2007 World Superbike - Qatar
Text and Photos Courtesy Kawasaki
Racing, Suzuki
Racing, Yamaha Racing and World Superbike.
Edited by webBikeWorld.
Race Results
Max Biaggi is tied for first place
in the 2007 World Superbike Championship
after the Team Alstare Suzuki Corona
Extra rider raced to a victory and
second place in today's opening round in
Losail, Qatar.
The Italian won the opening 18 lap
race from James Toseland (Honda) then
finished second to the Briton in race
two, which puts them equal on 45 points.
In a tremendous battle with Toseland
in the opening race, Biaggi took the
lead with five laps to go and controlled
the race from the front. He ran
out the winner by nearly one and a half
seconds from Toseland and Lorenzo Lanzi
(Ducati). By the time he returned
to the parc fermé, his emotions had got
the better of him, but by the time he
sprang up onto the podium, he had a huge
smile on his face.
His team mate Yukio Kagayama had
front tire problems in the race, but
managed to finish fourth.
Race two was another terrific battle
between Biaggi and Toseland, but this
time Toseland emerged the victor with
Troy Corser (Yamaha) third and Kagayama
6th.
Max Biaggi - Race 1: 1st, Race 2:
2nd: "What a fantastic start
to my new Superbike experience. To
begin with, a win is wonderful and I
dedicate it to our Team Boss Francis
Batta who couldn't be here with us
today. I'm sure he watched it on
TV and it must have made him wish he was
here. This championship is tough
and for sure there are a lot of good
riders, so I don't think it's always
going to be like this. I want to
thank my team for all their hard work
and support over the past few months,
which has made all this possible.
"This racing is fun! I wished I
had discovered this championship years
ago. In the second race, I was
catching James Toseland and I think I
could've caught him if there had been
three or four more laps. We made a
small adjustment to the bike for the
second race and maybe it wasn't the
right thing, but we still nearly managed
to win it! Now we are off to one
of my favorite tracks, Phillip Island.
I'm looking forward to it and having
more fun."
Qatar
World Superbike Results:
Race 1: 1 Max Biaggi (I-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra), 2 Toseland
(GB-Honda), 3 Lanzi (I-Ducati), 4 Yukio
Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona
Extra), 5 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati), 6
Neukirchner (D-Suzuki), 7 Rolfo
(I-Honda), 8 Haga (J-Yamaha), 9 Corser
(Aus-Yamaha), 10 Xaus (E-Ducati).
Race 2: 1 Toseland, 2 Max
Biaggi (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra),
3 Corser, 4 Haga, 5 Nieto (E-Kawasaki),
6 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki
Corona Extra), 7 Lanzi, 8 Bayliss, 9
Xaus, 10 Neukirchner.
Championship Points: 1
Toseland, Max Biaggi (I-Alstare Suzuki
Corona Extra) 45, 3 Lanzi 25, 4 Corser
23, 5 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki
Corona Extra) 23, 6 Haga 21, 7 Bayliss
19, 8 Neukirchner 16, 9 Xaus 13, 10
Nieto 11.
Qualifying
Troy Corser lived up to his
reputation as the king of superpole in
Qatar today, setting a blistering lap
time to grab pole position for his first
races with the Yamaha Motor Italy WSB
Team.
The new-for-2007 YZF-R1 has made an
immediate impact in its first world
championship outing with Noriyuki Haga
setting the pace yesterday and Corser
taking pole today. Haga continued
his great form in superpole and will
join his team-mate on the front row for
tomorrow's races.
Corser, who will sit on pole for the
39th time tomorrow, didn't have the
ideal preparation for his superpole lap
after crashing at the end of the
preceding free practice session.
The Australian rider had gone out to
test the soft qualifying tire used for
superpole but slid off as he entered the
second turn.
His job looked doubly difficult when
Superbike newcomer Max Biaggi (Suzuki)
became the first man to record a sub
1:59 lap time in superpole. Corser,
who elected to run a tried and tested
race tire rather than the super-sticky
qualifier, simply put the crash behind
him and stormed to a 1:58.402 lap -
one-third of a second quicker than the
Italian and the fastest ever Superbike
time around the Losail circuit.
