Despite being down at the first split, World Champion Troy Corser made up time in the second and third sections and stormed to a Superpole victory ahead of rival Troy Bayliss at today’s third-round Valencia world Superbike Championship round in Spain.

The Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider didn’t put a foot wrong on his GSX-R1000 after a slightly nervous start and his third split was absolutely perfect. Third quickest in the 16-rider shoot-out was Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati), with Steve Martin fourth on the Petronas.

Corser’s team mate Yukio Kagayama suffered a fall in the closing stages of this afternoon’s free practice and was slightly concussed. He and the team decided to not take part in Superpole and so he will start from the third row of the grid. Team Alstare Engineering Corona Extra rider Fabien Foret was unable to keep his provisional third row grid place and will start from the fourth row instead.

Troy Corser - 1st, 1:34.992:
“I knew I was a little behind in the first section of my Superpole lap because I had run a bit wide in one of the turns and lost some time. But I knew I was good in the second and third sections, so I just concentrated on getting them as best I could. The third section was perfect and I don’t think I could’ve got round it any faster, so that made me pretty happy.

“I did a long run in this afternoon’s free practice and was on the track so long I might have done a lap or two more than intended. So when I came in to put on a qualifier, it was too late. For sure the races tomorrow are going to be much tougher than last year but a lot will depend on the weather. If it rains, it’s going to be very difficult because the track is so slippery - it feels a bit like riding on ice!”

Yukio Kagayama - 12th, 1:35.670:
“I would like to tell you about today, but don’t remember much at all! I crashed in the afternoon and banged my head a bit and that made me forget what happened today. I also hit my right arm but nothing is broken so I think I will be ok to race tomorrow. I hope I get a good sleep tonight and feel back to normal tomorrow.”

Fabien Foret - 14th, 1:36.502:
“This was my first Superpole and it has been a good experience, but I am a little disappointed not to have done better. On my Superpole lap the grip didn’t feel so good and then I got a neutral exiting the last turn and had to run a bit wide. That lost me some time, so maybe I could’ve finished higher up the grid. Most of my problems here are to do with the conditions: The bike seems very sensitive to temperature changes - well that is the tyres seem very sensitive to changes in temperature. How we set up the bike will depend on the weather tomorrow, but I hope it will be dry, because this place is very slippery when it’s wet.”

SIMEON WINS SUPERSTOCK 600 OPENER!

Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Xavier Simeon won the opening round of the Superstock 600 European Championship today, completely destroying the opposition in the process.

At the end of the 11-lap race, Simeon took the chequered flag more than five seconds ahead of his nearest rival, Nicola Canepa (Ducati). Third was local favourite Santiago Barragan (Yamaha).

Xavier Simeon - 1st:
“That was a very good race and I enjoyed myself out there today. The bike was perfect today and it made my job easy. I made a good start and was involved in a little battle with Canepa for a while, but once I got away from him, I settled down and ran my own pace. Once I was in the lead, it felt pretty comfortable and taking the flag at the end was a great way to start the season. Now I’m already looking forward to the next round!”

Superstock 600 Results: 1 Xavier Simeon (B-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 2 Canepa (I-Ducati), 3 Barragan (E-Yamaha), 4 Pedro (E-Yamaha), 5 Gamell (E-Yamaha), 6 Giugliano (I-Kawasaki).