Both Ducati Xerox Team riders
James Toseland and Régis Laconi were right on the pace in an exciting Friday
first qualifying session at Imola. Title contenders Troy Corser (Suzuki) and
Chris Vermeulen (Honda) were the only riders to dip under 1m50s and they
were followed by Lausitz winner Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati SC Caracchi) who is
running a third factory Ducati 999F05 bike with additional Xerox logos.
Toseland, on good form throughout the session, was on course for a top
3 time when he lost the front of his Ducati 999F05 on the entry into the
Variante Bassa five minutes before the end and crashed. A visit to the
Clinica Mobile revealed a slightly swollen right hand but no broken bones.
"The session was going really well, we tried something new with the
front fork that seemed to work" explained Toseland. "I put the qualifier in
and was confident of getting in the top 3 positions. I did a good lap then
went into the last chicane. I was pushing hard, I felt it go, go, go, then
caught it but it just kept on going. There were ten yards to the line and
the bike nearly set third fastest time on its own! I was sliding along the
floor and Chili was right behind so I tried to get up but didn't realise I
was still rolling along at 50 mph! I just tripped up, bumped my head,
slapped my hand on the floor and bent my fingers back. I still have to work
on the acceleration into the second Rivazza left but generally the bike
feels good all around the circuit".
Règis Laconi returned to the track for the first time since damaging
the tendons in his right arm one month ago at Assen but appeared to show few
ill-effects as he eased his way back into the action, ending up tenth
quickest.
"I feel pretty good and I'm just pleased to be back on the track after
a month's inactivity" commented Laconi. "With my arm I'm not riding the way
I usually do, I try to compensate with the rest of my body, but all things
considered things are not that bad. We worked calmly today, I wanted to try
a different tyre but so far we haven't seen much of a positive result. I
only did 14 laps because we changed a lot of things. I'm losing a bit of
time in the final part of the circuit so we have some work to do to improve
in that sector. But I'm pretty happy overall".
Times:
- 1. Corser (Suzuki) 1m49.161s
- 2. Vermeulen (Honda) 1m49.280s
- 3. Lanzi (Ducati) 1m50.007s
- 4. Martin (Petronas) 1m50.028s
- 5. Chili (Honda) 1m50.029s
- 6. Kagayama (Suzuki) 1m50.126s
- 7. Pitt (Yamaha) 1m50.142s
- 8. Toseland (Ducati) 1m50.487s
- 9. Muggeridge (Honda) 1m50.537s
- 10. Laconi (Ducati Xerox) 1m50.560s