Team-mate Haga was delighted to
secure an all-important front row start
for tomorrow's 18-lap races. The
Japanese star also opted not to use the
softer qualifying tire, preferring to
use the softest race option instead.
Haga's lap was, by his own admission,
less than perfect but the combination of
the R1's power and Haga's own skill and
determination helped him stop the clock
in 1:59.294, good enough for fourth
place on tomorrow's grid.
Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italy
WSB Team): "I'm delighted to
get the pole, although I think that
Yamaha and the team are even more
excited! You always just go out to
have a clean lap and not make any
mistakes. The front row is what
you want but pole is always a nice
bonus.
"I had a little crash just before the
superpole. I went out on the
qualifier and I don't really know what
happened. I guess that I was
probably taking it too easy because the
back end just slid away as I turned in
for the second corner. It was
unfortunate. I got caught out
yesterday as well, when went down on
some oil, but I'm thankful that I slid
down the way I did, because it could
have been a nasty highside."
"It's a new bike and Nori and I are
working really well together in the box.
We're both doing our own things but
we're also sharing a lot of information,
especially on the suspension settings
and tire selections, to get the best out
of the bike. I've got a really
good feeling with the team and even
though we've only been working together
a short time we're working together well
and it can only get better. The
track is getting better the more we ride
on it and I thought the tires worked
pretty well today. I did a lot of
laps with James (Toseland) in practice
and our lap times were pretty good.
If we can make a good tire choice then I
think we should be up the front
tomorrow."
Suzuki
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra
rider Max Biaggi stunned everybody by
storming to second place in Superpole
for tomorrow's opening World Superbike
Championship round in Qatar - despite
never ever having done a Superpole lap
before.
He was fifth overall in regular
qualifying, but a super-smooth lap of
1:58.724 saw him finish just behind Troy
Corser (Yamaha). Third quickest
was James Toseland (Honda) with Noriyuki
Haga (Yamaha) fourth.
Biaggi's team mate Yukio Kagayama
made a few mistakes on his Superpole lap
but claimed seventh and will start
tomorrow's pair of 18-lap races from the
second row of the grid.
Max Biaggi - 2nd, 1:58.724:
"Superpole was another new experience
for me and I can tell you that I was a
bit nervous before I started it. I
didn't want to make any mistakes or
crash, so I tried to ride as smoothly as
I could and get round in the best time.
I am very happy because my Superpole lap
was the fastest lap I've done this
weekend and it means that I am
well-placed on the front row of the
grid. The bike is working well and
I am enjoying all these new experiences,
but what matters now is what happens in
the races tomorrow. I think we can
make a good result and for that I have
to thank my Alstare team for all the
work they've done. I am just sorry
that Francis Batta is not here to see us
and I hope he watches it on TV and we
can give him a good result."
Final Qualifying: 1 Corser
(Aus-Yamaha) 1:58.402, 2, Max Biaggi (I-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:58.724, 3
Toseland (GB-Honda) 1:59.005, 4 Haga
(J-Yamaha) 1:59.294, 5 Lanzi (I-Ducati)
1:59.537, 6 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati)
1:59.668, 7 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:59.964, 8
Neukirchner (D-Suzuki) 2:00.098, 9 Nieto
(E-Kawasaki) 2:00.240, 10 Rolfo
(I-Honda) 2:00.414.
Race Preview
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra
rider Max Biaggi continued his superb
progress with the new GSX-R1000 K7 in
qualifying for the opening World
Superbike Championship round in Qatar
with the third fastest time today, as
team mate Yukio Kagayama finished
seventh.
Both riders were satisfied with the
continuing-development of the new bike
and both are working on improving the
bike's acceleration in preparation for
Saturday's two races.
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) posted the
day's fastest time with a lap of
1:59.019 - almost a second under the
official lap record. Second
fastest is James Toseland (Honda) with
Biaggi third and former Alstare Suzuki
Corona Extra rider Troy Corser (Yamaha)
fourth.
Max Biaggi - 3rd, 1:59.369: "I
don't feel that there's been a big
change to the track since we tested here
recently, but for sure the hotter
conditions this afternoon had an effect
on the grip level. It's normal
that when the track gets hot, the
performance or grip goes down.
That's when you have to understand your
tires and try and conserve them towards
the end of a race."
