrow. We are there now and it has been a good start today."
Broc Parkes
Broc Parkes (13th - 2'05.301 - Yamaha World Supersport Team)
"We are obviously having problems with the bike right now but we couldn't work out what was wrong in this session. I should maybe have hopped on my spare bike and had a go, but we concentrated on my number one bike. We ended up quite a long way out. I think there is something wrong that we will find and tomorrow will be OK."
Wilco Zeelenberg - Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team
"Fabien was very impressive and as fast as the tests last week, and that was also held in not ideal circumstances. We have different tyres now and everything is reacting a little bit different. Broc is having the opposite experience because all the tests have been great and now he is missing a lot of time compared to his testing pace. He did a 2.02.9 a few days ago here. Both our guys can be fast but everything has to be good, and right now Broc is losing a lot of time in fast corners."
David Salom (7th - 2'04.858 - Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team)
"We have many years of hard work behind us all and this good result on the first day is down to the whole team. The Team manager has set up a great team and we have good suspension and telemetry people who are doing a good job. They are helping me to take advantage of everything I have. It is a team effort."
Circuit Length: 5380
Weather: Windy
2008 WSS Qatar - Doha/Losail 21/02/2008
Qualifying 1
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Fabien Foret Yamaha FRA 2'3.495
2 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 2'3.841
3 Matthieu Lagrive Honda FRA 2'4.017
4 Joan Lascorz Honda ESP 2'4.017
5 Gianluca Nannelli Honda ITA 2'4.446
6 Craig Jones Honda GBR 2'4.766
7 David Salom Yamaha ESP 2'4.858
8 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 2'4.880
9 Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 2'4.996
10 Ivan Clementi Triumph ITA 2'5.211
11 Mark Aitchinson Triumph AUS 2'5.217
12 Gianluca Vizziello Honda ITA 2'5.264
13 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 2'5.301
14 Garry McCoy Triumph AUS 2'5.349
15 Vesa Kallio Honda FIN 2'5.445
18 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 2'5.715