James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) made a very positive start to the final round of the championship, running out second fastest at the same circuit he won the 2004 title on, despite concentrating more on machine set-up for race conditions than going for a single blitzing lap. The track was wet in the first session and delivered less grip than during a recent test in the timed session in the afternoon. Toseland is out to score an overall second in the championship in 2006, and a grandstand battle is promised, as his rival for that placing was the quickest rider on day one, Noriyuki Haga.

Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) set ninth quickest time on his second machine, another strong result as it was running an experimental set-up, and yet the Aussie rider was still firmly in the top ten.

Ronald Ten Kate – Team Manager
“Quite a good first day for us, because we did quite a lot of work with the electronics on James’s machine, and with the set-up side of the bike we have not pushed too much to make a single fast lap; we are concentrating on the race set-up more. We are immediately at the top of the sheets anyway, so we didn’t have to worry about the lap times too much. We know the direction now, and the track conditions were quite particular today, different to the test we had here three weeks ago. The surface looks in really strange shape, but it might improve for tomorrow, so we will have to see what happens. At the moment, race set-up is the main issue to work on.”

James Toseland – Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(2nd Position – Fastest Lap 1’40.734 - 25 laps)
“It was a strange day on track, first of all with the grip level and then the wind picking up at the end there. In testing we did 1’40, 1’40, 1’40, so it was quite frustrating for me today. But we still ended up second. Because of the track conditions, the bike felt quite a lot different to ride, and not as easy to be consistent. I was running wide and I wondered why it was difficult to stop. Plus, the rear grip goes down quite a lot as the tyre goes down, and that made it very difficult to stop the bike into the corner. More so than any other track. I put new tyres in, so I know why we have these problems now. For Sunday and the race, we need to make a change, because now we understand why things are the way they were.”

Karl Muggeridge – Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(9th Position – Fastest Lap 1’41.044 - 24 laps)
“My first bike had something interesting happening with the gearbox, so we had to move to the second bike. That had a completely different chassis setting, an experimental one, so we put some tyres in and we went out, with only 20-minutes left. The first lap was OK, in the low 1’41s. I could see the time ticking away but it was more important for us now to get the bike right if that is the bike we end up using. So just continued with the tyre I had, and did quite a few laps, and I feel confident with it. As far as the time is concerned, I am sure we can go faster. Sometimes things happen for a reason.”

Supersport

Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) made an impressive start to the final round of the year, taking provisional pole with a new track best time of 1'42.829, despite far from ideal early track conditions. In another display of impressive overall team performance, Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda) was the second fastest rider, only 0.268 seconds behind Charpentier, despite suffering a crash on his 'hot' lap. In third place, Charpentier's great rival for the overall championship placing, Kevin Curtain, fell towards the end of the session.

The morning session, not a qualifying session, was disrupted by an oil spill and the wet weather, which appeared overnight in central France, and threatened to wipe out the first day of action. As the track dried, the times came down, allowing Charpentier to show his best once more.

Ronald Ten Kate - Team Manager
“Another very good start to the weekend here, and we know what we can do at this track. We have to win the race and see what the opposition is doing. We have quite a gap back to the opposition, which is good, but unluckily for Kenan in his hot lap he had to pass a backmarker, who was cruising on the ideal line. So he made a mistake when shifting when he passed him and he had a high side. But he was fighting hard for pole position, like he was at Imola. So I am happy with him. The track conditions make it quite complicated but with the data of today we will work to improve things from here on. Tomorrow, for sure, we will be even faster and stronger.”

Sebastien Charpentier - Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(Pole Position – Fastest Lap 1'42.829 - 12 Laps)
“This morning the session was very strange, and this afternoon everything worked well. The track is very vicious - strange today. But I am happy, because I made a 1'42.8. I didn't push very hard so this was a nice surprise. I hope tomorrow that there will be an even better track for everyone. I hope my team-mate will be OK for tomorrow and the bike is ready for the race. Tyres we still have to decided because the weather is getting better.”

Kenan Sofuoglu - Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(2nd Position – Fastest Lap 1'43.097 - 15 Laps)
“I am OK, no real injury, even if I hurt my knee and my hand. I was on a hot lap, faster than my previous best, when I found another rider on the racing line, just cruising. I had to go round the outside to pass, and when I braked and went down the gearbox I must have been distracted, and went down one too many gears. That was enough to get the back end out of line and I high sided. I will be OK for tomorrow, and my times are already fast, so I hope for even more.”