"The rear is not a problem for me but
the front tire is worked much harder and
that's why you have to work to get the
best chassis set-up and balance to be
able to run hard at the end of a race.
At the moment, the area where we are
working the most is on the acceleration
of the bike. Of course, like all riders,
I want better acceleration but I feel
that it is in this area where we are a
bit lacking. If we can improve that,
without losing anything elsewhere, I
think we can have a good race day."
New R1 Leads the Way in Qatar
Yamaha's new-for-2007 YZF-R1
demonstrated that it is a weapon to be
reckoned with in world superbike
competition, with Noriyuki Haga scoring
provisional pole on the bike's world
championship debut in Qatar today.
The Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team rider
topped the timesheets for much of the
session onboard the MotoGP-inspired R1,
with the Japanese rider particularly
happy with his performance because he
was concentrating on finding a good
set-up to last Saturday's 18-lap race
rather than going for an ultimate pole
position time. Haga's 1:59.019
provisional pole time was set on race
rubber and is the fastest ever Superbike
lap of the Losail circuit, being over
half-a-second faster than Troy Bayliss'
qualifying lap last year, and a full
second quicker than his own race record.
There was double delight for the
Yamaha Motor Italia squad as team-mate
Troy Corser also ended the day on the
provisional front row. T he Australian
was also under Bayliss' previous best,
posting a 1:59.440 to end the day fourth
on the timesheets in his debut with the
Italian squad.
Having tested at the circuit just a
few weeks earlier, the team arrived in
Qatar with a good base setting for their
R1s. Despite this, the squad still
had a great deal of work to get through
in order to get the best out of their
machines for Saturday's races.
With track temperatures approaching 45
°C on the tarmac, tire selection could
prove critical this weekend. Corser and Haga have access to
newer-specification Pirelli tires this
weekend than they had during testing,
giving them a heavy program of tire
testing in the practice sessions.
In today's tight qualifying session
it was British rider James Toseland
(Honda) who pushed Haga closest,
recording a time of 1:59.056 to take
second in the overnight standings.
Joining them and Corser on the
provisional front row is former 250cc
world champion and Yamaha MotoGP rider
Max Biaggi (Suzuki), who was third
fastest on his Superbike debut.
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italy
WSB Team): "I am surprised to
be fastest because when we tested here I
did not have a really good feeling with
the bike. This morning I tried the
set-up we left the test with but the
feeling was still the same."
"For
the afternoon we changed a few things
and made a big step and I am now happy
with the way the bike turns. We
worked hard to find a good setting for
the race and I still want to get better
tire life. For six or seven laps
the tire is very good but then we find
that the rear falls away a lot on the
right side. The new bike is
working well. We only had our
shakedown tests a few weeks ago but
luckily we are able to carry forward
many of the parts and knowledge from the
previous R1 so we already have a very
good base to work from."
Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italy
WSB Team): "I'm fairly happy
with that. The track feels different
from when we tested here and that's had
an effect on how the bike is performing.
We need to improve the front end tire
feel and there are quite a few little
things for us to try out tomorrow.
For sure it would have been nice to have
had a few more tests before the first
race but we've got a good base to work
from and fourth is a pretty decent
start."
Round 1: Losail, Qatar Track
length: 5380m Opened: 2004 Fastest
Superbike lap: 1:59.696 (Troy Bayliss,
Ducati) Lap record: 2:00.061 ( Noriyuki
Haga, Yamaha ) Last year's winners: Troy
Corser (Suzuki) and James Toseland
(Honda)
2007 World Superbike Qatar
Qualifying - Feb. 22, 2007
Thursday Qualifying: 1 Haga
(J-Yamaha) 1:59.019, 2 Toseland
(GB-Honda) 1:59.056, 3 Max Biaggi (Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:59.369, 4 Corser
(Aus-Yamaha) 1:59.440, 5 Lanzi
(I-Ducati) 1:59.459, 6 Bayliss
(Aus-Ducati) 1:59.507, 7 Yukio Kagayama
(J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)
1:59.805, 8 Xaus (E-Ducati) 2:00.244, 9
Rolfo (I-Honda) 2:00.258, 10 Nieto
(E-Kawasaki) 2:00.309.
