SETUP REPORT - 20/07/2006

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SETUP REPORT - 20/07/2006

Superbike World Championship: round seven, Brno

Round seven: Brno

Race date: 23 July 2006

Circuit length: 5,403 metres

Superbike lap record: 2:03.747 - Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha)

Last year's winners: Troy Corser (Suzuki) and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha)

Brno in the Czech Republic is the venue for this weekend's seventh
round of the Superbike World Championship, with the Yamaha Motor Italia
squad looking forward to the event for a variety of reasons.

The historic circuit was the venue of the team's first world superbike
race win last year, when Noriyuki Haga came through from 18th in
qualifying to win the second race by over three seconds. And with team-mate
Andrew Pitt going to Czech on the back of his first win in the class in
the last race at Misano, the team is understandably relishing the
second half of the 2006 championship.

At 5.4km, Brno is the longest circuit on the superbike calendar. It is
a wide and flowing circuit with grippy tarmac and many elevation
changes. It's a circuit that has been proven to suit the characteristics of
the YZF-R1 and with the Yamaha Motor Italia squad having tested there
alongside the other Pirelli development teams last month, Haga and Pitt
go to the venue with good base settings for their machines.

For Haga, Brno comes in the middle of a hectic schedule and kicks off a
grueling three weekend run of races. The Japanese star has spent most
of the time since Misano back in his homeland, testing the machine he
will ride in the Suzuka 8-hour endurance race with MotoGP rider Colin
Edwards. He returned to Europe last weekend, where he was the fastest
rider in the three-day official Pirelli tyre test at Eurospeedway Lausitz.
Haga topped the timesheets on qualifying tyres, his best of 1:37.6
equalled only by world champion Troy Corser (Suzuki). However the Yamaha
man demonstrated his superiority in race trim, with a 1:38.2 lap that saw
him joint top with series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati). The Japanese
rider currently lies second in the championship and, although Australian
rider Bayliss has carved out a 94 point advantage in the standings,
Yamaha's Japanese star won't stop fighting for the title that has eluded
him in his career so far.

"Yes, I am very busy just now," said Haga. "The Suzuka bike has some
big differences from the one I ride in world superbikes, especially the
tyres, but it was no problem for me to switch back to my usual bike and
the Pirelli tyres for the test in Germany. Brno is where we won the
first race with the R1 last year and for sure the bike is much better now
than it was then, so I hope we can have a good weekend. After Brno we
go back to Suzuka for the race and then Brands Hatch is the week after.
I am just taking each race as it comes but hope to always be up there
and fighting for the win."

Pitt ended the Lausitz test just one-tenth of a second behind his
team-mate. The Australian currently lies sixth in the championship and just
32 points behind second-placed Haga. "Both riders had a good test in
Lausitz and are ready for the race in Brno," commented Yamaha Motor
Italia team coordinator Massimo Meregalli. "Pirelli brought along a lot of
tyres for us to test and we were also able to try some small upgrades to
the suspension set-up. Noriyuki managed a good race simulation at the
end and both he and Andrew were happy at the end. I don't like making
predictions for the races but we're all feeling positive for going to
Brno. The riders want to win so I hope that we can have a good weekend."

In the Supersport World Championship, Yamaha riders are showing
strongly with three of the top five riders mounted on the latest generation
YZF-R6: Yamaha Motor Germany's Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes in second
and third, and Yamaha Team Italia's Massimo Roccoli moving into fifth
following a win in Misano. The Yamaha Motor Germany duo will be looking
for a good performance at one of their team's local circuits this weekend
after both had disappointing time in Misano. Parkes finished third
after making an incorrect tyre choice and Curtain a lowly sixth after
failing to find a good machine set-up throughout the race weekend. Both are
looking to pull back the advantage of championship leader Sebastien
Charpentier (Honda) over the second half of the season. The Frenchman
currently has a 30 point lead over second-placed Curtain, but with the
latest YZF-R6 improving at every race the Australian knows that the destiny
of the title is still very much in the hands of him and his team
personnel.

"We learned a lot when we tested at Brno," explained Curtain. "We tried
a lot of stuff and by the end we maybe lost our way a bit, but we know
what works around there and hopefully that means we can go there and be
right on it from Friday morning. It's coming up to that important time
in the season now. Nothing is ever decided in the first half of the
season but now we are getting to that stage where we need to be taking
points back from Sebastien if we are to win the title."

