Report - Pirelli

ROUND 1 – DOHA, QATAR – 24th FEBRUARY 2007– RACE REVIEW

24 February 2007, Doha (Qatar) – In Qatar, at the Losail circuit near Doha, the World Superbike and Supersport championships properly got underway. Much pre-race attention had been focused on new rider Max Biaggi and his Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki.

The first session was enough to show that it would be a battle for the wins.

James Toseland made a wonderful qualifying time of 1’58.6, some 1.4 seconds faster than the previous best at this stage last year.
The Superpole competition also delivered even better results: Troy Corser took the Superpole win, using race tyres and not qualifiers, with a new best of 1’58.402.

After the riders ‘long runs’ it was also obvious that the DIABLO SUPERBIKE would offer up superb performance.

The conditions for raceday proved to be warm and dry, with track temperatures quite high, into the region of 40°C.

Race1:
AIR HUMIDITY 56% AIR TEMPERATURE 25°C
TRACK CONDITION Dry TRACK TEMPERATURE 43°

The green lights kicked things off, and the first laps of race one saw the first two podium places determined almost from then on.
There was clear space between the Yamahas, the Suzuki of Biaggi and the Honda of Toseland and the rest, and they stretched it out as the race developed.

As each rider jostled for position and tried to make a break, the pace became incredible.

On lap 7 Max set the best time (1’59.275) eight tenths faster than in 2006, thanks to the performance and speed available from the DIABLO SUPERBIKE. On the 18th lap, Biaggi even managed to set a 2’00.980, in a race that was 21 seconds faster than in 2006.

Moving up from the beginning was Lorenzo Lanzi, back to his best form as he took his Ducati Xerox 999 to a fine third, behind Biaggi and the chasing Toseland. Also a great result came for the other Max, Max Neukirchner, 6th on a Suzuki Germany privateer machine.

Race Standings
Rider Bike Team Race time
1 Biaggi Suzuki GSX-R 1000K7 Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra 36’10.115
2 Toseland Honda CBR1000RR Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +1.483
3 Lanzi Ducati 999 F07 Ducati Xerox Team +13.906
4 Kagayama Suzuki GSXR Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra +14.819
5 Bayliss Ducati 999 F07 Ducati Xerox Team +17.305

Race2:
AIR HUMIDITY 44% AIR TEMPERATURE 26°C
TRACK CONDITION Dry TRACK TEMPERATURE 47°

The second race started like the first; Toseland, the two Yamahas of Corser, Haga, and then Biaggi. These four riders made an early break, almost a photocopy of race one.

Some riders had chosen to learn some lessons from race one, for example Haga (who went from C to B on the rear) and even the champion Troy Bayliss, who was in difficulty all weekend (who went from an A to a C on the front).

Toseland had an almost perfect race two, and was in command for the entire race. 18 laps later he underlined his form and finished ahead of Biaggi and Corser.

The lap record was once more beaten by Max Biaggi, with a 1’59.194.

There were three different bikes on the podium, (Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha) and Kawasaki also had a result worth celebrating when fifth position went to Fonsi Nieto. A sweet result after a collision between the two green factory machines in race one.

The championship was truly kick-started into life at Losail, with fast times and close competition between not just the riders but the competing manufacturers as well.. This was also due to the materials supplied by Pirelli; tyres which can work on any machine and available in the same choices for all. This aspect, in particular, guarantees close competition for all.

AIR HUMIDITY 42% AIR TEMPERATURE 26°C
TRACK CONDITION Dry TRACK TEMPERATURE 47°
The race that opened the World Supersport Championship was certainly eventful.

Once more this year the usual competing powers, Honda and Yamaha, were strong in testing, and Charpentier was joined once more in his team by talented young Turkish rider Sofuoglu.

Sofuoglu won the race after Charpentier fell, and Curtain (Team Yamaha SSP) and Fujiwara (Team Althea Honda) joined Kenan on the podium, A fantastic result also came for Foret, on the Kawasaki of Gil Motor Sport), who took fourth place even when running a regular street tyre, the SC2. This tyre is the same one available from any Pirelli outlet for the public, and it also allowed the top two Kawasaki rider to go fourth and fifth, after 18 hard laps.

The first stage of the year gave us some real indications. The times set in the race and practice showed that the DIABLO SUPERCORSA had the capacity to not just reduce lap times but also the total race time as well.