Corser and Haga make up ground on day one

Having missed the official FGSport tests in March the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team had to work particularly hard on the first day of the Valencia race weekend to set times just inside the top ten of the 30 riders who entered this third round of the 2008 season. Corser's best time was only 0.618 seconds from fastest man Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) and put him ninth in a session where the top 15 riders qualified within a second of provisional pole. Haga was tenth, only 0.124 seconds from Corser, as each attempted to match their machine's settings and initial tyre choices against the unpredictable Valencia track surface. Both Corser and Haga are proven race winners at this challenging stadium-style circuit, and with their experienced team behind they fully expect to find fully competitive race set-ups for Sunday's two 23-lap Superbike races. The GMT94 team had received new parts in time for the Valencia race allowing them to run 4 kilo's lighter compared to previous race and therefore closer to a Superbike spec than the Endurance machines they have been running up to now.Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) finished 15th in the first timed session and should he keep this position or better it in tomorrow's session, he will qualify for Superpole. His team-mate David Checa was only 1.260 seconds from pole but finished the opening day 19th. In a remarkably close opening qualifying session, run on race tyres throughout, Team YZF Yamaha rider Shinichi Nakatomi finished 21st fastest, but only 1.282 seconds from provisional pole. Troy Corser (9th - 1'35.424 - Yamaha Italy WSB Team) "The engine feels not so bad even on the first day and we just need to get the chassis settings right. We haven't got it quite there yet, but that is to be expected after only two sessions. The grip from the track is about normal for Valencia on the first day of practice and I think it will get better as the weekend goes on. We are really starting from day one and some other people are further along. I'm not worried, because I know the track and I know what to do, so we just need to get it right tomorrow." Noriyuki Haga (10th - 1'35.548 - Yamaha Italy WSB Team) "We have found it a little bit more difficult than we expected to find a set-up right away because in some parts of the circuit we have a little bit less grip than others. We should have had more grip in the timed session than we did in the morning session but right now we don't. That is because of the combination of the setting and the tyres. We have to check suspension settings one more time tonight to let us move on tomorrow." Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "For me, all we are missing is the two day test. Because of that the gap between our two riders and the rest is what we could expect. I am not worried about it and I know there is enough left in the bike and set-up changes for us to catch up tomorrow. Troy and Nori are close on times and we are not so far from the leading rider." Qualifying 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 1'34.806 2, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 1'34.932 4, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 1'35.060 5, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 1'35.080 6, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 1'35.085 7, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 1'35.262 8, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'35.278 9, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 1'35.424 10, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 1'35.548 11, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 1'35.550 13, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 1'35.634 14, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 1'35.756 15, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 1'35.766 16, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 1'35.766 17, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 1'35.892 18, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 1'35.939 19, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 1'36.066 20, Carmelo Morales, Honda, ESP, 1'36.070 21, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 1'36.088 22, Russel Holland, Honda, AUS, 1'36.150 23, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 1'36.268 24, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 1'36.305 25, Sergio Fuertes, Suzuki, ESP, 1'36.711 26, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 1'36.749 27, Loic Napoleone, Yamaha, FRA, 1'37.288 ---------- QUALIFYING 1 REPORT - 04/04/2008 Parkes in the opening day top four Yamaha World Supersport Team riders Fabien Foret and Broc Parkes had vastly differing experiences during their first day of practice at Valencia, with Parkes finishing fourth on the time sheets and Foret suffering a slight concussion after a crash. Despite not riding in the recent FGSport tests at Valencia on 13 and 14 March, both Parkes and Foret started brightly in the opening unofficial session this morning, with Parkes fastest of all and Foret only 0.6 seconds behind. Against expectations, the overcast afternoon session meant that it was only slightly warmer than the morning but the times of the top riders dropped significantly in any case. Andrew Pitt set a new track best of 1m 36.773 to take provisional pole, with Parkes setting a best of 1m 37.436 to go fourth fastest. Foret rode for only four laps in the official session in the afternoon before he fell. He suffered a highside when his rear end slid and then finally snapped sideways on the exit of the first right hander of the circuit, while he was trying out a new tyre at a high pace. Foret recorded a time of 1m 38.351 was ranked 14th. