Round 2 , Phillip Island (Australia), Friday 1st
April 2005, Friday Qualifying
Circuit: 4.45 km., Weather: 28-32 C

TROY STARTS AS HE MEANS TO CARRY ON

Troy dominated this afternoon’s qualifying session at Phillip Island and posted
a time of 1:33.191 - nearly three tenths of a a second ahead of his nearest
rival, team mate Yukio Kagayama. Troy had not been fastest in the morning
untimed session, but wisely kept something in reserve for the afternoon, when
the lap times started tumbling. The wind had been a bit of a problem for all
riders in the morning because it kept changing direction, but it was more
consistent in the afternoon and all the riders found the conditions a bit
easier. Behind Troy and team mate Yukio, Frenchman Regis Laconi (Ducati) set the
third quickest time of the day, with Aussie Andrew Pitt (Yamaha) fourth. Current
world champion James Toseland decided to concentrate on a race set-up today and
did not use any qualifying tyres and so ended the day with only the fifteenth
fastest time.

TROY 1st, 1:33.191

I tried a qualifying tyre about twenty minutes from the end of this afternoon’s
session, because I didn’t want the final part to be a bit of a panic. I knew
everybody would be going for it towards the end, so I wanted to get one in the
bag early and let everybody chase my time. Funnily enough, although I knew my
quick lap was a good one, I didn’t realise how good it had been! I thought I’d
done a mid 1:33 and would’ve been happy with that, but then I realised that it
was a 1:33.191! And, It could have been quicker, except that I didn’t push it
100% in a couple of places - if I had, then it would have been a 1:32! I knew
that my team mate would be a big threat because he has ridden here quite a few
times. Also, he’s on the same bike as me and it is a bike good enough to win the
championship, so he is always going to be a big threat.

There was a bit of a clutch problem this morning but that was soon fixed and
everything went pretty smoothly after that. The wind here was more of a problem
this morning because it was inconsistent. In the afternoon, I think we all found
it a bit easier and, because it was timed qualifying, everybody went quicker. I
aim to take Superpole tomorrow and be in the perfect position for the two races
on Sunday.

Friday qualifying:

 1 TROY CORSER (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:33.191
 2 Kagayama (J-Suzuki)       1:33.787
 3 Laconi (F-Ducati)         1:34.084
 4 Pitt (Aus-Yamaha)         1:34.094
 5 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda)    1:34.364
 6 Vermeulen (Aus-Honda)     1:34.405
 7 McCoy (Aus-Petronas FP1)  1:34.491
 8 Martin (Aus-Petronas FP1) 1:34.499
 9 Sanchini (I-Kawasaki)     1:34.676
10 Chili (I-Honda)           1:34.775

TROY CORSER WEBSITE - http://www.troycorser.com