Superbike

Chris Vermeulen will start tomorrow’s seventh round World Superbike championship races at Brno in the Czech Republic from the front row of the grid after setting the fourth fastest time in this afternoon’s Superpole event.

Troy Corser took pole position after Vermeulen’s Winston Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Karl Muggeridge set the fifth fastest time to start from the head of row two for tomorrow’s two 20-lap races around the fast and undulating 5.4km Czech circuit.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager: “I’m actually quite happy with the results of today’s qualifying and Superpole sessions after all the hard work we’ve put in during the weekend so far. With neither rider having been here and other top teams having tested already, we’ve been playing the catch-up game for the first two days. To be honest, I think Karl deserved a front row start and was very close to getting one. We still have some work to do tonight because the lap times and data that we’ve gathered today will for sure help us to improve the bikes a little bit more in the warm-up tomorrow morning so that we can be even more competitive in the races.”

Chris Vermeulen – fourth fastest, 2m03.247s: “We’ve continued to make improvements all day today. We’re still facing the same problems as yesterday – running a little wide in places and lacking grip in others – but we managed to make the problems a little smaller. I like the circuit more each time I go out and, although it’s bumpy in a lot of places, we’re getting faster in each session. The hotter conditions that we had this afternoon aren’t ideal for the CBR but we’ll have to see what the weather does tomorrow. If it’s like it is today, it’s going to be pretty hard work and there are a lot of fast riders out there. I’ll just have to try and stick the bike on the podium again.”

Karl Muggeridge – fifth fastest, 2m03.252s: “I wanted to be top five when we came here but I would definitely have preferred a front row start. The times are all pretty tight but two tiny mistakes on my Superpole lap cost me that front row. But I still did my quickest time of the weekend so the bike’s definitely getting better and better each time we go out. As ever, there’s still some more work to do and there’ll be one or two different things to try in the morning; but I like the circuit and I’ll just be looking for two really solid results tomorrow and get up there as high as I can.”

Supersport

A fly embedded in Sébastien Charpentier’s eye did not prevent the Winston Ten Kate Honda rider from setting the fastest time in today’s World Supersport championship final qualifying session at Brno in the Czech Republic.

The Frenchman was almost half a second faster than second-placed Kevin Curtain with Michel Fabrizio and Broc Parkes taking the remaining front row slots. Charpentier’s replacement team-mate for the Brno event, Craig Jones, battled back from a crash early on in the session to post the thirteenth fastest time.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager: “That was very, very impressive. We started today’s session with a longer run on used tyres to simulate tomorrow’s race but Kevin (Curtain) went quick very early on and later set a time that seemed unbeatable. Sébastien came in with a fly deeply embedded in his eye and we couldn’t get it out but he then went and put in a time that, frankly, I thought was impossible. Craig has continued to make progress today but unfortunately found a bump that he wasn’t expecting and crashed out early in the session. Going out on the spare CBR upset his rhythm and development with the bike but he is used to fairly intense racing battles in the British championship so I’m sure he’ll get his head down for tomorrow’s encounter.

Sébastien Charpentier – fastest, 2m06.283s: “I think that a 2:06.2 on a supersport machine here at Brno is a very high level and this is surely my best qualifying session from my six pole positions this year. Misano was very difficult and I had a similar fight with Kevin (Curtain) at Silverstone. You could say it’s not necessary for me to go so hard for pole position because of the championship but it is something that I enjoy – especially today! I thought Kevin’s 2:06.7 was a good time but I came in with the fly in my eye and put on some new tyres. I spent a lap concentrating before the quick one because you have to be aggressive in some places here and smooth in others. I’m looking forward to a good fight again tomorrow and we’re ready for the race.”

Craig Jones – thirteenth fastest, 2m08.423s: “I’ve just tried to keep making progress since yesterday and I think we were going in the right direction after this morning. I was on an out lap and not pushing that hard but found a bump on the last corner and the front just washed out. I guess that’s part of learning a new circuit. I still need some more time to make the bike my own but I’m happy enough to keep on making the little improvements we have been doing. We’ve got a little more time in warm-up tomorrow and then I just plan to go out and enjoy the race.”