Qatar World Superbikes: Yamaha's Troy Corser claims first pole of the season

Mr Superpole, Troy Corser claimed his 41st pole position in Qatar with a scintillating lap 0.6 seconds faster than his closest rival.

In windy conditions Troy Corser was once again the man to beat having clearly got his Yamaha Italia R1 working well having lowered the bike to prevent the wind from getting underneath it and picking it up on the exit of the turns.

Corser was set a tough task to beat a resurgent Ruben Xaus who laid down a serious impressive Superpole time onboard his Sterilgarda Ducati.

Xaus has been fast throughout practice and qualifying and looks well placed for tomorrow’s race having spent a lot of time working on his race set-up, using worn tyres and lapping with a full tank of fuel.

Ruben Xaus’ team-mate Max Biaggi backed up the competitiveness of the Sterilgarda squad and the new 1200cc Ducati to make it two privateer Ducati’s ahead of the factory Xerox bikes of Troy Bayliss and Michel Fabrizio.

Max Neukirchner showed that his pace all weekend is no fluke with an impressive second qualifying and Superpole performance landed him the final place on the front row of the grid.

Italian Lorenzo Lanzi made it three Ducati’s in the top five with Noriyuki Haga sixth and Troy Bayliss seventh.

Both Haga and Bayliss experienced severe chatter on their qualifying tyre which prevented them from showing their full potential.

Yukio Kagayama will round out the second row onboard his Alstare Suzuki.

 

Qatar World Superbikes Superpole results:

1 Troy CORSER AUS Yamaha Motor Italia WSB 1’58.053
2 Ruben XAUS ESP Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati 1’58.689
3 Max BIAGGI ITA Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati 1’58.767
4 Max NEUKIRCHNER GER Team Alstare Suzuki 1’58.964
5 Lorenzo LANZI ITA R.G. Team Ducati 1’58.975
6 Noriyuki HAGA JPN Yamaha Motor Italia WSB 1’59.017
7 Troy BAYLISS AUS Ducati Xerox Team 1’59.224
8 Yukio KAGAYAMA JPN Team Suzuki Alstare  1’59.285
9 Carlos CHECA ESP Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 1’59.417
10 Michel FABRIZIO ITA Ducati Xerox Team 1’59.450
11 Fonsi NIETO ESP Team Suzuki Alstare 1’59.921
12 Jakub SMRZ CZE Guandalini Racing by Grifo’s Ducati 1’59.984
13 Gregorio LAVILLA ESP Ventaxia VK Honda 2’00.095
14 Kenan SOFUOGLU TUR Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Jr. 2’00.313
15 Roberto ROLFO ITA Hannspree Honda Althea 2’01.208
16 Ayrton BADOVINI ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki 2’01.238
17 Sebastien GIMBERT FRA Yamaha France Ipone GMT 94 2’00.554
18 Karl MUGGERIDGE AUS D.F. Racing Honda 2’00.607
19 David CHECA ESP Yamaha France Ipone GMT 94 2’00.643
20 Ryuichi KIYONARI JPN Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 2’00.698
21 Vittorio IANNUZZO ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki 2’00.854
22 Rrssel HOLLAND AUS D.F. Racing Honda 2’00.971
23  Makoto TAMADA JPN Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse 2’01.303
24 Luca MORELLI ITA Alto Evolution Honda Superbike 2’01.396
25 Regis LACONI FRA Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse 2’01.429
26 Shinichi NAKATOMI JPN YZF Yamaha 2’01.675
27 Shuhei AOYAMA JPN Alto Evolution Honda Superbike 2’02.059
28 Loic NAPOLEONE FRA Grillini PBR Team Yamaha 2’05.516