Superbike

Karl Muggeridge will start tomorrow’s second round races of the 2005 World Superbike championship from the second row of the grid after setting the sixth fastest time in his first ever Superpole event this afternoon. Superpole allows one flying lap to the 16 fastest riders from qualifying to establish final grid positions.

With Japanese rider, Yukio Kagayama, setting the fastest time, Muggeridge’s Winston Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Chris Vermeulen, was ninth fastest and will start the two 22-lap races at the 4.4km Phillip Island circuit from the front of row three.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager: “Superpole is always an event in itself and I was very pleased with the way Karl handled his first, after a wet session at the first round in Qatar. He managed to improve his qualifying time by 0.8s and move up to the second row. We are a little surprised by Chris’s performance after he had been running so well earlier and qualified for Superpole in fourth place. But we’ll now concentrate on tomorrow’s two races for which I believe we have solved the puzzle of setting up the bike here. We’ll confirm a couple of things in warm-up tomorrow morning and I’m confident we can be up at the front in the races."

Karl Muggeridge – sixth fastest, 1m33.557s - “I was pretty pleased with that Superpole lap because it’s always nice to get the track to yourself with a grippy qualifier. Having said that, I’m not sure I got the most out of it and may have gone into turn one a little cautious. I just tried to be smooth all the way round and it felt nice – especially knocking that much off my qualifying time. The team’s been working really hard all weekend to get the front working properly and, after yesterday’s two options, I think we’ve found a good set-up for the race. I’ve said from the start that as long as we’re making steady improvements for Sunday, the results will come. We’ve made the improvements here so we’ll just have to go for the results tomorrow."

Chris Vermeulen – ninth fastest, 1m34.053s - “It was strange because I was really struggling for grip out there in Superpole and I went almost as fast on a race tyre during earlier practice. It felt pretty smooth all the way round but I just wasn’t able to open the throttle properly. After the times I’d been doing earlier, I was pretty confident of being able to do a low 31s lap but hey, that’s Superpole for you. I know it makes good TV but I’m not a huge fan really; you can sometimes lose a little but other times lose a lot. I’ve got a good race set-up though and I’m confident of being able to run at the front at race pace – I’ll just have to get a couple of good starts from where I am."

Supersport

Sébastien Charpentier will start tomorrow’s World Supersport championship second round race from pole position after setting the fastest time in today’s second qualifying session. After heading the practice and qualifying time sheets all weekend, it is the Frenchman’s second consecutive pole start in the series and the Ten Kate team’s ninth.

In sunny but windy conditions, Winston Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Katsuaki Fujiwara, was fifth fastest today; the first round winner and championship leader will start tomorrow’s 21-lap race at the 4.4km Phillip Island circuit in Australia from the head of the second row.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager: “Once again, Sébastien has dominated practice and qualifying, just like in the first round in Qatar; but I have to say it is never boring to see him there all the time! We did a long run with him this afternoon, over more than half race distance, and there were no problems. He was looking like going even faster on his last lap but it’s always difficult to switch back to doing one quick lap. Katsuaki is still looking for the perfect set-up here but I think it’s always a question of compromising, especially with today’s strong wind. But I have no doubts that he’ll be absolutely fine in race conditions tomorrow.”

Sébastien Charpentier – pole position, 1m35.746s - “The wind is very strange here today – it can be very strong on one lap and then not so strong the next. It makes it very difficult, especially the left hander in turn two and then up the back of the circuit. But I was very happy doing consistent low 37s laps over half race distance and the front was just perfect. I don’t think I’ll have the problems that we found in Qatar. I was trying to go even faster on the last lap and I was up in the first two splits but then a slower rider finished the lap for me. It’s no matter though, I’m on pole again and looking forward to tomorrow.”

Katsuaki Fujiwara – fifth fastest, 1m36.524s - “I have been trying my best all weekend to get the bike perfect all the way round the Phillip Island circuit but in the end we’re still not getting it to turn as well as I would like in the high-speed corners. But, I have a very good race set-up and, although I will be starting directly behind Sébastien, I really want another win here and I am confident for tomorrow’s race. After the problem I had on the start line in Qatar, I have practiced my start and I hope for no problem. I want to win the race from the front this time, not the back.”