Having qualified seventh after the pre-Superpole sessions, Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse Ninja ZX-10R) expected to make a similar showing in Superpole at Silverstone. Nieto was ultimately disappointed to finish 11th quickest in what was a blistering Superpole contest, after finding that he had made a less than perfect tyre choice almost as soon as his out lap had started. Nieto now knows that he needs to make two good starts in Sunday’s 28-lap races to get into contention for a top finish, but is prepared to meet the challenge of Silverstone head on, after finding good settings in race trim.
Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse Ninja ZX-10R) also lost some time in Superpole and thus the Frenchman slipped to the fourth row. He has been experiencing set-up issues with chatter throughout practice and the use of a qualifying tyre increased the degree of the problem.
New third rider in the team Vittorio Iannuzzo (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse Ninja ZX-10R) just missed out on Superpole qualifying by an impossibly small margin and starts Sunday’s 28-lap races from the fifth row.
Generally dry Superbike qualifying sessions were held at record pace from the start, with both regular PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse riders improving greatly on their best dry times from 2006, despite their drop in pace in Superpole.
Fonsi Nieto: “We didn’t make the decision of which tyre to use in Superpole until the last minute because we were not sure if it was better to use a race tyre or a qualifier. We chose a qualifier but as soon as I got onto the track I knew I had probably made the wrong choice. I’m sure I could have done better on the other tyre. But I am satisfied with the work we did today and I have a good race pace. I hope it doesn’t rain on raceday because I can’t fully express my riding ability properly in the wet.”
Regis Laconi:
“I just want to forget Superpole. We have had problems in the regular sessions and with a qualifying tyre it just made things worse. It was hard to ride the bike but maybe tomorrow it will rain and that will change my situation quite a lot.”
Vittorio Iannuzzo: “From one side I am happy because I improved a lot and my fast lap wasn’t bad. From the other side I am upset because I missed Superpole by 18 thousandths of a second, just 30 seconds from the end of qualifying! It would have been great to get into Superpole but now I will concentrate on trying to bring home some points.”
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