QUALIFYING 1 REPORT 03/10/2008 Superbike
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) made another strong start to race weekend, securing provisional pole despite having very little track time at his disposal.
The rains that have peppered the build-up to the first day of action arrived again shortly after the start of the first qualifying session, meaning Haga only set seven laps in an hour long period.
Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) only posted six laps but was also right in the leading bunch, finishing fifth in the rankings as he started to find a race set-up for Sunday's two 23-lap contests.
Weather conditions are expected to improve as the weekend carries on, with two more qualifying sessions and Superpole coming on Saturday.
David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) led the morning untimed session for a time, dropping to 11th in the official rankings in the afternoon, just one place ahead of his team-mate Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94). Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) was 19th from the 28 WSB riders who took part in day one.
Noriyuki Haga (1st - 1'41.012 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"Not so much track time today, just a few laps but I think I can improve things a little more. The lap time was not so bad but we have to go a bit faster. We had some bad luck with the weather, so I just hope to improve tomorrow, if we have a dry track. Our first impression was not so bad, and I think all we need to do is make some small changes to the set-up."
Troy Corser (5th - 1'41.515 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"We only did a few laps today but it was not too bad. I felt there were a few things on the bike that we can improve. To be honest I was not that comfortable on the bike so I was pleasantly surprised with the lap time. We were only half a second off after six laps. I'm not too worried because the track time we have is the same for everyone."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"Usually we have good results here and for our bike this circuit is pretty good. On flatter circuits, with good grip and not too many bumps, our bike seems to work best. We are confident for Sunday, for both riders. Troy has the choice of one machine with conventional suspension and one with electronic suspension, but he seems to be using the conventional one most. Overall, for the first day, we're fine."
Circuit Length: 4411
2008 WSB France - Magny-Cours 03/10/2008 Qualifying 1
1 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'41.012
2 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'41.020
3 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 1'41.130
4 Fonsi Nieto Suzuki ESP 1'41.513
5 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 1'41.515
6 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 1'41.681
7 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'41.783
8 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 1'41.885
9 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'41.892
10 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'41.900
11 David Checa Yamaha ESP 1'41.936
12 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 1'41.963
13 Max Biaggi Ducati ITA 1'42.410
14 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1'42.683
15 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 1'42.704
19 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 1'43.139
- Yamaha -
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