BRNO QUALIFYING
Broc Parkes consistently brilliant performances in qualifying in the 2008 season continued at the Brno meeting when he took a remarkable fifth consecutive pole position. His pre-race successes at Assen, Monza, Nürburgring and Misano grew to five after Parkes scored a 2'03.203 second lap towards the end of a busy afternoon session.
Parkes' lap was a new absolute track best, on a circuit which had been resurfaced earlier in the season.
The expected rains stayed away during the second day of track action, allowing Parkes to lead Barry Veneman, Josh Brookes and Andrew Pitt on the front row of the grid.
Fabien Foret is recovering from a day one crash that saw him crack his C6 and C7 vertebrae, and suffer a concussion. Latest medical reports indicate that Foret will be out of action for two months, but should make a full recovery.
Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) slipped one place to 18th on the grid on day two of qualifying and David Salom (Yamaha Spain World Supersport) went 16th.
Broc Parkes (1st - 2'03.203 - Yamaha World Supersport Team)
"It's a great feeling to have had five pole position rides in a row and I'm happy with the final results of all the work we did in qualifying. Our bike is working really well on fresh rubber, as usual. I think that the rate of wear from the tyres will be the same for everyone in the race tomorrow, and the pace will be pretty even between the top guys. Maybe it will be a case of managing the tyres in the last few laps. But on the new track surface, we'll have to wait and see."
Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team)
"Broc is simply brilliant at getting pole positions and five in a row is really something special. What can we say, qualifying fastest is what he is really good at right now and the desire to succeed is also in his guts at the moment. He kept his patience to wait until we got to know all the information we needed for the race, even though another rider went faster near the end. Only then did Broc go out and take pole. That is the best thing about his practice performances, his willingness to work for a good race set-up."
Massimo Roccoli (18th - 2'04.891 seconds - Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni)
"Today wasn't a good day because although the bike was very good, the engine has had another step of evolution and was very competitive, I didn't ride as aggressively as I needed to. Our tyre strategy was excellent but I think it is simply a problem of my confidence to go as fast as I know I can."
David Salom: (16th - 2'04.779 seconds - Yamaha Spain)
"I've been riding very comfortably and the faster I went the more comfortable I felt. My best lap time is very good, faster than last year's pole position. I've improved my best time from last year by three seconds and the bike, team and me have all improved too."
Circuit Length: 5403
2008 WSS Czech Republic - Brno 19/07/2008 Qualifying 2
1 Broc Parkes AUS 2'3.604 2'3.203
2 Barry Veneman NED 2'4.552 2'3.452
3 Joshua Brookes AUS 2'3.922 2'3.562
4 Andrew Pitt AUS 2'4.176 2'3.590
5 Craig Jones GBR 2'4.194 2'3.761
6 Mark Aitchinson AUS 2'4.377 2'3.775
7 Jonathan Rea GBR 2'4.622 2'3.934
8 Vesa Kallio FIN 2'4.760 2'4.135
9 Matthieu Lagrive FRA 2'4.654 2'4.368
10 Russell Holland AUS 2'6.168 2'4.508
11 Gianluca Nannelli ITA 2'4.663 2'4.546
12 Didier Van Keymeulen BEL 2'5.806 2'4.605
13 Gregory Leblanc FRA 2'5.634 2'4.670
14 Robbin Harms DNK 2'4.816 2'4.676
15 Garry McCoy AUS 2'4.721 n/a
16 David Salom ESP 2'5.583 2'4.779
18 Massimo Roccoli ITA 2'5.517 2'4.891
22 Fabien Foret FRA 2'5.151 n/a
- Yamaha Racing -
More reports from this category all copyright automobilsport.com.
