A strong performance today from both sides of the Yamaha World Supersport garage sees Broc Parkes starting on pole in tomorrow's race with team mate Anthony West right next him in second.
Parkes spent the morning's practice session working on finding the best set-up and made some good progress finishing in seventh overall. But it was his finishing position in qualifying this afternoon that really mattered and the young Australian didn't disappoint as he became the first Supersport rider of the weekend to achieve a sub 1'40 lap time. With the lead position changing constantly he continued to put in the laps and took the top spot. Today's pole position is the first of the season for Parkes and the fourth of his Supersport career to date.
Anthony West started the day in provisional pole position and put in the fastest lap four times during free practice, finishing at the top of the board. During this afternoon's qualifying session he was in the top four for the duration of the session but was unable to retain the top slot as the lap times tumbled into the 1'39s. He took second place, his highest qualifying position in World Supersport so far, at the end of the session though to sit alongside his team mate on the grid tomorrow.
Misano was the scene of Massimo Roccoli's first ever World Supersport win in 2006 and the young rider, who only lives twenty minutes from the circuit, is keen to prove himself at his home track. He had a better day than yesterday as he made progress with finding the right set-up for his Yamaha Team Italia bike, ending the day in tenth position.
Broc Parkes (1st - 1'39.156 - Yamaha World Supersport Team):"To get pole feels fantastic, it's been a while coming! We've worked a lot on the bike this weekend and even managed to save a good amount of tyres for qualifying. I promised that we would step up our game for today and we did just that.
I knew my flying lap was good when I was on the back straight even though I had traffic; I just had to keep it together. The bike feels good and we have chosen our tyre for the race tomorrow. I'd like to thank the team for their work to get both bikes on the front row, not just for getting me on pole."
Anthony West (2nd - 1'39.311 - Yamaha World Supersport Team):"I am disappointed to miss out on pole, especially as I was there yesterday. The session just didn't go as planned; we had some small problems during the session and a small brake issue I had this morning got a bit worse this afternoon. I know I can go well tomorrow as the fastest time I did today was on the tyre we've chosen for the race. I started a lot further back at Silverstone and went on to win so I am happy to be on the front row as it means I can fight right from the start and have good chance of a podium finish."
Massimo Roccoli (10th - 1'39.850 - Yamaha Team Italia):"It was too hot today and there was too much traffic during both sessions for me to get a good clear run on the circuit. I was getting very nervous that the session would end without me having had the chance to get a good lap in, but I was fortunate enough to get a few at the end. It was also tough with everyone trying to practice their starts at the end of the session. I know I need to get a good start tomorrow in order to be in front at the first corner but there were so many riders trying to practice because the circuit is new to everyone. I know I can do better than today's result shows and I hope to battle for the top five tomorrow. Everyone is very close."
Circuit Length: 4060m
Temp: 31c
Weather: Dry
Qualifying Results:1) Broc Parkes - AUS - 1'40.461 - 1'39.156
2) Anthony West - AUS - 1'40.396 - 1'39.311
3) Fabien Foret - FRA - 1'41.140 - 1'39.376
4) Kenan Sofuoglu - TUR - 1'40.975 - 1'39.411
5) Craig Jones GBR - 1'40.397 - 1'39.533
6) Simone Sanna - ITA - 1'41.607 - 1'39.613
7) Katsuaki Fujiwara - JPN - 1'40.905 - 1'39.694
8) Pere Riba - ESP - 1'40.673 - 1'39.715
9) Sebastien Charpentier - FRA - 1'40.548 - 1'39.753
10) Massimo Roccoli - ITA - 1'41.231 - 1'39.850
11) Robbin Harms - DNK - 1'41.263 - 1'39.868
12) Gianluca Vizziello - ITA - 1'41.263 - 1'39.890
13) Yoann Tiberio - FRA - 1'40.944 - 1'39.926
14) David Salom - ESP - 1'41.591 - 1'39.976
15) Stefano Cruciani - ITA - 1'41.299 - 1'40.061
20) Sebastien Gimbert - FRA - 1'42.536 - 1'40.567
22) David ChecaESP - 1'41.007 - 1'40.736
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