STEADY START FOR IZUTSU AND WALKER AS BAYLISS GRABS PROVISIONAL POLE
Troy Bayliss secured provisional pole position at Phillip Island this afternoon, after knocking Frankie Chili from the top spot during the dying moments of the opening qualifying session. Chili was in for further disappointment when, just seconds later, he was demoted to third place on the provisional grid by a hard charging Colin Edwards. Noriyuki Haga claimed the final position on the provisional front row.
Fuchs Kawasaki riders, Hitoyasu Izutsu and Chris Walker, qualified 10th and 13th fastest, but both riders are confident of improving their positions during qualifying tomorrow.
For Izutsu, both of today's free practice and qualifying sessions were spent testing different tyre compounds and suspension settings, in an attempt to find the best combination for Sunday's two 22-lap Superbike races.
'We've tried a number of different tyre and suspension combinations on both of my bikes today and, while we've identified a tyre that will do us for the race, there are still a few changes I want to try in tomorrow's sessions,' said Izutsu. 'Setting a fast time in the first qualifying session is all well and good, but if you don't take the time to find a good race set-up on the first day, then you can find yourself in big trouble come the races. We'll continue testing tomorrow, before switching to a qualifier and setting a time to get us into Superpole.'
Considerably faster today than he was during preseason testing at the Phillip Island circuit, Chris Walker was confident that his lap times would improve further tomorrow.
'I've gone 1.6 seconds faster today than I did during pre-season testing here so, overall, I'm pretty happy with my day's work,' declared Walker. 'The top guys haven't really gone any faster during qualifying; they've just got more consistent - which means that, as long as I build up the speed tomorrow, I should be able to get a lot nearer to their lap times. The eye is a bit more of a problem around here than it was at Valencia, mainly because of the higher speeds and the increased draught through my visor, but I don't think it's going to be a drama during the races.'
World Superbike - Friday Qualifying Times
1. Troy Bayliss, Australia (Ducati) 1'32.656
2. Colin Edwards, USA (Castrol Honda) 1'33.064
3. Pier-Francesco Chili, Italy (Ducati) 1'33.291
4. Noriyuki Haga, Japan (Aprilia) 1'33.540
5. Ruben Xaus, Spain (Ducati) 1'33.626
6. Gregorio Lavilla, Spain (Suzuki) 1'33.834
7. Ben Bostrom, USA (Ducati) 1'33.846
8. Neil Hodgson, GB (Ducati) 1'34.022
9. James Toseland, GB (Ducati) 1'34.429
10. Hitoyasu Izutsu, Japan (Fuchs Kawasaki) 1'34.663
13. Chris Walker, GB (Fuchs Kawasaki) 1'35.103
<font color=red>Live it</font color=red> <font color=blue>></font color=blue> <font color=red>Ride it</font color=red> <font color=blue>></font color=blue> <font color=red>Race it</font color=red>
Troy Bayliss secured provisional pole position at Phillip Island this afternoon, after knocking Frankie Chili from the top spot during the dying moments of the opening qualifying session. Chili was in for further disappointment when, just seconds later, he was demoted to third place on the provisional grid by a hard charging Colin Edwards. Noriyuki Haga claimed the final position on the provisional front row.
Fuchs Kawasaki riders, Hitoyasu Izutsu and Chris Walker, qualified 10th and 13th fastest, but both riders are confident of improving their positions during qualifying tomorrow.
For Izutsu, both of today's free practice and qualifying sessions were spent testing different tyre compounds and suspension settings, in an attempt to find the best combination for Sunday's two 22-lap Superbike races.
'We've tried a number of different tyre and suspension combinations on both of my bikes today and, while we've identified a tyre that will do us for the race, there are still a few changes I want to try in tomorrow's sessions,' said Izutsu. 'Setting a fast time in the first qualifying session is all well and good, but if you don't take the time to find a good race set-up on the first day, then you can find yourself in big trouble come the races. We'll continue testing tomorrow, before switching to a qualifier and setting a time to get us into Superpole.'
Considerably faster today than he was during preseason testing at the Phillip Island circuit, Chris Walker was confident that his lap times would improve further tomorrow.
'I've gone 1.6 seconds faster today than I did during pre-season testing here so, overall, I'm pretty happy with my day's work,' declared Walker. 'The top guys haven't really gone any faster during qualifying; they've just got more consistent - which means that, as long as I build up the speed tomorrow, I should be able to get a lot nearer to their lap times. The eye is a bit more of a problem around here than it was at Valencia, mainly because of the higher speeds and the increased draught through my visor, but I don't think it's going to be a drama during the races.'
World Superbike - Friday Qualifying Times
1. Troy Bayliss, Australia (Ducati) 1'32.656
2. Colin Edwards, USA (Castrol Honda) 1'33.064
3. Pier-Francesco Chili, Italy (Ducati) 1'33.291
4. Noriyuki Haga, Japan (Aprilia) 1'33.540
5. Ruben Xaus, Spain (Ducati) 1'33.626
6. Gregorio Lavilla, Spain (Suzuki) 1'33.834
7. Ben Bostrom, USA (Ducati) 1'33.846
8. Neil Hodgson, GB (Ducati) 1'34.022
9. James Toseland, GB (Ducati) 1'34.429
10. Hitoyasu Izutsu, Japan (Fuchs Kawasaki) 1'34.663
13. Chris Walker, GB (Fuchs Kawasaki) 1'35.103
<font color=red>Live it</font color=red> <font color=blue>></font color=blue> <font color=red>Ride it</font color=red> <font color=blue>></font color=blue> <font color=red>Race it</font color=red>