MARTIN IN TOP TEN START
09 September 2006 - Foggy PETRONAS Racing

Steve Martin will start tomorrow’s races at round 10 of the Superbike World Championship from tenth on the grid at Eurospeedway Lausitz, Germany.

The Australian pulled a typically impressive lap out of the bag during morning qualifying to set the sixth fastest lap on race tyres, with a time of 1:38.9, an improvement of eight tenths on yesterday.

He was unable to improve on that time during his Superpole lap but still made the top ten, with Troy Bayliss claiming another pole position.

Team-mate Craig Jones recovered from a disrupted morning session to further improve his best lap to 1:40.4, before a high-side crash in the afternoon prevented further progress. He will start from 21st on the grid.

Steve said: “I was a little bit disappointed with my Superpole lap as I had it in me to do at 1:38 but I made a couple of small mistakes. But Bayliss also went quicker on race tyres than he did on a qualifier. And we have still ended up on the third row, which is pretty amazing really. I am in front of a lot of guys who were doing similar times on race tyres so I should be able to challenge for good points if I get off to a good start. We were two seconds off the pace at the test here and now it’s only a second so that shows how we are continuing to improve all the time.”

Craig said: “I had a problem with the alternator of my race bike this morning and had to switch to the spare bike. I know I could have gone quicker on my race bike but my aim was to be in the top 20 and I was nearly there. In the afternoon I started on a hard race tyre but, when I switched to a medium rear, I was a bit too keen on the gas going onto the back straight and high-sided. Fortunately I was okay and there was not too much damage to the bike. I went back out and did 10 laps on a soft tyre, which felt good, so I have got to stay positive for tomorrow because I am riding for my career and my future.”

Superpole results, Superbike World Championship round ten, EuroSpeedway Lausitz, Germany: 1 Bayliss 1:37.923; 2 Haga +0.156; 3 Toseland +0.331; 4 Pitt +0.368; 5 Lanzi +0.556; 6 Corser +0.584; 7 Barros +0.690; 8 Kagayama +0.811; 9 Muggeridge +0.826; 10 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) +1.142; 11 Nieto +1.260; 12 Laconi +1.285; 13 Neukirchner +1.399; 14 Walker +1.419; 15 Xaus +1.672;16 Fabrizio +2.537

Saturday qualifying (best time bracketed): 1 Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1:37.623; 2 Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:38.394; 3 Barros (Klaffi Honda) 1:38.566; 4 Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:39.197 (1:38.869); 5 Pitt (Yamaha Italia) 1:39.214 (1:38.871); 6 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:38.905; 7 Haga (Yamaha Italia) 1:38.924; 8 Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 1:39.005 (1:39.948); 9 Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 1:39.470 (1:39.048); 10 Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 1:39.220; 21 Jones (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:40.433

Saturday free practice: 1 Kagayama 1:38.035; 2 Bayliss 1:38.261; 3 Corser 1:38.281; 4 Muggeridge 1:38.529; 5 Haga 1:38.608; 6 Pitt 1:38.615; 7 Barros 1:38.700; 8 Toseland 1:38.944; 9 Lanzi 1:39.176; 10 Neukirchner 1:39.390; 11 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:39.480; 20 Jones (Foggy PETRONAS racing) 1:40.882

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