James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) made a strong early statement of intent with the fastest time of the opening qualifying session at Brno, a new best lap on a race weekend of 2'02.349, some 0.374 seconds ahead of his closest opposition. His good early pace in the hour-long session was rewarded with provisional pole position, as a sudden heavy fall of rain at the end of the session froze the leader board with James at the top. His team-mate, Karl Muggeridge, was a more than respectable fifth overall, like James capitalizing on the experience gained in a comparatively recent tyre test at Brno, despite a drop off in grip levels since the test.

With one more timed qualifying session scheduled at Brno, and then Superpole to determine the final grid positions of the top 16 qualifiers, both Toseland and Muggeridge have opportunities to consolidate and improve their respective positions.

Ronald Ten Kate - Team Manager
“Quite a good start to the race weekend and although it is only the first day, this is a very good place to start from. James put a good lap time in really quickly and after that he could concentrate purely on race settings and getting endurance from the tyres; which was good for us. Also Karl was fast immediately and we also had the luxury to concentrate on the race set-up and race tyres. We have seen an incredible track temperature of 52°C during that afternoon session, so we will see where we end up tomorrow. I hope the temperature will drop off a bit over the weekend, because I think this is almost too much. I am sure we can improve the bike even more for tomorrow.”

James Toseland - Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (1st position - 2'02.349)
“I knew the temperature was going to go up and up, so we needed to test the softer tyres, to see if they would last the race. We decided to put the softer tyres in at the beginning, when it was slightly cooler, and the track conditions were better. So I set a good early time and that stood through the session. Then the rains came and that stopped anyone going even faster. The bike is working well, so I'm happy.”

Karl Muggeridge - Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (5th position - 2'03.058)
“The track has changed a lot here since the test - not so grippy - so I am giving a lot of problems with the rear grip. So we are going to look into that. The problem now is that the bike is not compressing enough so I am just spinning with the rear. The bike is handling really well, and everyone is having the same problems with the track surface. But right now we have to focus on how we can get out of the corners faster. Once we have done that, and I'm confident we can, we should be OK.”

Supersport

In his comeback ride after suffering recent pelvic and shoulder injuries, Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) went fifth fastest in the opening qualifying session at Brno, one place behind his on-form team-mate, Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda).

Hot ambient and track temperatures made the 45-minute session hard for all involved, but the Winston Ten Kate Honda Team nevertheless made a satisfactory start overall, with one more qualifying session left in which to improve times still further.

Charpentier was injured in a testing crash at this very circuit, but showed little fear as he eased himself back into the role of racer, after missing the previous round at Misano.

Ronald Ten Kate - Team Manager
“Quite a good start to the weekend really, and it's good to have Sebastien back and immediately near the top of the time-sheets again. We need to take it step-by-step with him over the weekend, and try to build confidence, and the most important thing for us is to build points from here. We have enjoyed it to see him in the position he is in now and I'm sure he will improve even more tomorrow. It's also good to have Kenan so far up the sheets, because he is normally a slower starter on the weekend. For tomorrow we will have to work as hard as possible to make the bikes better and to make life easier for the riders around this track. It is going to be very hot on Sunday, as we know. We'll be studying the race set-ups we tried today very closely, to get the perfect bike for the guys to ride on Sunday.”

Sebastien Charpentier - Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (5th position - 2'06.906)
“It wasn't so easy because for over a month I have not been near a bike, after having to suffer a big five hour operation, so it has not been easy for my body. There is no pain but the muscles in my back have perished through lack of use, and they are vital for changing direction. The afternoon was better than the morning for me, and it will only get better all weekend. It's nice to come back to the team, I like and respect everyone involved and it is good to be working with them again. The new front Pirelli is good so I feel positive, confident for the future, because after this we have two weeks until Brands. I think it was possible for me to have set a 2'06.5 this afternoon, except for the traffic.”

Kenan Sofuoglu - Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (4th position - 2.06.863)
“A not so bad start and I did do a test here last month so we have a lot of information from there. That is very good for me because every time I got to a new track I first have to learn everything from zero again. Today was OK but tomorrow I will have to do even more. I want to start from the front row so tomorrow I will do everything possible to make sure I do.”