Team Alstare Suzuki rider Michel Fabrizio spent the first day of practice and qualifying at Aragon in Spain for this weekend’s seventh round of the World Superbike Championship looking for a good set-up for his bike, whilst trying to ignore the pain in his right arm and wrist.
Although no fractures were revealed after his crash last weekend, Fabrizio is struggling to open the throttle and that is affecting his lap times. He will have massages and ice treatments today and tomorrow and hopefully he will be able to use his wrist better and control the throttle as normal on his GSX-R1000 Suzuki.
In scorching temperatures this afternoon, it was Marco Melandri (Yamaha) who topped the leaderboard with a time of 1:59.726. Melandri was the only rider to dip under the two-minute mark, but close behind was series leader Carlos Checa (Ducati), Noriyuki Haga (Aprilia) and Leon Camier (Aprilia).
The top 11 riders were separated by just one second, so once again tomorrow’s qualifying and Superpole will be of utmost importance in securing a good grid position.
Michel Fabrizio – 7th, 2:00.324:
“For the first day, I suppose seventh quickest is not too bad – especially when you consider that I cannot get on the gas as I want to. At the moment there is not enough strength in my right arm and wrist and I just cannot get the throttle wide open when I want to. I don’t mind the pain, but it’s a bit frustrating because I know I can be faster.
“The track conditions are very different to when we tested here in the winter. The grip level was much better then because the track temperature was not as high and I was lapping a second-or-so quicker than today. Because the grip level is not as good today, getting a good bike set-up is taking some time. We spent most of today trying to get a good set-up and one that will help manage the tyres. Until I find a good set-up, there is no point pushing too hard. The last thing I want is to have a crash on day one, so I have ridden a bit cautiously, but I will be pushing much harder tomorrow and then on race day, of course.”
Friday WSB Qualifying: 1 Marco Melandri (ITA-Yamaha) 1:59.726, 2 Carlos Checa (ESP-Ducati) 2:00.073, 3 Noriyuki Haga (JPN-Aprilia) 2:00.214, 4 Leon Camier (GBR-Aprilia) 2:00.253, 5 Tom Sykes (GBR-Kawasaki) 2:00.267, 6 Max Biaggi (ITA-Aprilia) 2:00.309, 7 Michel Fabrizio (ITA-Alstare Suzuki) 2:00.324.
