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SBK Phillip Island, qualifying: second row for Max Biaggi

In SBK

04 marzo 2007

SBK Phillip Island, qualifying: second row for Max Biaggi

Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi will the team's sole representative in tomorrow's World Superbike Championship races at Phillip Island in Australia after taking fifth in today's Superpole.

His team mate Yukio Kagayama will be a non-starter tomorrow as he will still be in hospital in Melbourne after his crash yesterday afternoon. Although Kagayama suffered no broken bones in the fall, doctors declared him not fit enough to take part in the races.

Biaggi's GSX-R1000 was sliding around during his Superpole lap and the time lost was enough to relegate him to the second row of the grid.

Superpole was won by Troy Bayliss (Ducati) with James Toseland (Honda) second, Troy Corser (Yamaha) third and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) fourth.

Max Biaggi - 5th, 1:33.928:

"I experienced quite a few slides on my Superpole lap and that prevented me from going any faster. If it hadn't been for the slides, I would've been on the front row for sure. It's a shame but it's still possible to win from the second row of the grid here as the first turn is a long way off. My bike is more or less set-up ok for the race but we'll make a few small adjustments in the warm-up tomorrow morning and see if we can improve it. The bike has been suffering a little from vibration, front and rear, and that hasn't helped going fast in the turns. Also, the traction could be a bit better, but it's another area we'll look at in the warm-up. It would've been good to have a bit more track time today, but it's the same for everybody and now it's time to think about the race. I'm still hopeful of a couple of podiums."

Saturday Qualifying: 1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:32.145, 2 Toseland (GB-Honda) 1:32.198, 3 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 1:32.605, 4 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:32.879, 5 Max Biaggi (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:32.928, 6 Nieto (E-Kawasaki) 1:33.132, 7 Neukirchner (D-Suzuki) 1:33.188, 8 Xaus (E-Ducati) 1:33.367, 9 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 1:33.368, 10 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:33.969.