Following the second day of World Superbike qualifying at Monza today, HANNspree Ten Kate Honda's James Tosleand will start tomorrow's 18-lap race from the second row of the grid. Team-mate Roberto Rolfo qualified in tenth position for a third row start. Toseland has been consistently fast during the free practice and qualifying sessions at the 5.793km circuit and he entered this afternoon's Superpole session as the second quickest rider. However, a small mistake on the infamous first chicane meant that he missed out on a place on the front row by four tenths of a second. His Superpole lap time was 1'45.824.
Team-mate Rolfo has put in an impressive performance over the past two days and was hoping for a place in the second row today. He qualified for Superpole as the fifth fastest rider but lost time during his one-lap dash after falling victim to the same chicane as Toseland. The Italian rider set a time of 1'46.758 for tenth place on the grid.
Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager:"Of course it is disappointing to see James move to the second row of the grid after he has led for virtually all the sessions this weekend. Basically it all went wrong at the first chicane, so that's that. The good news is that we seem to be consistently fast so we are ready for a good race tomorrow and I am quite sure that James is motivated enough to give it a good go from the second row. It was almost the same situation for Roby, who lost most of his time in the first sector. He has moved down the grid as well, but he is confident about tomorrow. We are ready to race"
James Toseland:
"I'm really cross with myself because I made a mistake. I braked too late into the first chicane, missed the apex of the corner and that was the lap finished. There not much more I can say other than I'm looking forward to tomorrow, we've got a good race set up and it's not the end of the world starting from the second row of the grid here. I am ready for tomorrow."
Roberto Rolfo:"I was feeling good this morning but this afternoon I am not so happy. The feeling on the bike this morning was really good and I improved my lap time on my own. I've never ridden a .46 lap here without a reference in front of me so I'm pleased with that. In the Superpole lap I think I was too hard on the brakes and I was wasn't good with the gas on the exit to the first corner - this was the main problem. My target was to be in the second row, but I missed this by tenths of a second. Anyway, I will try my best tomorrow to pass the other riders and get up to the front."
Superpole:1. N. Haga 1'44.941
2. T. Bayliss 1'45.345
3. M. Biaggi 1'45.415
4. T. Corser 1'45.430
5. J. Toseland 1'45.824
6. K. Muggeridge 1'46.232
7. R. Laconi 1'46.437
8. Y. Kagayama 1'46.696
9. M. Fabrizio 1'46.753
10. R. Rolfo 1'46.758
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