WSB/WSS Valencia - Qualifying 1 REPORT 13/04/2007

Valencia's notoriously changeable track conditions provided an interesting day at the fourth round of the World Superbike Championship at Valencia. The damp track this morning dried out with slightly warmer and drier conditions this afternoon for the first qualifying session of the weekend.

Haga had the most success of the day in the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team, being third fastest in this morning's free practice. He then went on to finish in fourth in qualifying having spent the session focusing on testing various tyre and suspension options. Having finished the morning practice session second fastest, Corser then fought throughout the afternoon session to find the right set-up. He ended the day in sixth position.

Shinichi Nakatomi, riding for the French Team Yamaha YZF squad, finished the day in 18th position. Nakatomi was keen to try and find a good set up, so spent the day focusing on small suspension and tyre settings.

The day's result is headed by Bayliss (Ducati), who surprised everyone with such a good result in light of the injuries he sustained at Donington. Spaniard Ruben Xaus (Ducati) finished in second today at his home circuit. James Toseland (Honda) finished in third and Haga completes the line up in fourth.

The Ricardo Tormo circuit is renowned for being very changeable in its grips conditions due to the variety of vehicles that use the circuit. Any damp brings out the rubber and oil that has been laid down previously, making it very slippery.

The rapidly changing conditions were nowhere more evident than towards the end of the day's on-track sessions, when thunder and lightning accompanied a sudden downpour, leaving the track under a couple of inches on rainwater.     Noriyuki Haga (4th - 1'35.440 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "I managed some improvement in my lap times during today but I struggled with finding the right tyre. We tried three different tyres this afternoon but I didn't find the right one for the race. Although it was still damp on the track this morning, the lower track temperatures actually suited the tyre.

I'm not feeling too bad, tomorrow I hope to find the right tyre and I am hoping it is not raining, as this track gets very slippery when it is wet."    Troy Corser (6th - 1'35.483 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "Today has been tough - all day I have struggled with the engine character. Following the test session here last month and after Donington, we made some engine changes which have completely altered the feel of the bike somehow. The engine character is different between my main and my spare bike, even.

I'm glad we found this out today as it gives us tomorrow to sort out the problem so we are ready for race day. We think we have already worked out the problem and are working on a solution, which we will test out in the morning."  

Shinichi Nakatomi (18th - 1'36.757 - Team Yamaha YZF) "Today we have made many small changes and improvements throughout both sessions. Now we just need to combine the changes for tomorrow's qualifying session. I am hopeful of a higher qualifying position tomorrow - I just hope it is not raining."   Circuit Length: 4005 Temp: 24 Weather: Sunny     2007 WSB Valencia 13/04/2007 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'34.599 2 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 1'35.023 3 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'35.147 4 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'35.440 5 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 1'35.453 6 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 1'35.483 7 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'35.709 8 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'35.767 9 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 1'35.804 10 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 1'35.814 11 Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 1'35.856 12 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'36.012 13 Giovanni Bussei Honda ITA 1'36.016 14 Carmelo Morales Yamaha ESP 1'36.032 15 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 1'36.094 18 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 1'36.755

QUALIFYING 1 REPORT 13/04/2007 Curtain and Parkes show their determination in first qualifying  

Kevin Curtain took third place in this weekend's first qualifying session - only two weeks after breaking his left collar bone in four places at Donington Park. Team mate Broc Parkes struggled with his collar bone injury also, managing 11th place during the 45 minute session.

Both riders have broken collar bones - Parkes his right and Curtain his left - after crashing in practice at the previous round at Donington. Since their respective accidents both riders have undergone surgery to plate and bolt the collar bones. They have had less than two weeks recovery since the last round and have surprised everyone by the efforts they have gone to in order to race here this weekend.

Having attending last month's Pirelli tyre test, the team preferred to sit out the damp morning practice session rather than aggravate the riders injuries, confident that they have good set up information from these testing sessions. In the dry afternoon session, Kevin had an unexpected but excellent ride and secured third place whilst Broc found his injuries were more aggravated by the many twists and turns in the middle section of the circuit.

Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni rider, Massimo Roccoli, had an average performance and only managed to qualify in 16th position.

Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) topped today's qualifying session with a best time. Fujiwara (Honda) came in second with Curtain taking third and Riba (Kawasaki) completing the provisional front row in fourth place.    Kevin Curtain (3rd - 1'37.885 - Yamaha Word Supersport Team) "My injuries don't feel too bad - until I have to brake hard. I surprised myself in that session, getting third slot, considering I've just had quite a major operation. The doctor has done a good job! I'm happy with securing third position today because, if it rains tomorrow as it is forecast to, the risk of crashing will be higher. I have to consider my injuries and take it a bit more gently if it rains tomorrow."     Broc Parkes (11th - 1'38.681 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "My collar bone is giving me some trouble in the middle section of a lap when I have to use my right arm a lot. It really hurts when I have to switch from left to right, which makes changing direction quite difficult. I'm okay on the brakes with it, but then I have a different riding style to Kevin. I'd like to qualify in the top eight; hopefully I can get to the second row in tomorrow's qualifying, depending on the weather."    Massimo Roccoli (16th - 1'39.016 - Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) "Unfortunately today was a bad day for me. There was no technical problem; it was more of a personal issue with me struggling with my feeling of the track. The bike and the tyre is the same when we tested here in March, but for some reason I am 1.5 seconds slower than at that test. The difference is too big to be technical, it is something I need to try and resolve myself for tomorrow."   Circuit Length: 4005 Temp: 19 Weather: Sunny     2007 WSS Valencia 13/04/2007 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1'37.521 2 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 1'37.729 3 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 1'37.885 4 Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 1'38.095 5 Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 1'38.478 6 Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 1'38.524 7 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 1'38.532 8 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 1'38.564 9 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 1'38.568 10 Joan Lascorz Honda ESP 1'38.649 11 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 1'38.681 12 Javier Fores Honda ESP 1'38.734 13 Lorenzo Alfonsi Honda ITA 1'38.753 14 Davide Giugliano Kawasaki ITA 1'38.915 15 David Salom Yamaha ESP 1'39.008 16 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 1'39.016 19 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 1'39.243 21 David Checa Yamaha ESP 1'39.283 24 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 1'39.575