YRC News
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WSB : Haga tenth despite traction problems
Round: 7 - Czech Republic
Circuit: Brno
Date: 15 July 2005
Temp: 30ēC
Weather: Sunny
Noriyuki Haga ended first qualifying at Brno in 10th place after an action
packed session that saw the leader board change dramatically in the dying moments.
With most teams and many riders making their first visit to the Czech circuit,
Haga and his Yamaha Motor Italia team-mate Andrew Pitt were able to take
advantage of their recent test at the venue. Arriving at the circuit with proven
machine settings from the test, both men were able to lap consistently at the
expected race pace, however both found themselves shuffled down the order when
their rivals fitted super-sticky qualifying tyres. Haga too fitted a qualifier
for his final run, but felt that the settings of his machine were unable to take
full advantage of tyre's characteristics in the warm conditions.
Pitt ended the day in 15th place, vitally within the cut-off zone for tomorrow's
grid deciding superpole session. Despite his the relatively lowly grid position,
the Australian remained upbeat after the session - declaring that an improvement
in his own riding can find big improvements tomorrow. The 2001 Supersport World
Champion said that he felt tense on the bike and needs to 'slow down to go
faster'.
Yamaha Motor France rider Norick Abe was happy after setting the 12th fastest
time of the day. Having found himself on unfamiliar territory in his last three
outings, the Japanese ace was happy to be back on a circuit he knows well from
his Grand Prix days. Like countryman Haga, Abe was able to post a succession of
competitive times on race rubber. His 2'06.137 saw him in the top five until the
final minutes. Team-mate Sebastien Gimbert made a return from injury in Brno and
ended the day 22nd.
British rider Chris Walker (Kawasaki) took provisional pole position, ahead of
Troy Corser (Suzuki) and Max Neukirchner (Honda). Yamaha privateer Jose-Luis
Cardoso completed the provisional front row, with Regis Laconi (Ducati) ensuring
that the top five places were occupied by five brands. Tomorrow morning sees the
final qualifying session ahead of the afternoon superpole session, but with
thunderstorms forecast qualification for the one-lap shootout could be
determined by today's times.
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"On race tyres our times are good and I am quite happy because we are
competitive with the race settings. I set my best time on the race tyre. At the
end I used a soft qualifier but I could not go faster and did not feel that it
offered more grip. If we can improve traction then I think we can make some
better times tomorrow."
Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"I need to relax a little and if I do that I know that I can improve the lap
times. The bike's alright, I'm quite happy with it actually, but there are
places where I'm braking too hard and going into some of the corners too fast.
If I work on that tomorrow then my lines should improve and the lap times will
get much better."
Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France)
"It's good to be back on a circuit I know well from my MotoGP days and things
were not so bad today. I'm quite happy with my qualifying lap but our biggest
problem is the same as in Misano: we need more rear grip. Even with a qualifying
tyre on the bike was sliding and we must work hard to improve this."
Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France)
"I am happy to be back after missing Misano with a broken leg. Today I had to
work at improving my feeling and in this way I am quite happy with how it went."
Round: 7 - Czech Republic
Circuit: Brno
Circuit Length: 5403m
Date: 15 July 2005
Temp: 30ēC
Session 1 :
Pos.Rider Manufacturer Nat. 1st Qualifying
1 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR 2' 3.064
2 T. Corser Suzuki AUS 2' 3.487
3 M. Neukirchner Honda GER 2' 3.912
4 J. Cardoso Yamaha ESP 2' 3.917
5 R. Laconi Ducati FRA 2' 4.184
6 M. Sanchini Kawasaki ITA 2' 4.330
7 I. Clementi Ducati ITA 2' 4.336
8 C. Vermeulen Honda AUS 2' 4.436
9 J. Toseland Ducati GBR 2' 4.613
10 N. Haga Yamaha JPN 2' 4.729
11 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN 2' 4.782
12 N. Abe Yamaha JPN 2' 4.824
13 P. Chili Honda ITA 2' 4.834
14 K. Muggeridge Honda AUS 2' 4.862
15 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS 2' 4.882
16 L. Lanzi Ducati ITA 2' 4.912
18 D. Checa Yamaha ESP 2' 5.399
22 S. Gimbert Yamaha FRA 2' 5.882
23 G. Vizziello Yamaha ITA 2' 5.943
27 L. Alfonsi Yamaha ITA 2' 7.240
28 M. Praia Yamaha POR 2' 9.108
Front row for Yamaha Germany riders
15/7/2005
Yamaha Motor Germany riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes enjoyed their best
qualifying day of the 2005 season, setting the second and third fastest times in
today's first qualifying session for Sunday's seventh round of the Supersport
World Championship in Brno.
Taking advantage of two days testing at the Czech circuit in June, the
Australian YZF-R6 riders found themselves consistently at the top of the
timesheets in both timed and untimed practice. With weather forecasters
predicting a chance of storms during tomorrow's final qualifying session, the
both riders were delighted to qualify on the provisional front row in today's
warm and sunny conditions.
After setting the fastest time in the morning's free practice, Curtain's day was
interrupted by a crash half way through the afternoon qualifying session. The
39-year-old was at the top of the leader board when he pushed too hard into the
penultimate corner and lost the front end. Uninjured, he was able to return to
rejoin with his spare machine, although he found himself pipped to the
provisional pole position late in the session by championship leader Sebastien
Charpentier (Honda), Charpentier's best being under a tenth-of-a-second quicker
than Curtain's 2'07.550.
Team-mate Parkes' improving performances on the R6 continued in Brno. Full of
confidence after winning an Italian national supersport race at Misano two weeks
ago, the 23-year-old looked comfortable on the Yamaha, setting the second
fastest time in morning practice before improving to a 2'07.933 lap time and
third place in the afternoon.
Yamaha Motor Germany's superstock riders also had a good day at Brno, with
Didier van Keymeulen taking provisional pole position for Sunday's FIM
Superstock 1000 race, ahead of team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu.
Kevin Curtain
"We've come with a good set-up and that's shown with the lap times Broc and I
have been able to do from the very beginning, I just hope that we're still up
there when it matters on Sunday. I reckon that there must have been something on
the track where I crashed. I wasn't going fast and when we checked the data it
showed I was going 7kph slower than normal into the corner. Still, I'm ok and as
we worked in race settings and didn't go out to set a 'pole' lap I know we can
go faster tomorrow."
Broc Parkes
"It feels good to be back up the top again. We've found a good front tyre that's
giving good feel from the front end and we're happy with how it's going but we
know that as the other riders get more experience of the circuit they will get
stronger as the weekend progresses. I really went for it at the end but I missed
a gear and that cost us some time. How much time it cost us I'm not sure, but I
know that we can go quicker if it stays dry tomorrow."
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