ALSTARE BRUX MEN ON MISANO 3RD ROW

2009-06-20 10:42
Team Suzuki Alstare Brux riders Yukio Kagayama and Fonsi Nieto endured a day of changing conditions and have qualified on the third row of the grid for tomorrow's pair of 24-lap World Superbike races at Misano.

Final qualifying was blighted by rain showers, but the afternoon untimed session and Superpole took place in the dry. Nieto continued his understanding of the GSX-R1000 K9 by finishing 11th fastest in Superpole, with Kagayama 13th despite his injured foot.

Jakub Smrz (Ducati) took Superpole with a time of 1:35.435 with Jonathan Rea (Honda) second, Ben Spies (Yamaha) third and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) fourth.

Fonsi Nieto - 11th, 1:36.510:

"After a long time off the bike, I am getting more and more comfortable every time I go out and feel that I am also improving my understanding of it. I am happy to be 11th, but not happy because I lost two or three-tenths-of-a-second in the last split and maybe I could've qualified on the second row. I am also happy to be 11th at this stage because the championship is much more competitive than last year. All in all, I don't think I'm doing so badly. The bike has good balance and I am hoping for dry conditions tomorrow as this place is very slippery in the wet."

Yukio Kagayama- 13th, 1:36.916:

"Today the conditions were very mixed and we had to adjust the bike a lot to overcome over-steering on the wet track this morning. I was losing the rear a lot and it was not easy to ride the bike. My first qualifying tyre worked OK for two laps, but my second one was finished after one lap and I don't know why. I am not happy with my grid place, but I want to thank my team for giving me a good, new chassis setting and I am sure that my feeling with the bike will improve next time out."

WSB Qualifying Results:1 Smrz (CZE-Ducati) 1:35.435, 2 Rea (GBR-Honda) 1:35.609, 3 Spies (USA-Yamaha) 1:35.631, 4 Fabrizio (ITA-Ducati) 1:35.811, 5 Byrne (GBR-Ducati) 1:36.224, 6 Haga (JPN-Ducati) 1:36.277. 11 Fonsi Nieto (Alstare Brux Suzuki) 1:36.510. 13 Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Brux Suzuki) 1:36.916.


SUPERSTOCK 1000:

Team Suzuki Alstare Brux rider Claudio Corti suffered problems with front-end chatter today and finished with the seventh fastest time in qualifying. But he and the team will make some adjustments to the bike in the morning warm-up and hopefully Corti will be able to challenge for the podium in the 14-lap race.

Xavi Simeon (Ducati) took pole position with Maxime Berger (Honda) second, Domenico Colucci (Ducati) third and Santiago Barragan (Honda) fourth.

Claudio Corti - 7th, 1:40.195:

"I had some problems today with front end chattering in the first split and if we can improve that I am sure I can have a good race. We will make some changes to the bike's suspension, front fork height and rear spring in the morning warm-up and hopefully I can go faster. Like most riders, I am hoping that it will be dry tomorrow because this track can be treacherous in the wet. It is not my favourite circuit, but if we can get the bike working well, there is no reason why I cannot get a good result."

Superstock 1000 Results: 1 Simeon (B-Ducati) 1:39.329, 2 Berger (F-Honda) 1:39.498, 3 Colucci (I-Ducati) 1:39.814, 4 Barragan (E-Honda) 1:39.958, 5 Magnoni (I-Yamaha) 1:40.111, 6 Barrier (F-Yamaha) 1:40.184, 7 Claudio Corti (I-Suzuki Alstare Brux) 1:40.195.

Source: Team Suzuki Press Office

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