After the wet weather endured by all on the first day, warm and sunny conditions for the final qualifying sessions allowed the Yamaha Motor Italia World Superbike riders to easily make it into Superpole, and subsequently earn front row starts for Sunday's Vallelunga races.
Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) looked set to extend his record number of pole positions in WSB competition until Troy Bayliss finally just improved on his countryman's best time. Corser's 1'36.730 was only 0.124 seconds from Bayliss, offering the prospect of a close contest between these old adversaries on raceday.
Seventh away in Superpole qualifying, Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) improved his final qualifying position to third, with a 1'36.915 that put him just behind Corser. Weather conditions are expected to be dry on raceday although track conditions are far less hot than they were during the team's successful test at Vallelunga in July.
Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) missed a ride in Superpole by only a few places, finishing his qualifying sessions 19th overall. David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) replicated his 20th place in the wet on day one in the dry day two, while his team-mate Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) was 2nd quickest.
Troy Corser (2nd - 1'36.730 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"I was going strong in free practice, we put a soft tyre on for qualifying and it went really well. I'm just happy to be on the front row to be honest, after we only had one day of testing in the dry. The track is a lot less hot than it was for our summer tests so we will make final choices of tyres and set-up tomorrow. A good day for us, and we came so close to taking another Superpole win."
Noriyuki Haga (3rd - 1'36.915 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"I have a good feeling on the bike and I am so glad that it was dry today, even if I was fast in wet qualifying. After my big fall yesterday I did not want any wet track conditions. With only one day of dry track practice we will still be checking our set-up in morning warm-up, but starting from the front row is always something to be positive about."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"Today was a good day for both Noriyuki and Troy. 1st row is very important for us because here it is not so easy to overtake. Tomorrow during warm up we will decide on which tyre to use."
Shinichi Nakatomi (19th - 1'38.574 - Team YZF Yamaha)
"I have been testing here in July, but now my feeling is very different. We changed the tyre and the settings, but I still do not have enough feeling. I hope we can find a good set up for the race. So far, even if we changed the settings, my feeling is not so good."
Circuit Length: 3200
Weather: Sunny
2008 WSB Italy - Vallelunga 20/09/2008 Superpole
1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'36.606
2 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 1'36.730
3 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'36.915
4 Max Biaggi Ducati ITA 1'37.134
5 Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 1'37.342
6 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'37.427
7 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 1'37.550
8 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'37.607
9 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'37.692
10 Fonsi Nieto Suzuki ESP 1'37.820
11 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP DNF
12 Carlos Checa Honda ESP DNF
13 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 1'37.910
14 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1'37.925
15 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 1'38.043
Qualifying 2
1 Troy Bayliss AUS 1'51.146 1'36.967
2 Max Neukirchner GER 1'53.336 1'37.257
3 Michel Fabrizio ITA 1'52.865 1'37.305
4 Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN 1'51.419 1'37..402
5 Ruben Xaus ESP 1'50.879 1'37.438
6 Carlos Checa ESP 1'52.143 1'37.536
7 Max Biaggi ITA 1'53.018 1'37.654
8 Troy Corser AUS 1'51.228 1'37.689
9 Fonsi Nieto ESP 1'52.719 1'37.757
10 Noriyuki Haga JPN 1'50.595 1'37.891
11 Karl Muggeridge AUS n/a 1'37.931
12 Yukio Kagayama JPN 1'52.507 1'38.039
13 Kenan Sofuoglu TUR 1'52.640 1'38.122
14 Roberto Rolfo ITA 1'52.407 1'38.147
15 Lorenzo Lanzi ITA 1'52.649 1'38.196
19 Shinichi Nakatomi JPN 1'57.138 1'38.574
20 David Checa ESP 1'53.374 1'38.660
22 Sebastien Gimbert FRA 1'53.464 1'38.970
- Yamaha -
