Fluids left on track from a crash in another earlier session delayed the opening untimed SBK session at Magny Cours and the lingering effects of a heavy fall of rain overnight made the track surface a different prospect from that experienced by some of the top riders in SBK a couple of weeks ago. Second qualifying was held in dry but overcast conditions, and with low 23°C track temperatures evident, it was a tricky session for most riders. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) was the fastest on show at Magny-Cours and, in an early indication of the main event to watch on raceday, the man who is fighting with him for overall second in the championship, James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) was next fastest, only some 0.260 seconds down. In a throwback to last year's race weekend, Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) was fully in the mix, third fastest. The last place on the provisional first row was taken by the ever-impressive and improving Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia), only 0.398 seconds from Haga.
Corser Fastest In The Morning And Bayliss One Of The Fallers Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) was fastest in the morning session, and subsequently fifth in the afternoon, but still very much in contention. No fewer than 11 riders were within a second of Haga, and sixth fastest was Corser's team-mate Yukio Kagayama. Top Kawasaki rider was once more Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse), seventh quickest, despite suffering a big crash in the morning session and still feeling the lingering effects of his shoulder tweak at Imola last weekend. Newly-crowned 2006 champion Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) fell without injury and went eighth fastest on day one. Weather conditions are set to improve for tomorrow, and times from all the top riders are expected to drop as the temperatures hopefully go up.
Muggeridge Well-placed Despite Early Misfortunes Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) was still ninth fastest on day one, despite a problem with the gearbox on his number one machine. Riding with an experimental set-up the popular Aussie still managed to set good times on worn tyres. Imola race one winner Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda) was tenth on day one, with Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) 11th and talented youngster Michel Fabrizio (DFX Treme Honda) 12th. On home tarmac Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France Ipone) was an impressive 13th, his team-mate Shinichi Nakatomi an even more laudable 14th. Alstare Suzuki's private rider Max Neukirchner went 15th fastest, with Regis Laconi 16th and Pierfrancesco Chili (DFX Treme Honda) 17th from 27 qualifying riders.
Supersport World Championship Once more the 1-2 of Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) and Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda) headed a time sheet in World Supersport. Charpentier was almost a second faster than the championship leader Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) who only set six laps after a crash. Curtain's machine was comprehensively destroyed in the crash, but according to his team he has suffered no injury. A mid-season injury has marred the overall championship campaign of Katsuaki Fujiwara (Megabike Honda) but he has lost none of his previous speed, and went fourth on day one at Magny-Cours. Gianluca Nannelli's love affair with his SC Caracchi 749R continued, as he scored fifth best time, ahead of the still-sore Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) and David Checa (Yamaha GMT 94).
Superstock 1000 FIM CupClaudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) topped the early time sheets at Magny-Cours, with a regiment of MV Agusta riders ranged out behind. Luca Scassa (EVR Corse Ormeni Racing) was second fastest, Ayrton Badovini (Biassono Unionbike MV Agusta) third fastest, with Ilario Dionisi (Biassono Unionbike MV Agusta) fourth. Riccardo Chiarello (Berry Racing Team Kawasaki) added to the cosmopolitan nature of the grid by going fifth.
Superstock 600 European Championship Xavier Simeon (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) celebrated his championship win with provisional pole at Magny-Cours, ahead of Alessandro Antonelli (Junior Team Italia Honda), Davide Giugliano (Lightspeed Kawasaki) and Domenico Colucci (Ducati Xerox Junior Team). A running flush of different manufacturers in the top five was completed by a Yamaha, thanks to the efforts of local rider Sylvian Barrier (Moto1 Yamaha).
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