 

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A working day at Brno

The start of World?s Superbike Championship round at Brno was not as trouble-free as expected. On his way back from Brazil Alex Barros caught a touch of a flue and was not as fit as he uses to be. Temperatures at Brno reached sticky 34 0 C and three minutes before the end of the first Qualifying a short but intense rain set in.
Alex could not do his planned last fast laps and achieved with a 2?03.728 lap time position 14.
Alex Barros:
? This was a working day today. Just during Qualifying I had a problem with the electronic of one bike. It was disconnecting as it did during the first race at Misano. I know that I can do better lap times than these. Concerning the set-up we first did it as in Misano but then we used the set-up we used during our tests in springtime here. We know now in which direction we have to work. Tomorrow both Fireblades will work well and I?m sure to improve my lap times considerably. ?

Qualifying I

1 Toseland (Honda) 2'02.349

2 Nieto (Kawasaki )2'02.723

3 Lanzi ( Ducati) 2'02.847

4 Haga (Yamaha) 2'02.904

5 Muggeridge (Honda) 2'03.058

6 Kagayama (Suzuki) 2'03.107

7 Fabrizio (Honda) 2'03.112

8 Walker (Kawasaki) 2'03.178

9 Laconi (Kawasaki) 2'03.389

10 Martin (Petronas) 2'03.408

11 Bayliss (Ducati) 2'03.416

12 Corser ( Suzuki) 2'03.475

13 Pitt A. (Yamaha) 2'03.528

14 Barros ( Klaffi Honda) 2'03.728

 

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FPR battle with the Brno heat

Foggy PETRONAS Racing riders Steve Martin and Craig Jones refused to
wilt in the heat of the first day?s qualifying at round seven of the
Superbike World Championship at the Czech Republic circuit of Brno.

In sweltering conditions, Steve finished the first day 10th fastest
while Craig was 22nd in an extended field of 31 entrants.

Steve bettered his time on race rubber from the recent test at the
punishing circuit, a second down on provisional poleman James Toseland,
setting a time of 2:03.408 before a freak downpour ended the session
prematurely.

He said: ?I was pretty happy with the day and we are in a lot better
position at the end of the first day than we have been in the past here.
I am not getting too excited but feel pretty comfortable doing very
consistent lap times. If I can maintain that for the race then maybe we
can go somewhere. However, the high temperatures meant the grip was low
and the other riders were doing much faster times at the recent test.
The shower was amazing - I was dry coming past the box on the
start-finish straight and drenched going into the first corner!?

Craig set his fastest time of the day in the morning free practice,
although his time of 2:04.977 was almost a second off the pace he achieved
at the test.

He said: ?The grip was poor so it was a bit of a lottery to do decent
times. Everyone was struggling with grip but the other bikes have more
power and torque to pull them up the hill. I know the times that I was
capable of doing at the test so I will just stick with the set-up we
found at Lausitzring earlier this week and start to push harder tomorrow
morning when the temperatures should be lower.?

Friday qualifying times, Superbike World Championship round 6, Brno,
Czech Republic: 1 Toseland 2:02.349; 2 Nieto 2:02.723; 3 Lanzi 2:02.847;
4 Haga 2:02.904; 5 Muggeridge 2:03.058; 6 Kagayama 2:03.107; 7 Fabrizio
2:03.112; 8 Walker 2:03.178; 9 Laconi 2:03.389; 10 Martin (Foggy
PETRONAS Racing) 2:03.408; 22 (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) Jones 2:05.152

Friday free practice times: 1 Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)
2:02.757; 2 Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 2:02.821; 3 Laconi (PSG-1
Kawasaki) 2:02.821; 4 Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 2:02.879; 5 Haga (Yamaha
Italia) 2:02.920; 6 Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 2:03.011; 7
Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 2:03.162; 8 Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki)
2:03.244; 9 Pitt (Yamaha Italia) 2:03.372; 10 Barros (Klaffi Honda)
2:03.513; 17 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 2:04.269; 22 Jones (Foggy PETRONAS
Racing) 2:04.977

 

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QUALIFYING 1 REPORT - 21/07/2006

Haga on form as rain thwarts Pitt’s qualifying run

Noriyuki Haga returned to the scene of one of his finest moments to end
first qualifying in fourth position at Brno today.

