Checa looking to start up front but the Supersport squad struggling – Ten Kate | World SBK
- From: 'the Wire' | Published: July 25th, 2009 - 10:45 am
Carlos Checa earned himself a provisional front row start for Sunday’s 10th round World Superbike championship races at Brno by setting the third fastest time in this afternoon’s opening qualifying session.
2009 World Superbike championship, round ten – Brno, Czech Republic
Friday qualifying, results:
1- Max Biaggi (ITA) Aprilia 1’59.982s
2- Michel Fabrizio (ITA) Ducati 2’00.066s
3- Carlos Checa (ESP) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 2’00.205s
4- Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha 2’00.558s
5- Lorenzo Lanzi (ITA) Ducati 2’00.581s
6- Troy Corser (AUS) BMW 2’00.603s
13- Jonathan Rea (GBR) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 2’01.023s
The Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider lapped the 5.4km Czech circuit in a time of 2’00.205s, just two tenths off the time of provisional pole setter, Max Biaggi.
Checa’s team-mate, Jonathan Rea, was 13th fastest today as he rode his Honda CBR1000RR Superbike for the first time at the undulating Brno circuit – the scene of his maiden World Supersport championship win a year ago.
Carlos Checa – P3, 2’00.205s
Today we have been constantly on the pace near the front. We carried our setting from last week’s Imola test over here to Brno and started pretty much with that this morning. We changed a few things to fine tune the setting but, as a team, we have been quite clear about the direction we need to go in. As long as there is no rain tomorrow, I think we can keep moving forward. We need to work a little bit on finding some more front grip in the first sector but our minds are clear and we are in a good position.
Jonathan Rea – P13, 2’01.023s
The bike is actually working quite well at the moment and we’ve just changed a couple of things after last week’s test at Imola – I’m just not sure what I’m looking for from the bike. But I was in a similar position last year with the Supersport team and we managed to sort things overnight. We need to do that again here, so we’ll sit down later to look at what needs improving. I can’t see the front guys going that much quicker, so it’ll be down to me getting a bit closer to the limit, which we’re not near yet.
Ronald ten Kate – team manager
We seem to be quite close to the bull’s-e! ye with Carlos today. We are not that far off, even though, of course, there is still some work to do. We’re a little puzzled by Johnny’s struggles – he seems to be having problems getting into a good rhythm with the track Hopefully a good night’s sleep will sort it as it’s a little like the position he was in last year in Supersport. I think the Friday sessions then could best be described as a waste of fuel! But he made a big step forward on Saturday to win his first World Supersport race on the Sunday. Hopefully, this is just the way he does things at Brno.
Ryuichi Kiyonari set the 19th fastest time in this afternoon’s opening qualifying session for Sunday’s two 10th round World Superbike championship races at Brno in the Czech Republic.
The Japanese Ten Kate Honda Racing rider was sixth fastest after the morning’s opening free practice session at the 5.4km circuit outside the Czech Republic’s second city. However, a problem with his number one machine just before the afternoon qualifying session commenced left Kiyonari with only his number two Honda CBR1000RR on which to make progress.
Ryuichi Kiyonari – P19, 2’01.439s
We had a different setting on the spare machine and, although the feeling was nearly the same, it was different enough to make things a bit more difficult. The setting didn’t really work and we are still quite early in the relationship with Ohlins so it was difficult to know which way to go. But with the test at Imola last week, and today, we are learning more about the new parts each time we go out. I used a similar setting to Imola for this morning’s session and that went OK, so I’m confident that we will go forward again tomorrow and close that small gap to the front.
Ronald ten Kate – team manager
Kiyo-san had a good free practice session this morning, but a problem with his number one bike just before the afternoon session made things difficult. He jumped on his spare machine which was set up a little differently and it didn’t really work out. We’ll try some more tomorrow and I’m sure we can help Kiyo to improve his position.
Hannspree Ten Kate Honda’s Kenan Sofuoglu set the third fastest time in this afternoon’s opening free practice session for Sunday’s tenth round World Supersport race at Brno in the Czech Republic.
The Turkish rider was the fastest Honda rider today as Britain’s Cal Crutchlow set the fastest time around the undulating 5.4km circuit. Sofuoglu’s team-mate, Andrew Pitt, crashed early in the scheduled 45-minute session, sustaining a deep cut in his arm which affected the rest of his session, the Australian using his spare Honda CBR600RR to set the 17th fastest time.
Kenan Sofuoglu – P3, 2’03.997s
It’s much smoother here than at Imola last week, so that makes its own issues! But Brno is one of my favourite tracks so I was enjoying myself out there. We had a problem with the rear tyre near the end – it was causing quite bad chatter, but there are a lot of other things we can improve tomorrow as well. I’m sure we can be faster so we’ll check the data tonight and see where we can make some positive changes.
Andrew Pitt – P17, 2’05.634s
I was pushing right from the start and ended up in a big highside on the exit from turn one. I probably held on to the bike a bit too long and it’s left me with a big hole on the inside of my elbow – maybe from a footpeg or something. For the rest of the session I just tried to do some laps to get back into it, but the balance of the bike is still not quite there. It’s trying to push wide as I accelerate out of the turns. Hopefully the guys can come up with a solution tonight and we’ll give it another go tomorrow.
Ronald ten Kate – team manager
Obviously Andrew’s highside crash disrupted his whole session this afternoon, but hopefully he found a bit of a direction to follow in his set-up tomorrow. Kenan was making s! trong pr ogress throughout the session, but came across a problem with the new tyre which we put in the rear towards the end. It caused quite a bit of chatter so we’ll have to look at that. For sure there’ll be more to come tomorrow from both riders.
The Hannspree Ten Kate Honda World Supersport team suffered an uncharacteristically poor qualifying session this afternoon as Kenan Sofuoglu and Andrew Pitt prepare for tomorrow’s tenth-round race at Brno in the Czech Republic.
Despite topping the timing sheets after a two-day test at Imola last week, Sofuoglu could manage only a fourth row start in 14th place, as Britain’s Cal Crutchlow took pole position at the 5.4km circuit. Sofuoglu’s Australian team-mate and reigning world champion, Andrew Pitt, faired even worse, qualifying 24th.
Kenan Sofuoglu – P14, 2’04.463s
It’s really disappointing to be where we are after last week in Imola. I was actually slower today than yesterday and this morning! We made a very big change in gearing for this afternoon – probably the biggest single change that I can remember – but it wasn’t enough for today. The potential is there though, so I will stay with this tomorrow and look at all the data with the guys later to try and find some improvement in warm-up.
Andrew Pitt – P24, 2’05.667s
I don’t really know what to say, but it’s been a very difficult day. The big change we made this afternoon didn’t really work and we just didn’t have time to try little changes to find an improvement. I went out on the number two bike but it wasn’t running so well and was also backing into the turns. About the only positive thing I can say is that my practice starts are as good as they’ve ever been, which is a bonus because we’re going to need a big one tomorrow.
Ronald ten Kate – team manager
Yes, not good at all. It’s difficult to understand how we can take the bike from the Imola test, where Kenan was so fast, and then struggle so much here. It shouldn’t really happen, so I think we just need to go back to ! basics a nd hope we can find some good things in warm-up tomorrow.
