Superbike

Chris Vermeulen will start tomorrow’s two third round World Superbike championship races from the front row of the grid after setting the second fastest time in this afternoon’s Superpole event. The Australian clocked a time of 1:36.125s around the 4.005km Ricardo Tormo Circuit near Valencia in Spain.

With Troy Corser taking pole position, Vermeulen’s Winston Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Karl Muggeridge, set the sixth fastest time this afternoon after finishing the second qualifying session this morning in second place. He will start from the second row for tomorrow’s two 23-lap (92km) races.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager: “We arrived here in Valencia with a lot of different options to test – focusing especially on the chassis and front forks. We’ve spent the last two days going through these methodically, which has been quite time consuming. It’s ironic that the last things we tested seemed to work the best. Both Chris and Karl have been making steady progress in the right direction yesterday and today and I think we have put them in a position where they can be challenging for podium finishes here. We’re not quite there yet and still have some work to do on the overall base setting. We’re not progressing as fast as we would like, but at least we are making progress.”

Chris Vermeulen – second fastest, 1m36.125s: “We’ve done a lot of work on the front this weekend and, as I’ve said, it’s not ideal to be testing things during a meeting but that’s just how it is. I spent most of today’s practice sessions using the same tyres and just going through a load of different settings on the bike. I’m quite comfortable at race pace here, although the temperature tomorrow will have a lot to do with what that pace is. The track has become slippery in the afternoons so we’ll have to see what the weather is like tomorrow. I tried to make my Superpole lap as smooth as possible with a new front tyre. I guess I could’ve been a little bit quicker here and there but it was my fastest lap of the weekend. We’ve got some more work to do still, but I’m comfortable with the bike now and looking forward to tomorrow.”

Karl Muggeridge – sixth fastest, 1m36.565s: “I’m real comfortable on the qualifiers and was happy to be second fastest going into my second Superpole. I got the lap about as smooth as I could but unfortunately it’s dropped me back to the second row. Superpole worked the other way for me in Australia where I moved up a few places but at least I’m in the right area and challenging at the front again here. The bike is still coming up a little too fast as I gas it out of corners so I have to wait a fraction longer before opening the throttle. We need to work on that a little more and will try a couple of things in warm-up tomorrow. But it’s good turning in and we’re definitely making progress. I think we’re quite close to a good race set-up so we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”

Supersport

A crash, with twenty minutes remaining in this afternoon’s final qualifying session for the third round World Supersport race at Valencia in Spain, did not prevent Winston Ten Kate Honda’s Sébastien Charpentier securing his third consecutive pole position. Team-mate Katsuaki Fujiwara will start the 23-lap (91km) next to him on the grid after setting the second fastest time.

Frenchman Charpentier had already switched to his spare CBR600RR when he crashed, after a technical problem with his number one machine. Despite extensive damage, however, he was able to restart the bike and return to his pit box as his team quickly repaired the main bike.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager: “That was a very busy qualifying session in the box – let alone out on the track. Sébastien’s number one bike broke a thermostat which sprayed water onto the screen. Crashing the spare bike was not in the plan really, but the boys worked very hard to fix the problem and get Sébastien out again. They’ll have a few blisters later because everything was very hot. Other than that, we are all very happy with another fantastic qualifying performance. Kats got held up a bit on his fast lap but is still performing very well. We have a couple of small things to try in warm-up tomorrow but we are ready to race and hope for another good result.”

Sébastien Charpentier – fastest, 1m38.351s - “As I came out of the fast left at turn three, the back of the bike started to slide. I half expected to be high-sided but it just kept on sliding. By the time it stopped I just wasn’t in a position to make the next right and lost the front. The bike went over about four times so I was amazed to be able to ride it back. The team were working very fast to fix the number one bike so a big thanks to all the guys for getting me out again. I was hoping to go faster this afternoon after I set a 37.9 in this morning’s practice but the track seems to change and become more slippery in the afternoons as the temperature rises. The bike is working great now, although I am still not sure about tyre choice. We’ll have to see what the temperature is like in the morning.”

Katsuaki Fujiwara – second fastest, 1m38.634s - “Everything was going to plan, the bike was running very well and I was comfortable with everything this afternoon. I was on a very fast lap and had a clear track in front of me. On the back of the circuit I saw two bikes about half the length of the straight in front of me but, by the time I reached the next corner, I was on top of them. Unfortunately, they slowed me and that was my lap ruined. I screamed very loud in my helmet! I desperately want to win another race after not such a good result in Australia but Sébastien is riding so well at the moment. However, I am very happy with the CBR so I’ll have to try and win from second on the grid.”