LIGHT RAIN AFFECTS AFTERNOON QUALIFYING SESSION With just the merest drizzle of rain appearing at the Ascari chicane section of the 5.793km Monza circuit, shortly after the start of the first timed session, the hour long Friday qualifying for the World Superbike riders proved to be a difficult affair. It was headed up by the impressively fast Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia), with a 1’47.007 – faster than the previous lap record on race tyres, but only 0.028 from the absolute track best, despite the increasingly damp sections at Ascari and the Parabolica. Closest to Haga was championship leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox), only 0.036 seconds from the rapid Japanese rider.

CORSER THIRD QUICKEST WITH TOSELAND ON HIS TAIL Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) was the closest rider to the Haga/Bayliss battle, with the 2005 champion third fastest, just over half a second from Haga’s best. The provisional front row was completed by James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda), riding with a small degree of caution, as the track was damp enough to hold back a full attack. The top five was completed by PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse’s Regis Laconi, pushing hard on the big Kawasaki and making it five different machines in the top five positions.

ALEX BARROS IMPROVES TO GO TOP SIX Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda) used his Honda power to record the sixth best lap of the opening day’s qualifying session, finishing only 0.006 seconds from Laconi’s fifth place Kawasaki. An incredibly tight provisional second row was completed by Haga’s team-mate Andrew Pitt and the privateer Sterilgarda Berik Ducati of Spanish star Ruben Xaus. The latter’s 999 was the fastest bike through the speed trap, at a whopping 310kmph.

ROOKIES TO THE FORE, EVEN IN TRICKY CONDITIONS Michel Fabrizio (DFX Treme Honda) and Roberto Rolfo (Ducati SC Caracchi 999) are both first year SBK riders, but each local man showed a good grasp of Monza’s early challenges to finish inside the top ten. Two more experienced riders followed them home, with Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) and Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) completing the top 12 places, and the third provisional row.

NEUKIRCHNER IN PROVISIONAL SUPERPOLE PLACE Should day two dawn wet for the final qualifying session, then today’s times will count towards Superpole qualification. In those circumstances German youngster Max Neukirchner (Pedercini Ducati) will have already qualified for Superpole, as will the rest of the provisional fourth row,
Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France Ipone) and Team Pedercini rider, Ivan Clementi.

ABE CONCUSSED AND NANNELLI INJURED Yamaha Motor France Ipone rider Norick Abe, who had two impressive races at Valencia, fell exiting the Ascari chicane and suffered a heavy concussion during his tumble. He is currently in the Monza medical centre, undergoing observation. Gianluca Nannelli, Pierfrancesco Chili’s temporary replacement in the DFX Treme Honda team also fell at Ascari and suffered a light concession, plus an injured hand.

WORLD SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) left the first day of qualifying at Monza with a new track best, in what is becoming perennially impressive fashion. In both unofficial practice and timed qualifying Charpentier bettered the previous best, finally running out with a 1’51.061, shortly before the rains started after the end of the 45-minute session.
Megabike Honda rider Katsuaki Fujiwara was second fastest and the only other rider within the 1’51 bracket, with his personal best of 1’51.844.
Yamaha Motor Germany rider Kevin Curtain scored third quickest effort of the timed session, followed by Winston Ten Kate Honda second rider Kenan Sofuoglu. Another young Supersport sensation, Yoann Tiberio (Megabike Honda) scored fifth best time, ahead of local Yamaha rider, Gianluca Vizziello, on his Yamaha Team Italia R6. With one more session to count towards overall qualification, but with pessimistic weather predictions being made for the rest of the weekend, Friday’s times may be the ones which determine the shape of the final grid.

SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) headed off the opening qualifying challenge of Valencia race winner Alessandro Polita (Celani Suzuki) at Monza, running to a best time of 1’52.431. Ilario Dionisi (Team Trasimeno Yamaha) was third fastest, well down on the leading duo. Local rider, albeit with a season long remit in the PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse team, Denis Sacchetti, was fourth fastest. The top 11 riders were all Italian, proving his important local knowledge is for the big bike riders at Monza.

EUROPEAN 600 SUPERSTOCK CHAMPIONSHIP Andrea Antonelli (Junior Team Italia Honda) took provisional pole in the 600cc Supersport class, ahead of proven Superstock entity in 2006, Xavier Simeon (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra). Lightspeed Kawasaki rider Davide Guigliano posted the third fastest time, in a field of 35 entrants.