Team Suzuki Press Office – September 30. Team Alstare Suzuki rider Michel Fabrizio suffered front-end problems in free practice and qualifying at the Magny Cours World Superbike 12th round today, but is only eight-tenths-of-a second from Pole.
The team tried many different ideas in the two sessions, but could not find a solution to his handling and stopping problems. Alstare Suzuki will now analyse today’s data, hopefully find out what has been causing the problems; and then come up with a solution to try tomorrow morning.
Although Fabrizio finished 15th he isn’t far-adrift of leader Carlos Checa (Ducati) – as lap times are very close – and the Italian remains positive for improvements. Checa finished with a time of 1:38.652 with Eugene Laverty (Yamaha) second, local hero Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati) third and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) fourth.
Michel Fabrizio – 15th, 1:39.504:
“Today was a bit disappointing because I knew I could go faster, but was unable to do so. Throughout the day I had problems with the front end of my bike. I couldn’t get it to turn properly and I also had a problem getting it to stop. I had a small tumble in this morning’s session when the front tucked under, but I was uninjured and able to ride the bike back to the pits. We tried many different things today; like changing the ride height and putting different spring-settings in the front forks, but nothing really worked.
The team and I will have a look at all the data and see what to do next. Fortunately, the telemetry showed what I had been experiencing, so at least the team can see what’s going on. I feel pretty confident that we’ll find some solutions to try tomorrow morning and then do much better.”
Friday Qualifying: 1 Carlos Checa (ESP-Ducati) 1:38.652, 2 Eugene Laverty (GBR-Yamaha) 1:38.664, 3 Sylvain Guintoli (FRA-Ducati) 1:38.741, 4 Tom Sykes (GBR-Kawasaki) 1:38.860, 5 Jakub Smrz (CZE-Ducati) 1:38.942, 6 Jonathan Rea (GBR-Honda) 1:38.957. 15 Michel Fabrizio (ITA-Alstare Suzuki) 1:39.504.
