Round: 6 - San Marino
Circuit: Misano
Date: 24 June 2005
Temp: 49ºC
Weather: Sunny

Yamaha Motor Italia riders Andrew Pitt and Noriyuki Haga made a solid start to round six of the Superbike World Championship in Misano, qualifying 11th and 12th respectively in today's opening session.

Having never run their YZF-R1 machines at the Adriatic circuit before, both riders spent the day working on the set-up of their bikes ahead of Sunday's two races. Having ended the morning practice in 16th and 20th positions, lap times tumbled in the timed afternoon session as the team's mechanics changed the suspension settings for both riders to attain a much improved base setting. Pitt ended the day with a best time of 1'37.121, less than a second and a half from pole position despite making a mistake during his one lap on a super-soft qualifying tyre. Haga opted not to use a softer tyre today and ended up just behind his team-mate with a 1'37.203.

Both riders remain confident that they can continue their trend of improving the qualifying positions during Saturday's final session and superpole. With the sweltering heat expected to continue throughout the weekend, tomorrow's practice will continue focusing on finding a good race set-up that will be sympathetic to the tyres over 25 laps of the arduous circuit.

Yamaha Motor France rider Norick Abe was another rider learning the Misano circuit. The Japanese ended the day in 24th position with a best of 1'38.235 after suffering traction problems. However the former Grand Prix winner is known for making big improvements over the weekend and will seek further set-up improvements in a bid to qualify for tomorrow's superpole session. Abe's team-mate Sebastien Gimbert is absent this weekend as a result of the leg injury he sustained during the last round at Silverstone.

Championship leader Troy Corser (Suzuki) set the pace today, holding on to pole position with a best of 1'35.717, despite crashing in the closing stages of the session. Max Neukirchner (Honda), Regis Laconi (Ducati) and Karl Muggeridge (Honda) completing the overnight front row. European superstock champion Lorenzo Alfonsi had his best qualifying on a superbike to end the day eighth on his R1.

Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"It worked out ok for us in the end. This morning was hard work: we started out with one bike set-up like at Silverstone and the other using the settings from our test at Brno last week. In the afternoon we used something pretty much in between and it is working quite well. The key to this track is getting through the three left hand corners well and we were able to improve this in the afternoon. I'm happy with my lap times on the race tyres but I messed up my lap on the qualifier and in the end it wasn't much quicker than what I did on the race tyre. But I'm happy, we ended the day in the top 16 and I know that we can make a big step with the set-up and lap times tomorrow."

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"So far so good. We made a little bit of progress in the afternoon. It was not as much as I would have liked but we know the direction we need to go in. The team will now make some changes so I think that tomorrow we can make some big improvements for superpole."

Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France)
"It's another new track for me. We came here recently to test but all we got was two hours in the rain, so we learned nothing. Today we have a big grip problem - we are just spinning everywhere. Tomorrow we will try a completely different set-up to try and solve this."

Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "I'm quite happy with how things went today. Nori did not use a qualifying tyre, instead deciding to focus on the testing programme for today. He seems happy and will have one an extra qualifying tyre available to him tomorrow. It seems that the set-up is not so bad for both guys. Tonight we will make a gearbox with different ratios to find a more perfect setting and possibly a little bit better lap time."

Yamaha Motor Germany pairing Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes showed some of their best form of the season to post the fifth and sixth best times in today's first qualifying session for Sunday's round six of the Supersport World Championship at Misano in Italy.

Curtain was again the top Yamaha rider, ending the tight session fifth but just two-tenths of a second from pole position. The 39-year-old again set a fast early pace before concentrating on improving the race set-up of the R6 and posting a best lap of 1'38.463 late on to lead the second row on the provisional grid.

The R6-mounted Australians held the top two positions for most of the blisteringly hot 45 minute session. Parkes led the way for most of the way, but a crash with 12 minutes remaining meant that he was forced to use his second machine in the closing minutes and was unable to better his early time of 1'38.640. He was knocked off pole with four minutes remaining, as local rider Gianluca Nanelli (Ducati) went fastest with a 1'38.226. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Fabien Foret and Michel Fabrizio (all Honda) complete the provisional front row.

High temperatures and a demanding circuit layout means that the 23-lap race is likely to be as much about good machine set-up and tyre conservation as it is ultimate lap times, and this remains the team's focus during tomorrow's two 45 minute practice sessions.

Kevin Curtain
"Today was spent mostly working on race set-up. I reckon we're in pretty good shape. We're running the softest tyres: the grip is good and it seems pretty consistent. The big thing for us now is that we have a good base setting, so we can turn up on Friday and be working on fine tuning things and putting in fast laps, rather than just trying to find that base setting. The lap times have been pretty tight today and I am sure that there is a bit more to come tomorrow."

Broc Parkes
"I'm really starting to feel much better on the R6. The test at Brno last week was a big help and we we're able to find a base set-up to suit my style, rather than using something similar to Kevin's. It was good to be right up there again today. It was a bit of a shame I lost the front end late on but otherwise I'm really pleased and looking to get on the front row tomorrow."