YRC News
|
WSB : First two rows for Yamaha Motor Italia duo
Round: 9 - Netherlands
Circuit: Assen
Date: 3 September 2005
Temp: 24ēC
Weather: Sunny
Noriyuki Haga rode a sensational superpole lap to grab front row starts for
tomorrow's two-race round nine of the Superbike World Championship at Assen, in
the Netherlands.
The Yamaha Motor Italia ace rode a determined lap to set a weekend's best time
of 2:05.078, improving his position from 11th in regular qualifying to fourth on
the final grid, despite losing time through several big slides. The Japanese
rider will now work with his team technicians to refine the machine's suspension
settings for the 16 lap races.
Team-mate Andrew Pitt retained his sixth position from regular qualifying with
a 2:05.304. The smooth lap was marginally quicker than his previous best of the
weekend, although the Australian was a little disappointed to miss out on a
front row start.
Yamaha Motor France rider Norick Abe climbed into the top 16 to make superpole,
ending the session in 15th place. Team-mate Sebastien Gimbert was on the
superpole bubble and will start 17th.
Pitt's fellow Australian Chris Vermeulen (Honda) set pole position with a
stunning 2:04.179 lap time.
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"We improved the bike this afternoon but I still had many big slides and we have
not yet found the perfect suspension setting for tomorrow's race. Tonight we
will make some more changes and I hope this can make the feeling with the bike
better. But it is good to be on the front row. I like the Assen circuit and I
will be trying as hard as I can to take the win tomorrow."
Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"Superpole was ok but I am a little disappointed not to improve my position. I'd
have liked to have got into the high 2:04s but I didn't and I'd have liked to
have got onto the front row, but I didn't. But overall it's ok. We're
consistently up there on race tyres and I think that we can get some good
results in the races."
Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France)
"A so-so day. We made the grip a little better but still we need more
improvement. I'm happy to make superpole but I hope we can find a solution
tomorrow."
Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France)
"I am a bit disappointed not to make superpole but the race setting is not so
bad, so I am looking forward to tomorrow."
Massimo Meregalli (Yamaha Motor Italia - Team Coordinator)
"With our riders on the front two rows we are quite happy. Both riders have been
very consistent this weekend and we are optimistic for the race. We're also
happy that the new parts we've tried out seem to be working well and it looks
like the performance on the track confirms what the dyno told us. We now wait to
see what tomorrow's race will bring."
Round: 9 - Netherlands
Circuit: Assen
Circuit Length: 5997m
Fastest Lap Ever: 2' 4.179 (Chris Vermeulen, 2005)
Date: 3 September 2005
Temp: 24ēC
Session 2 :
Pos.Rider Manufacturer Nat. 1st Qualifying 2nd Qualifying Superpole
1 C. Vermeulen Honda AUS 2' 5.445 2' 5.721 2' 4.179
2 J. Toseland Ducati GBR 2' 4.742 2' 5.044 2' 4.899
3 T. Corser Suzuki AUS 2' 4.835 2' 5.092 2' 5.005
4 N. Haga Yamaha JPN 2' 6.145 2' 5.878 2' 5.078
5 K. Muggeridge Honda AUS 2' 5.136 2' 4.860 2' 5.256
6 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS 2' 5.908 2' 5.395 2' 5.304
7 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN 2' 5.921 2' 5.649 2' 5.434
8 S. Martin Petronas AUS 2' 5.793 2' 6.533 2' 5.560
9 P. Chili Honda ITA 2' 7.111 2' 6.120 2' 5.691
10 L. Lanzi Ducati ITA 2' 5.594 2' 5.065 2' 5.936
11 I. Clementi Ducati ITA 2' 6.235 2' 5.399 2' 6.036
12 M. Neukirchner Honda GER 2' 5.822 2' 5.396 DNF
13 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR 2' 6.474 2' 5.243 2' 6.401
14 N. Abe Yamaha JPN 2' 7.118 2' 6.417 2' 6.532
15 G. Vizziello Yamaha ITA 2' 5.968 2' 6.969 2' 6.545
16 B. Bostrom Honda USA 2' 7.077 2' 5.942 2' 7.624
17 S. Gimbert Yamaha FRA 2' 6.520 2' 6.557
20 L. Alfonsi Yamaha ITA 2' 6.734 2' 8.555
21 J. Cardoso Yamaha ESP 2' 7.031 2' 6.872
Curtain improves to Assen front row
Assen, The Netherlands
3/9/2005
Kevin Curtain slashed almost a second from his best lap of the weekend to start
tomorrow's ninth round of the Supersport World Championship from the front row
of the grid.
The multiple Australian champion's Yamaha Motor Germany squad worked hard
overnight to cure the handling problems which blighted his qualifying session
yesterday, allowing the 39-year-old to take his YZF-R6 around the long Dutch
circuit in a time of 2:8.890, less than a second behind championship leader
Sebastien Charpentier's pole position time.
But while Curtain was able to improve from his overnight sixth place, there was
a reversal of fortunes for his team-mate Broc Parkes. The 23-year-old had ended
the opening day in fourth but found himself shuffled back to 10th place on
tomorrow's grid despite improving his time slightly from Friday. Parkes' best
of 2:9.544 was a tenth of a second faster than his day one time, with a mistake
on his final lap denying him the chance to improve further. The Australian was
up on his best time at the first intermediate split, only to slide out uninjured
mid way through the lap.
Kevin Curtain
"We've got the bike pretty much as good as we can, so I just did what I normally
do: ride it as hard as I can and try to hold it together. I'm glad to be on the
front row although it was a bit touch and go at the end. I came around for a
final fast lap, only to find Broc riding out of the gravel and a bunch of other
riders cruising past with their hands up. After that it was too late to put in
another fast one, but thankfully I was able to hold onto the front row."
Broc Parkes
"I'm a bit disappointed to be starting on the third row. It was a difficult
session with two stoppages and that made it hard to get a good rhythm. At the
end I just lost the front and went down, I don't really know why - maybe it was
some oil."
|