The Nürburgring (Germany), Friday 3rd September: after the month long summer break the World Superbike riders returned to the track today and, at the end of first qualifying, the Ducati Xerox team and its riders Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga can be satisfied with the results, Michel having concluded in third position and Noriyuki in fifth.
In the first free practice session, the two factory riders made a strong start, particularly Fabrizio who, having identified the best rear tyre, was able to lap consistently fast, recording interesting lap times. The Italian riders closed the session in second position, a fraction of a second behind Max Biaggi. Noriyuki also made constant progress throughout the free practice session, to close in fourth, two tenth of a second behind team-mate Michel.
Later in the day, Noriyuki made an even more determined start to first qualifying, recording a 1m56 flat almost immediately. Despite fast lap times, he was unable to improve on that time but nonetheless closed in fifth position, satisfied with his pace. Michel was victim of a crash mid-way through the 60-minute session but was fortunately unhurt and able to return to the track minutes later. In the final phase Fabrizio finally ducked under the 1m56 barrier with a time that projected him to third in the standings, a position he held until the close of the session.
Michel Fabrizio 1m55.7s
“I’d say we made a good start today. I immediately had a good feeling with the tyre and we were able to do almost race distance during free practice which boosted my confidence. It’s a pity I crashed; we’d made some changes to the rear of my bike which improved feeling and meant that I was pushing, perhaps a little too hard as I lost the front. Anyway we have good race pace, the tyres are working well and I’m pretty happy.”
Noriyuki Haga 1m56.0s
“The Nürburgring is a track that I really like and I hope to do well here on Sunday. We haven’t had any particular problems today but there are certain corners where the level of feeling is lacking compared to last year so we will make some more modifications tomorrow, to the front fork especially, to see if we can improve. I’ve tried the new rear tyre and I like it but I’m still not sure as to the front tyre; we need to carry out a long-run tomorrow and then we’ll see…”
TIMES: 1. Checa (Ducati) 1m55.2s; 2. Corser (BMW) 1m55.4s; 3. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1m55.7s; 4. Byrne (Ducati) 1m55.9s; 5. Haga (Ducati Xerox) 1m56.0s; 6. Biaggi (Aprilia) 1m56.0s; 7. Crutchlow (Yamaha) 1m56.1s; 8. Rea (Honda) 1m56.2s
