Superbike

Winston Ten Kate Honda’s Karl Muggeridge set the fourth fastest time in this afternoon’s opening qualifying session for Sunday’s eighth round World Superbike championship races at Brands Hatch in the UK. The pace was set by championship leader, Troy Corser, with Muggeridge’s team-mate, Chris Vermeulen, seventh fastest.

After morning rain prevented any meaningful set-up work in free practice for the 4.2km undulating Brands Hatch circuit, this afternoon’s qualifying session was run in dry conditions with sunnier weather forecast for tomorrow and Sunday.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager:
“I think that this afternoon was pretty OK for our first dry track session and I’m happy enough after day one. It’s good to see Karl on the provisional front row because, even though it’s one of his favourite circuits, it’s his first time here on a superbike. Chris is quite near the pace of the front runners after his time at the Suzuka 8-hour last weekend. But I think he adapted really quickly to the change in tyres and what is really a very different machine. I’m sure we’ll find some more improvements to the bike tomorrow when, hopefully, the weather will be a more consistent factor.”

Karl Muggeridge – fourth fastest, 1m27.742s
“Yeah, this track is certainly pretty different on a superbike – it suddenly looks a lot skinnier than I remember! I’m wheelying all the way down the back straight at the moment and having to duck my head to get the front wheel down. We started with a brand new setting here but, to be honest, we were quite a long way away. I still need to be more confident in the front going into corners and to be able to open the gas on the way out over the bumps. But we know what we’re after so we just need to put it in the bike and use tomorrow to make those improvements to get it in the right area.”

Chris Vermeulen – seventh fastest, 1m28.056s
“I’m not too unhappy with seventh considering the big difference between the bike and the tyres that I rode at the 8-hour last weekend. I expected to struggle a bit more than I did actually and was really just aiming to qualify for Superpole today. But the bike’s feeling pretty good after the team made a lot of positive changes after our test at Lausitzring. I ran into a bit of traffic when I put the qualifier in so I wasn’t able to go much faster. There’s some work to do tonight and tomorrow but I think we’ll be able to get it up there.”

Supersport

World Supersport championship leader, Sébastien Charpentier, was straight back into his dominant form today, setting the fastest time in the opening qualifying session for Sunday’s eighth round race at Brands Hatch in the UK.

After early morning rain affected this morning’s free practice session, a dry track this afternoon also allowed Charpentier’s Winston Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Katsuaki Fujiwara, to take a provisional front row slot with the fourth fastest time.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager:
“Another strong qualifying performance from Sébastien has underlined his recent good form. Although the conditions were the same for everyone, he adapted well to the cool and overcast conditions to set another impressive lap time. I’m also very pleased with Katsuaki’s performance after his long lay off through injury and taking part in the Suzuka 8-hour race last weekend. He struggled a little in the wet this morning but, as soon as the track dried, he quickly found his pace. It’s good to have him back with the team and especially on the provisional front row.”

Sébastien Charpentier – fastest, 1m29.174s
“For me it’s been a good day – just very relaxed and working my way back into a good rhythm. We changed the front settings a bit to deal with the dip at the bottom of Paddock Hill but the bike is still not perfect. It was not so easy in the rain this morning so hopefully we’ll get some good weather tomorrow to keep improving the set-up and I’m confident of being able to do a 28.5s lap or better. The important thing is to get a good setting that will put me in a position for another win on Sunday.”

Katsuaki Fujiwara – fourth fastest, 1m30.410s
“It felt very strange this morning riding the CBR600RR again after such a long time away and spending so much time on Michelins with the HRC Fireblade at Suzuka. I went out in the wet first thing using settings from Phillip Island but, when the track dried this afternoon, I was able to make the adjustment and begin to feel comfortable again. The front is still pushing a little in some places here and we are still playing with the gearing but we have tomorrow to try some more changes and improve everything.”