Reigning World Superbike Champion Troy Corser suffered grip problems during today’s Superpole for the British World Superbike fifth round at Silverstone.

The Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider finished a disappointing 10th in a wet qualifier with team mates Yukio Kagayama and Fabien Foret 16th and 25th.

The top 16 riders from timed qualifying had 50 minutes in which to complete a maximum of 12 laps. Although it had stopped raining by the time Superpole started, the track was mostly soaking wet - conditions that turned out to be more difficult then when it had been raining steadily.

Wild card rider Tommy Hill (Yamaha) surprised everybody by setting the quickest lap of the Superpole session with series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati) second, Chris Walker (Kawasaki) third and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) fourth.

It was an unhappy Superpole for Kagayama who crashed after eight laps. He highsided at the end of the start-finish straight and landed heavily on his back and damaged the index finger of his right hand in the process. Fortunately he didn’t break any bones but he will be very sore when he lines up on the grid tomorrow.

Troy Corser - 10th, 1:40.181:
Obviously I’m not happy being so far down the grid, but I was lucky to complete Wet Superpole without crashing! I could’ve crashed on virtually every lap - that’s how bad my grip problem was. I didn’t want to hurt myself or damage the bike with two races to do tomorrow, so I just tried to stay upright and go as fast as I could. Every time I touched the throttle, the bike just wanted to come round.
“Funnily enough, the grip felt better when the track was soaking wet. When the rain eased and then stopped, my problems began. The weather forecast says it’s going to be dry tomorrow and I know that we’ve got a pretty good set-up for a dry race, so if that’s so, all I need is a couple of really good starts.”

Yukio Kagayama - 16th, 1:42.262:
“I am so sore! I highsided at the end of the front straight and I went over the front of the bike while I was still holding on! I remember looking at my front wheel and thinking I would wait for the situation to improve, but it never did! I hit the ground very hard and cut my finger bad enough to have three stitches in the wound. When the track was fully wet, I think the grip felt ok. Maybe it is because we were going slower and controlling the bike better. In Superpole, the grip did not feel good at all and it was very difficult. I will have an early night tonight and hope I feel ok in the morning.”

Fabien Foret - 25th, No Superpole time:
“I don’t like the rain so much but I put in quite a few laps today because I need to understand how my bike works in the wet. I am disappointed not to have qualified for Superpole, but now I have to think about the races tomorrow and getting some good starts if I am to have any chance of a good result. I hope the track is dry because I know I can race much harder. This year we’ve lost some time due to rain at every round except one, so my understanding of my bike has not happened as quickly as I would’ve liked. But I am determined to get some good results tomorrow.”