Ben Bostrom set the fastest time in Friday's opening qualifying session for round two of the World Superbike championship at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa.  "When I saw my time I just couldn't believe it" said a smiling Ben Bostrom "because I didn't seem to be going that fast. My 996R Factory bike is perfect on this track, thanks to the guys in the team who did an excellent job. In the last three weeks I have though about nothing else but winning this race. Today we got off to a good start."

The American Ducati rider set his best lap in the final minute and leads a top 10 leader board split by less than one second. Pier-Francesco Chili, on a factory Suzuki, also recorded his best lap in the dying minutes as both he and Bostrom relegated world champion Colin Edwards to third place on the provisional front row.

Pierfrancesco Chili  “I'm happy to be second fastest but I am sure I can go even quicker tomorrow. My quick lap should've been even quicker, but I made a small mistake and lost some time. When you make a fast lap, you always feel you can go quicker. I hope that we carry on making progress tomorrow and I can push really hard on Sunday.” 

Edwards set his best lap time in the fifth minute of the one-hour session and spent the rest of the session testing potential rear race tyres. Edwards said: "We've had a good day today. I managed to get the fast lap in the early part of the session then we concentrated on trying some new settings on the machine.  "We ran two rear race tyres all day. We tried to get the tyre as worn as possible then work on set-up while the tyre was on the move. I'm happy with the day, we've made a lot of improvement and I'll be able to try a few Superpole tyres in the morning."

Tady Okada completes the provisional front row for Sunday's two 25-lap races.  "I'm still working hard at setting up the machine. We did a lot of work on the front suspension today and we are definitely making progress with the VTR.  "I'm also getting more and more dialed into the circuit. The race here should be good and if we can make the same progress tomorrow that we made today I'll be very happy."

Australian Troy Bayliss, on a Ducati, heads the provisional second row - "I can't say I'm totally satisfied with today" commented Troy Bayliss "I was counting on setting a better time because in the winter tests we lapped a lot quicker. For sure the track is slower than in January. We worked hard on the choice of tyres especially at the front. We're OK however and tomorrow I can improve."

Championship leader Troy Corser was sixth quickest - "The bike is slightly different from the winter tests because I'm using a different gearbox", said Troy Corser "and so I'm trying to find the right final ratios. In any case the bike is clearly better. I had a slide at turn 7 on the hill but there was no damage. I was lapping with a tyre that had a lot of grip and I was trying to control it. I'm pretty
pleased with the bike however and my time was set right at the start of the session on race tyres". 

Corser had an uncharacteristic fall during the session - "The fall was nothing really. I think I might have been a little late on the brakes going into the turn and just lost the front end. The tyre was a new one, so that might have contributed to the crash as well, but the main thing is that I didn't get hurt at all. I was bit surprised to crash, because I didn't feel as I was pushing that hard.  It's been hard out there this afternoon - the altitude makes breathing a bit of a problem and of course it also affects the bike's power. Sixth doesn't sound so good, but I'm pretty happy really. The times are very close, so I'm not worried at all."

Bayliss' team-mate Ruben Xaus set the seventh best time before crashing without injury in the final minute of the session.  "I am quite pleased with my time despite sliding on my final lap" said Ruben Xaus "I made a small error in changing gears and I lost the front end. I didn't hurt myself however and that's the important thing. We worked really well, I am right behind the leaders and I'm sure I'll be right up there with them at the front tomorrow."

Former World Supersport champion Stephane Chambon was eighth - “I'm pretty pleased to set the eighth quickest time today ­ especially as the lap times are very close. Each time I ride the bike I get to know it a bit better. For the afternoon session we made a few suspension changes and used a longer rear sprocket and it definitely felt better. We want to be able to get the bike to work well at all tracks and every lap we do gives us a bit more information to help us move forward.” 

Kawasaki's Gregorio Lavilla was second fastest behind Edwards in the Friday morning free practice but ended the opening day in ninth place.

Regis Laconi, Corser's new team-mate at Aprilia, battled through the pain after he sustained a leg injury at the opening Spanish round three weeks ago to put the tenth fastest time on the board.  "In the afternoon I had less grip at the front than in the morning" commented Regis Laconi "and I couldn't manage to keep an exact line. As I expected the turn that causes the most problems for my knee is the left-hander after the start-finish straight. I still have to check a few set-up details but in any case tomorrow I'll be going flat-out trying to improve".

GSE Racing finished the opening qualifying session in 12th and 16th, respectively.  Toseland’s time of 1:43.909 on his GSE Racing Ducati was almost half-a-second faster than his previous best time set during testing in February. “So far I’ve only had a chance to get a feel for the circuit,” said 20-year-old Toseland. “It has been three weeks since the last round and Kyalami is a much more challenging than Valencia.  “Today I was able to put together two flying laps in qualifying, but I was held up slightly in both of them,” said the young rider from Sheffield. “The bike feels great. Every time I ride it, I feel more and more at ease. The team has really helped me adjust to the GSE Ducati quickly. Neil has also been generous and given me plenty of tips.”  

Current British Superbike Champion Neil Hodgson’s fastest time of 1:44.353 put him in 16th place in today’s ranking: "We’ll have to take stock of today’ s performance and work hard towards improving our position before Superpole.”

Friday World Superbike qualifying times:  1 Ben Bostrom, (Ducati) 1m 42.646s,  2 Pier-Francesco Chili, (Suzuki) 1m 42.949s,  3 Colin Edwards, (Castrol Honda) 1m 42.961s,  4 Tady Okada, (Castrol Honda) 1m 42.977s,  5 Troy Bayliss,  (Ducati) 1m 43.047s,  6 Troy Corser,  (Aprilia) 1m 43.078s,  7 Ruben Xaus,  (Ducati) 1m 43.177s,  8 Stephane Chambon,  (Suzuki) 1m 43.381s,  9 Gregorio Lavilla,  (Kawasaki) 1m 43.445s,  10 Regis Laconi,  (Aprilia) 1m 43.612s. 11 Akira Yanagawa, (Kawasaki) 1m 43.668s, 12 James Toseland, (Ducati) 1m 43.909s, 13 Borciani, (Ducati) 1m 43.993s, 14 Bussei, (Ducati) 1m 44.237s, 15 Ulm, (Ducati) 1m 44.331s, 16 Hodgson, (Ducati) 1m 44.353s, 17 Sanchini, (Ducati) 1m 45.103s, 18 Parkes, (Ducati) 1m 45.118s, 19 Pedercini, (Ducati) 1m 45.119s, 20 Borja, (Ducati) 1m 45.332s, 21 Martin, (Ducati) 1m 46.155s, 22 Malatesta, (Kawasaki) 1m 46.295s, 23 Craggill, (Ducati) 1m 46.375s, 24 Stey, (Honda) 1m 46.495s, 25 Holon (Kawasaki) 1m 47.415s, 26 Mrkyvka, (Ducati) 1m 47.771s, 27 Rodriguez, (Honda) 1m 48.210s

Images from Friday at Kyalami

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