The Yamaha Motor Italia rider won at the classic Czech circuit last
year, despite qualifying way back on the fifth row, and today confirmed
his liking of the circuit by putting his YZF-R1 on the provisional front
row for Sunday's race.

A combination of high temperatures and residue left from car racing
meant that the riders struggled for grip on the dirty surface and
struggled to match their times from last month's three-day test at the same
venue. Haga's best lap of the day was 2:02.904, over a second slower than
his best time on race tyres at last month's test, but just
half-a-second behind provisional pole man James Toseland (Honda).

A heavy shower with just minutes of the session remaining meant that
team-mate Andrew Pitt was unable to make what he expected to be his
fastest lap of the day. The Australian, winner last time out in Misano,
ended the day in 13th position. Despite his lower than expected position,
the former supersport world champion was happy with his day's work,
having made small but important improvements to his YZF-R1's settings and
completing a race simulation.

Yamaha Motor France's trio of riders spent most of the session having
their own personal battle just outside the top 16. Norick Abe, Sebastien
Gimbert and rookie Shinichi Nakatomi. Just three tenths of a second
separated the riders as Frenchman Gimbert ended the day 19th, ahead of
Japanese colleagues Abe and Nakatomi, who were 20th and 21st position
respectively.

Final qualifying for Sunday's two-race seventh round takes place
tomorrow.

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"Fourth is ok but really I am not so happy. The grip levels are much
lower than when we tested here. I think that there have been cars racing
on the circuit and they have left some rubber on the track. We only
have three different tyres to choose from and I tried the soft and medium
ones. The soft was sliding around like a qualifier after a few laps and
the feeling was also not so good with the medium. I am surprised
because I usually have a good feeling with the bike and the tyres. We can try
some things for tomorrow but I think that the heavy rain will change
the surface anyway. Maybe that will be better or maybe it will be worse.
We have to wait and find out."

Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"What can I say, I'd just gone out on a new tyre when it started to
pour down! Up until that point it'd gone fine. There's not a lot of grip
out there but I was quite happy with the bike and had been able to get
in a race simulation. We improved things quite a bit between the morning
and afternoon and we're definitely going in the right direction."

Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France)
"Unfortunately I missed the team's test here through injury but it
should not be a big problem as Brno is one of my favourite tracks. Today
the problem for me is again rear traction. The surface is very slippery
but the team will try a few thing for tomorrow to try and improve the
bike and give me a chance to run at the front on Sunday."

Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France)
"Brno is a long and challenging circuit but it is not a new track to me
as we tested here recently. I was able to go quickly straight away but
at the end it started to rain when I went out with a new tyre on and I
couldn't go for a final fast lap. I am sure that we can make a big
improvement tomorrow because the bike and the track will probably be in
better condition."

Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia)
"After good tests here and at Lausitz I think we expected a little bit
more from today. We're having some problems with the grip levels but
this seems to be as a result of the track surface. Looking at the lap
times it seems that everyone is only able to do two or three fast laps
before the performance level drops off. We'll work further on the settings
for tomorrow but we'll have to see if the track surface improves
overnight."


Qualifying 1
Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time

1, James Toseland, Honda, GBR, 2'2.349
2, Fonsi Nieto, Kawasaki, ESP, 2'2.723
3, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 2'2.847
4, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 2'2.904
5, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 2'3.058
6, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 2'3.107
7, Michel Fabrizio, Honda, ITA, 2'3.112
8, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 2'3.178
9, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 2'3.389
10, Steve Martin, Petronas, AUS, 2'3.408
11, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 2'3.146
12, Troy Corser, Suzuki, AUS, 2'3.475
13, Andrew Pitt, Yamaha, AUS, 2'3.528
14, Alex Barros, Honda, BRA, 2'3.728
15, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 2'3.901
16, Pierfrancesco Chili, Honda, ITA, 2'3.915
17, Roberto Rolfo, Ducati, ITA, 2'3.947
18, Fabien Foret, Suzuki, FRA, 2'4.136
19, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 2'4.245
20, Norick Abe, Yamaha, JPN, 2'4.373
21, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 2'4.580
22, Craig Jones, Petronas, GBR, 2'5.152
23, Pawel Szkopek, Ducati, CZE, 2'5.165
24, Joshua Brookes, Kawasaki, AUS, 2'5.863
25, Ivan Clementi, Ducati, ITA, 2'6.299
26, Vittorio Iannuzzo, Suzuki, ITA, 2'7.241
27, Marco Borciani, Ducati, ITA, 2'7.895
28, Jiri Drazdak, Yamaha, CZE, 2'8.039
29, Berto Camlek, Yamaha, SVN, 2'8.237
30, Marek Svoboda, Yamaha, CZE, 2'8.372
31, Milos Cihak, Suzuki, CZE, 2'8.524




QUALIFYING 1 REPORT - 21/07/2006
Yamaha Motor Germany pair fastest in first Brno practice

Yamaha Motor Germany riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes topped the
timesheets in this afternoon's first qualifying session at Brno.

