Round 2 , Phillip Island (Australia), Saturday 2nd April
2005, Final Qualifying
Circuit: 4.45 km., Weather: 28-32 C

FRONT ROW FOR TROY

A change in conditions and the smallest of problems in one corner were enough to
deprive Troy of a Superpole win in front of his home fans. But although Troy was
disappointed not to take Superpole, his lap was good enough for a spot on the
front row of the grid for tomorrow’s pair of 22-lap races. Troy had led normal
timed qualifying, but in the end it was his team mate Yukio Kagayama to steal
the glory in the sixteen rider Superpole shoot-out. Second was Steve Martin
(Petronas), with Max Neukirchner (Honda) a surprising third quickest.

TROY - 4th, 1:33.398

Of course I am a little disappointed today - not to win Superpole - but what
happens in tomorrow’s 22-lap races is far more important. At this track it is so
easy to lose a tad - or sometimes gain a tad - and that affects the whole lap
and the lap time. I’m not at all bothered because I am on the front row and
that’s all that matters really. Maybe I was a little cautious at the beginning
of my Superpole lap and that, together with the fact that the bike didn’t seem
to quite hook up as I expected at Siberia, was probably enough to lose a little
time. It’s also possible that the drop in temperature changed the bike’s mapping
a little, but we will not find that out for sure until we look at the telemetry
this evening. There’s gonna be two long, hard races here tomorrow and I am
confident that I can win at least one race. I don’t think any rider is going to
break away from the rest. It’s going to be a real fight to the flag and I’m
ready for that.

Final qualifying

 1 Kagayama (J-Suzuki)     1:33.241
 2 Martin (Aus-Petronas)   1:33.301
 3 Neukirchner (D-Honda)   1:33.375
 4 TROY CORSER (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)  1:33.398
 5 Pitt (Aus-Yamaha)       1:33.461
 6 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda)  1:33.557
 7 McCoy (Aus-Petronas)    1:33.676
 8 Laconi (I-Ducati)       1:33.837
 9 Vermeulen (Aus-Honda)   1:34.053
10 Toseland (GB-Ducati)    1:34.068

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