World SuperBike 2001 - Round 13 - Imola

Ben Bostrom set the pace in Friday’s first qualifying session for the thirteenth and final round of the World Superbike Championship at Imola, Italy. The 27-year-old Californian, who was also quickest in the morning’s free practice session, clocked a time of 1m49.218 as World Superbike made its first visit to the Enzo & Dino Ferrari Circuit. “I was really pleased with my quick lap”, declared Bostrom, “and although I thought I could have got down into the 1’48s, that will have to wait for tomorrow. We’ve managed to get a good set-up already with race tyres so tomorrow I’ll be trying to get my time down even further. The track is pretty bumpy in places after all the Formula 1 cars but there are quite a few spots to overtake”.

Ruben Xaus (Ducati Infostrada) set Friday's second-quickest time as the 23-year-old Spanish rider battled with Laconi (Aprilia) and then Bostrom for the provisional pole slot. Xaus, who crashed out while testing here in July, was in superb form around the 4.933 km circuit. “I would be happier if I were first but that’s OK for today, Ben did a good job”, declared Xaus. “My fast lap was good but there was a slow guy next to me and I think I lost a little bit of time there. Things are going much better than the last time I was here and I didn’t test so much as the other guys so a time of 1’49” is quite good.”

Castrol Honda's Colin Edwards ended the day third despite leading the one-hour session for 55 minutes. "I spent a lot of the session testing tyres with a view to a good set-up for Sunday's races," said Edwards. "But we've got a long way to go and I'll try a Superpole qualifying tyre in tomorrow morning's session for a fast lap."

Newly-crowned WSBK champion Troy Bayliss (Ducati Infostrada) was quite pleased with his performance today as he set a time of 1’49.708” on his 996R, sprayed silver to celebrate Ducati’s historic win in the 1972 Imola 200 Miles race. The 32-year-old Australian took some time to get the bike to his liking but was confident of improving tomorrow. “I’m much happier than I was at the test in July because we’re going really well here so far despite some instability problems. I’ve got blisters on my hands so something is wrong there because I never get blisters, probably because I’ve been hanging onto the bike so much! One of my bikes I’m not so happy with at the moment but we’ll try a few more things for tomorrow and get it all sorted out”.

"I've raced at Imola with GP bikes but I've never seen the chicanes being cut like that", said Regis Laconi. "But there are some who are able to make an almost straight trajectory on the Superbikes. I'm really pleased with the bike: the test rides mean we've got an excellent basis to work on. It's just the temperature that isn't quite the same as in July. No problem: my RSV Mille is the fastest of all."

Hodgson was 6th quickest - “We were at a bit of a disadvantage from the start of the weekend. The factory teams tested here last month so we’ve had some catching up to do. I think we are pretty much up to speed now and tomorrow is going to be important to get a better feel for the circuit and to do my absolute best to secure a front row starting position. We all suffered because the track was really slippery. I think that by Sunday we should have become more accustomed to the track surface and we should be able to improve our lap times over race distance. I’m determined to give it my all this weekend. Even though I’ve signed up with GSE Racing for another three years, I’m still striving to do better. I would like to finish fourth in the championship to put the team in a positive frame of mind for our winter testing programme.”

Tady Okada was 7th while Suzuki's Stephane Chambon was 8th with young British rider James Toseland ninth and 1996 champion Troy Corser 10th.

Troy Corser - "It was quite a normal day for us and we just got on with the job of finding a good bike set-up for the race. We didn't really push it all today, but spent the time making adjustments and trying out a few things. On the way, we found a good front tyre and probably have a choice of two for the rear. The track is OK, though it's quite bumpy and that upsets the suspension of course. Imola is quite flowy and you need the bike to have a good set-up and the right gearing to make really quick laps. Today I saw that lots of the riders were clipping the chicane and gaining time. But when I tried it, it upset the bike a little and I couldn't get on the gas as quickly as I would have liked. We'll see what we can improve tomorrow and get a good set-up for the race. I'm still aiming to end the season on a high - and it'd be great end in the way I started - winning!"