James Toseland scored his and his Winston Ten Kate Team's first Superpole win of the year after a blitzing 1.33.833 lap of the 4.060km Misano Adriatico circuit. After posting fastest time in qualifying, Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) looked on course to take his third Superpole win of the season, but in a tight Superpole competition, Bayliss rode to seventh overall, for a second row start. Toseland will be joined on the front row by Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) and the third Australian in a row, Steve Martin (Petronas FP-1). Martin's performances in qualifying have been superhuman this weekend, despite his machine's 100cc disadvantage to the opposition.
Walker Fifth Fastest For Kawasaki PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse rider Chris Walker went fifth fastest in Superpole, setting himself on a good spot for the two 25-lap Superbike races on Sunday. His placing ensured that there would be five different manufacturers represented in the top five places, and with Bayliss in seventh, six different machines in the top seven. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) scored sixth fastest time, after a display of wheel spinning and tyre smoking on the Misano tarmac, which reach over 50°C once again. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) completed the second row, just behind his team-mate Bayliss.
Laconi On The Third Row Of A Busy Misano Grid Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) scored a ninth fastest time just ahead of the equally aggressive Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), with this pairing rounding out the top ten. Only 0.8 seconds separated first and tenth in Superpole. The Hondas of Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda) and Michel Fabrizio (DFX Treme Honda) rounded out the third row of the grid. No fewer than 30 riders qualified for Sunday's races, but only 15 made Superpole, after Max Neukirchner (Pedercini Ducati) had to withdraw after a practice crash, which resulted in a small fracture of his right wrist.
Row Four Headed By Brave Nakatomi After only being cleared to ride after a medial inspection, and crashing early in final regulation qualifying, Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France Ipone) rode to an assured and brave 13th place after Superpole, despite picking up a hand injury to add to his healing right arm. A busy Superpole lap for Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki) posted him 14th, with the last Superpole qualifier proving to be Roberto Rolfo (Ducati SC Caracchi).
Big Names Toil Under Misano'S Punishing SunKarl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda), Fabien Foret (Alstare Engineering Suzuki), Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Berik Ducati) and Pierfrancesco Chili (DFX Treme Honda) were just some of the names that struggled at Misano, failing to qualify for Superpole. At the often tight and twisty Misano, overtaking will be have to be elevated to an art form for any of the non-Superpole qualifiers who harbour ambitions of a top five finish.
World Supersport ChampionshipBroc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) continued his good form from day one by securing pole position, having shaved 0.6 seconds from his opening day best. Despite the scorchingly hot 53 °C track temperatures, Parkes set a 1'36.876 on day two, only 0.03 seconds from the best ever Misano Supersport lap. The holder of that lap record, Simone Sanna (Megabike Honda) took second best time today, during his stand-in ride for the injured Katsuaki Fujiwara. He was followed in the final qualifying classification by Yamaha Team Italia rider, Massimo Roccoli, with Davide Checa making a strong fourth place for Spain, and a front row start on his Team GMT 94 Yamaha.
Gianluca Vizziello (Yamaha Team Italia) stuck to his task well enough to earn fifth, with the second Megabike Honda, of Yoann Tiberio, sixth. Championship contender Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) qualified only 14th, but Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda) recovered from a poor first day to post ninth best time.
Superstock 1000 FIM CupAlessandro Polita (Celani Suzuki Italia) had to give way to not one but two riders on the Misano grid, as Biassono Unionbike MV Agusta rider Ayrton Badovini took pole and Luca Scassa (EVR Ormeni Racing MV Agusta) took second best time. All three top riders were very closely grouped, all in the low 1'38 bracket. Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) was fourth.
Superstock 600 European ChampionshipA red-flagged race gave pole man Davide Guigliano (Lightspeed Kawasaki) the win in the 600cc class of Superstock, ahead of the hard charging Xavier Simeon (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) and the Ducati Xerox machine of Niccolo Canepa.
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