HAGA BACK TO THE FRONT IN IMOLA
01 October 2005 - Yamaha Racing

Yamaha Motor Italia rider Noriyuki Haga was back to his best form in Imola today, taking his Yamaha YZF-R1 to a second row start for tomorrow''s two-race 11th round of the Superbike World Championship.

After ending the opening day a lowly 17th on the time sheets, the Japanese star reverted to tried and tested settings to leapfrog up the order. Within minutes of the morning''s second qualifying, Haga was into the top eight - a position he retained going into the afternoon''s superpole session. The crowd favourite was able to elevate himself further up the grid in the one lap superpole session, posting a 1:49.094 lap time to take sixth place on the grid.

Team-mate Andrew Pitt had a good superpole session to end the day in ninth. The Australian had been 10th after the two qualifying sessions, but pushed hard on his superpole lap despite suffering the effects of influenza and a less than perfect bike set-up. Unfortunately the former supersport world champion narrowly missed out on a second row start.

Yamaha Motor France pairing Norick Abe and Sebastien Gimbert both qualified for superpole and will start from the fourth row of the grid, in 13th and 15th place respectively.

Pole position for tomorrow''s races was taken by Chris Vermeulen (Honda) from Regis Laconi (Ducati), with championship leader Troy Corser (Suzuki) third and outgoing world champion James Toseland (Ducati) completing the front row.

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia)
''I think we have some tough races tomorrow. In the morning warm-up we still have to try and find a rear tyre for the race and because I can''t find the tyre I can''t make the perfect suspension setting. Basically problem is only at rear. The front is very good so tonight we try to change the bike and find a solution.''

Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia)
''Today was not a good day. I''m not feeling so great and we''ve still got some problems with the set-up: chatter is a problem and we''re struggling with grip a little bit. I hope that I''m feeling better tomorrow and we''ll just need to see what the races bring.''

Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France)
''We made some improvements today and I am hopeful that we can have some good races tomorrow. I like this track and our times on the race tyre are good although we are not able to find a big improvement with the qualifier.''

Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France)
''Yesterday I made a mistake with the qualifier but today I was able to make an improvement with the soft tyre. My superpole lap was ok and I think that we can be strong in the races tomorrow.''

Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) ''Both riders are having trouble with traction. It seems that when the surface does not have good grip we are suffering more than most, like in Misano. For sure we are better than yesterday and both riders made good improvements today. We will change some things tomorrow to try and improve the rear grip. We know that Noriyuki especially is stronger in the race than in qualifying so we must see what happens tomorrow.''

Parkes takes front row start at Imola

1/10/2005

Broc Parkes will start tomorrow''s penultimate round of the 2005 Supersport World Championship from the front row of the grid after an exciting final qualifying session at Imola today.

Sunny conditions allowed all the participating riders to improve their times from Friday, with the leader board changing almost second by second. Yamaha Motor Germany rider Parkes left his charge late, leading a multi-rider group on a flying lap just seconds before the chequered flag to post a weekend best of 1:52.708 and fourth on the timesheets. However, the Australian will move up one place following the withdrawal of world champion Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) with a shoulder injury. The Frenchman''s Friday time of 1:51.788 would have been good enough for pole, but his crash in the morning free practice session means that riders behind him move up one place on the grid.

Parkes'' team-mate Kevin Curtain had his worst qualifying performance of the season, ending the day in ninth. The multiple Australian champion had a trip through the gravel trap after losing the front end mid-way through the session, dropping the bike at low speed but sustaining no damage to man or machine. Curtain was able to rejoin but found himself at the back of the Parkes-led train as he looked to improve his best time of 1:53.106 in the dying seconds. The Yamaha Motor Germany couldn''t find a way through the pack but was not too disappointed, having found good settings for tomorrow''s 103km race. With Charpentier''s withdrawal, Curtain will start from the second row of the grid.

Fabien Foret (Honda) will start tomorrow''s race from the pole position with his time of 1:51.939, alongside him will be local hero Gianluca Nannelli (Ducati), Parkes and Stephane Chambon (Honda).

Broc Parkes
''The front row is always important and I feel we''re in good shape for tomorrow. The times are really close but I think that we are able to do consistent lap times and that should show in the race. After getting on the podium in Lausitz we''ve got a taste for the champagne and I want to be challenging for the win tomorrow.''

Kevin Curtain
''Traffic really hurt me today. I went out with a new soft front tyre but I lost the front and I didn''t as much crash as fall over! I went back to the pits, stuck a new rear in and went out, but I was behind so much traffic. Broc was able to put in a few moves to get to the front but I was stuck. I''m not worried for the race though. You can easily win the start from row two and I think we''re in good shape for the race. My target is second in the championship so Foret is who I''ll be looking out for. I expect him to be there or thereabouts and if I beat him then I will be happy with my race.''

Round: 11 - Imola
Circuit: Imola
Circuit Length: 4933
Lap Record: 1'' 48.389 (Troy Bayliss, 2002)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'' 48.389 (Troy Bayliss, 2002)
Date: 1 October 2005
Temp: 22ºC

Session 2 :
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. 1st Qualifying 2nd Qualifying Superpole
1 C. Vermeulen Honda AUS 1'' 49.280 1'' 48.768 1'' 48.075
2 R. Laconi Ducati FRA 1'' 50.560 1'' 49.031 1'' 48.506
3 T. Corser Suzuki AUS 1'' 49.161 1'' 48.547 1'' 48.649
4 J. Toseland Ducati GBR 1'' 50.487 1'' 49.383 1'' 48.667
5 L. Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'' 50.007 1'' 49.284 1'' 48.923
6 N. Haga Yamaha JPN 1'' 51.387 1'' 49.354 1'' 49.094
7 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'' 50.126 1'' 48.759 1'' 49.271
8 B. Bostrom Honda USA 1'' 51.975 1'' 50.466 1'' 49.300
9 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS 1'' 50.142 1'' 49.407 1'' 49.601
10 K. Muggeridge Honda AUS 1'' 50.537 1'' 50.187 1'' 49.845
11 S. Martin Petronas AUS 1'' 50.028 1'' 49.054 1'' 49.977
12 M. Neukirchner Honda GER 1'' 50.692 1'' 49.012 1'' 49.994
13 N. Abe Yamaha JPN 1'' 51.286 1'' 50.091 1'' 50.247
14 P. Chili Honda ITA 1'' 50.029 1'' 49.914 1'' 50.588
15 S. Gimbert Yamaha FRA 1'' 51.529 1'' 50.305 1'' 50.649
16 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR 1'' 51.067 1'' 49.835 1'' 50.749
18 G. Vizziello Yamaha ITA 1'' 51.285 1'' 50.636
21 I. Silva Yamaha ESP 1'' 54.267 1'' 51.348
25 M. Lucchiari Yamaha ITA 1'' 53.720 1'' 52.238
28 G. Zannini Yamaha ITA N/A 1'' 52.567
31 A. Gramigni Yamaha ITA 1'' 53.262 N/A

www.yamaha-racing.com

More News
  For October 2005
  From Yamaha Racing
  For World Superbike
  Biker247.com Home Page