Round 9 , Assen (NL), Saturday 3rd September 2005, Final qualifying
Circuit: 5.997 kms. Weather: Dry, sunny 21-25 C

FRONT ROW FOR TROY

Despite a small engine problem, Troy finished his Superpole lap today with the
third quickest time and will start tomorrow’s 16-lap races from the front row of
the grid. All weekend Troy’s bike has had a small problem with wheelspin, but in
Superpole the problem was engine-related instead. Chris Vermeulen (Honda)
surprised everybody  in Superpole by posting a lap of 2:04.179 - over one and
half seconds quicker then his best time in regular qualifying. Second fastest in
Superpole is reigning champion James Toseland (Ducati), with Noriyuki Haga
(Yamaha) completing the front row of the grid alongside Troy. Troy’s team mate
Yukio Kagayama ended with the seventh fastest time and will start just behind
Troy on row two.

TROY - 3rd, 2:05.005

Superpole is always nice, but the important thing is the front row of the grid
and that’s what we did. It’s also great for the championship and all the fans to
see four different manufacturers on the front row. We changed engines this
afternoon and I guess the internals or something were slightly different because
it just didn’t feel the same. It’s funny because in normal qualifying and
practice we had a bit of a wheelspin problem, but that was OK in Superpole. I’d
like to congratulate Chris (Vermeulen) for doing such a good job in Superpole -
it was a tremendous lap and he deserves the watch.

Assen is a tough track and I don’t think anybody is going to pull away and make
a break. I aim to get a good start and then see how the race pans out before
doing anything drastic. I’ve never won at Assen and you can be sure that I’ll be
trying my best to take a win, but my goal is to leave Assen with my points lead
intact at the very least. If I get the chance of a win, you can bet I’ll go for
it.

See ya.

Final qualifying:

 1 Vermeulen (Aus-Honda)                          2:04.179
 2 Toseland (GB-Ducati)                           2:04.899
 3 TROY CORSER (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)  2:05.005
 4 Haga (J-Yamaha)                                2:05.078
 5 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda)                         2:05.256
 6 Pitt (Aus-Yamaha)                              2:05.304
 7 Kagayama (J-Suzuki)                            2:05.434
 8 Martin (Aus-Petronas)                          2:05.560
 9 Chili (I-Honda)                                2:05.691
10 Lanzi (I-Ducati)                               2:05.936

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