Another Superpole for Bayliss at Monza May 10, 2008
Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) was the only rider to lap in under 1m45 in this afternoon's Superpole, a result that rewarded the Australian rider with his third pole position of the season for tomorrow's races at the Monza Autodromo, one of his preferred tracks. The hard work that the Ducati Xerox Team put in during the preceding sessions paid off and Troy, having qualified eighth for Superpole, was able to complete a flying lap on board his Ducati 1098 F08.
Second quickest time went to the rapidly improving Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Alstare), three-tenths of a second behind Bayliss, followed by 2007 double winner Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) and Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda). The Suzuki squad has looked particularly impressive so far here at Monza, with the Belgian team's other two riders Yukio Kagayama and Fonsi Nieto qualifying on row 2 of the grid, together with Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati) and Ryuichi Kiyonari (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda).
Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati) made progress this afternoon, the Italian qualifying in fifteenth place after the two sessions but moving up to ninth in the one-lap dash, a result that gives him a third row grid start. Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) struggled to twelfth quickest time behind Regis Laconi (Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse) but ahead of Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) in thirteenth..
Troy Bayliss - Ducati Xerox It's been a mixed weekend, and we've struggled a little bit but now it's all come good today after a lot of hard work and we're going much more consistently fast. I feel good riding with the race tyre and I was pretty happy with my Superpole lap time today although I thought that Nori and Max may have gone a little faster than they did. I made a tiny mistake, as did they, but I was able to go fastest in the end. Tomorrow will be a great day of racing and Max has proved himself to be a real contender from now on so it'll definitely be interesting. Nori and Max will surely be up there fighting and the first few laps will be really important I think.
Monza Superpole - Bayliss Lap
Monza Superpole Highlights
Michel Fabrizio - Ducati Xerox It's been really quite difficult this weekend and I am disappointed with the Superpole results of this afternoon. I hoped to go faster, at least going under 1m46 but it didn't happen. Just like yesterday I continued to lose time in today's sessions through the Parabolica curve and then made a couple of other little mistakes which meant I was unable to secure the starting position for the races that I hoped for. We'll make a few more changes tomorrow morning because I just didn't feel quite right today with the bike. On a positive note, my arm is not giving me any trouble so that is good news.
Noriyuki Haga - Yamaha Italia We have had problems with the general set up but we have been working hard to improve them through qualifying. Things feel a bit better now. We still need to find a little bit on the main straights. We need to have a bit more top end speed. For tomorrow, we need to make the most of our good starting position and get away with the front group.
Troy Corser - Yamaha Italia The bike feels very nervous still, we shortened it a bit in free practice and tried a few other things. Our set-up is not very forgiving right now and the bike flicks you around a bit on the bumps. It's not too bad but we need to find a set-up to push for the whole race. We have one choice of tyre we can use, and the duration is OK. The bump into Ascari was about half the size last year, and I think that's because of the cars pushing it up under braking. We are struggling in a few places on the bumps. We need to get off the line clean tomorrow, stay with them, and see where we end up.
Carlos Checa - Hanspree Ten Kate Honda I'm quite satisfied with the Superpole result i set this afternoon. Comingwere we started from this morning, we have improved a lot. We have been struggling with the setting of the bike in the qualifyingsessions and have only been able to resolve it and find the rightracing pace in the final part of the session. I find the track quite difficult to ride, but we are stepping up. Thereare still some areas in which we have to improve, like in the exit ofthe first chicane. Considering the start of the weekend I find the result positive and am confident we can have a good race tomorrow.
Ryuichi Kiyonari - Hanspree Ten Kate Honda The qualifying session this morning was a lot better for me then yesterday.The feeling with the machine is good and I start to understand thecircuit a lot better and I have been able to improve my lap times. I'm a bit disappointed with my Superpole qualifying, but with a good startfrom the second row and fast first lap I can catch the top group andfight for a good result. The machine is perfect, the engine is fast, the set up is good, now I canonly work on myself and try to ride more smoothly in the corners. In Valencia I had a good qualifying session but couldn't make it to the podium, tomorrow I will try and push hard for a good result and makethat last step.
Max Neukirchner - Suzuki Alstare I'm really happy today because I think we have a good bike set-up and I'm ready for the races. My engine felt strong today and although I made a small mistake in Superpole I'm happy to be on the front row of the grid. Monza is a fast track and I hope to enjoy myself and have some fun tomorrow.
Yukio Kagayama - Suzuki Alstare It's funny but I really thought that my Superpole was a good one and that it was fast also. But when I saw the times I realised that it had only been good enough for fifth position and I was disappointed. Today we did a lot of good work and tested many tyres so we have a good idea of what set-up to use tomorrow. Maybe we'll make some small adjustments in the warm-up tomorrow morning but the bike is pretty good at the moment, so the rest is up to me"
Fonsi Nieto - Suzuki Alstare Yesterday, I think I lost my way a bit so I feel that my weekend only started today. Now my bike is getting better and although I still have problems in two corners, we are going in the right direction. This racetrack is strange and there are many different points, like braking and slipstreaming, to consider. We more or less know which tyres we will use, but a lot depends on the weather. But anyway, I'm a lot happier today than I was yesterday.
Ruben Xaux - Sterilgrada Ducati I'm really glad with my performance and I want to thank the team for the job done. At the round eve I was pretty worried about our power gap. I'm just sorry to have lost the first line for just some hundredth of second. We would have deserved it, both me and the team I mean. They was great to give me a motorbike so well fine tuned.
Max Biaggi - Sterilgrada Ducati We made a step forward compared to yesterday, especially for the race trim. Unfortunately I had problems with the silencer at the beginning of the Superpole and the damage caused a light power decrease. Tomorrow a good start will be vital, I would like to be part of the leading pack immediately in order to run a great race, as the many supporters coming here will expect from me.
Regis Laconi - PSG-1 Kawasaki Compared to this morning the bike has improved and I feel more confident. The strange thing is that I used a qualifying tyre but didn't improve my time, because the grip didn't seem to increase. I made a good fast lap in Superpole but I'm still more than a second from the leading rider. Let's see what we can do tomorrow. I heard it could be raining, and I usually don't dislike riding in the wet, but in this case I would prefer a dry track. It is too dangerous considering the speeds we reach here.
Makoto Tamada - PSG-1 Kawasaki During the morning session today I wanted to use certain tyres, but we preferred not to use them and keep them for later. At the end of the session I felt it difficult to increase my speed. The engine is not performing quite the way we thought in some areas and we had a small problem during the afternoon session. I'm annoyed that I couldn't maintain yesterday's performance. I know tomorrow will be better and we'll solve everything. I hope it won't rain as this track will become very dangerous for all the riders if it does.
