Haga seventh in first qualifying

WSB : Haga seventh in first qualifying Round: 2 - Australia Circuit: Phillip Island Date: 3 March 2006 Temp: 36ºC Weather: Sunny Noriyuki Haga was the fastest of the Yamaha men in today's opening qualifying session for round two of the Superbike World Championship, held at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia. Haga, who yesterday celebrated his 31st birthday, ended the day seventh fastest, just over a second behind provisional pole sitter Troy Bayliss (Ducati). Having chosen to test in Qatar rather than Australia in the winter break, both Haga and his Yamaha Motor Italia team-mate Andrew Pitt struggled to find ideal settings for their YZF-R1s. Haga complained of a lack of rear traction, while Pitt started off using the same settings that took him to a podium finish in Qatar six days ago. The local rider, who this weekend is wearing a new helmet design based on that of 1987 500cc Grand Prix world champion Wayne Gardner, also had the added disadvantage of carrying a 'flu virus. Despite this he still managed to make the top 16 in a time less than one and a half seconds from pole. Sandwiching Pitt on the provisional grid are Yamaha Motor France duo Sebastien Gimbert and Norick Abe. Having tested at the circuit in January, the squad came to Phillip Island with a good base setting for their machines - although they were unable to match their testing times in the scorching weather. Yamaha Motor France's third rider, Japanese newcomer Shinichi Nakatomi was able to set a personal best time around the circuit to end the day 24th, despite an off-track excursion. All three suffered chatter problems but are confident of finding an improvement for tomorrow morning's final qualifying session. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "We need to try and find more rear traction tomorrow. We tried many things today but couldn't quite find the correct setting. I think that it will be better tomorrow. We have a good idea of what we must do and the team will change many settings overnight. It is not so bad though. We did not test here, so we are starting from zero with the settings. Considering this we are quite close to the fastest times."   Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) "When we came here at the start of the year I was able to do 1:34.6 lap times, so although we are close I am still two tenths of a seconds slower than at the test. I had some problems with chatter today but we have some ideas on how to improve this. The times are very close but I am confident we can make some improvements and make the superpole." Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "We are still trying to find a good balance around here. We tried the Qatar settings but they are just not working around here. I think we have found a good direction though. This is a more demanding circuit and we need to get more weight over the front to make it more stable. We'll make a few changes overnight and see how things go in the morning." Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "I came here with different settings on my two bikes: one set-up as we used it in Qatar and the other with the settings we finished our test around here. I preferred using the settings from the test, although we weren't able to match our testing times. In the afternoon we changed the settings and I think we went too soft as we had a chatter problem and traction was not as good. We went back to a harder setting at the end and were able to do a 1:35 lap, which was better but not good enough. We have found a good direction though, and I think tomorrow will be much better." Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "After Qatar last weekend it has been good to come to a track I know from our test. I was not fully fit when we were here in January so already we are going faster and finding things we have to change. I also had some problem with chatter and if we can fix this I can go faster tomorrow." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "Nori needs more rear traction but he has had a long discussion with his crew chief and suspension technician and they have a good plan tomorrow. Andrew has found it difficult here today but I am sure that he can turn it around and put in a good qualifying display in front of his home fans."    Round: 2 - Australia Circuit: Phillip Island Circuit Length: 4448 Lap Record: 1' 33.019 (Troy Corser, 2001) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 32.193 (Troy Corser, 2001) Date: 3 March 2006 Temp: 36ºC Session 1 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying 1  T. Bayliss  Ducati  AUS   1' 33.387   2  A. Barros  Honda  BRA   1' 33.790   3  J. Toseland  Honda  GBR   1' 33.851   4  T. Corser  Suzuki  AUS   1' 33.868   5  Y. Kagayama  Suzuki  JPN   1' 34.461   6  S. Martin  Petronas  AUS   1' 34.501   7  N. Haga  Yamaha  JPN   1' 34.577   8  C. Walker  Kawasaki  GBR   1' 34.589   9  P. Chili  Honda  ITA   1' 34.601   10  F. Nieto  Kawasaki  ESP   1' 34.618   11  R. Rolfo  Ducati  ITA   1' 34.644   12  I. Clementi  Ducati  ITA   1' 34.708   13  K. Muggeridge  Honda  AUS   1' 34.756   14  M. Neukirchner  Ducati  GER   1' 34.822   15  S. Gimbert  Yamaha  FRA   1' 34.832   16  A. Pitt  Yamaha  AUS   1' 34.863   17  N. Abe  Yamaha  JPN   1' 35.010   24  S. Nakatomi  Yamaha  JPN   1' 36.080   WSS : Provisional front row for Yamaha Motor Germany duo Round: 2 - Australia WSS Circuit: Phillip Island Date: 3 March 2006 Temp: 36ºC Weather: Sunny Yamaha Motor Germany riders Broc Parkes and Kevin Curtain go into tomorrow's final qualifying session on the provisional front row after ending today's opening session second and third respectively. The Australian pair have been consistently at the top of the timesheets during the day's two 45-minute practice sessions, bested only by qualifying king Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) in the afternoon's qualifying practice. Having tested at the circuit in January, the Yamaha Motor Germany squad came to Phillip Island with a good base setting for their new-for-2006 R6s. Having found a set-up that they believe can help them challenge for honours on Sunday, the team will try to further improve their race set-up and maintain the crucial front row starts during tomorrow's grid-deciding qualifying session. In a good day for Yamaha runners, Italian privateer Mauro Sanchini finished sixth, with Spaniard Xavi Fores ninth. Local hero Anthony Gobert, a winner here in the superbike class, came 12th in his second ride for the Yamaha GMT94 team, while FIM Superstock 1000 champion Didier van Keymeulen ended the day 13th on his R6. Massimo Roccoli and Gianluca Vizziello of the Yamaha Team Italia squad ended 21st and 23rd respectively as they looked to find a good set-up for their machines.   Round: 2 - Australia WSS Circuit: Phillip Island Circuit Length: 4448 Lap Record: 1' 36.642 (Katsuaki Fujiwara, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 35.291 (Chris Vermeulen, 2003) Date: 3 March 2006 Temp: 36ºC Session 1 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying 1  S. Charpentier  Honda  FRA   1' 35.869   2  B. Parkes  Yamaha  AUS   1' 36.758   3  K. Curtain  Yamaha  AUS   1' 36.772   4  K. Sofuoglu  Honda  TUR   1' 37.586   5  Y. Tibero  Honda  FRA   1' 37.691   6  M. Sanchini  Yamaha  ITA   1' 37.865   7  R. Harms  Honda  DNK   1' 37.997   8  D. Thomas  Kawasaki  AUS   1' 38.241   9  X. Fores  Yamaha  ESP   1' 38.380   10  C. Zaiser  Ducati  AUT   1' 38.428   11  B. Veneman  Suzuki  NED   1' 38.452   12  A. Gobert  Yamaha  AUS   1' 38.499   13  D. Van Keymeulen  Yamaha  BEL   1' 38.559   14  M. Berger  Kawasaki  FRA   1' 38.730   15  T. Lauslehto  Honda  FIN   1' 38.779   16  W. De Angelis  Honda  ITA   1' 38.836   20  G. Nannelli  Yamaha  ITA   1' 39.239   21  M. Roccoli  Yamaha  ITA   1' 39.449   23  G. Vizziello  Yamaha  ITA   1' 39.885   25  J. Enjolras  Yamaha  FRA   1' 39.947   26  C. Peris  Yamaha  CAN   1' 40.276   27  V. Ivanov  Yamaha  RUS   1' 40.543