The first qualifying session of the 2008 world superbike and supersport season is done and dusted (arf!) in the desert circuit of Losail in Qatar. And there were no surprises. I've hacked the guts out of couple of press releases, so, as ever, read between the lines to spot the truth (as well as the likely race outcomes) on Saturday.


Troy Corser set the early pace at the first round of the 2008 World Superbike season in Qatar, posting a first day qualifying time of 1'59.627 on race tyres and getting to within half a second of the current lap record. Corser's fellow Yamaha rider Noriyuki Haga secured a provisional front row position of fourth, despite falling heavily two-thirds of the way through the hour long qualifying session.

Conditions at Losail were problematic for all riders, with a strong and gusting wind blowing down the kilometre-long main straight, holding down top speed potentials and making corner entry a challenge.

Final qualifying and then Superpole qualifying take place tomorrow, Friday 22nd, before Saturday's pair of 18-lap Superbike races.


Troy Corser (1st - 1'59.627 - Yamaha Italia WSB Team)
"Having the test so soon before the race was good because we got a really strong engine setting with the bike. The chassis feels quite good but it is difficult to know how well things are working, just because of the wind. That is probably the windiest conditions I have ever ridden in.. It wasn't so bad that we shouldn't have been out there, but today was all down to how much you wanted to push. I didn't really change too many settings from the test, just left it to get today out of the way. We just need the wind to die down for tomorrow. The track grip is comparable to what we had here at the test. I think the wind is blowing as much sand off the track as it is blowing sand back on. The only real problem is that the worst direction for the wind to blow here is down the main straight, like it was today. The bike and the team are working well so it's been a positive start."

Troy Bayliss Xerox Ducati 1m59.8s
"I'm reasonably happy with how it went today but we all found it tough and every lap had to be ridden in a different way simply due to the conditions. The wind meant that I was never completely comfortable and there is only so much we can do to change the settings of the bike because conditions may be different again tomorrow. Looking at this weekend's entry list I reckon it's going to be a very competitive championship this year, we're a strong field and I'm looking forward to the competition!"

Noriyuki Haga (4th - 2'00.476 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"It was difficult to make the best lap times in these conditions, but the feeling with the bike was very good. Unfortunately I had a big highside at turn one, on water coming from the bike. I landed straight on top of my head. I think before the crash I was half a centimetre taller. I am in a lot of pain but I will rest tonight and be better tomorrow. Top four is a good result for the first day. Our target point for tomorrow is make some changes in suspension, but I think we have the package right now anyway."



Superbike qualifying 1
1, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 1'59.627
2, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 1'59.853
3, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 2'0.307
4, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 2'0.476
5, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 2'0.599
6, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 2'0.695
7, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 2'0.724
8, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 2'0.744
9, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 2'0.857
10, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 2'0.904
11, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 2'0.937
12, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 2'1.086
13, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 2'1.409
14, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 2'1.677
15, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 2'1.729
16, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 2'1.955
17, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 2'1.984
18, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 2'2.004
19, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 2'2.100
20, Vittorio Iannuzzo, Kawasaki, ITA, 2'2.256
21, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 2'2.494
22, Luca Morelli, Honda, ITA, 2'2.980
23, Russel Holland, Honda, AUS, 2'3.006
24, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 2'3.542
25, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 2'3.765
26, Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 2'3.796
27, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 2'4.264
28, Loic Napoleone, Yamaha, FRA, 2'6.363

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SUPERSPORT FRIDAY QUALIFYING

Foret Goes Fastest On Day One Of New Season

Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport Team) made a fine start to his 2008 race season by posting the fastest lap of the opening qualifying session at the Losail International circuit in Qatar. The former World Supersport Champion had to fight high winds and a dusty track surface to set a best of 2'03.495, some 0.346 seconds faster than the next best rider.

Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) has been the fastest rider of all in pre-season testing, including here in Qatar only a few days ago, but found unexpected issues in the Losail circuit's many fast corners today. He was 13th overall in the official practice session.
One more qualifying session remains for both Foret and Parkes to improve their times tomorrow, before the 18-lap race on Saturday 23 February.

Fabien Foret (1st - 2'03.495 - Yamaha)
"We worked very hard this winter and now we are seeing the benefits. The conditions are very difficult, for me and for everyone. I tried to be safe and yet push at the same time, trying to manage the wind. It difficult for us to set the bike up in these conditions as the wind is not constant, it changes lap-by-lap. I still have a little bit of chatter but we can improve tomorrow. We are there now and it has been a good start today."

Broc Parkes (13th - 2'05.301 - Yamaha)
"We are obviously having problems with the bike right now but we couldn't work out what was wrong in this session. I should maybe have hopped on my spare bike and had a go, but we concentrated on my number one bike. We ended up quite a long way out. I think there is something wrong that we will find and tomorrow will be OK."

And here's a quote from a confident-sounding Brit Craig Jones on the Parkalgar Honda: “I am pretty happy with my performance this afternoon after a difficult morning meant I only managed two flying laps in the first session. It took me a couple of laps in the afternoon to learn the apexes and the track again – and on top of that there was a strong gusting wind playing havoc through the corners.
“There is a fair bit more to come tomorrow. The plan is to get back out and up to speed quickly and then start improving from there. Already I think I am a little faster than the timesheets really show as my split times are all good enough for the top three, but because of the wind I never got a chance to post a single good lap. I'm enjoying myself and really looking forward to getting back on track.”




Supersport qualifying, Friday

Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time

1, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 2'3.495
2, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 2'3.841
3, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 2'4.017
4, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 2'4.017
5, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 2'4.446
6, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 2'4.766
7, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 2'4.858
8, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 2'4.880
9, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 2'4.996
10, Ivan Clementi, Triumph, ITA, 2'5.211
11, Mark Aitchinson, Triumph, AUS, 2'5.217
12, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 2'5.264
13, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 2'5.301
14, Garry McCoy, Triumph, AUS, 2'5.349
15, Vesa Kallio, Honda, FIN, 2'5.445
16, Mirko Giansanti, Honda, ITA, 2'5.495
17, Andrea Antonelli, Honda, ITA, 2'5.586
18, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 2'5.715
19, Katsuaki Fujiwara, Kawasaki, JPN, 2'5.742
20, Arnaud Vincent, Kawasaki, FRA, 2'5.941
21, Graeme Gowland, Honda, GBR, 2'6.007
22, Gregory Leblanc, Honda, FRA, 2'6.033
23, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 2'6.139
24, Lorenzo Alfonsi, Kawasaki, ITA, 2'6.406
25, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 2'6.468
26, Miguel Praia, Honda, POR, 2'6.751
27, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 2'6.755
28, Ilario Dionisi, Triumph, ITA, 2'7.246
29, William De Angelis, Honda, ITA, 2'7.681
30, Santiago Barragan, Honda, ESP, 1'7.681
31, Didier Van Keymeulen, Suzuki, BEL, 2'7.935
32, Luka Nedog, Honda, SVN, 2'8.761
33, Gergo Talmacsi, Honda, HUN, 2'9.165
35, Attila Magda, Honda, HUN, 2'11.246

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