Phillip Island 1st April - Round Two Begins: With temperatures nudging 30°C and a stiff breeze from the landward side, the 29 riders present at Phillip Island found the first day of track action a challenge on several levels. The leading lights from the opening Qatar round, Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki riders Troy Corser and Yukio Kagayama, went 1-2 on the early leader board, after the usual final flurry of attempts to be the overnight leader. With Kagayama leading the series, and Corser just behind, it is currently shaping up to be another good round for the Suzuki pairing. Corser’s best lap of 1’33.191 was fully 0.596 seconds faster than his team-mate, and only the top four where within one second of the 1996 World Champion.

Regis Continues Good Form: 2004 season runner up, Regis Laconi (Xerox Ducati 999F05) secured third place on day one, underlining his current form as the fastest Ducati rider around. His team-mate, James Toseland, has struggled in his bid to make a fast single lap of qualifying thus far, thus he is languishing in 15th place. He is more competitive on race tyres, rather than the qualifiers most riders adopted in the final stages. Toseland even led the times at one point of the first qualifying hour, as did Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki ZX-10R) Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia R1) and Steve Martin (Petronas FP-1), before Corser hit the top and stayed there to the end.

Aussie Home Rules: A solid entry of Australian riders gave the top of the time sheets a top-heavy local feel. Corser was the lead rider in that regard, but he is joined on the provisional front row by fourth place rider Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia). From fifth to eight, the second provisional row of qualifying is an unbroken wall of Aussie talent, with Winston Ten Kate Honda riders Karl Muggeridge and Chris Vermeulen fifth and sixth - SBK rookie Muggeridge 1.173 seconds behind Corser. An outstandingly competitive showing by the Petronas pairing of Garry McCoy and Steve Martin has them seventh and eighth after one day.

Sanchini Leads Kawasaki Charge: Despite Chris Walker’s early good showings he was to be upstaged by the late run of his PSG-1 Kawasaki team-mate Mauro Sanchini, who scored ninth fastest time with a 1’34.676. Walker ended day one 14th, as the last laps witnessed many a rider make a personal best on a qualifying tyre.

Experience Shows: Pierfrancesco Chili (Klaffi Honda) took the last top ten time, heading off the Yamaha Motor France pairing of Norick Abe and Sebastien Gimbert. Although not quite up to the standard of his first Qatar qualifying sessions, Jose Luis Cardoso (Yamaha DFX Sterilgarda Extreme) was 13th, ahead of both Walker and Toseland. The last of the top 16 riders proved to be an Italian rider in an Italian squad, Giovanni Bussei (Bertocchi Kawasaki).
Top Riders In Middle Places: Ben Bostrom (Renegade Honda KOJI) battled against a still not 100% race ready machine to record 19th fastest time, not helped by a technical problem at one stage. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) struggled hard to record his 20th place finish, fully 2.5 seconds behind Corser. The Scuderia Caracchi Ducati squad of Lorenzo Lanzi and Fonsi Nieto were toiling under the strain of day one pressure, recording times only good enough for 22nd and 29th respectively. Lone wildcard rider Andrew Stroud to his Suzuki to 26th place, with stand in for Alessandro Velini (Pedercini Ducati) proving to be Alessio Corradi, a rider who is still recovering from injury.

Supersport: Winston Ten Kate Honda pilot Sebastien Charpentier started his Phillip Island qualifying campaign the way he left his pre-race Qatar preparation – in a dominant top slot. His lap time of 1’35.999 outpaced his closest challenger, Michel Fabrizio (Team Italia Megabike Honda) by 0.328, with the top Yamaha runner Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) almost one second off Charpentier’s best. Fabien Foret (Team Italia Megabike Honda) and Qatar race winner Katsuaki Fujiwara (Winston Ten Kate Honda) sit fourth and fifth respectively, with Swedish rider Johan Stigefelt (Stiggy Motorsports) sixth on his Honda.

On Saturday 2 April the final qualifying sessions for Superbike and Supersport take place, with Superpole on the Superbike class following on at 4pm local time. On Sunday 3rd, two 22-lap SBK rounds sandwich a 21-lap Supersport outing.