Cold and wet weather hampers day one at Donington

Cold and wet weather conditions hampered today's free practice and qualifying sessions at Donington, adding to the Yamaha Motor Italia Team's challenge in finding the right race set up for Sunday. With both Corser and Haga having taken double wins here previously, the riders were looking to simply remember the circuit and focus on finding the best bike set-up. But they had to wait until the afternoon qualifying to really get to work.

This is the first time Troy Corser has ridden the Yamaha YZF-R1 around Donington but that didn't stop him posting the best time in free practice and the second best time in the afternoon qualifying session. A high-speed but minor accident in the last 18 minutes knocked him off top spot, making it hard to regain the fastest time, which he had for the majority of the session.

Noriyuki Haga spent the day working around the challenging weather conditions to try different set up options. He achieved a best time of 1'34.553 putting him in a solid eighth position going into tomorrow's second qualifying session where weather conditions should be better.

Team YZF Yamaha rider Shinichi Nakatomi had his first on-track experience of Donington today and therefore was focused on getting to know the track and lines. Nakatomi is no stranger to learning race tracks quickly though. Last year was his first year in the championship and he had never ridden at any of the circuits prior to the race weekends.

The provisional front row is headed up by Troy Bayliss (Ducati) followed by Troy Corser. Ruben Xaus (Ducati) is in third and James Toseland (Honda) completes the front row.

Troy Corser (2nd - 1'32.817 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "I'm pretty happy with the engine changes we've made today. The bike is easier to ride and is pretty comfortable so now we can focus on finding the right balance and settings. The crash was my fault, I just went in a bit too quick but I was lucky and got away lightly. After this morning's cold session where we didn't get much opportunity to really try the tyres, we got some consistency this afternoon and there was good grip."     Noriyuki Haga (8th - 1'34.553 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "I remembered the track from my last ride here in 2003 in the MotoGP class so today was more about trying to finding the right set up. This morning was very wet and too cold, though, making it difficult to push the bike too much. The lines were drying this afternoon but some corners were still wet so I spent much of the time looking for the best lines. Tomorrow I hope to get more time to focus on our race set up, but that depends on the weather and luck."    Shinichi Nakatomi (23rd - 1'38.568 - Team YZF Yamaha) "This is my first time riding at this circuit, the only time I have been to Donington before was last year when I came to watch the British Superbike round. This circuit is very beautiful but very difficult technically, with high speed up and downhill corners. I did not get a good position in this afternoon's session due to the weather but I am hoping for drier weather tomorrow to allow me to get a better qualifying position for the race."

Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "The progress we made at Valencia has been evident here today and Corser is quite satisfied with the result of today's sessions. Nori says his bike is okay and that is a very good sign as he is quite demanding of the bike. We hope the weather is dry tomorrow so we can just focus on the race set up and check the tyre life for race distance."   Circuit Length: 4023 Temp: 8 Weather: Changeable     2007 WSB Donington Park 30/03/2007 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'32.333 2 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 1'32.817 3 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 1'33.646 4 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'33.692 5 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 1'33.729 6 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 1'34.203 7 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'34.549 8 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'34.553 9 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 1'34.593 10 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 1'35.363 11 Giovanni Bussei Honda ITA 1'35.897 12 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 1'35.907 13 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 1'36.002 14 Steve Martin Honda AUS 1'36.067 15 Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 1'36.441 23 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 1'38.568

QUALIFYING 1 REPORT 30/03/2007 Injuries mean an early return home for Yamaha World Supersport Team 

The third round of the World Supersport Championship got off to a bad start for the Yamaha World Supersport Team, with both Curtain and Parkes sustaining injuries during crashes in the free practice session on Friday.

The crashes ended the team's hopes of success for the weekend. Kevin Curtain was the first to fall early on in the wet session, high-siding the bike at Goddard's corner in front of his team mate resulting in a clean break to his collar bone. It is not known yet whether Kevin will be fit enough to race at Valencia in two weeks.

Broc spent the session focusing on putting some distance on the tyres and re-acquainting himself with the track not having ridden here since 2001, when he rode for Ducati in the World Superbike Championship. Unfortunately, in the closing stages of the session he high-sided the bike at the same corner as Kevin, leaving him with a small fracture to his collar bone.

Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) "The track conditions were too cold today especially the last corner, which was really slippery. I was hoping for the track to dry quickly to really put in some good laps. It is frustrating to work so hard for the first two rounds and then this to happen here. Right now, it is hard for me to say when I'll be back; I will do my best to be there."  

Kevin Curtain (Yamaha World Supersport Team) "I'm all right. I now just want to concentrate on getting my collar bone fixed before Valencia in two weeks time. It is a good break at least, if there is such a thing. The conditions just weren't good out there today. I aim to be back for Valencia, we will have to wait and see if that is realistic or not."

Despite the misfortunes of the Yamaha World Supersport team there was good news for other Yamaha-shod riders in the championship. Former French 125 GP World Champion and current entrant in the French Supersport Championship - Arnaud Vincent put in a best lap of 1'41.208 to take provisional fourth place in the afternoon's qualifying session, while Massimo Roccoli set a best time of 1'42.556, placing him in seventh position. Yamaha - GMT94 team members Sébastien Gimbert and David Checa finished the day in 12th and 13th places respectively.

The fastest man in today's qualifying session was Matthieu Lagrive (Honda), followed by Davide Giugliano (Kawasaki) and Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda). Arnaud Vincent completes the provisional front row going in to tomorrow's final qualifying session.

Arnaud Vincent (4th - 1'41.639 - Tati Team Beaujolais Racing) "In today's qualifying I started with a wet rear tyre but then switched to a slick after ten minutes as the track was starting to dry. I hope tomorrow is wet because the wet conditions will even out the playing field and also I often ride well in the wet."

Massimo Roccoli (7th - 1'42.556 - Yamaha Motor Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) "During the qualifying session I mainly rode with wet tyres. During one pit stop I saw that the tyre was pretty much finished so I opted for an intermediate. Just before the session ended I managed to put in a good lap placing me in seventh overall. We have a good wet race set up now so I'm confident I will start from the second row on Sunday if it continues to rain. We will see how final qualifying goes tomorrow."   Circuit Length: 4023 Temp: 8 Weather: Changeable     2007 WSS Donington Park 30/03/2007 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Matthieu Lagrive Honda FRA 1'40.239 2 Davide Giugliano Kawasaki ITA 1'41.208 3 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1'41.621 4 Arnaud Vincent Yamaha FRA 1'41.639 5 Craig Jones Honda GBR 1'42.465 6 Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 1'42.539 7 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 1'42.556 8 Vesa Kallio Suzuki FIN 1'42.967 9 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 1'42.989 10 Lorenzo Alfonsi Honda ITA 1'43.004 11 Simone Sanna Honda ITA 1'43.040 12 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 1'43.171 13 David Checa Yamaha ESP 1'43.916 14 Chris Peris Yamaha CAN 1'44.016 15 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 1'44.114