Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Troy Corser left it until the last five minutes of today's World Superbike Championship qualifying at Brands Hatch before posting the fastest lap of the day - more than a half a second quicker than nearest rival Regis Laconi.The morning un-timed session saw rain and a damp track for most of the 60 minutes, but in the afternoon, the track dried out and the lap times started to tumble. The last 10 minutes were frantic, but in the end, Corser mastered the occasion again and took provisional pole position.
Laconi was second quickest with Chris Walker (Kawasaki) third and Karl Muggeridge (Honda) fourth.
Corser's Alstare Suzuki team mate Yukio Kagayama ended the day fifth fastest and with a bruise on his backside after he lost control in the last turn and fell heavily. Fortunately he escaped without serious injury, but he will be very sore in the morning.
Troy Corser - 1st, 1:27.123:
"I'm pretty happy today because we're nearly there with our set-up and we more-or-less know what tyres we'll use in the race if the conditions are similar to this afternoon. We ran over 20 laps on the tyres this afternoon and in the end my lap time was only 0.3 slower than at the start. Brands is similar in some ways to Brno because of the changes of elevation, but it's a track where you don't want to be racing a load of other riders. If you can get out at the front early on, the rest of the pack will slow each other up. So a good start will be important and that's what I'll be aiming for."
Yukio Kagayama - 5th, 1:27.767:
"My crash was very scary and now I have a lot of pain in my backside! Maybe I got on the gas a bit early in the last turn because everything happened very quickly. Up until that moment I had been quite happy today - especially in the afternoon. The morning was a bit wet, but the dry track in the afternoon timed qualifying meant that we could make progress. After two races at circuits I've never seen before, it is good to be at Brands - a circuit I know well. My target tomorrow is a front-row grid place and then, on Sunday, a podium or two."
Friday Qualifying: 1 Troy Corser (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:27.123, 2 Laconi (F-Ducati) 1:27.652, 3 Walker (GB-Kawasaki) 1:27.656, 4 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda) 1:27.742, 5 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:27.767, 6 Pitt (Aus-Yamaha) 1:278.023, 7 Vermeulen (Aus-Honda) 1:28.056, 8 Toseland (GB-Ducati) 1:28.072, 9 Chili (I-Honda) 1:28.205, 10 Neukirchner (D-Honda) 1:28.271,
WORLD SUPERSPORT QUALIFYING:
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Javi Fores made his Brands Hatch debut today and finished with a very creditable 12th fastest time.
Conditions were mostly wet during both 45-minute sessions, though the track did dry out towards the end of timed qualifying in the afternoon and then the lap times fell dramatically.
Runaway series leader Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) was again was the front runner with Gianluca Nannelli (Ducati) second, Stephane Chambon (Honda) third and Katsuaki Fujiwara (Honda) fourth.
Javi Fores - 12th, 1:31.284:
"This is my first time at Brands Hatch and it is a very difficult circuit! There are many blind corners and changes of camber, so it is a very hard circuit to learn quickly. I think you need to put in many, many laps round here if you are to go fast - and I'm not there yet. Also, conditions were not so good so that made it a bit more difficult. I hope that tomorrow will be completely dry all day so that I have good conditions to learn the track and go quickly. "
Friday Qualifying: 1 Charpentier (F-Honda) 1:29.174, 2 Nannelli (I-Ducati) 1:30.034, 3 Chambon (F-Honda) 1:30.387, 4 F ujiwara (J-Honda) 1:30.410, 5 Curtain (Aus-Yamaha) 1:30.424, 6 Fabrizio (I-Honda) 1:30.472, 7 Crutchlow (GB-Honda) 1:30.536, 8 Corradi (I-Ducati) 1:30.627, 9 Parkes (Aus-Honda) 1:30.838, 10 Lagrive (B-Suzuki) 1:31.080, 12 Javi Fores (E-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:31.284.
Source: Team Suzuki Press Office