The Australian YZF-R6 riders were able to take advantage of three days
testing at the Czech venue last month and, just as at the test, it was
Curtain who ended the day as the fastest rider - one tenth of a second
ahead of his team-mate.

Both riders were fractionally slower than the times they achieved in
testing, Curtain's best of 2:06.407 comparing to a 2:06.0 set last month,
with the hot conditions responsible for a reduction in grip levels.

Third fastest in today's first qualifying session was Italian Simone
Sanna (Honda), with Turkish rider Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) completing the
provisional front row.

Misano winner Massimo Roccoli ended the day eighth on his Yamaha Team
Italia YZF-R6, with Yamaha GMT94's David Checa 11th and Gianluca
Vizziello 12th on the second Yamaha Team Italia entry.


Qualifying 1
Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time

1, Kevin Curtain, Yamaha, AUS, 2'6.407
2, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 2'6.556
3, Simone Sanna, Honda, ITA, 2'6.736
4, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 2'6.863
5, Sebastien Charpentier, Honda, FRA, 2'6.906
6, Yoann Tibero, Honda, FRA, 2'6.979
7, Johan Stigefelt, Honda, SWE, 2'7.034
8, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 2'7.176
9, Christian Zaiser, Ducati, AUT, 2'7.188
10, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 2'7.407
11, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 2'7.408
12, Gianluca Vizziello, Yamaha, ITA, 2'7.476
13, Gregory Leblanc, Honda, FRA, 2'7.682
14, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 2'7.720
15, Mauro Sanchini, Yamaha, ITA, 2'7.733
16, William De Angelis, Honda, ITA, 2'8.073
17, Kai Borre Andersen, Suzuki, NOR, 2'8.084
18, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 2'8.269
19, Sebastien Le Grelle, Honda, BEL, 2'8.269
20, Maxime Berger, Kawasaki, FRA, 2'8.272
21, Stephane Chambon, Kawasaki, FRA, 2'8.336
22, Xavi Fores, Yamaha, ESP, 2'8.397
23, Vesa Kallio, Yamaha, FIN, 2'8.667
24, Miguel Praia, Honda, POR, 2'8.883
25, Tatu Lauslehto, Honda, FIN, 2'9.054
26, Julien Enjolras, Yamaha, FRA, 2'9.113
27, Luka Nedog, Ducati, SVN, 2'9.214
28, Stuart Easton, Ducati, GBR, 2'9.495
29, Alessio Corradi, Yamaha, ITA, 2'9.740
30, Sebastiano Zerbo, Yamaha, ITA, 2'9.884
31, Vactav Bittman, Honda, CZE, 2'10.274
32, Alessio Velini, Yamaha, ITA, 2'10.320
33, Bernat Martinez, Yamaha, ESP, 2'10.337
34, Tom Tunstall, Honda, GBR, 2'10.437
35, Vladimir Ivanov, Yamaha, RUS, 2'10.536
36, Javier Hidalgo, Honda, ESP, 2'11.257
37, Andrea Berta, Yamaha, ITA, 2'12.193
38, David Garcia, Yamaha, ITA, 2'12.632

 

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Saturday ? a day under severe conditions for Alex and the team.

Temperatures reached 34 0 C again ? a challenge for the riders as for the engines.
But Alex improved his lap time. With a 2?02.873 he finished 16th in the second qualifying session. In Superpole he did a 2?02.757 and achieved position 15 in the starting grid for tomorrow?s races.

Alex Barros: ?This is not the result I expected. A start form the 4th row is very difficult. I?ll do my best tomorrow but the races will be very tough.?





