Laconi and Toseland Power Back To The Front Row In 1st Qualifying At Silverstone - May 27th 2005

The Ducati Xerox Team powered back to the front in the first qualifying session for the British Round of the World Superbike Championship as Régis Laconi and James Toseland headed the timesheets today on the shorter International circuit at Silverstone.

Régis and James were already at the front in the morning's free practice session and then continued their good form in the afternoon with first and second quickest times ahead of the Suzuki duo of Corser and Kagayama.

"I'm very happy because we have done a good job to be fastest today" declared Régis. "This morning I did the best lap time and this afternoon also, so that's good for me and good for Ducati to have both riders at the front for the first time this year. On this track we have to say that we are in a better position than we have been so far. I feel very good on the bike, and all the changes we made, made it go faster. The circuit is very hard because there is no time to recover. You are pushing hard all the time but it's very enjoyable. Some of the corners you have to arrive very quick and brake very hard but that's the sort of track that I like".

"We're back and it's nice to be back for my home race" said James. "It was nice for Monza and I knew it would continue here after the Mugello test, where I managed to find that little something extra. The front tyre is working well, the rear we're just struggling with a little bit but we have been right on the pace since this morning. We needed to get it together after the first three rounds, Davide has done a fantastic job of getting the team to rally around me and getting the morale back. The circuit's actually not too bad, it's interesting and still enjoyable to ride round, but it's going to be difficult to pass in the races. I think I can make up a bit more time in the first part because we're struggling with the bumps in the first corner, just 'pogoing' and taking the weight off the front a bit, but on the rest of the circuit we're fine".

Times:

1. 1. Laconi (Ducati Xerox) 1m27.578s
2. 2. Toseland (Ducati Xerox) 1m27.627s
3. 3. Corser (Suzuki) 1m27.696s
4. 4. Kagayama (Suzuki) 1m27.832s
5. 5. Chili (Honda) 1m28.145s
6. 6. Muggeridge (Honda) 1m28.189s
7. 7. Haga (Yamaha) 1m28.240s
8. 8. Vermeulen (Honda) 1m28.310s
9. 9. Bostrom (Honda) 1m28.366s
10. 10. Walker (Kawasaki) 1m28.373s