These press releases came from Brno:
PRESS RELEASE | Brno, day-1
WSBK'08 Round 9
Max Biaggi takes the first provisional row after the first day of qualifying at Brno, 9th round of the 2008 World Superbike Championship. The roman champion recorded the 4th best time on a track he likes very much, showing to be constantly quick and confirming his good form. Good performance by Ruben Xaus too, who set the 10th best time. On his first day at Brno the Spanish rider focused his work on fine-tuning his bike for both Sunday's race, capitalizing the data collected during the Sterilgarda Go Eleven tests which took place just here one month ago. Second line for Alex Polita after the Superstock qualifying session. The "Pirate" fulfilled his potential thanks to the information gathered two weeks ago on the Czech track which allowed him to reach a satisfying set-up already.
RUBEN XAUS | Ducati 1098 RS | 10th provisional time in 2'00.196: "Since tomorrow is expected to be rainy, I preferred to carry out the work for the race today in order to get everything ready for Sunday's race. I reached a good level which I hope might be improved tomorrow by setting few little changes, weather permitting".
MAX BIAGGI | Ducati 1098 RS | 4th provisional time in 1'59.747: "The set-up we reached today is like the one of Misano and it is pretty good although we need to fix some little problem with the chattering on the front-wheel suspension. We must work on the gear because we got some difficulties on some stretch of the track. Once we will have fixed these problems we will have the chance to make another step forward".
ALEX POLITA | Ducati 1098R | 8th provisional time in 2'05.194: "We have carried out a good work today, capitalizing the data gathered here two weeks ago during the tests. I would have had the opportunity to record a quicker lap but I lost grip in the last part of the track and I came close to slide. The pace is already good and tomorrow I will work in order to better my lap time".
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THE THREE DUCATI XEROX RIDERS TAKE PROVISIONAL PLACES ON THE FRONT TWO ROWS AT BRNO
Brno (Czech Republic), Friday 18 July 2008: in dry conditions all three of the Ducati Xerox riders, Bayliss, Fabrizio and Canepa, made a strong start to their campaign for victory this weekend at the Automotodrom of Brno. After a few tyre issues this morning for most of the Superbike riders due to the lack of grip on track after yesterday's rainfall, the field got back to business in this afternoon's first qualifying session. At the conclusion of that session it was local rider Smrz who had registered the fastest lap on his privateer Ducati bike. Troy Bayliss and his factory 1098 F08 recorded the third fastest time to take a provisional front row place on the grid while his two team-mates Michel Fabrizio and Niccolo' Canepa (the latter riding the F09 development machine) achieved the seventh and eighth fastest lap times respectively.
A track at which the Ducati Superbikes have not excelled in the last couple of years, it is worth noting that six of the first eight riders on this afternoon's time sheet were on board Ducati machines.
Troy Bayliss 1'59.5
"I'd say today has gone quite well. The lap times have been very fast as the surface is so grippy. Everyone had problems this morning as yesterday's rain meant the track surface was destroying the tyres. This afternoon was much better, with most people able to put in some fast qualifying times. The lap times that I recorded on the race tyre were definitely faster than those of last year. Tomorrow I hope to improve the feeling I've got with the rear and if I can do that, I think we're pretty much there."
Michel Fabrizio 2'00.0
"It's all gone quite well. At the start it took us a while to find the right direction but this afternoon we got back on track so to speak. We tried different tyres before finding the right one with which to make the best lap times. I lost three tenths while making what would have been my fastest lap due to traffic on track, which was a shame as I wanted to complete at least one lap in under 2'00. Anyway we improved throughout the day and I'm confident that we'll continue to improve tomorrow."
Niccolo' Canepa 2'00.1
"We've worked a lot on the bike set-up today. The last time I rode this track was while testing the Ducati GP bike a few weeks ago and so I need to adapt all my points of reference now to the Superbike. It's taking me a bit of time to properly understand when to open the gas, break etc. but I reckon we are getting there. We've tried a few different things and have done a lot of laps to check how the tyres are with regard to race pace. Tomorrow I think we can better the lap times but today has been more than satisfactory."
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Corser an early contender on day one
Troy Corser
Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) enjoyed a competitive start to his Brno race weekend by scoring second best time behind local favourite Jakub Smrz, on the recently resurfaced 5.403km Brno circuit.
Corser's early pace has already seen him under the previous circuit best, with one more qualifying session plus Superpole on Saturday to determine his final grid position.
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) was held back in his early laps by a niggling fault with his machine's electronics package and lost him track time that held back his ultimate provisional qualifying position to 12th.
The weather conditions remained dry through first qualifying, despite some dark clouds skirting the track, and both Corser and Haga would prefer dry conditions for day two, to complete their pre-race set-up work in consistent conditions.
David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) is in a provisional Superpole qualifying slot, 14th, one place ahead of his brother Carlos.
Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) was 17th today, Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) 19th, making Superpole entry a real possibility for each rider after the final official qualifying session.
Troy Corser (2nd - 1'59.493 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"The settings feel reasonably good already and I think the grip from the track is starting to come in more, with rubber being put onto the track. I think sand is washing onto the track when it rains so I hope it doesn't rain tonight. I think there will be more life from the tyres as well, although the front tyre is still a bit of a problem for race distance. But we still have something to try in the set-up of the bike to help that a little. There is a lot of pressure on the front tyre here, more than at any other track, maybe. And there is a lot of heavy braking going into corners here. Up the steep hill our bike is pretty good compared to the other guys I was on track with, so I'm quite happy so far."