Superpole and Starting Grid

1 Haga N. (Yamaha) 2'00.457

2 Toseland J. (Honda) 2'01.056

3 Lanzi L. (Ducati) 2'01.073

4 Bayliss T. (Ducati) 2'01.207

5 Corser T. (Suzuki) 2'01.351

6 Kagayama Y. (Suzuki) 2'01.453

7 Pitt A. (Yamaha) 2'01.482

8 Muggeridge K. (Honda) 2'01.498

9 Laconi R. (Kawasaki) 2'01.620

10 Nieto F. ( Kawasaki) 2'01.799

11 Foret F. ( Suzuki) 2'02.124

12 Fabrizio M. (Honda) 2'02.208

13 Walker C. (Kawasaki) 2'02.220

14 Martin S. (Petronas) 2'02.569

15 Barros A. (Klaffi Honda) 2'02.757

16 Chili P. (Honda) 2'03.864


Supersport World Championship ? Round 7 ? Czech Republic - Brno circuit





INTERMOTO CZECH KLAFFI press release qualifying



The Czechoslovakian round of World?s Supersport Championship is the most attractive event for our fans. For our Team and its riders the home race at Brno is a highlight of the year but also an immense challenge.



Matthieu Lagrive finished 16th in qualifying today. William de Angelis achieved position 17.

Tomorrow they start from the 4th and 5th row in the grid. 14 riders did a 2?07 lap time. That shows how tough and extremely close the competition is.



William de Angelis: ? Last weekend I took the win in the Czech Championship race here at Brno. Today I had a little problem with my top speeds but I did constant lap times. So I?m confident for tomorrow. It will be tough but we are very motivated to reach a good result. ?



Matthieu Lagrive: ?Brno is only my third race I do with the Intermoto Czech Klaffi Team. Some more kilometres with the bike would make things easier for me. I still miss a little bit of the perfect feeling with the bike and especially with the suspension but we work in the right direction. I normally ride on a higher level than position 16 but I?m sure things will become better and better during the season ?



Qualifying and Starting Grid

1 Curtain K. Yamaha 2'05.900

2 Sofuoglu K. Honda 2'05.952

3 Parkes B. Yamaha 2'05.997

4 Tiberio Y. Honda 2'06.202

5 Charpentier S. Honda 2'06.242

6 Sanna S. Honda 2'06.736

7 Stigefelt J. Honda 2'07.019

8 Roccoli M. Yamaha 145 2'07.145

9 Zaiser C. Ducati 2'07.186

10 Veneman B. Suzuki 2'07.201

11 Vizziello G. Yamaha 2'07.359

12 Checa D. Yamaha 2'07.362

13 Sanchini M. Yamaha 2'07.502

14 Harms R. Honda 2'07.561

15 Andersen K. Suzuki 2'07.598

16 Lagrive M. Intermoto Czech Klaffi. Honda 2'07.648

17 De Angelis W. Intermoto Czech Klaffi Honda 2'07

 

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QUALIFYING 2 REPORT - 22/07/2006

Hot Haga takes Brno pole

Brno lap record holder Noriyuki Haga once again showed his liking for
the Czech circuit by obliterating the opposition to claim pole position
for tomorrow's two Superbike World Championship races, the first time
he has started at the front of the grid since 2002.

The Japanese Yamaha Motor Italia ace gunned his YZF-R1 around the fast
and flowing circuit in a time of 2:00.457, over half a second quicker
than second placed James Toseland (Honda). Ducati riders Lorenzo Lanzi
and Troy Bayliss complete the front row for tomorrow's race. It is the
third time Haga has won pole position in a world superbike event and the
first pole for his Yamaha Motor Italia team since they moved up to the
class at the beginning of 2005.

Yamaha Motor France's trio of riders narrowly missed out on superpole,
with Frenchman Sebastien Gimbert less than two-hundreds of a second
behind Alex Barros (Honda) in the 16th and final superpole position.
Meanwhile the team's Japanese riders Shinichi Nakatomi and Norick Abe had
difficulty with the surprisingly low grip levels on the circuit. Nakatomi
made big progress in the afternoon session. He was the 12th fastest
rider in the one-hour session, one place behind Haga and one ahead of
Pitt, but will start in 19th based on his time from the morning qualifying
session. Abe will start the two 20-lap races one place behind his
team-mate after struggling to find rear grip with his YZF-R1 in practice.

