Just seconds after Troy and Ruben had set off from the pits at the start of the session, the two Ducati Infostrada riders had a misunderstanding at the bottom of Paddock Hill Bend which led to contact between the bikes. While Ruben continued up Hailwood Hill, Troy had to take to the grass, where he lost control of his 998 and, after a series of heavy tumbles, ended up against the air-fence. He was taken to the circuit medical centre and was diagnosed as having a cracked twelfth rib in his lower back. After being given the OK to race, the Australian was back out on his Infostrada 998 in the afternoon’s free practice session, where he was third quickest, and in Superpole, where he secured fourth place.

“I was coming round Paddock Hill Bend on my usual line on the outside, Ruben moved over and we touched. When I went onto the grass I thought ‘This is going to be a big one!’” declared Troy about the crash. “We changed the bike a little bit for Superpole but it was worse and I made a couple of slides, which slowed me down a lot. In the end I’m on the front row which I’m pretty happy about but I’m also pretty lucky after what happened today. Free practice wasn’t too bad and we did a good long-run but I missed the morning’s session. Obviously now I’m feeling pretty sore but I’ll be there to race tomorrow. It was just one of those crashes that happen. No one was in the wrong and we were just unlucky.”

“I was just warming up the tyres when Troy came up on me from behind. I didn’t even know he was there” explained Ruben Xaus (Ducati Infostrada). The Spanish rider then set good race times in the afternoon’s free practice session, but missed out on a good starting-grid position by qualifying twelfth, with a time of 1’27.490. “I made the same mistake as last year at the same corner” declared Ruben. “I spin the tyre and loose a little bit of grip and here if you loose grip you go off the line. You need to be perfect here in Brands Superpole, it’s not like using a race tyre where you can go off line. Everything is perfect for the race, I have a good set-up and I went fast on race tyres so I need to do a good start and be in the top 5 and that’s all, because I’m sure some of the guys in front of me won’t last”.

Last year’s double winner Ben Bostrom (Ducati L&M) moved up one place from ninth after qualifying, to eighth with his Superpole lap of 1’27.036. “I felt like I was on a good lap” commented Ben. “I knew I wasn’t the quickest round a few corners because I was pushing the bike real hard but I thought it would be at least a low 26, no problem. When I came by and saw a 27 flat, I was so disappointed. Like I said before, you think you’re going fast here at Brands but then you find out that it isn’t a quick lap at all. We were fast in the long run during free practice but that’s on race tyres and I needed to be on the front row to be up there in the first laps. You always have to watch out at the first corner because all hell breaks loose and for that you have to be on the front row.”