Noriyuki Haga
Noriyuki Haga (12th - 2'00.371 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"This morning we had problems with the electronics and that stopped us from making a lot of laps and that has stopped us from making good lap times. So it has taken time to try and catch up. We started with different settings from last year, and we tried another setting this afternoon, and finally we found a good feeling. Not enough for the race yet, so I hope tomorrow we find even better settings. For me, the track feels the same as last year, maybe it is more slippery."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"Troy is up front and Nori can get there two, so we will see how we go tomorrow. Nori lost some time when we had a few problems this morning but we are confident because this is still only Friday. Our tyre choice here is critical, but we have already found one rear that works well. Now we need to find a front one. But overall we are OK. The riders feel different things from the track surface but that is because they have very different riding styles!"
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2008 HANNSPREE FIM SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP®
PRESS RELEASE
BRNO - 18th, 19th and 20th JULY - ROUND 9
FIRST QUALIFYING PRACTICE
Brno, Friday 18th July 2008
Smrz (Guandalini Ducati) sets the pace in Superbike qualifying at Brno
Jakub Smrz powered his privateer Guandalini Ducati 1098 to the top slot on the first day of Superbike qualifying at his home circuit of Brno as twin-cylinder Italian machines filled seven of the top 10 places.
The 25 year-old Czech rider lowered the previous circuit best lap by almost half-a-second to end up with a time of 1 minute 59.125 seconds, almost five-tenths quicker than Noriyuki Haga's benchmark set last year on a Yamaha.
The first of the four-cylinder machines was Troy Corser's Yamaha Motor Italia WSB R1, the Australian holding up well to the twin-cylinder opposition in second slot, three-tenths of a second down on Smrz. The provisional front row was completed by two more potential candidates for the win on Sunday, Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) and Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati).
A good performance was also produced by Lorenzo Lanzi (RG Ducati) in fifth, the Italian getting the better of Spain's Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki Alstare), who was the only other rider to dip under 2 minutes, and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox), who crashed in the morning session. The Ducati factory man was a fraction ahead of his wild-card team-mate Niccolò Canepa, who is making his World Superbike debut, while Max Neukircher (Alstare Suzuki), second in the championship, headed up the provisional row 3.
Down in tenth place was Misano winner, Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati), while Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) is yet to get dialed in to the Brno weekend and the Japanese rider is currently languishing in the 12th slot. Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was even further off the pace, the Spaniard down in 15th, one place behind his brother David (Yamaha France Ipone GMT 94).
Times: 1. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098 RS 08 1'59.125; 2. Corser T. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R1 1'59.493; 3. Bayliss T. (AUS) Ducati 1098 F08 1'59.517; 4. Biaggi M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 1'59.747; 5. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 1'59.850; 6. Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'59.926; 7. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 F08 2'00.024; 8. Canepa N. (ITA) Ducati 1098 F08 2'00.131; 9. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R1000 2'00.179; 10. Xaus R. (ESP) Ducati 1098 RS 08 2'00.196; 11. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 2'00.361; 12. Haga N. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 2'00.371; 13. Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 2'00.384; 14. Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF-R1 2'00.388; 15. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 2'00.424; 16. Laconi R. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 2'00.482.
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Team Alstare Suzuki news
2008 Superbike World Championship
Round 9, Brno, CZ
Circuit: 5.403 kms Conditions: Dry, sunny/cloudy 18-21C.
Friday qualifying, 18th July
FONSI QUICKEST OF THE SUZUKI TRIO.
Team Suzuki Alstare rider Fonsi Nieto finished the first day of qualifying at Brno today with the sixth fastest time and ended the quickest of the Belgium based squad. Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner ended with the ninth quickest time, but Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama is still suffering problems with his left hand and could only manage eleventh. Local hero Jakub Smrz (Ducati) sent the home fans wild by topping the standings at the end of today's qualifying session. Second is Aussie Troy Corser (Yamaha), ahead of fellow countryman Troy Bayliss (Ducati), with Max Biaggi (Ducati) fourth.
Fonsi - 6th, 1:59.926
I'm quite happy today and feel very positive about tomorrow - as long as the weather stays OK and it doesn't rain. Today we tried two different styles of bike. We tried a new style of balance and new spec engine on one bike and an old style balance and old spec engine on the other. At the end, my preference was for a new style balance together with an old spec engine. We are working a lot on the suspension and trying to get the front forks to absorb better. The track has new asphalt and in the afternoon the grip felt similar to the morning, but the tyre life was better. If it stays dry, I think that the grip will improve some more and the lap times will come down further.
Max - 9th, 2.00.179
I think today went well and we didn't have so many problems. The track asphalt is a bit strange at the moment because we used hard tyres and the tyre life was not as good as when we changed to softer ones! We altered the chassis set-up in the afternoon to help me keep the line in a corner and we will continue to work on this. The new asphalt definitely has more grip and I am sure that the laps times will improve quite a bit as long as it doesn't rain.
Yukio - 11th, 2:00.361
The ligaments in my left hand are still giving me some problems, and my strength there is not yet 100%, but the pain is less. The track doesn't feel the same as last year and the new surface reminds me of Qatar - sandy, with not a good feeling. But the lap times are not so bad. We made a little mistake with the settings in the beginning of the afternoon, qualifying, but changed them at the end of the session and improved the feeling. Tomorrow we will make some adjustments to the front and rear suspension and see if we can the bike better entering the corners.
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