Andrew Pitt took over a second from his best lap of the weekend in
superpole, recording a 2:01.482 to move from tenth in regular qualifying to
seventh position and a slot on the second row on the final grid. Pitt
was plagued with some minor electrical problems that forced him to
switch to his spare machine for superpole but, despite running different
gearing and suspension to his preferred machine, he was still able to post
a 2:01.482 lap time.

Times tumbled during today's qualifying sessions, with the surface
providing considerably more traction than in Friday's sessions. With hot
conditions set to make for a tough day's racing tomorrow, both riders
worked hard to find a set-up that will work over 20 laps of the
challenging circuit. Haga and Pitt were able to run fast and consistent times as
they worked on finding an optimum race setting during the day's two
one-hour practices, before showing the ultimate pace of their YZF-R1s in
the grid deciding one-lap superpole.

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia)

"Yes, of course, I am very happy with pole position. The feeling with
the bike is very good and even before superpole I knew the settings and
tyres I will use for the race. I was able to ride a good lap and get
the pole. Tomorrow will be very hard work and I hope that the temperature
will be cooler for the races. The tyre wear is very high in this heat
but that is the same for everyone and I am happy that we have such a
good setting for the bike, as I expect some very hard races."

Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia)

"In the end second row's not too bad. My bike stopped before superpole
so I had to go on my second bike and it wasn't set up at all how I'd
like it. It was a bit chaotic as we tried to change some things around
but I'm quite happy. We were able to do some consistent lap times and as
long as we don't have any more problems we should be ready for the
races."

Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France)

"I am a little bit frustrated because my qualifying time is almost
three seconds faster than last year, yet I am again starting on the fifth
row - that shows how the level of competition has gone up this year.
Overall though, I am happy with how practice has gone. We have made some
steps forward with the bike and the times of all the riders are close.
I'm only just behind guys like Barros, so I am quite positive for
tomorrow's races."

Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France)

"I'm not so happy with today. The temperatures are much higher than
when we tested here and because of this the grip levels are much lower. I
tried a new swingarm in the practices and I like this and will use it
in the race. The afternoon was better, although I have not yet been able
to decide on a tyre choice and therefore suspension settings for the
race."

Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France)

"Still we are struggling with rear grip on the exit of corners. As a
result I tried entering the corners faster, but this has caused some
chatter to occur. We will try some more settings in the warm-up to try and
find a solution for the races."

Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia)

"A great job from Noriyuki today. It was hard to know how superpole
would go as each session had been quite different. He rode such a great
lap and was very smooth - in fact when I watched the lap on TV I
commented to the team that he didn't seem to be pushing so hard. It was very
satisfying to win our first superpole, especially to do it with such a
big gap to second. Andrew did an excellent job too. He had to go out on
his second bike and that was set-up differently, so to get the second
row was good."


Superpole

Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time

1, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 2'0.457
2, James Toseland, Honda, GBR, 2'1.056
3, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 2'1.073
4, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 2'1.207
5, Troy Corser, Suzuki, AUS, 2'1.351
6, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 2'1.453
7, Andrew Pitt, Yamaha, AUS, 2'1.482
8, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 2'1.498
9, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 2'1.620
10, Fonsi Nieto, Kawasaki, ESP, 2'1.799
11, Fabien Foret, Suzuki, FRA, 2'2.124
12, Michel Fabrizio, Honda, ITA, 2'2.208
13, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 2'2.220
14, Steve Martin, Petronas, AUS, 2'2.569
15, Alex Barros, Honda, BRA, 2'2.757
16, Pierfrancesco Chili, Honda, ITA, 2'3.864

