Broc Parkes claimed fourth today in the final day of qualifying at Brands Hatch, with Tommy Hill on the second row in sixth. Parkes spent the morning practice session making up for lost time yesterday by focusing on trying different set-up options rather than worrying about lap times. This tactic paid off in qualifying when he went third fastest at the start of the 45-minute session. He was on track to maintain the third position when Fujiwara slid inside his time by 0.2 seconds in the last minute, moving Broc to fourth.
Tommy Hill started the day in 11th position after yesterday's two crashes and lost time, but he quickly put this behind him and worked on finding the right set-up. With three minutes to go in this morning's practice, Hill went fifth fastest just behind Yamaha Team Italia rider Massimo Roccoli. In this afternoon's qualifying Hill was looking just as confident and comfortable on the YZF-R6, putting in a series of flying laps to take sixth grid position. It was on one of these flying laps that he got tangled up in some traffic and crashed. His sixth position remained safe, though.
Massimo Roccoli had better set-up fortune today from yesterday. He was constantly in the top four for the duration of this morning's practice as he worked out the best settings and he finished seventh in qualifying, only 0.05 seconds behind Tommy Hill.
Parkes is joined on the grid tomorrow by Charpentier, Sofuoglu and Fujiwara.
Broc Parkes (4th - 1'28.715 - Yamaha World Supersport Team)"I'm glad I'm on the front row, although I'm annoyed to have been beaten to third. But I'm confident of a good start so one position difference isn't the end of the world. Today we changed a few settings and the bike's feeling much better. It's almost there but not quite; we've still got a bit of work to do before it feels as good as it did at Brno. We need to make up for the lost time from yesterday. At least the weather seems to be on our side this time around in the UK!"
Tommy Hill (6th - 1'29.067 - Yamaha World Supersport Team)
"I tangled with a slower rider at Surtees bend and came off worst, although luckily I'm not hurt. Despite that, I feel we made good progress today and I was feeling a lot more comfortable and confident than yesterday. It's been quite a change riding at world level and on a 600 again and it's just taken a bit of time to adapt my Superbike riding style. I didn't get a chance today to ride with some of the top guys so they are still an unknown quantity to me but I'll hopefully get some time on track with them tomorrow morning. I've got high hopes for a podium tomorrow but I'd settle for top six if need be."
Massimo Roccoli (7th - 1'29.080 - Yamaha Team Italia)"Before today's practice I knew I needed to do a 1'29 lap to stay in the first two rows. I was going well when, on my best lap, I came across a rider in the middle of the track and lost some time. I'm very optimistic though as my pace is very good. I'm confident that I'll be able to achieve a 1'29.00 lap tomorrow."
Circuit Length: 4197
Temp: 25
Weather: Sunny
Qualifying 2 - 2007 WSS Brands Hatch 04/08/2007:
Pos. - Rider - Nat. - QUAL I - QUAL II1. Sebastien Charpentier - FRA - 1'28.381 - 1'28.735
2. Kenan Sofuoglu - TUR - 1'28.793 - 1'28.485
3. Katsuaki Fujiwara - JPN - 1'29.019 - 1'28.625
4. Broc Parkes - AUS - 1'28.970 - 1'28.715
5. Robbin Harms - DNK - 1'29.228 - 1'29.028
6. Tommy Hill - GBR - 1'29.682 - 1'29.067
7. Massimo Roccoli - ITA - 1'29.651 - 1'29.080
8. Craig Jones - GBR - 1'29.174 - 1'29.085
9. Barry Veneman - NED - 1'29.523 - 1'29.094
10. Lorenzo Alfonsi - ITA - 1'29.863 - 1'29.107
11. Pere Riba - ESP - 1'29.787 - 1'29.124
12. Fabien Foret - FRA - 1'29.369 - 1'29.170
13. Gianluca Vizziello - ITA - 1'29.864 - 1'29.356
14. Gregory Leblanc - FRA - 1'30.398 - 1'29.513
15. Joshua Brookes - AUS - 1'29.547 - n/a
17. Sebastien Gimbert - FRA - 1'30.084 - 1'29.784
20. David Checa - ESP - 1'30.238 - 1'29.827
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