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) was the closest YZF-R6 rider to Parkes, going 11th quickest with a 1m 38.007 lap. Roccoli had been joint fastest qualifier in the recent official test at Valencia, but was unable to replicate those kind of lap-times today. Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team rider David De Gea only did a handful of laps before being forced to stop riding due to the effects of a previously fractured lower left leg, which had not healed up enough to allow him to put pressure on it. De Gea's team-mate Davide Salom was a disappointed 29th after setting only 12 laps in total in the timed session. Broc Parkes (4th - 1m 37.436 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "Not too bad for Friday and we knew we would be doing a little bit of catching up because we didn't test here. When we got the end of the session we found a way to go forward but we didn't have enough time left to try it. We found some good and bad things today, so tonight we will absorb it all. I know we can be a lot better." Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) "We've started well, although we need to be a little bit faster still. We need to improve some points with the front-end feel and also the rear-end is sitting a little bit too far down right now. Nothing dramatic, but every time you speed up you have to make changes. It looked a bit better this morning, when we were right there in terms of lap times. Fabien hit his head quite hard when he fell and had a short concussion. He came back into the garage with time left in the session but we thought it would be better for him to wait until tomorrow to ride again." Massimo Roccoli (11th - 1'38.007 seconds - Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) "We are slower than we were in tests here last month but the temperatures on the track are very different, in the morning and the afternoon, and we didn't choose the best rear tyre to work with. I am confident that we can find a better way tomorrow and move up the grid." David De Gea (Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team) "I broke my left leg in February and last week the doctor advised me not to enter this weekend. But I wanted to at least try and I tried to test this morning. Under braking it was particularly painful. I have to say that right now my leg is not ready and it does not help that here in Valencia we have a lot of left-hand corners. It´s a shame, but now we have to wait for Assen, where I hope to be ready to ride." Qualifying 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 1'36.773 2, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 1'37.068 3, Katsuaki Fujiwara, Kawasaki, JPN, 1'37.233 4, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 1'37.436 5, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 1'37.449 6, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 1'37.538 7, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 1'37.551 8, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'37.810 9, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 1'37.899 10, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 1'37.985 11, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 1'38.007 12, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 1'38.042 13, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 1'38.108 14, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 1'38.211 15, Graeme Gowland, Honda, GBR, 1'38.255 16, Gregory Leblanc, Honda, FRA, 1'38.263 17, Ivan Clementi, Triumph, ITA, 1'38.315 18, Mark Aitchinson, Triumph, AUS, 1'38.565 19, Miguel Praia, Honda, POR, 1'38.604 20, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 1'38.628 21, Vesa Kallio, Honda, FIN, 1'38.659 22, Angel Rodriguez, Kawasaki, ESP, 1'38.666 23, Garry McCoy, Triumph, AUS, 1'38.739 24, Arnaud Vincent, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'38.791 25, William De Angelis, Honda, ITA, 1'38.871 26, Gergo Talmacsi, Honda, HUN, 1'39.083 27, Ilario Dionisi, Triumph, ITA, 1'39.324 28, Mirko Giansanti, Honda, ITA, 1'39.330 29, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 1'39.486 30, Lorenzo Alfonsi, Kawasaki, ITA, 1'39.578 31, Didier Van Keymeulen, Suzuki, BEL, 1'39.661 32, Luka Nedog, Honda, SVN, 1'39.710 33, Santiago Barragan, Honda, ESP, 1'40.070 34, Adrian Bonastre, Yamaha, ESP, 1'40.431 35, Danilo Dell'omo, Honda, ITA, 1'40.628 36, Attila Magda, Honda, HUN, 1'41.151