Qualifying 2

Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time

1, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 2'1.779
2, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 2'1.783
3, Fonsi Nieto, Kawasaki, ESP, 2'2.206
4, James Toseland, Honda, GBR, 2'2.213
5, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 2'2.298
6, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 2'2.447
7, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 2'2.449
8, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 2'2.534
9, Steve Martin, Petronas, AUS, 2'2.539
10, Andrew Pitt, Yamaha, AUS, 2'2.566
11, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 2'2.620
12, Troy Corser, Suzuki, AUS, 2'2.657
13, Michel Fabrizio, Honda, ITA, 2'2.700
14, Fabien Foret, Suzuki, FRA, 2'2.777
15, Pierfrancesco Chili, Honda, ITA, 2'2.810
16, Alex Barros, Honda, BRA, 2'2.873
17, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 2'2.892
18, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 2'3.022
19, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 2'3.111
20, Norick Abe, Yamaha, JPN, 2'3.431
21, Roberto Rolfo, Ducati, ITA, 2'3.947
22, Ivan Clementi, Ducati, ITA, 2'4.221
23, Marco Borciani, Ducati, ITA, 2'4.678
24, Vittorio Iannuzzo, Suzuki, ITA, 2'4.734
25, Joshua Brookes, Kawasaki, AUS, 2'5.132
26, Pawel Szkopek, Ducati, CZE, 2'5.138
27, Craig Jones, Petronas, GBR, 2'5.152
28, Jiri Drazdak, Yamaha, CZE, 2'5.693
29, Marek Svoboda, Yamaha, CZE, 2'6.801
30, Milos Cihak, Suzuki, CZE, 2'7.386
31, Berto Camlek, Yamaha, SVN, 2'7.498
32, Jiri Mirkyvka, Ducati, CZE, 2'8.676




QUALIFYING 2 REPORT - 22/07/2006

Curtain grabs first world championship pole in Brno

Kevin Curtain secured the first pole position of his long world
supersport career to give his Yamaha Motor Germany team their second
successive pole position.

In what will be his 58th race in the class, the veteran Australian
confirmed the progress made by his squad to the new-for-2006 YZF-R6,
posting a record-breaking 2:05.900 lap around the long and historic circuit.
In a frantically close 45-minute session, the top three riders were
covered by less than one tenth of a second. Completing an excellent day
for Yamaha Motor Germany, team-mate Broc Parkes, pole sitter last time
out in Misano, will also start from the front row. The 24-year-old
Australian stopped the clock at 2:05.997 to end the day third, behind Curtain
and Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda). Monza race winner Yoann Tibero completes
the front row on his Honda.

Misano winner Massimo Roccoli starts from eighth on his Yamaha Team
Italia YZF-R6, with team-mate Gianluca Vizziello ending practice in 12th.
David Checa of the Yamaha GMT94 squad will start tomorrow's 18-lap race
from 11th.


Qualifying 2

Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time

1, Kevin Curtain, Yamaha, AUS, 2'5.900
2, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 2'5.952
3, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 2'5.997
4, Yoann Tibero, Honda, FRA, 2'6.202
5, Sebastien Charpentier, Honda, FRA, 2'6.242
6, Simone Sanna, Honda, ITA, 2'6.736
7, Johan Stigefelt, Honda, SWE, 2'7.019
8, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 2'7.145
9, Christian Zaiser, Ducati, AUT, 2'7.186
10, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 2'7.201
11, Gianluca Vizziello, Yamaha, ITA, 2'7.359
12, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 2'7.362
13, Mauro Sanchini, Yamaha, ITA, 2'7.502
14, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 2'7.561
15, Kai Borre Andersen, Suzuki, NOR, 2'7.598
16, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 2'7.648
17, William De Angelis, Honda, ITA, 2'7.675
18, Gregory Leblanc, Honda, FRA, 2'7.682
19, Maxime Berger, Kawasaki, FRA, 2'7.725
20, Stephane Chambon, Kawasaki, FRA, 2'7.808
21, Xavi Fores, Yamaha, ESP, 2'8.053
22, Sebastien Le Grelle, Honda, BEL, 2'8.269
23, Julien Enjolras, Yamaha, FRA, 2'8.361
24, Vesa Kallio, Yamaha, FIN, 2'8.667
25, Alessio Velini, Yamaha, ITA, 2'8.685
26, Miguel Praia, Honda, POR, 2'8.760
27, Tatu Lauslehto, Honda, FIN, 2'9.054
28, Vladimir Ivanov, Yamaha, RUS, 2'9.066
29, Alessio Corradi, Yamaha, ITA, 2'9.090
30, Bernat Martinez, Yamaha, ESP, 2'9.142
31, Luka Nedog, Ducati, SVN, 2'9.214
32, Javier Hidalgo, Honda, ESP, 2'9.476
33, Stuart Easton, Ducati, GBR, 2'9.495
34, Sebastiano Zerbo, Yamaha, ITA, 2'9.731
35, Tom Tunstall, Honda, GBR, 2'9.781
36, Vactav Bittman, Honda, CZE, 2'10.169
37, Andrea Berta, Yamaha, ITA, 2'10.407
38, David Garcia, Yamaha, ITA, 2'11.760