Laconi Lines Up Third, Toseland In Seventh After Silverstone Superpole - May 28th 2005

After impressive performances in practice and qualifying, Régis Laconi and James Toseland set third and seventh quickest times respectively for the Ducati Xerox Team at a wind-swept Silverstone circuit in the final World Superbike qualifying session today.

But both the 29-year-old Frenchman, who will start from the front row of the grid, and his British team-mate, one row behind, are confident of scoring good results in the two 28-lap races tomorrow.

"We have been working well with the team and Ducati to find a good setting on this new track. It's actually a very small, physical but fun to ride track because you have to fight all the time and there is no time for a rest" said Régis. "My 999 is perfect, the engine is going well and the chassis is doing a good job, we have made a good improvement for this race. I didn't do a perfect lap in Superpole and these two Japanese guys ahead were very fast but third position is fine for me today. The wind tends to affect the bike in the first part of the lap because it pushes a lot and you have to be very careful. However I just wanted to be on the first row today, which we did, and I have a good setting for the race".

"Seventh after being one of the quickest guys all weekend is not exactly ideal, while my time in Superpole was good but not amazing" declared James. "Superpole is always half-a-second quicker than all the other sessions, but we got a little bit caught out this time. The second row will be fine, I am as fast as anyone else on race pace so I've just got to get to the front as quick as possible. We've still got a few things to try in the morning, the front is sorted out, but the balance at the rear still needs a bit of tweaking and once we get that sorted out, I know we'll have a bike that's capable of winning tomorrow. It's going to be tough to pass but you just have to be aggressive on the first couple of laps and get stuck in".

Times:

1. 1. Kagayama (Suzuki) 1m26.679s
2. 2. Haga (Yamaha) 1m26.985s
3. 3. Laconi (Ducati Xerox) 1m27.086s
4. 4. Corser (Suzuki) 1m27.177s
5. 5. Vermeulen (Honda) 1m27.261s
6. 6. Cardoso (Yamaha) 1m27.399s
7. 7. Toseland (Ducati Xerox) 1m27.584s
8. 8. Walker (Kawasaki) 1m27.805s
9. 9. Pitt (Yamaha) 1m27.861s
10. 10. Neukirchner (Honda) 1m27.888s