Superbike

Karl Muggeridge will start tomorrow’s two eighth round World Superbike championship races at Brands Hatch in the UK from the front row of the grid after setting the second fastest time in this afternoon’s Superpole event. Fellow Australian, Troy Corser, grabbed pole position, with Muggeridge’s Winston Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Chris Vermeulen, setting the eighth fastest time.

After earlier struggling to find the right setting for his Superbike debut at the 4.2km Kent circuit, Muggeridge improved on his regulation qualifying position of ninth place in the one-lap Superpole shoot-out. Vermeulen was the penultimate Superpole rider but was unable to improve on his time.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager:
“After all the team’s work and the riders’ performances this weekend, I think we deserved two front row places. Karl made an excellent Superpole lap apart from a small mistake on the final corner, losing time that may have cost him his first pole position. We know Chris struggles a little with Superpole, especially being one of the last riders to go out, but at least he normally improves on his qualifying time. Having said that, we’re quite happy with the race settings for both riders and I’m sure there will be two good battles out there tomorrow afternoon.”

Karl Muggeridge – second fastest, 1m26.833s
“After this morning, we changed a lot of things on the bike for the afternoon free practice and it felt heaps better. I was just a bit eager on the last corner of my Superpole lap – I really wanted pole position and made a mistake going for that important final drive to the line. The bike probably looked a bit out of shape but it was really my wrist! It’s my best qualifying performance and we’ve made a jump forward with the bike. Brands Hatch is one of my favourite circuits so I’ll be looking for two really good results tomorrow.”

Chris Vermeulen – eighth fastest, 1m27.196s
“I don’t know, I think I just suck at Superpole! I hate waiting in the box for the other guys to go and I just rode too slow in the first part of the lap. Ronald calls me a diesel, because I take a few laps to get going and I think I would have been flying with another lap. I didn’t want to make any mistakes though, so I just braked too early for the first three corners, although it got better in the last sector. But I know we’ve got a good set-up for tomorrow and I’m not too worried. I’ve won races from the second row before.”

Supersport

Winston Ten Kate Honda’s Sébastien Charpentier set the fastest ever World Supersport lap around Brands Hatch, GB this afternoon, taking pole position for tomorrow’s eighth round race at the 4.2km circuit.

With just four minutes of the 45-minute final qualifying session remaining, the Frenchman crossed the Brands Hatch finishing line in a time of 1m28.376s, eclipsing the 2003 record of fellow countryman Stephane Chambon by one tenth of a second. Charpentier’s Winston Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Katsuaki Fujiwara, set the fifth fastest time this afternoon on his return to World Supersport action for the first time in six weeks.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager:
“I’m so happy with Sébastien’s pole position time today, especially as it broke the existing lap record. It’s all the more impressive because the previous record was established before the one-make tyre rule when qualifying tyres were allowed in Supersport. I wonder how fast Sébastien could go on a qualifier, but his race set-up is more important and he’s OK with that. We knew this weekend would be a little more difficult for Kats after riding the HRC Fireblade at Suzuka on slicks; but he has adapted to the smaller bike and treaded tyres very easily here. There is one sector of the circuit that we still need to work on with him but I’m sure he’ll put on his race face tomorrow to defend his place in the championship.”

Sébastien Charpentier – fastest, 1m28.376s
“The bike is really, really good now compared to yesterday and everything felt great out there this afternoon. I thought that sort of time would be possible after yesterday’s sessions so I’m happy to achieve that small objective I set myself. To beat the lap record here at my favourite circuit is a special thing and I’m hoping for a similar result in tomorrow’s race. I felt smooth like a snake on the quick lap today and the bike is especially strong out of the left hander going on to the back straight where speed is so important.”

Katsuaki Fujiwara – fifth fastest, 1m29.408s
“I’m much more comfortable on the bike now than I was yesterday and we’ve been able to make some important changes to the overall balance of the bike to improve it today. It’s been a long time since I rode the CBR600RR so I guess I’m happy enough with my position on the grid and grateful for the hard work the team has put in over the weekend so far. I’m happy with my race set-up so, as long as I get a good start in the race tomorrow, I’ll be fighting for a good result to close the gap on Sébastien in the championship.”