LOCAL RIDER TOMMY HILL TAKES WET SUPERPOLE WIN - YOUNG BRIT USES SILVERSTONE EXPERIENCE TO THE FULL Twenty-one year-old wild card rider Tommy Hill (Virgin Mobile Yamaha) took his first ever Superpole win at a wet and slippery Silverstone circuit, displacing none other than World Championship Leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) in the process. Hill, a British Superbike regular, rode with aplomb in the atrocious conditions, setting the best lap of 1’38.001. Under the wet Superpole rules, each rider from the 16 who have qualified for Superpole gets 12 laps in which to set their best qualifying time. Despite a drying track, most riders set their best times earlier in the session than the usual last five minutes, a fact which pushed many top names down the order. One exception was Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki) who was a massively popular third fastest, giving the wet British fans a second reason to cheer through the murky conditions. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) put two Yamahas on the front row of the grid, ending his wet Superpole session fourth, after a characteristically lurid riding display. Raceday weather forecasts all indicate dry conditions, and even within an hour of Superpole being completed the skies above Silverstone were clearing rapidly.

ROOKIE FABRIZIO HEADS UP ROW TWO Michel Fabrizio (DFX Treme Honda) scored fifth best time in Superpole, finishing top Honda, one place above Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda). James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) had a nightmare day, after finishing regulation qualifying on Friday (the session which counted most, after Saturday’s timed qualifying proved to be fully wet) fifth. He dropped to only 14th in the wet conditions of Superpole. Sterilgarda Ducati rider, Ruben Xaus, went seventh, with Toseland’s team-mate, Karl Muggeridge, battling his way round to be the last rider off the second row of the grid, having set eighth-best time.

LACONI, CORSER, PITT AND GIMBERT ON THIRD ROW
2005 season Silverstone race winner Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) scored ninth fastest time in wet Super pole, despite complaining about a lack of rear grip from his ZX-10R. Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), who is championship leader Bayliss’ closest challenger, went only tenth fastest in the wet Superpole session, one place up on Haga’s team-mate Andrew Pitt and two ahead of Yamaha Motor France rider, Sebastien Gimbert.


TOSELAND 14th AS KAGAYAMA SUFFERS INJURY PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse rider Fonsi Nieto slipped his machine around Silverstone in dramatic fashion, but his lack of rear hook-up saw him only 13th, after regulation qualifying had him on the provisional front row. Toseland’s 14th best time was also a function of his lack of push from the rear, and he could not improve on his early pace in Superpole, despite a slowly drying track. Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) was 15th in Superpole. A heavy fall from Yukio Kagayama left the Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider 16th, but injured. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) just missed out on Superpole.

WORLD SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) scored his fifth consecutive pole position of the 2006 season, but thanks to the intense rain and standing water in the second qualifying session, he secured pole with his Friday time, 1’30.516. Charpentier also scored a magnificent new record for career pole wins, with Silverstone providing him his 16th, one more than Karl Muggeridge.

All positions through the field remained unchanged after Friday’s qualifying, and thus Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) and his team-mate Broc Parkes will start the race on Sunday from second and third positions, with wild card Spaniard Pere Riba (MSS Discovery Racing), in fourth place.

SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP With the second qualifying session proving to be wet, the final grid line up in Superstock 1000 was a repeat of Friday, thus Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) took his maiden pole in the big Superstock class. Alessandro Polita (Celani Suzuki) was second, Luca Scassa (EVR Corse Ormeni Racing MV Agusta) third and Riccardo Chiarello (Lightspeed Kawasaki) fourth.

EUROPEAN 600 SUPERSTOCK CHAMPIONSHIP Niccolo Canepa (Ducati Xerox 749R) made use of his Friday time to take pole in the Junior Supersport class, after another wet final session prevented progress. Davide Guigliano (Lightspeed Kawasaki) was second quickest, with Xavier Simeon (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) third.