James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) stormed to second place in Superpole at Brno, after setting a fourth fastest time in the earlier combined qualifying sessions. His front row start now leaves him in the perfect position for the start of Sunday's 20-lap Superbike races, after a consistently strong qualifying performance all weekend. James improved on his previous best lap time by over 1.1 seconds in Superpole, despite having to set his final flying lap on his number two bike, after his number one machine was damaged in an earlier crash.

Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) beat a path to eighth place after his personal best lap of the weekend, less than half a second slower than Toseland, in what was a close and competitive Superpole. In finishing eighth, and earning a start from row two, Muggeridge replicated his pre-Superpole qualification performance. Superpole was taken by Noriyuki Haga, the only rider faster than Toseland.

Ronald Ten Kate - Team Manager
“I am quite satisfied with the qualifying positions we took, especially seeing James almost topping all the others and being up at the top of the timesheets all weekend. We were hoping for another pole position but I think in free practice, when he had a little crash on his number one bike, we had to swap over to his second machine which had some different specs on it, and which we could not change in time for the Superpole lap. We also have to say that the Superpole time of Haga was pretty fast. We will see tomorrow how fast and consistent James has been on the race tyre, and we are pretty confident for him. It's OK for Karl on the second row of the grid but he was a bit surprised with the sheer speed of Superpole, as I think all of us were! But I am sure he can do well from the second row off the grid, even if the machine is still not perfect for him around here. We will work hard overnight and prepare ourselves to be in the best shape for tomorrow's race.”

James Toseland - Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(2nd position - 2'01.056)
“We had a good qualifying so I am disappointed that I crashed in the free session this afternoon, in my last lap before Superpole qualifying. I was a little bit sceptical about using my number two bike because we had a few issues with it, but the guys did a great job in getting it ready and it felt almost exactly the same as my number one bike and it was good enough to let me go second - so big thanks to them. It would be nice to make a break tomorrow but tyre wear will play a big part and they will be long races. So I'm going to ride my own way.”

Karl Muggeridge - Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(8th position - 2'01.498)
“In the final free practice I wasn't pushing too hard so I think that might have affected my Superpole lap. I think I worked the throttle too hard in Superpole and the bike was a bit unsteady because of that. I think I just tried too hard, and that slowed me down. Second row is not too bad because my times with a race set-up are consistent and I am confident for tomorrow. This is not the most difficult track to pass people on, because it's wide and has a lot of chicanes.”

Supersport

The second and final day of qualifying for the Supersport class at Brno placed the resurgent Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda) in second place on the grid, only 0.052 seconds from pole. It equalled his best qualifying result of the year, second in the opening round at Qatar. His team-mate Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda), in his comeback weekend after recent pelvic and collarbone injuries, qualified fifth, improving on his first day best time in the process.

Charpentier thus starts the race from the second row, aiding his ultimate ambition of scoring as many points as possible, to defend his current championship lead of 30 points. In pole position is the man who sits second overall in the championship, Kevin Curtain. A late fall of rain in the session stopped either Winston Ten Kate rider from pushing for one final attempt at pole, after what was another hot and humid qualifying outing for all involved.

Ronald Ten Kate - Team Manager
“We are quite satisfied about today, especially with Kenan second and so close to the pole time. Unlucky for him the last attempt to set an even better time was affected by the rain, which is a pity. But anyway, it was quite a good result for Kenan. For Sebastien I’m happy that he is back and we tried quite a lot to give him a bike which is as easy as possible to ride for the race, so he can last all the race for us. He is on the pace again, not so far off pole anyway, and tomorrow morning we will decide which set-up to run, as we have two possibilities ready for him. He will make the decision about which is easiest to ride. I am quite sure when the race comes along he will be running up front, and the Clinica Mobile will be working on him quite a lot tonight and tomorrow. He has done all his laps so far without the need for painkillers, but tomorrow we will give him a little one so he can last the race.”

Kenan Sofuoglu - Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(2nd position - 2.05.952)
“It is good to see that I can make such a good time because in many previous races I have tried hard right through to Sunday but found it difficult. Before the race we had a test here and that showed us a lot of things to help us this weekend, and we made the second fastest lap time. Tomorrow is the race and we always want to improve but I think I can have confidence because of that lap time. For sure I want to score a podium, but it will be a difficult race, so we will have to see how it goes.”

Sebastien Charpentier - Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(5th position - 2'06.242)
“My main goal is to get as many points as possible, and it won’t be easy. But I am satisfied with my physical condition because there has been no pain so far. Maybe I will need some painkillers as a precaution for the race, just in case it comes on. I’m also happy for Kenan’s result, because it has brought out the spirit of the team and I hope we can work well together for the rest of the year.”


FINAL QUALIFYING:
1. Curtain - Yamaha - 2'05.900
2. Sofuoglu - Winston Ten Kate Honda - 2'05.952
3. Parkes - Yamaha - 2'05.997
4. Tiberio - Honda - 2'06.202
5. Charpentier - Winston Ten Kate Honda - 2'06.242